Fender Strat Guitar Review

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Price Paid for Fender Strat:

$289 USD

Description of Fender Strat:

3 pick-ups, built January 19, 2005. Hard to tell what the body wood is, buut the neck is a fine piece of maple. It's got a cheap bridge that I plan on replacing when I can find anchors for the Strat plus bridge I have. The tuners were great, with the exception of the "B", which slipped constantly and I have replaced the tuners with Schaller locking tuners.

Fender Strat Tone Rating:

6/10

Comments about Fender Strat Tone:

The cheap pickups sounded great in the studio, but in a live situation, came across very thin and buzzy. As I write this, the soldering iron is heating up and the gold Lace Sensors are going in today.

Fender Strat Quality Rating:

9/10

Comments about Fender Strat Quality:

For such a cheap guitar, it's the most playable I've ever owned. I saw in a previous review that the "guitar nearly plays itself" which I find to be true. After 27 years of playing, I was finding my style kind of flat and boring. The purchase of this guitar has been inspiring and I have re-discovered the joy of playing...

Fender Strat Overall Rating:

9/10

Fender Strat Pros:

I have played Fender Start Plus' since they came out, and American Standards before that. This beauty compares to all of them (and exceeds most) in playability. The woodworking is fantastic and the factory set-up was comparable to set-ups I worked years to achieve on my own. Man oh man does this guitar play well.

Fender Strat Cons:

The tuners were the usual foreign crap, but easily replaced. I suppose with some major electronic adjustments, the noise and tonal problems with the stock pick ups could be dealt with, but I'm just gonna take the whole faceplate out and replace it with one from a Strat plus, gold Lace Sensors and all...

Submitted by: Aces
Playing Experience: over ten years
Musical Tastes: blues, classic rock, heavy metal