Fender Standard HSS Stratocaster Electric Guitar

August 9, 2007 by Jo Minor

The Fender Stratocaster is mentioned again and again when you are discussing favorite electric guitars with people. While few people deny that the Strat body shape is about the most comfortable thing going, or that Fender guitars are well made, there is one complaint that is often leveled against the Strat. That complaint is that the three pickups are all single coil pickups. A lot of people desire the flexibility a humbucker would give them.

Single coil pickups give a guitar a good, bright tone. Unfortunately, they also produce a little bit of a static hum because they pick up stray frequencies. A humbucker pickup consists of two coils that are wound opposite of each other. This construction helps to cancel out the stray frequency, and thus the hum is no longer an issue. Hence, these double coil pickups are called “humbuckers.” (They buck the hum.)

Humbucking pickups also produce a darker, warmer tone than the bright, jangly single coil sound. Because of this warmer tone, most rock artists, and many guitarists from other styles of music, prefer humbucking pickups over single coil. Country artists often prefer the regular Stratocaster style guitars with only single coil pickups.

To meet the need of other musicians, however, Fender also makes Stratocasters that have a humbucking pickup at the neck along with the single coil pickups in the middle and bridge positions. These guitars are designated as HSS Stratocasters, with the HSS standing for “humbucker, single-coil, single-coil.” More commonly, these humbucker-equipped Strats are called “fat Strats.” That is because of the “fat” tone available when the humbucker is in use.

Fender makes several series of Stratocaster, such as the American Series, the American Deluxe, and the Highway One varieties. The Standard Series of Fender guitars are the ones that are made in Fender’s Mexican factory instead of in America. These “MIM” (”made in Mexico”) guitars retail for a lot lower prices than the guitars that are made in America. Even so, they retain much of the quality of the higher priced versions. The Fender Standard HSS Stratocaster electric guitar carries a retail price tag of only $571.41-$621.41, which is a far cry from the four digit prices of the American guitars.

Like their more expensive Strat cousins, the Fender Standard HSS Stratocasters come in a wide choice of colors, and you can choose between rosewood and maple for the fingerboard material. Colors available for the body of the guitar include black, Electron Blue, Arctic White, Midnight Wine, Chrome Red, and Brown Sunburst (which is the finish that commands the higher price.)

The Fender Standard HSS Stratocaster electric guitar is a chance to own the most popular guitar style in the world at a reasonable price with a prestigious name on the headstock and a humbucker to boot. What more could you want?

Advantages: Of course, one of the first advantages to any of the Stratocaster family is that it is a downright comfortable guitar to play. The carved, contoured body fits up against you instead of digging into your ribs like some other styles. It is well balanced and you can play it seated, unlike some of the V-shaped guitars or those with heavy necks. And there is the reasonable price on this Mexican made guitar.

But probably the top advantage to playing a fat strat as opposed to other models of guitar out there is the incredible amount of versatility. The humbucker pickup adds a lot of options to the tones you can produce from your guitar, and you are not limited to brighter, jangly single-coil sounds.

All in all, the Fender Standard HSS Stratocaster appears to be a reliable, well made electric guitar for all your needs, whether you are playing gigs or just relaxing at home.

Disadvantages: The tremolo on the Fender Standard HSS Stratocaster electric guitar is pretty bad about throwing the whole guitar out of tune if you use it very much. This is really the case with most tremolos, however. Another complaint that has been made against this guitar is that the neck pickup does not have much volume. Some players don’t like the tone on some of the settings.

Specs:

Alder body in contoured design with two deep cutaways
Maple “C” shaped neck
Choice of rosewood or maple for fingerboard
21 medium jumbo frets
25.5 inch scale length
1 11/16 inches wide at the nut
Chrome hardware
Vintage synchronized tremolo with whammy bar
Thicker bridge block that provides increased sustain and a more stable point of contact with the strings
Humbucking pickup in the bridge position
Two single-coil pickups in the middle and neck positions
5-position pickup selector switch
One master volume control knob
Two tone control knobs
Comes with a Fender gig bag