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Hatsubai « Nice, but not really a strat »
Published on 08/12/11 at 15:01Fender has always been known for their heavy usage of single coil pickups. Not everybody likes this, and to help appease those, they make HSS and HH guitars. This is the HH version. The guitar features an alder body, a maple neck with a maple fretboard (one piece with a skunk stripe), 21 frets, dot inlays, vintage tremolo, two humbucker pickups, one volume, two tones and a three way switch.
UTILIZATION
The guitar's biggest flaw was that the nut needed to be refiled slightly. The nut was binding and causing some odd vibrations on the G string. This can be cured in about 5 to 10 minutes with some high quality nut files, so it's not a huge deal. The frets themselves were fairly standard for the Fender Standard series. They were decent, but they're nowhere near the high end guitars like Anderson, Suhr, etc. The neck pocket was nice and tight without any major gaps in it, so no issues there. All in all, fairly solid.
SOUNDS
Every time I picked this up, I couldn't help but think that it was missing something. It lacked that Fender sound due to the lack of singles, and it was almost like it wanted to be more like a Jackson or Charvel guitar. The humbucker in the bridge was average, but it lacked the clarity and punch that I normally go for. The neck was much the same in that it was a bit uninspiring. If I were to install pickups in this, I'd probably look at something in the Seymour Duncan or DiMarzio line up. Both of those companies offer very solid replacements.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar isn't really a strat, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. If this were a Charvel, I could understand, but it just seems odd for Fender to release a guitar with two humbuckers, in my opinion. I also am a huge fan of singles in the neck and bridge, so that's another thing I'm iffy on. The guitar itself is decent, and some of these blow away the American ones. Be sure to play a ton before buying.
UTILIZATION
The guitar's biggest flaw was that the nut needed to be refiled slightly. The nut was binding and causing some odd vibrations on the G string. This can be cured in about 5 to 10 minutes with some high quality nut files, so it's not a huge deal. The frets themselves were fairly standard for the Fender Standard series. They were decent, but they're nowhere near the high end guitars like Anderson, Suhr, etc. The neck pocket was nice and tight without any major gaps in it, so no issues there. All in all, fairly solid.
SOUNDS
Every time I picked this up, I couldn't help but think that it was missing something. It lacked that Fender sound due to the lack of singles, and it was almost like it wanted to be more like a Jackson or Charvel guitar. The humbucker in the bridge was average, but it lacked the clarity and punch that I normally go for. The neck was much the same in that it was a bit uninspiring. If I were to install pickups in this, I'd probably look at something in the Seymour Duncan or DiMarzio line up. Both of those companies offer very solid replacements.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar isn't really a strat, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. If this were a Charvel, I could understand, but it just seems odd for Fender to release a guitar with two humbuckers, in my opinion. I also am a huge fan of singles in the neck and bridge, so that's another thing I'm iffy on. The guitar itself is decent, and some of these blow away the American ones. Be sure to play a ton before buying.