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Hatsubai « Fairly versatile guitar »
Published on 11/18/11 at 11:12The Mexican Fat strat is probably one of the more popular models that Fender mass produces. It's always sold fairly well in the store, and most of them are fairly consistent in their overall craftsmanship. They can work great for somebody who needs a versatile guitar without spending tons of money. The guitar features an alder body, a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard, 21 medium frets, dot inlays, a vintage style tremolo system, HSS configuration, one volume, two tones and a five way switch.
UTILIZATION
These models are generally fairly decent in terms of overall construction. I doubt you'll be blown away when comparing them to the super high end models out there like Suhr, Anderson, Tyler and the such, but they're very solid for the price you're getting. The fretwork is generally fairly decent on them with only needing a slight polish on the frets. Sometimes there are low frets, but a fret level can generally fix that. The nuts are cut pretty decent on these and don't tend to bind too much. One trick you might want to do is use that nut lubricant that is sold online. It works great for tuning stability. The rest of the guitar is what you'd expect for the price range.
SOUNDS
The pickups in these are average, and you might want to replace them. The bridge pickup sounds like your average humbucker. It's got some decent output, and it can drive an amp when you need it to, but I find that it tends to be a bit lacking in overall character. The bridge + middle position is great for funky cleans, but it can sometimes get a bit bitey. The middle alone is nothing I ever use. Neck + middle can get you that great John Mayer-ish kind of tone, as well as that Hendrix kinda tone. It's not as organic sounding as some of those tones, but it works. The neck alone is decent, but I'd like a bit more power and smoothness, personally.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitars are pretty solid for what you're getting. It's very much a "bang for your buck" guitar. I would recommend going into a store and playing a few of these to find the one that seems to speak to you. If you're going to buy this online, be weary that you might need to resell it to someone else in case it's not what you're looking for.
UTILIZATION
These models are generally fairly decent in terms of overall construction. I doubt you'll be blown away when comparing them to the super high end models out there like Suhr, Anderson, Tyler and the such, but they're very solid for the price you're getting. The fretwork is generally fairly decent on them with only needing a slight polish on the frets. Sometimes there are low frets, but a fret level can generally fix that. The nuts are cut pretty decent on these and don't tend to bind too much. One trick you might want to do is use that nut lubricant that is sold online. It works great for tuning stability. The rest of the guitar is what you'd expect for the price range.
SOUNDS
The pickups in these are average, and you might want to replace them. The bridge pickup sounds like your average humbucker. It's got some decent output, and it can drive an amp when you need it to, but I find that it tends to be a bit lacking in overall character. The bridge + middle position is great for funky cleans, but it can sometimes get a bit bitey. The middle alone is nothing I ever use. Neck + middle can get you that great John Mayer-ish kind of tone, as well as that Hendrix kinda tone. It's not as organic sounding as some of those tones, but it works. The neck alone is decent, but I'd like a bit more power and smoothness, personally.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitars are pretty solid for what you're getting. It's very much a "bang for your buck" guitar. I would recommend going into a store and playing a few of these to find the one that seems to speak to you. If you're going to buy this online, be weary that you might need to resell it to someone else in case it's not what you're looking for.