![Fender Standard Stratocaster [1990-2005]](https://img.audiofanzine.com/img/product/normal/7/7/77896.png?fm=pjpg&w=300&h=218&fit=max&s=00dfba1c989479a4a2fba9cdeae57119)
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nickname009
Published on 09/05/11 at 01:28
The second guitar that I ever owned.
Features:
Alder body
maple neck 21 frets
rosewood board
Medium jumbo frets
modern C shape neck profile
vintage style trem
poly urethane finish
midnight wine
3 single coil mexican fender pickups
1 master volume with 2 tones and a 5 way switch
UTILIZATION
This is a standard strat, it's hard to describe specifically because it's so well known already by everybody. The strat has been around the longest was it was one of the first electric guitars to be invented!!
Compared to the telecaster, yes I'd say it's ergonomically improved, with body contours and forearm contours. The pickups suck, are generic sounding, lifeless and of course, super noisy. Just like it used to be way back when.
Upper fret access is a bit of a problem, a little bit tough, not as difficult as a tele, but still quite a bit since it's very blocky.
SOUNDS
Sounds? Depends. If you're setup for mainly clean and jazzy blues stuff yet also setup to reduce the 60 cycle hum, then you're golden. Otherwise you're in for quite a bit of modding from the start which can be quite frustrating for beginners or those who don't do a lot of mods or have such experience.
So as stock I'd have to say it's not a versatile guitar. It's sort of like you're paying a base price for the name and the strat body but the sound part itself is designed so that you'd have to buy aftermarket stuff to get it working for you. Which sucks for most players. Some players who like to build their own, or DIY stuff etc it's fine but most players just wanna plug in and play, I'm sure they do. And a guitar like this tricks beginners into thinking they're gonna sound great, then as soon as they plug in they think that all that noise is normal!!
It's not normal and it's not your fault!! it's fender's fault for making you compromise! nowadays there are tons of guitars in the same price range, either well known or not, that sound much better from the box without needing to do any surgery!
OVERALL OPINION
Overall it was my 2nd guitar that I ever owned as I was told that fender was the best. They are not. They are well known, yes but they aren't the best. Neither is this piece. It's average at best and requires one to change the pickups or have a rig setup to stop from being too noisy. 60 cycle hum is everywhere! The guitar itself sound-wise is not versatile from the start and this is why I've given it such a bad review. As I said before, for the beginner, it tricks the player who doesn't know anything about hum etc into thinking that it's normal and then they go on for god knows how long until finally realizing their guitar pickups in their strat are complete crap! It's embarrassing, humiliating and doesn't need to be this way!
I know, i was one of these victims during my first 2 years of playing and learning guitar!
Features:
Alder body
maple neck 21 frets
rosewood board
Medium jumbo frets
modern C shape neck profile
vintage style trem
poly urethane finish
midnight wine
3 single coil mexican fender pickups
1 master volume with 2 tones and a 5 way switch
UTILIZATION
This is a standard strat, it's hard to describe specifically because it's so well known already by everybody. The strat has been around the longest was it was one of the first electric guitars to be invented!!
Compared to the telecaster, yes I'd say it's ergonomically improved, with body contours and forearm contours. The pickups suck, are generic sounding, lifeless and of course, super noisy. Just like it used to be way back when.
Upper fret access is a bit of a problem, a little bit tough, not as difficult as a tele, but still quite a bit since it's very blocky.
SOUNDS
Sounds? Depends. If you're setup for mainly clean and jazzy blues stuff yet also setup to reduce the 60 cycle hum, then you're golden. Otherwise you're in for quite a bit of modding from the start which can be quite frustrating for beginners or those who don't do a lot of mods or have such experience.
So as stock I'd have to say it's not a versatile guitar. It's sort of like you're paying a base price for the name and the strat body but the sound part itself is designed so that you'd have to buy aftermarket stuff to get it working for you. Which sucks for most players. Some players who like to build their own, or DIY stuff etc it's fine but most players just wanna plug in and play, I'm sure they do. And a guitar like this tricks beginners into thinking they're gonna sound great, then as soon as they plug in they think that all that noise is normal!!
It's not normal and it's not your fault!! it's fender's fault for making you compromise! nowadays there are tons of guitars in the same price range, either well known or not, that sound much better from the box without needing to do any surgery!
OVERALL OPINION
Overall it was my 2nd guitar that I ever owned as I was told that fender was the best. They are not. They are well known, yes but they aren't the best. Neither is this piece. It's average at best and requires one to change the pickups or have a rig setup to stop from being too noisy. 60 cycle hum is everywhere! The guitar itself sound-wise is not versatile from the start and this is why I've given it such a bad review. As I said before, for the beginner, it tricks the player who doesn't know anything about hum etc into thinking that it's normal and then they go on for god knows how long until finally realizing their guitar pickups in their strat are complete crap! It's embarrassing, humiliating and doesn't need to be this way!
I know, i was one of these victims during my first 2 years of playing and learning guitar!