Re: Fender NAMM 2020 peek ...
I feel like you can only reach the 24th fret by contorting your hand around a lower bout cutaway that hasn't been made deep enough. Also, given that fender owns Charvel and Jackson . . . not entirely sure why they're making these models.
Nope and nope (and nope about the 24 frets). The upper position access is sufficient. You can still do more piddly widdly than is ever needed without breaking a sweat and enuffznuff. Sure, it does not have the RG's deepest cutaways but on the upside it lacks their tonesuck, too. The recent 3 bolt Dinkies give me a rash and nausea, too by the way. The (original) HM Strat is neither a Dinky nor a Fusion nor a Stratocaster nor any kind of Charvel, really. The neck and body are Fender's original shapes and have a tone and feel of their own. It was Fender's _answer_ to the superstrats of the day and not a clone.
By example, the marketing department can call a 24 fret guitar a Les Paul but no matter what they can't give it the sound and feel of an actual Les Paul. Same here, the original HM Strat is a 24 fret Fender with all its quirks and features and if you stray too far off the original design, you lose what sets it apart.
Built in the same factory as the original
Does that mean Fujigen is involved or that this line is a marketing stunt. If anything, I would bet on the second.
The RI looks cool at first glance but it lacks the (early) original's Spyder trem in favor of the cheap and available FR. It does not mean it's worse or inherently bad for that matter, but it does mean it will deliver more flutter at the expense of the Spyder's buttersmooth vibrato action. Which is fine by one account but it does not make the RI's character stand out as much as the old one's. Kind of proving Steve's point of why release something that's not all that different from the "competition".
I probably would have done the same (opt for an FR trem) if I were in Fender's shoes so there's that.
I just don't get the neck being described as "narrow" when my old one is the opposite at nearly 45mm at the nut. The shape is a kind of a flat-centered wide D with full shoulders and a 17" camber, calling this a Charvel would be an exercise in pointlessness. Maybe the RI is different and maybe that description is just fluff.
My main point though, The HM is not a hot rodded Strat, despite its confusing name. It shouldn't be too difficult to make and it seems they've made the right choices designing the RI: They kept what ain't broke and opted for the cheaper and more serviceable bridge. As long as they are built by competent people, there is no reason for the reissue not to kick ass.
if I am the least bit disappointed with stock Fenders.
