Fender American Stratocaster Electric Guitar
August 9, 2007 by Jo Minor
There is a whole family of Fender Stratocaster’s on the market these days, from inexpensive Squiers to Custom Shop Strats that cost many thousands of dollars. It seems however, that one of the most loved and prestigious of all of them, indeed of all electric guitars, is the Fender American Stratocaster. It is not exactly cheap, retailing for $1,356.99 - $1,406.99, depending on the finish, with sunburst pattern finishes being higher priced.
The Fender American Stratocaster differs from the Standard Strat in that the Standard is made in Mexico. These are sometimes called MIM (which stands for “Made in Mexico”) Stratocasters. The American Stratocaster electric guitar is made in America, so it commands a higher price. It is available in black, 3-tone sunburst, Olympic white, Candy Cola, Butterscotch blond, Charcoal Frost metallic, and Shoreline Gold colors. In each of the colors, you have a choice between rosewood or maple for the fingerboard.
Many of the greatest of all electric guitar players down through the years have favored Fender Stratocasters over other brands of guitars. The story of the Strat is an interesting one. Fender released the Telecaster electric guitar in 1951 and many people liked its simple styling. Still, others complained that it felt like a slab of wood on your lap and that it dug into their ribs.
Fender went to work designing and came up with the Stratocaster. The name comes from two rather modernistic (in the 50’s) words. One was the Stratosphere - that part of the sky where planes fly and clouds float around. The other is broadcaster, which refers to the guitars suitability to being used broadcast on radio, television, and where ever. So the implication is something that is as modern as an airplane and deserves to being broadcast over the whole earth.
The Fender American Stratocaster has some great new upgrades. For one thing, it is routed so that you can install humbucker pickups at the neck and bridge in the future if you desire. It has a new neck shape that helps you play faster. The three very good pickups give you all sorts of variety. For instance, the neck pickup is great for playing blues. The bridge pickup, on the other hand, is perfect for a country sound.
Advantages: The American Stratocaster is one of the most comfortable guitars you can play, and it is very well made. This is a professional level instrument and will do you proud when you gig with it. The action is fast and good, and the strings have a light feel to them. The playability and the sound are excellent. It has a more curved fretboard than many other rock-oriented electric guitars, and that curved feel makes the guitar really good for playing rhythm.
As stated earlier, the American Strat is very versatile. You’ll find yourself playing jazzy sounds, blues, classic rock, country, you name it.
Disadvantages: The Fender American Stratocaster electric guitar is not really a metal guitar. You really need humbuckers if you are going to sound good playing heavy metal and similar styles of music. Still the Strat is very versatile. The tremolo is a good one, but all trems cause guitars to go out of tune. It has been suggested that the tremolo on the American Strat needs a few more springs.
Specs:
- Carved, contoured alder body
- Maple neck in modern “C” shape
- Choice of rosewood or maple fingerboard
- Rolled fingerboard edges
- 9.5 inch (241 mm) fingerboard radius
- 22 medium jumbo frets
- 25.5 inch (648 mm.) scale length
- 1.6875 inch (43 mm.) wide at the nut
- Chrome hardware
- 3 American Strat Single coil pickups
- Master volume control knob
- One tone control knob for the neck pickup
- One tone control knob called “Delta Tone”
- (“Delta Tone” system includes high output bridge pickup and special No-Load tone control for Middle and Bridge Pickups)
- 5-Position Blade pickup selector switch
- Position 1: Bridge pickup
- Position 2: Bridge and middle Pickup
- Position 3: Middle Pickup
- Position 4: Middle and neck pickup
- Position 5: Neck Pickup
- American 2-point synchronized tremolo with stainless steel saddles
- Fender-Schaller Deluxe Staggered Cast-Sealed tuning machines
- “Parchment” colored knobs and pickup covers
- Original headstock shape
- Original body shape with “Original Contour Body” decal on headstock
- H/S/H Pickup routing
- Nickel plated steel strings in .009 to .042 gauges
- Includes a standard molded case
More Info / Buy Online: Fender American Stratocaster
Other related sites:
- Here is a hands-on review of the Fender American series of electric guitars.
- This is kind of interesting - some thoughts on Strats and what this particular guitarist likes and doesn’t like about them. He gets into a discussion of neck radius that’s pretty informative.
- This review is of a limited edition deluxe Strat, but should be of interest to Fender fans everywhere.
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