New Strat Day!!

[Ben...]

I ordered a Sienna Sunburst American Standard Strat a while back as a grad gift for myself. It finally came in today. It plays absolutely wonderfully.

Here's the preliminary pictures taken with my phone. I'll borrow my brother's camera and take better pictures later:











I really dig the finish. The neck is really nice. It has gloss on the board but the back of the neck is satin. It also has much larger frets than most Fenders I've played. Truly a great guitar thus far.

[Grandturk]

Nice - congrats! I really think these latest Am Stds are some of the best Am Stds Fender has produced. The new bridge is fantastic and the necks feel really nice. I can't speak for the bridge hummer, though - since I've only played the SSS models.

Congrats and enjoy!

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

What?

Grandturk likes a 2-post bridge?

Say it ain't so!

[mrrs]

I love that finish. Very nice.

[Fender]

Ì have the same axe but with rosewood . My dad bought it for me as a grad present. It's my favorite guitar because of that. My first real USA Fender. Love it, but was having problems with the frets as of late. I put too much oil on the fretboard when i was younger and caused it to shrink so the fret ends need to be filled down over and over. I should be good now, it has been over a year. I really want to play it again.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

I love that finish. Very nice.

Me too! I'm not usually crazy about bursts but that one works for me.

[Ben...]

Well I've been playing this guitar for about a week now and it easily one of the most comfortable guitars I've ever played. The neck is a little thicker than my Soloist but it doesn't bother me at all. The pictures don't show it very well but the grain of the ash body is phenomenal. I'll take a picture of the front and back closer up so you can see.

The neck is absolutely amazing. It combines everything that I love about Fender necks and puts it into one neck. I've always loved the feeling of a gloss-finished fretboard like on my 50's Precision bass but hated the sticky feeling of the backs those necks so this hybrid gloss/satin finish is perfect. It has a nice round profile that works quite well. The frets were done perfectly; polished to a mirror finish without a single sharp edge or any visible tool marks (unlike what I've seen on so many Mexican Fenders. I swear you could cut yourself on some of them).

The pickups stand up quite well. I originally wasn't really wowed by the bridge pickup at all but it seems pretty good the more I use it. The Tex-Mex pickups in the neck and middle positions are great (They only come with the HSS model, not the standard SSS). The guitar produces a fantastic clean sound and sustains quite well for a Fender. This guitar has definitely met and exceeded many of my expectations. Out of the box(or case I guess) it was even perfectly set up with a nice low action, pretty close to being perfectly tuned to E, and intonated perfectly too. All I literally had to do was tune it up the last little bit, take the plastic off the pickguard and play.

Apparently it was completed and shipped in the last month or so. I haven't taken it apart to check the stamps on the body and neck but the provided documentation seems to make it sound like mid to late August. I was told to expect mid-October so the fact it arrived a month early makes things even better.

Now the real question; was getting a USA worth it? I could have bought two or three Mexi-strats or put the money towards a better car (my crappy Cavalier has seen better days). I absolutely think the price is worth it. This guitar feels like it will last a lifetime. I've played a lot of the cheaper instruments and though some of them feel nice, they just feel cheap. Nothing feels cheap on this guitar. The tuning machines operate smoothly and consistently with one another (one of my pet peeves is having one tuning machine feel looser than the others), the bridge holds tuning quite well and again, the neck is fantastic. I'm so glad I ordered one of these as a grad gift for myself. I was going to get a Gibson Les Paul Studio but in hindsight, I could see myself not liking it. On the other hand, I've always played Fender Strats on and off; I started on a Mexican Standard, bought a couple other Mexican ones that didn't play as well as my first so I sold them, then I ordered this one. This Strat is definitely a keeper.

Weather permitting, I'll take some pics tomorrow afternoon if I can get a hold of my brother's camera. I couldn't last week due to university stuff(A couple assignments and a math test) but I have tomorrow afternoon free to do as I please so I will be taking advantage of that.

[Grim]

Well I've been playing this guitar for about a week now and it easily one of the most comfortable guitars I've ever played. The neck is a little thicker than my Soloist but it doesn't bother me at all. The pictures don't show it very well but the grain of the ash body is phenomenal. I'll take a picture of the front and back closer up so you can see.

The neck is absolutely amazing. It combines everything that I love about Fender necks and puts it into one neck. I've always loved the feeling of a gloss-finished fretboard like on my 50's Precision bass but hated the sticky feeling of the backs those necks so this hybrid gloss/satin finish is perfect. It has a nice round profile that works quite well. The frets were done perfectly; polished to a mirror finish without a single sharp edge or any visible tool marks (unlike what I've seen on so many Mexican Fenders. I swear you could cut yourself on some of them).

The pickups stand up quite well. I originally wasn't really wowed by the bridge pickup at all but it seems pretty good the more I use it. The Tex-Mex pickups in the neck and middle positions are great (They only come with the HSS model, not the standard SSS). The guitar produces a fantastic clean sound and sustains quite well for a Fender. This guitar has definitely met and exceeded many of my expectations. Out of the box(or case I guess) it was even perfectly set up with a nice low action, pretty close to being perfectly tuned to E, and intonated perfectly too. All I literally had to do was tune it up the last little bit, take the plastic off the pickguard and play.

Apparently it was completed and shipped in the last month or so. I haven't taken it apart to check the stamps on the body and neck but the provided documentation seems to make it sound like mid to late August. I was told to expect mid-October so the fact it arrived a month early makes things even better.

Now the real question; was getting a USA worth it? I could have bought two or three Mexi-strats or put the money towards a better car (my crappy Cavalier has seen better days). I absolutely think the price is worth it. This guitar feels like it will last a lifetime. I've played a lot of the cheaper instruments and though some of them feel nice, they just feel cheap. Nothing feels cheap on this guitar. The tuning machines operate smoothly and consistently with one another (one of my pet peeves is having one tuning machine feel looser than the others), the bridge holds tuning quite well and again, the neck is fantastic. I'm so glad I ordered one of these as a grad gift for myself. I was going to get a Gibson Les Paul Studio but in hindsight, I could see myself not liking it. On the other hand, I've always played Fender Strats on and off; I started on a Mexican Standard, bought a couple other Mexican ones that didn't play as well as my first so I sold them, then I ordered this one. This Strat is definitely a keeper.

Weather permitting, I'll take some pics tomorrow afternoon if I can get a hold of my brother's camera. I couldn't last week due to university stuff(A couple assignments and a math test) but I have tomorrow afternoon free to do as I please so I will be taking advantage of that.

I love ash bodies. They sound and look so nice. I love strats too! Every guitar player absolutely needs one - for those tones only a Strat can do.

[Grandturk]

What?

Grandturk likes a 2-post bridge?

Say it ain't so!

Missed this one - I guess I should have said "fantastic in comparison to the old two-point bridge which I felt was a complete POS." So take that for what it's worth!

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

I have the old offset intonation screw bridge on my American Standard ('02). I greatly prefer the solid saddles, but it's not as nice as the new Deluxe bridge.

[Grandturk]

I have the old offset intonation screw bridge on my American Standard ('02).

Those are the ones I don't like.

[toejam]

Congrats! That's a beautiful color.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Those are the ones I don't like.

I can't be held responsible for your silly preferences. :ROTF:

It's fine. I can't stand the S-bent saddles.