Highway 1 VS American standard strat?

[rocksoldier]

I thinking about getting a strat soon, and wanna know which one is the best buy.
I would propably drop some humbuckers and a floyd in the also, when i have some more money.

I don´t care about the fancier paint on the standard, the bridge would be replaced anyway, and i suppose i could change the tuners on th Highway 1 if needed.

So what i rellay wanna know, is American standard made out of better woods, better assembled, or is it just the paint and hardware that differs?

Or the third choise, would a used japanesee one be a better idea?

I would truly appreciate your help!

 

[ksmith63]

Re: Highway 1 VS American standard strat?

i beleive the selling point to the HIghway 1 guitars is that they use a cheaper finish + (maybe) cheaper hardware but still feature the great fender quality and woods. Doesn't fender make an American strat with a Floyd already (and at least 1 hum)?

 

[rocksoldier]

Re: Highway 1 VS American standard strat?

I don´t think they make an american one with floyd, and it would still be too expensive to buy new.
But the highway seems like a great deal for sure!

 

[ksmith63]

Re: Highway 1 VS American standard strat?

here, i found one. they apparently stopped making them but here is a pic from ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Fender-USA-Floy...ryZ47069QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Highway 1 VS American standard strat?

The H1 is a great bang for the buck....It needs better pickups,already has the CTS pots,decent tuners,nice feeling neck,it could benefit from the Vintage American bridge though...The alder body is great,very resonant and the finish is cool and will relic nicely over a short period of time...Mine has Surfers in the neck and middle and a twangbanger in the bridge with a Fralin Blender pot...Thanks to my buddy Lew for the Blender Pot idea...

John

Here's my HI Sapphire Blue Alder bodied strat made up of several different era parts...The neck is an early 80's 12" radius..The tuners are stock Schallers from that period..The bridge is an American Vintage lefty..Surfer/Surfer/Twangbanger(Fralin Blender Pot)...Bone nut...Great sounding and overall wonderful guitar to play...My favorite of the 6 strats I currently own..

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Highway 1 VS American standard strat?

The AS and the HW1 have the same neck and tuners. The HW1 share the tremolo and body of the MIM Classic series guitars, while the AS has the AS tremolo. The finishes are pretty different. The HW1 and the MIM Classic series have the same pickups while the AS have AS pickups. To be honest I never liked the AS 2 point tremolo, and I prefer the HW1 thin finish, I also like the more vintage tremolo on the HW1, so I would go with a HW1. That said if you already know that you are gonna put a floyd on it and a set of buckers I wouldn't get either. By the time your done getting the guitar, buying 2 buckers, buyng a floyd and having it all put in you could have just bought a good Strat with a floyd and buckers!

 

[Hoss]

Re: Highway 1 VS American standard strat?

doesn't B2D have a H/H strat with a floyd for sale still?!

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Highway 1 VS American standard strat?

doesn't B2D have a H/H strat with a floyd for sale still?!

no, that guitar has been parted out...

 

[pinto79]

Re: Highway 1 VS American standard strat?

Forget both and find a used Japanese Strat or a Mexican Standard Strat made before 1995. the MIM's can be had resonably cheap and have great necks (for a Strat, I like the MIM Tele's better) and tuners already and then you can modify away.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[Lu_B]

Re: Highway 1 VS American standard strat?

+ 1 for a Japanese strat. I have a one from the 80's and its top notch in terms of materials and build. Would leave you $$$ to do your mods.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Highway 1 VS American standard strat?

IMO 80's MIJ Fenders are great guitars...not great guitars for the money, just great guitars!

 

[Xeromus]

Re: Highway 1 VS American standard strat?

The AS and the HW1 have the same neck and tuners.

Not true, different construction and truss rod. Hwy 1 uses a vintage truss rod while all american series guitars use fender's bi-flex dual adjusting truss rod. Different construction methods are used since each of those rods works completely differently.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Highway 1 VS American standard strat?

Not true, different construction and truss rod. Hwy 1 uses a vintage truss rod while all american series guitars use fender's bi-flex dual adjusting truss rod. Different construction methods are used since each of those rods works completely differently.

Trust me bro...they are the same neck. If you pull a HW1 neck off you will see where the neck is already set up for micro tilt. They are without a doubt the same neck.

 

[Xeromus]

Re: Highway 1 VS American standard strat?

Trust me bro...they are the same neck. If you pull a HW1 neck off you will see where the neck is already set up for micro tilt. They are without a doubt the same neck.

Really? I don't have hands on experience with either one. I'm referring to one of fender's charts that compared/contrasted them side by side. I can't remember where I saw it now, someone here posted it.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Highway 1 VS American standard strat?

it is silly to spend that much on a guitar, and not get what you want. You are going to replace huge parts of the guitar- why not either buy parts, or a cheaper mexi strat? if you want a floyd HH strat, then buy that or make it- dont spend money on something you aren't going to use much of anyway.

 

[ksmith63]

Re: Highway 1 VS American standard strat?

Buy A Used American Floyd Strat And Then Change Pickups! Problem Solved

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Highway 1 VS American standard strat?

Yeah, it's true...I have a HW1 Telecaster and when I pulled the neck off I saw that it was set up for micro tilt so then I checked out a few other HW1's and they were all the same. They also have the same radius, number of frets (except for the HW1 Texas Tele, which uses a different neck from the other HW1's) as well as the same size frets, rolled edges, same tuners, logo, string tree...etc. The HW1's are an AS neck on a MIM Classic body with the MIM Classic tremolo and pickups, AS tuners, and the thin finish...great guitars! i love them! They are a great blend between old and new Fenders IMO!

Really? I don't have hands on experience with either one. I'm referring to one of fender's charts that compared/contrasted them side by side. I can't remember where I saw it now, someone here posted it.

 

[fenderiarhs]

Re: Highway 1 VS American standard strat?

I thinking about getting a strat soon, and wanna know which one is the best buy.
I would propably drop some humbuckers and a floyd in the also, when i have some more money.

Then it would be better for you to search over ebay for the floyd/humbucker equipped strat. They were called fender strat classic floyd rose and later on they were renamed to fender strat american special.

 

[rocksoldier]

Re: Highway 1 VS American standard strat?

Well, i live in sweden, and i havn´t found a single strat with floyd and maple fretboard (has to be maple).
For now i just wanna have a nice strat, and the floyd i would ad some sime when i have the money.

I would definitley buy used, and if i ever found a used strat with floyd and maple board, it would propably cost as much as buying one and mod myself.

I´m gonna look into buying the parts and build myself though, time will tell.

 

[Quencho092]

Re: Highway 1 VS American standard strat?

Try plugging in a cable the next time you pretend that you're jamming out on your marshall, John. :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2:

That's one badass game face! :smoker: