Fender Standard Strat HSS with Locking Tremolo [2009-2014]

I bought this beautiful guitar under a month ago from a local music shop... I played a friend's American Strat, and so I decided to give Fender a chance. I usually play Epiphone because I've had one ever since my first guitar.

I love the slick neck on the Fat Strat, it's one of the easiest I've ever played... The color is also remarkable, I have the Sage Metallic Green, and it looks great. The best thing about this guitar, is the variations you can get with it. The modified coiled pickups to the humbucker gives you easy blues like B.B. King to hard distortion like VanHalen..

The only thing i truly dislike about this guitar, is the humbucker... But slap on a Dimarzio or Duncan, and this will be the guitar of your dreams.

This guitar is fantastically assembled... I took it to the shop for a standard tune up after I bought it, and they gave it back to me a few days later, with a $10.00 labor fee saying they only had to lower the action a little bit, everything else was perfect.

I recommend this guitar to anyone an everyone looking for a high quality guitar, I don't think I'll ever buy a different axe. And the price is remarkable, especially because it sounds just like my friend's American Strat!

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

Bought from a Guitar Center in Richmond Virginia, for $399.

Above all, I like the quality you get from a fairly low-end price with this guitar. Fender makes their guitars rock solid, and just because the standards' are made in mexico doesn't mean this doesn't hold true. I love the bridge humbucker; if you want a great variety of sounds from a single guitar, from hard rock and punk to blues, from AC/DC and Nirvana to Eric Clapton and SRV, this guitar is perfect for you. This is what sold me on the fat strat rather than the regular strat.

Not too much to dislike...hmm. The wood on the neck is, in my opinion, the biggest down-grade in qualiy from the american fender strat. It is still VERY playable however. Also doesn't have the Fender engraving on the back of the metal bolt plate where the neck meets the body....but I'm just nitpicking now

Although all of the fender standards are made very well, there is a BIG variety with every one you will pick up, especially on the fretboards. I played over a dozen standard Fat Strats and I found that the fretboards would each fit into 4 or 5 different types. (I looked only at rosewood, my personal favorite). Although whereever I went the salesmen would claim there is no significant diference..there IS a difference.

So, my advice is do NOT order this guitar online, and if you can, try out at least half a dozen or more and see which feels best for you. I was lucky and found one with a darker rosewood fretboard, and I honestly can't tell much difference between my mexican fretboard and my friend's american strat rosewood fretboard.

The quality on the fender standards has dramatically changed for the better over the years, I have a friend with a much older one and it's nothing compared the standards fender is pumping out today. The fretboard wasn't that smooth, and the tuners were godawful (the tuners are now the exact same tuners found on the american)

Nowadays there are very few differences between the standard and the american, and it's up to you if spending $400 more for these improvements is worth it. The pickups can be replaced, and you can upgrade to locking tuners (only the Deluxe strats come with these) for much less.

On a sidenote, the guitar is extremely comfortable to play, the back is molded near the top to hug your chest, and it fits perfectly. It is a perfect weight, not too heavy so that your arms get tired, but not too light that you might lose control. It's right in the middle.

Fender has hit a homerrun with the standard strats these days. I am very very happy with mine, I've been playing for 5 years, and this guitar will be my top choice for years to come. If you're a beginner or an intermediate guitar player begging for great quality and sound at an affordable price, you really can't go wrong with the Fender Standard Fat Strat.

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

This instrument was purchased at Haugstom Musikk in Bergen, Norway. The price with Fender tweed gig bag, tweed patch cord extra string sets, picks & strap was Nk 5990,00 which is around $855.00. Outrageous in the USA but, well welcome to Europe.

I think this is, for me a great instrument. The pickups are noticeably a bit duller than than a Highway 1 Strat I tried through a Vox amp at the store. But that is ok for me as it better fits my playing style. But I must add that when I got it home and put through my Fender Princeton Chorus, well it just sounds beautiful...a real match! The color is one of the new ones for Fender, a metallic light green that, along with the rosewood neck, is a great look.

Can't think of anything other than the slight twinge of jealousy I feel when I see the price for this guitar in the USA.

Being a Fender Mexico, the workmanship is good but there are a few little flaws or blemishes, tho' nothing that has any affect on playing or sound.

This is a great instument and the humbucker pickup just gives an extra bit of punch. Lovely to hold and lovelier to play.

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

I purchased this guitar at the Guitar center in San Bernardino, CA for $370.

Everything about his guitar is great. It sound wonderful is very versatile. It looks great with its midnight wine paint job and maple neck. This axe has absolutely no flaws in the way that its is built. This is the reason why strats are always compared to Les Pauls even though they are less than half the price.

Sometimes when I am pressing to hard on the bridge while doing a palm-mute, I get the tremelo effect.

FLAWLESS

THIS IS A VERY VERY VERY EXCELLENT COOL GUITAR. If this guitar is good for enough for The Who, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Tom DeLonge, Stevie Vaughn, Eric Clapton, Billy Joe Armstrong (the guy from Green Day), NOFX, Yngwie Malmsteen, my guitar instructor, Kurt Cobain, New Found Glory etc. etc. etc. etc. then it is good enough for me.

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