All user reviews of 3/5 for the Fender Standard Stratocaster HSS [2006-2008]

The Fender Standard Strat HSS is one of the Mexican made models that is meant to offer the Fender look, feel, and sound in an instrument of decent quality that is priced at a lower point than the American models. This particular model has an HSS "Fat Strat" pickup configuration as well. It features an alder body, a maple neck with maple fretboard and 21 frets, standard tuners, a 6 screw fulcrum tremolo unit, and a pickguard loaded with two single coils and a humbucker, wired to the standard Strat controls of a volume, dual tones, and a 5 way selector. It's not really anything new features wise, but hey, the Strat has endured for the last 50 or so years, must mean that people like it!

UTILIZATION

The design of this guitar is pretty ergonomic. I find the newer Mexican Fenders to be a bit lighter than some older ones which is definitely good. The body is reasonably ergonomic and the contouring is nice and slick a-la the older Strats. The neck has a nice thin finish that's not too glossy and difficult to maneuver around. The neck joint is the typical design and presents no real problems unless you just aren't a fan of the 4 bolt neck joint and prefer something like an Ibanez AANJ heel. Getting a good sound out of this guitar is pretty easy. It's nice in the sense that it allows a few extra/different tones because of the humbucking pickup at the bridge. This makes it more ideal than the regular model for rock or even some metal where the extra bite is an asset.

SOUNDS

This guitar is pretty much your typical sounding Strat to my ears. The stock pickups are not the greatest in the world, but they do a decent enough job at nailing that classic Fender sound. Using a clean sounding amp brings in some nice chimey tones for blues, funk or country, and then the thickness is kicked up a notch with use of the humbucker. Bringing in some drive is great for getting that classic set of rock or blues tones, and you can really go nuts when you switch to the bridge humbucker for even some metal tones, though these pickups certainly don't have the output of say, some DiMarzio or EMG active models. It certainly does a decent job at covering the typical tones you would expect from a Strat for sure.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all I think the Fender Standard Strat HSS is a decent guitar for someone looking for a Strat with a bit of added versatility in the form of humbucker for a reasonable price. The quality is decent, the feel is actually quite nice from what I've seen from guitar to guitar, and the tones, while not the best in the world, do ape classic or modern "Strat" tones quite well. At about $550 new it's a decent deal and well worth checking into if you need a budget, yet quality S type in your arsenal of guitars.