FAC
New member
Folks,
The new Fender American Strat I picked up two weeks ago has really impressed me on several levels, compelling me to write this (long) post much sooner than I would otherwise.
1) The fit and finish is wonderful, and the setup and intonation were great right off the shelf. Very impressive, especially given all the threads here and there about all the crappy new guitars that the big companies are putting out. There is not one detail out of whack on this guitar. Even the soldering/wiring was top notch inside (see below as to how I know this).
2) The acoustic tone is great...rings, sustains, etc. I thought strats weren't supposed to sustain so much? That was the thing that grabbed me right off the bat (and the neck).
3) I really like the way Fender is doing the necks now, with a rolled fingerboard and finished fretboard but a "satin" neck...I put "satin" in quotes because I don't really think it is a satin ("cloudy") finish, like the american deluxe strat I had from a few years ago (sold it, never bonded with it...neck felt fake to me...that was the last guitar I ordered and did not play before I bought it...never again).
Did I get a particularly good one, or is this par for the course with 2010 Fender American Strats? Not sure, but this one is good.
OK, so I swapped the pickups out almost immediately... I lived with them for two days, and knew the guitar had way more potential. I had a set of Fralin blues specials in the drawer from an old project, so I swapped them in...and they sound great in this guitar. The original pickups were seriously underwhelming, the only glaring flaw I have found so far. Interestingly, the stock pickups were made on a weird plastic bobbin...and the bridge pickup had two large black screws tapped into the bottom of it (what is up with that?).
I also added a blend pot while I was in there, in place of the second tone pot, which allows me to have neck+bridge, or even all three pickups. Very cool. If you like the neck+bridge sound in general (tele, les paul), which I do, I highly recommend this easy mod.
Anyway, I am impressed (don't worry blueman, my Les Paul Black Beauty w/ Phat Cats is still #1). That being said, I think I am starting to understand the deal with fuzz a bit more via this strat...
The new Fender American Strat I picked up two weeks ago has really impressed me on several levels, compelling me to write this (long) post much sooner than I would otherwise.
1) The fit and finish is wonderful, and the setup and intonation were great right off the shelf. Very impressive, especially given all the threads here and there about all the crappy new guitars that the big companies are putting out. There is not one detail out of whack on this guitar. Even the soldering/wiring was top notch inside (see below as to how I know this).
2) The acoustic tone is great...rings, sustains, etc. I thought strats weren't supposed to sustain so much? That was the thing that grabbed me right off the bat (and the neck).
3) I really like the way Fender is doing the necks now, with a rolled fingerboard and finished fretboard but a "satin" neck...I put "satin" in quotes because I don't really think it is a satin ("cloudy") finish, like the american deluxe strat I had from a few years ago (sold it, never bonded with it...neck felt fake to me...that was the last guitar I ordered and did not play before I bought it...never again).
Did I get a particularly good one, or is this par for the course with 2010 Fender American Strats? Not sure, but this one is good.
OK, so I swapped the pickups out almost immediately... I lived with them for two days, and knew the guitar had way more potential. I had a set of Fralin blues specials in the drawer from an old project, so I swapped them in...and they sound great in this guitar. The original pickups were seriously underwhelming, the only glaring flaw I have found so far. Interestingly, the stock pickups were made on a weird plastic bobbin...and the bridge pickup had two large black screws tapped into the bottom of it (what is up with that?).
I also added a blend pot while I was in there, in place of the second tone pot, which allows me to have neck+bridge, or even all three pickups. Very cool. If you like the neck+bridge sound in general (tele, les paul), which I do, I highly recommend this easy mod.
Anyway, I am impressed (don't worry blueman, my Les Paul Black Beauty w/ Phat Cats is still #1). That being said, I think I am starting to understand the deal with fuzz a bit more via this strat...