In the life of a musician, some types of guitars must necessarily be present in his RIG, one of which is certainly the Stratocaster, a guitar that is now omnipresent in any stage or recording studio in the terraqueo world, but among the various American standards. , made in mexico, classic, custom shop and so on, which musician could choose as a Stratocaster to spend at least a human figure and maintain a respectable performance?
Aesthetic Considerations
I would say that this section is somewhat questionable for a simple matter of taste, if you like the shape of the Stratocaster then you don't have any problems the difference can only be seen in the colors, the one I would have preferred would have been the sunbrust with tortoiseshell pickguard, but I am satisfied with its black color which is not bad but in any case it does not drive me crazy with joy.
Technical Considerations
This particular series, built in Mexico unlike the old American series which is even more scary but unfortunately it is difficult to find it, it has a truly respectable equipment that pleasantly surprised me in many respects, the single coil are Fender Texas Special while the 'humbucker is a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates, which is a very respectable pick up like any other 59 o Jeff Beck that we usually find around.
Under the pickguard, on the other hand, I find a rather decent shielding that covers the electronics compartment and that of the pick ups, which is very welcome personally speaking and three potentiometers Fender/CTS da 250 k (as per circuit), from the electronic point of view I have nothing to complain about, there are only decent wires and a capacitor for the treeblebleed and otherwise this guitar is ready for war, congratulations to Fender.
The neck is a single piece of maple with a walnut sheet on the back to trace a more classic aesthetic, modern mold neck with a 9,5 radius and a modern C profile, the rosewood looks very nice, obviously talking about a guitar economic but has nice grain to look at, medium jumbo frets not of excellent quality but it can be solved when you take it to retest, for the rest the painting è polyurethane, which I would have expected without qualms for guitars in this range, and I think quite thick at first sight, but it's the Fender standard for these low ranges, so I'm not complaining.
Vintage Fender selette on six screw bridge, here I turned my nose up, why put a vintage bridge on a modern guitar?
I did not understand the reasons for this choice even if I am a lover of the six-screw bridge because I consider it more stable, I solved it by mounting a series of selections Grap Tech in stainless steel, better to look at and more durable than normal selects.
Fender self-locking tuners, nothing to report, they keep the tuning in a decent way even with some violent bending, the lever strokes within the half tone hold up well, but I don't have the bridge set in such a way as to have more travel, but they should hold up without a hit to hurt.
Plastic nut, as on all Fenders, will be the next piece to change with a bone one to have more sustain and a much better sound, a small expense that greatly increases the performance of the instrument.
Sound Considerations
As for the guitar, especially when it comes to Stratocaster and similar, we often come across a series of basic sounds that we know very well, the sounds of positions one, two and three of the Stratocaster we all know and are valid for this too. guitar, Texas Specials allow you to have that extra warmth over standard pickups and a slightly better hit, all without having a number of high too maddening to look like chainsaws and with the right amount of Twang which makes you genre-friendly guitar rock-blues vintage style.
Things change when we start to move towards positions four and five of the selector, obviously there is a humbucker in the bridge, and not just any humbucker, a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates which is not a very cheap pickup even if not very powerful in this context (250k potentiometers, the circuitry does not go much pro humbucker, but it is a layer so most of it fits) compared to a Jeff Beck but allows you to have fun both in clean and in distortion, it sounds very round and with few mids.
As for the guitar itself, outside of its electronic piano, I must say that it sounds good, the body vibrates well despite the polyurethane paint and you can also feel the neck vibrate which being a single piece of maple allows a beautiful transmission.
A half idea expresses the good Greg, which confirms my impressions ->Video-Try GregGuitars
Economic Considerations
Selling price of the model examined, 725 €, now there is the new model that I have never tried, always Mexican, but which features a different bridge pick up always built by fender and a Tap Coil system, I would say that it is a very competitive and affordable price since some Mexican ones cost almost the same digit and don't have the same electronics for example.
The value for money is very high, it is money well spent.
Final considerations
Fully equipped guitar compared to the very normal made in Mexico, it comes from the factory with a beautiful and very functional equipment, it is a very playable guitar and also very comfortable for those with slightly thick hands like those of myself, a good compromise for those approaching the Fender brand or for those looking for an economical but good performance Stratocaster.
PRO
- Great convenience
- Excellent basic equipment
AGAINST
- A splitting system for the humbucker would have been nice
- Frets not excellent, but it is an economic range
Note from the author
Personally speaking, I bought this guitar for work, as many situations needed the typical Fender sounds, but I was looking for an economical solution that would allow me to work without spending a fortune.
I must admit that this little guitar surprised me a lot for its endowment and performance, I preferred it to Classic Player 50 e 60 which in any case cost almost 200 euros more, it must have been that slightly more modern setting of the neck and the humbucker at the bridge probably, I'm not a big fan of the typical sounds of the blues or in any case of that ream, although the magnets are of excellent level, maybe one day I will provide a total replacement to make it more leaning towards modern rock, but it is not safe as an option, also with a few hundred euros of expenditure (about 80 for the saddles, 15 for the nut and about 100 for the mechanics) you can make this tool that is already born well built a pack forklift for all situations, I am very satisfied for now with my purchase and the changes I am making and I believe that if I replace it it will be for another Strat but of a very high range higher, perhaps a American Elite or a custom shop, but not to say that this guitar sounds damn good, but to say that to make a noteworthy leap in quality I would prefer to take out a loan for a much higher level instrument than the American Standard.
