NGD: Fender Elite Strat

Gone_Shootin

Gone_Shootin

New member
I ordered this a little over a week ago, but today was the first chance I've had to unbox it and give it a whirl (I was on the road).

And I love this Strat! I'm not much if a Fender guy because the Strats I've played in the past just didn't do it for me. Mainly because of the necks. Well, before I ordered this one I was in a GC that had an Elite Strat on display, and I actually liked the neck on it. The profile is a little weird, but once you play on it a little bit, it feels pretty good (it tapers from a D at the nut to a C the further up you go). And I really like the compound radius (something I've always liked about my Jacksons and Charvel). And the N4 pickups sound great! I'm not much if an aficionado on single coils, but I like them! And I'm sure that the ash body is part of it too. It has some of the tones I've been missing from my guitar collection. It's a very lively sounding guitar, even unplugged.

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Re: NGD: Fender Elite Strat

I thought you were gonna talk about the 80s Elites, but nonetheless, the new Elites are pretty solid guitars.
 
Re: NGD: Fender Elite Strat

Love it. My favorite neck. Great guitar.


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Re: NGD: Fender Elite Strat

Chistopher said:
I thought you were gonna talk about the 80s Elites, but nonetheless, the new Elites are pretty solid guitars.
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Could have done without your condescending approval. If you have an opinion regarding specific good or bad components or characteristics please express them.
I have an Elite and it is certainly more that just a "pretty solid guitar." I agree with the OP's review, the neck, pickups and sound, even unplugged, are exceptional. My only gripe was the set up was less than expected for this level of guitar.
 
Re: NGD: Fender Elite Strat

justFred said:
Could have done without your condescending approval.
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I'm sorry, I was clearly way out of line with my comments about the overall superior build quality of both lines of Fender's Elite Stratocasters. And how dare I even mention what is in my opinion the best Strat to have become a production model in the 80's.

I was clearly being condescending, I thought that somehow I was blessed by the guitar gods to label a guitar "pretty solid", when I should have used more colorful language. I disrespected my fellow forum users and, more importantly, Leo Fender himself by my lack of ability to choose a single part as superior to a complex and all together excellent system.

I hope you find it in your heart to overlook my transgressions.
 
Re: NGD: Fender Elite Strat

Lol, guys, calm down.

Thanks for sticking up for me, justFred. But the first forum I ever joined was AR-15.com, which is a forum rife with snarky comments and good matured ribbing. So I took Christopher's first comment as him joking around, and the second as a compliment.

And thanks, everybody for the compliments. I've been pleasantly surprised by this guitar. So many great tones, and while the neck isn't a shredder, it's still great. And the fit & finish is impeccable.

But I will echo the comment above about the setup. It was waaaaay out of tune and the tremolo was a mile high. I'm going to have to tweak the string heights some too. But that stuff is a minor annoyance. I don't expect a guitar to get shipped from California, sit in a warehouse in Mississippi, and get shipped to Iowa in winter and not need some setup.
 
Re: NGD: Fender Elite Strat

How are the new N4s? The one I got to play had a set of Texas Specials in it so I never got to hear the new pickups. I didn't like the N3s, but I hear that the N4s are a whole lot better.
 
Re: NGD: Fender Elite Strat

Chistopher said:
How are the new N4s? The one I got to play had a set of Texas Specials in it so I never got to hear the new pickups. I didn't like the N3s, but I hear that the N4s are a whole lot better.
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I really like them, but I'm not too terribly knowledgeable about single coils. But they sound better to my ears than the SSL-1s and STK-1s in some of my other guitars. They have the spank, twang, and glassiness I would expect from a decent single coil. The only gripe I have so far is that the bridge pup is a little too thin for my tastes. But I'm used to a humbucker in that position, so that probably has alot to do with what my ears are telling me. Plus I'm still figuring out amp settings. Had some good results stacking ODs in front of a clean amp in Helix Native this afternoon.
 
Re: NGD: Fender Elite Strat

Great looking Strat. I'm happy someone has found their happy place with single coils. Lord knows I've struggled with that for as long as I've played. It's a beautiful guitar and I too love the compound radius.

Big congrats.
 
Re: NGD: Fender Elite Strat

Gone_Shootin said:
I really like them, but I'm not too terribly knowledgeable about single coils. But they sound better to my ears than the SSL-1s
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Blasphemy!!!!


(J/k, glad you liked them I just think the ssl-1s are best in class :) )


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Re: NGD: Fender Elite Strat

Blille said:
Blasphemy!!!!


(J/k, glad you liked them I just think the ssl-1s are best in class :) )


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
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Lol!

It could very well be the guitars they're in, MIJ Jacksons and a Charvel, all with alder bodies. Being paired JBs probably doesn't help either. Lol
 
Re: NGD: Fender Elite Strat

Congrats on the new axe G_S!!!

Though Arfcom wasn't my first forum membership, it's certainly my longest (since Jan '03). I think that the defunct PRS Forum was my first. It was back in the late 90s. Much cork-sniffery on that one. More than TGP even.
 
Re: NGD: Fender Elite Strat

Red_Label said:
Congrats on the new axe G_S!!!

Though Arfcom wasn't my first forum membership, it's certainly my longest (since Jan '03). I think that the defunct PRS Forum was my first. It was back in the late 90s. Much cork-sniffery on that one. More than TGP even.
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Thanks, and I just signed up over at TGP to ask some questions about Suhr pickups. Yeah, there's some cork sniffing over there. Almost as bad as some of the fanbois you find on the gun boards. Lol
 
Re: NGD: Fender Elite Strat

I love jackson and charvel too, the elite strats really surprised me, they have very good tone and playability! Really love where fender is going with their American models.
 
Re: NGD: Fender Elite Strat

PierceOkken said:
I love jackson and charvel too, the elite strats really surprised me, they have very good tone and playability! Really love where fender is going with their American models.
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Indeed. Evidently, some of that Jackson/Charvel goodness has been working it's way into Fender's corporate culture.

Now, if they'd just straight up offer a model with the same neck profile as my Charvel Dreamsicle, I'd be in heaven.
 
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Re: NGD: Fender Elite Strat

That is one nice looking guitar! I really like the wood grain on the body and the maple neck. Stratocasters are great guitars to own and play. I have a '98 American Standard in my avatar and it's a real keeper of a guitar. I noticed on your guitar does it have the truss rod adjustment by the neck pick up and what kind?



;>)/
 
Re: NGD: Fender Elite Strat

Gone_Shootin said:
Thanks, and I just signed up over at TGP to ask some questions about Suhr pickups. Yeah, there's some cork sniffing over there. Almost as bad as some of the fanbois you find on the gun boards. Lol
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I've only had one Suhr (a Classic in H-S-S if I recall correctly). It seemed stiff and sterile to me. I much prefer the pickups and playability in the four Andersons that I've owned. But I'm a HUGE fanboy of Tom Anderson's guitars, so I'm completely biased.

Glad to hear that you're digging your Fender Elite. I was curious about those. Last Fender I had was an American Deluxe. I didn't care for it. Worst part was, I traded a mint MM Steve Morse Y2D in sunset purple for it that played like a dream (like my Andersons). But the MM sounded pretty sterile as well, which is primarily why I sold it. Would have been killer with different pups and a forearm contour.
 
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