Fender American Stratocaster HSS [2003-2007]

I got this guitar at a local retailer for 733$ including fender's 100$ rebate. I got it for its versatility and sound.

I like the s-1 switching system which gives me 10 pickup selections including all three pickups on the guitar, which couldnt be done with a regular fat strat. The single coils, while slightly different from a standard am strat, still has the clarity and bite of the am strat. The humbucker is a big plus, and is probably better suited for me than a single coil in the lead position.

The only con is that there is no selection for just one of the coils in the humbucker, which takes away from that true strat sound. You can however, select one of the coils in the humbucker in combination with the other single coils.

The construction of this axe is great, of course, because it is a Fender. It will last a lifetime.

This is a great guitar for many different sounds, and is a great choice for those who want a lot of versatility.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Fender Stratocaster is an awesome guitar that is very giving and solid sounding for any users to play it. It hass a natural organic sound that is inviting for most musicians to use. It's a very versatile guitar for any style of music and just has an absolute brilliant tone.

The features are pretty minimal and this guitar compared a lot of modern guitars. Give a simple three single coil pickup arrangement as well as a volume control knob and two tone control knobs. You also have a five way pick up selector and that's pretty much about it.

UTILIZATION


Neck Shape: Modern "C" Shape
Number of Frets: 22
Fret Size: Medium Jumbo
Position Inlays: Pearl Dot Inlays
Fingerboard Radius: 9.5"-14" Compound Radius (24.1 cm-35.56 cm)
Fretboard: Rosewood or Maple
Neck Material: Maple
Neck Finish: Satin Urethane
Nut Width: 1.685" (42.8 mm)
Scale Length: 25.5" (64.8 cm)
Neck Plate: 4-Bolt Neck Plate with Micro-Tilt™
Truss Rod Nut: 1/8" American Series Nut
Electronics
Pickup Configuration: H/S/S
Bridge Pickup: Atomic Humbucking™ Pickup
Middle Pickup: Noiseless™ N3 Strat® Middle Pickup
Neck Pickup: Noiseless™ N3 Strat® Neck Pickup
Pickup Switching: Position 1. Humbucking Pickup w/ Coils in Series, Pos. 2. Middle Pickup/Inside Coil of Humbucking Pickup in Parallel, Pos. 3. Middle Pickup, Pos 4. Neck/Middle Pickup in Parallel, Pos. 5. Neck Pickup
Special Electronics: S-1™ Switch
Controls: Master Volume, Tone 1. (Neck Pickup), Tone 2. (Bridge/Middle Pickup)
Hardware
Hardware Finish: Chrome
Bridge: Deluxe 2-Point Synchronized Tremolo with Pop in Arm
String Nut: LSR Roller Nut
Switch Tips: Aged White Switch Tip
Tremolo Arm Handle: Pop-In Deluxe Tremolo Arm
Auxiliary Switching: 2-Position Push/Push "Passing Lane" Switch

SOUNDS

The tone of this guitar is very brilliant and exciting to play. As a nice sustain and a very organic and natural tone. Overall this is a brilliant instrument and a fun guitar play. I love the curvature of the body because it just naturally melts into your guitar stance. It feels comfortable and the tone is very inviting for most styles of music. It doesn't sound like good when you use it in modern type music as far as heavy metal and stuff like that but if you have it in a pop rock country setting in this guitar is a great instrument to use.

OVERALL OPINION


At new you can find these guitar shredder on $1000 or so. You can find them pretty easily and most guitar retailers and online as well as many classified sections. They're brilliant guitar at fun guitar at overall and very inviting sound for any style of music. I recommend this guitar to any guitars out there because it's a solid sounding instrument for recording and gigging.

The Fender Stratocaster is exceptional and versatile instrument that has lasted generations of new guitar exploration. So many boutique builders uses Fender Stratocaster as their main influence to build their new custom guitars. This is a simple design a simple look and exceptional sound. The bare wood look is a nice vintage look to this guitar.

UTILIZATION


These guitars feature three single coil pickups a volume control knob and two tone control knobs. As well as a pickup selector that allows you to pick up five different tonal options. There's not a whole lot of extra switches or boosts in this guitar but just a great look and overall great paint job as well. Simple guitar with classic design.


SOUNDS


The tone of these guitars are fantastic and I really like them coupled with a good high gain amplifier. I lean more towards high gain amplifier than a clean amplifier with a overdrive or distortion pedal out front. I primarily like to get my saturation and distortion from the tubes of the amplifier themselves. So this guitar to give me a great sustain and a great fluid sound and is a good match with my simple set up. I don't use a lot of pedals or effects or mods but maybe just an analog delay or some chorus that allows me to get a full three-dimensional sound with a single coil pickup guitar such as this one. Overall it's a great instrument and will sound good in any setting that you may have.

OVERALL OPINION


These guitarists are priced new right at around the thousand dollars or so . You can find them used very easily as well online or in craigslist. Most retailer guitar shops will carry Fender Stratocaster guitars as well so I suggest trying out a few to find out which color him watch one you prefer. I highly recommend these guitars to anyone because are great instruments and their great for recording or digging. They have a great sound and are extremely versatile for just about any musician out there.

This is a Fiann task take instrument that has such a great feel an overall great shape and almost the perfect balance in my mind. Center Stratocaster guitar is a beautiful instrument and not a whole lot has changed since its introduction into the music industry. Sure there's been different subtle changes but overall the same body shape and style pretty much what remains true to its originality. These are vintage guitars but they have such a great sound and feel that is able to transcend the vintage music all the way in today's modern music.

UTILIZATION


Neck Shape: Modern "C" Shape
Number of Frets: 22
Fret Size: Medium Jumbo
Position Inlays: Pearl Dot Inlays
Fingerboard Radius: 9.5"-14" Compound Radius (24.1 cm-35.56 cm)
Fretboard: Rosewood or Maple
Neck Material: Maple
Neck Finish: Satin Urethane
Nut Width: 1.685" (42.8 mm)
Scale Length: 25.5" (64.8 cm)
Neck Plate: 4-Bolt Neck Plate with Micro-Tilt™
Truss Rod Nut: 1/8" American Series Nut
Electronics
Pickup Configuration: H/S/S
Bridge Pickup: Atomic Humbucking™ Pickup
Middle Pickup: Noiseless™ N3 Strat® Middle Pickup
Neck Pickup: Noiseless™ N3 Strat® Neck Pickup
Pickup Switching: Position 1. Humbucking Pickup w/ Coils in Series, Pos. 2. Middle Pickup/Inside Coil of Humbucking Pickup in Parallel, Pos. 3. Middle Pickup, Pos 4. Neck/Middle Pickup in Parallel, Pos. 5. Neck Pickup
Special Electronics: S-1™ Switch
Controls: Master Volume, Tone 1. (Neck Pickup), Tone 2. (Bridge/Middle Pickup)

SOUNDS


These guitars sound fantastic and pretty much any setting you put them in. Whether you are you playing a clean amplifier from the Fender amplifier or a medium gain amplifier from a Paul Reed Smith amps or even a high watt/ high gain amplifier from Marshall or Mesa Boogie. This guitar to drive your tone and drive your sound to sonic bliss. These guitars sound just fantastic when you couple them with a nice overdrive pedal or any other effects pedal of some sort. Whether you're running a huge floor pedal board or you have some rack effects pedals going on or if you're just plugging straight from the guitar into the amp...no matter what you use what you have for what you're going to have, this guitar will fit in very nicely with any rig.

OVERALL OPINION


These guitars are fantastic guitars built right here in America and a half such a great tone and versatility to them. You can find them new and used pretty much anywhere you look and there's such easily found guitars that it won't take you very long to find the perfect one. I recommend this guitar to anyone looking for one of those instruments that is going to be a life or an instrument that you will use for a lifetime and even passed down to your offspring.