In Praise of the Highway One Fender Series....

[Scott_F]

In the tweaking of my latest amp, I tried to play all my guitars into it. I don't play the Hwy 1 Tele near often enough, but that little guitar just feels right. It's Duncanized, of course. I love the finish, love the neck on it (for a flat maple slab!), just doesn't feel as natural in my paw as a Les Paul, but that's one darn nice US-made guitar. (well, allegedly US made!)

I really like the faded thin acrylic laquer finish. Just thought I'd share that with ya.

It does seem to be a rather Scott_F's "Best Buy" award winner.

 

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: In Praise of the Highway One Fender Series....

Those Fender Highways seem to be some very interesting instruments... I haven't heard really bad things about them yet...

 

[pac112]

Re: In Praise of the Highway One Fender Series....

does anyone know why highway ones are cheaper? scott, sorry for the hijack. i got tele gas because of u guys.

 

[FretFire]

Re: In Praise of the Highway One Fender Series....

does anyone know why highway ones are cheaper? scott, sorry for the hijack. i got tele gas because of u guys.

Supposedly MIM parts assembled in the US, I think.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: In Praise of the Highway One Fender Series....

a HW1 uses the necks from MIA American Standard guitars with the bodies and pickups and hardware from the MIM Classis series guitars with a very thin/matte finish and IMO they are amazing. My Tele is a HW1 and I love it...I wish the necks were a bit fatter but they are still big enough for me to be happy with it, plus they have fat frets and 9.5 inch radius.

They are fantastic guitars for a good price. For what it's worth I give them a thumbs up and would recommend them to anyone looking for a solid guitar for a good price

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: In Praise of the Highway One Fender Series....

I love the satin finish, especially on the neck. They are very well built guitars. With a pickup change they can sound excellent.

 

[pac112]

Re: In Praise of the Highway One Fender Series....

thanks for the info boys!

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: In Praise of the Highway One Fender Series....

I love the satin finish, especially on the neck. They are very well built guitars. With a pickup change they can sound excellent.

I agree...I love the4 thin finishes, sure they show wear and tear quicker, but how gives a **** about that!?!

I changes several things about mine, most of the changes were just to make it look different...a pickup change is all you really NEED, and still, they are not bad, but a good set of Duncans would be better!

 

[Buckeyedog]

Re: In Praise of the Highway One Fender Series....

Man, you guys are right. I plugged one into a little PV classic at the music store the other day and it felt and sounded terrific! Now I've been thinking about picking one up. Of course the Duncans would sound better, but I thought the stock pickups actually sounded pretty cool. Of course I wasn't at any real volume though.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: In Praise of the Highway One Fender Series....

I have a HW1 strat, even at stock form it was a very good guitar.
I actually swapped singlecoils with my Kramer, the Kramer is so fat and dark that it needed more opensounding pickups than the APS-1's it had, the swap was highly succesful, the APS-1's sounds great on the strat, have an APS-2 at the bridge, changed the bridge to a Gotoh that I had lying around.
Removed one stringtree for the G and D string, no need for it and filled up the tiny holes in the headstock.
The nut was perfectly cut, I can go beserk on the trem and it simply stays in tune.
I yellowed the knobs and pickupcovers, good pots and a switchcraft jack was already installed so no need to change those.
Then I did a minor setup for 0.10's and it works flawlessly, very resonant and lively guitar.

 

[lpmarshall]

Re: In Praise of the Highway One Fender Series....

Hmm I might have to look at the Highway One now. I was thinking of getting a MIM, but this looks like a better option.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: In Praise of the Highway One Fender Series....

Hmm I might have to look at the Highway One now. I was thinking of getting a MIM, but this looks like a better option.

The HW1's are great, but if you were looking at the MIM Classic series stuff they are just as good IMO...they have a more vintage neck so maybe that will factor in your decision...

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: In Praise of the Highway One Fender Series....

I've liked the majority of HW1 Fenders and I can't say that about most.

 

[martinsixstringcustoms]

Re: In Praise of the Highway One Fender Series....

My buddy has a HWY1 Tele and he loves it. I played around with it for a few days and its a solid guitar, especially for the money. I kinda like the faded/lack of finish. I think the guitar resonates better without it personally.

 

[Dills]

Re: In Praise of the Highway One Fender Series....

I was considering buying one when the guy at the guitar store said the Hwy 1 series are the cheap off cut peices of wood with like 5 piece bodies and cheap thin laquer finishes, and pretty average pickups and i should not go near them. So thats what put me off. But i not sure if thats true?

 

[dogcityrocker]

Re: In Praise of the Highway One Fender Series....

I was considering buying one when the guy at the guitar store said the Hwy 1 series are the cheap off cut peices of wood with like 5 piece bodies and cheap thin laquer finishes, and pretty average pickups and i should not go near them. So thats what put me off. But i not sure if thats true?

Maybe the guy was working on commission and wanted you to spend more money? My HWY 1 doesn not have a 5 piece body. I can see one seam, and i question if I see a second, so its either a two piece or a three piece. If it is a three piece, they did an amazing job cause its very difficult to tell (one seam is obvious). As a woodworker I can tell you that it would cost the facotry more time and money to slap 5 pieces of alder together than it would save them.

The finish and pickups is where they cut the cost. The bridge pickup base plate is plastic! Not to say that it doesnt sound good in some applications.