bigG
August 8th, 2009, 10:05 PM
Hello again, boys and girls!
As threatened in my NGD Taylor SolidBody Classic review, here comes a review of my latest purchase. Picked her up Friday evening. I present:
The upgraded 2009 Fender MIM Standard Strat HSS, or Fat Strat. Right off the bat, I'll tell you I am IN LOVE with this guitar! I had been looking very seriously at the Fender Highway One Strat, and quite liked it and was 99% there to buy it Friday, but I thought I'd check the Fat Strat out, simply b/c I don't much care for, and rarely use, the bridge pu on a Strat. I liked the look of the guitar (Lake Placid Blue w Rosewood Fretboard) and the humbucker in the bridge position just got me to thinkin' I might like this ax.
The Highway One is made in the USA (well, the electronics are made in Mexico, the body and neck are USA made, and it's assembled in the USA). The Fat Strat is MIM. The Highway One was down from a street price of $899 to a sale price of $699, which really made it tantalizing! The MIM Fat Strat streets at $499.
I have played MANY Strats over the years, so I know them pretty well, but I'm no expert. When scoping out the Highway One, I also played the Fender Standard USA Strat for comparison. The USA Strat was nice (I played two of 'em), but I thought the Highway One to be just as nice, if not slightly better in tone and action. Also, the Highway One comes w a nitro laquer finish, which lets the wood breath - doesn't have that heavy indestrutable poly finish, which I also liked.
Which brings me to the one Fender I hadn't even yet considered: The 2009 upgraded MIM Fender Fat Strat. I was in the shop Friday fully ready to buy the Highway One for $699, but wanted to check out the beautiful Lake Placid Blue w rosewood fretboard Fatty at the last minute (I hadn't even noticed it before), and...wouldn't you know it, from the moment I visually and mechanically checked her out and plugged her in to a Traynor 30w tube amp, this beauty IMMEDIATELY rang all my bells and whistles, and I knew, right then and there, after some 5 - 10 minutes of playing, that THIS was MY guitar! (OMG, you should hear it thru my Swart! It's like heaven on earth. Such beautiful clean and overdriven tones!)
The action, fit and finish are superb. The build quality is superb. The action is sublime! Of all my guitars, this might just be THE ONE that I've always been destined to have! It just fits me and all my expectations like a glove! (I know I'm in the honeymoon period, but I've been there before w many a guitar, and only one or two others, in more than 45 years of playing, has earned my affection and respect so deeply, so immediately!)
The single coils are just the slightest bit warmer than "standard", but still that unmistakeable Strat quack. Simply beatiful tones for playing clean and w just a bit of overdrive. And although there is some 60Hz hum in positions one and three, it's not very much at all, compared to any other Strat, including my other two. Which brings me to the final straw that broke the camel's back for me: the HB in the bridge postion. This gives the guit so many tonal variations and possibilities for rhythm and lead work!
As I write this, I had just finished another 2 hours of playing my baby, after playing her for a solid 3 1/2 hours last night, before I wrote the Taylor SolidBody Classic review. I just can't say enough about how smoothly and effortlessly this baby plays, and I've been using all 5 blade switch postions, varying from playing some jazz chording to rock chording and riffs to flat out rock and blues leads (and those fantastic turnarounds, even more of which I've discovered on this beauty since last night!). This Fat Strat definitely brings out the best in my playing, and I'm playing some relatively new licks and riffs almost effortlessy, as if I'd been playing them for years.
I think this proves a few things for me: The price of a guitar does not guarantee that it's the best simply b/c it costs more / Fender Mexico has REALLY gotten their act together w these new, upgraded 2009s / DO NOT overlook a Fender guit because it's MIM! / Play EVERY guitar you can within your price range, even if you initially had your heart set on a given one (within AND outside of the brand you're looking at) / you just might find that you, personally, fall in love w a different, perhaps even less expensive guitar...and some other stuff that slipped my mind, but you get the idea.
I do love every guitar I own. Each has a uniqueness and a personality that I love about it. They range in price from that 1983 Fender Bullet (now worth abt $500 +/-, and rising!) to my Peavey HP Special USA Custom Shop (which I paid $1500 for). In between are the others in my signature, including my dearly beloved Taylor SolidBody ($1299) and Peavey HP Signature EXP ($599). But, I gotta tell ya, this MIM Fender Standard HSS is feeling right now like the one I was meant to own, of all the rest! THE ONE that had my name on it!
An absolutely amazing guitar, and for $499! And I'd put it up against any other Fender Strat made anywhere in the world, and it would hold its own and then some! At this point in my storied guitar career, this, I think, is the one I could NEVER part with, for any reason!
Thanks for reading. I know this may sound a bit over-the-top, but every word is true and heartfelt. I have found MY guitar - for me, everything about it is perfect!
(Here's a link to MF's page for this guitar. Click on "color/options" and select Lake Placid Blue w Rosewood Fretboard. This is my baby:
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Standard-Stratocaster-HSS-Electric-Guitar?sku=501160
The color is a bit more striking in person, but you get the idea.)
G
(EDIT: Please don't think I'm showing off like some rich guy who can afford any guitar he wants. The purchase of this guitar and my Taylor SolidBody was only made possible by the monies from the sale of my Ric 360/12 and my Ibanez S520EX. Thank you and goodnight. :) )
As threatened in my NGD Taylor SolidBody Classic review, here comes a review of my latest purchase. Picked her up Friday evening. I present:
The upgraded 2009 Fender MIM Standard Strat HSS, or Fat Strat. Right off the bat, I'll tell you I am IN LOVE with this guitar! I had been looking very seriously at the Fender Highway One Strat, and quite liked it and was 99% there to buy it Friday, but I thought I'd check the Fat Strat out, simply b/c I don't much care for, and rarely use, the bridge pu on a Strat. I liked the look of the guitar (Lake Placid Blue w Rosewood Fretboard) and the humbucker in the bridge position just got me to thinkin' I might like this ax.
The Highway One is made in the USA (well, the electronics are made in Mexico, the body and neck are USA made, and it's assembled in the USA). The Fat Strat is MIM. The Highway One was down from a street price of $899 to a sale price of $699, which really made it tantalizing! The MIM Fat Strat streets at $499.
I have played MANY Strats over the years, so I know them pretty well, but I'm no expert. When scoping out the Highway One, I also played the Fender Standard USA Strat for comparison. The USA Strat was nice (I played two of 'em), but I thought the Highway One to be just as nice, if not slightly better in tone and action. Also, the Highway One comes w a nitro laquer finish, which lets the wood breath - doesn't have that heavy indestrutable poly finish, which I also liked.
Which brings me to the one Fender I hadn't even yet considered: The 2009 upgraded MIM Fender Fat Strat. I was in the shop Friday fully ready to buy the Highway One for $699, but wanted to check out the beautiful Lake Placid Blue w rosewood fretboard Fatty at the last minute (I hadn't even noticed it before), and...wouldn't you know it, from the moment I visually and mechanically checked her out and plugged her in to a Traynor 30w tube amp, this beauty IMMEDIATELY rang all my bells and whistles, and I knew, right then and there, after some 5 - 10 minutes of playing, that THIS was MY guitar! (OMG, you should hear it thru my Swart! It's like heaven on earth. Such beautiful clean and overdriven tones!)
The action, fit and finish are superb. The build quality is superb. The action is sublime! Of all my guitars, this might just be THE ONE that I've always been destined to have! It just fits me and all my expectations like a glove! (I know I'm in the honeymoon period, but I've been there before w many a guitar, and only one or two others, in more than 45 years of playing, has earned my affection and respect so deeply, so immediately!)
The single coils are just the slightest bit warmer than "standard", but still that unmistakeable Strat quack. Simply beatiful tones for playing clean and w just a bit of overdrive. And although there is some 60Hz hum in positions one and three, it's not very much at all, compared to any other Strat, including my other two. Which brings me to the final straw that broke the camel's back for me: the HB in the bridge postion. This gives the guit so many tonal variations and possibilities for rhythm and lead work!
As I write this, I had just finished another 2 hours of playing my baby, after playing her for a solid 3 1/2 hours last night, before I wrote the Taylor SolidBody Classic review. I just can't say enough about how smoothly and effortlessly this baby plays, and I've been using all 5 blade switch postions, varying from playing some jazz chording to rock chording and riffs to flat out rock and blues leads (and those fantastic turnarounds, even more of which I've discovered on this beauty since last night!). This Fat Strat definitely brings out the best in my playing, and I'm playing some relatively new licks and riffs almost effortlessy, as if I'd been playing them for years.
I think this proves a few things for me: The price of a guitar does not guarantee that it's the best simply b/c it costs more / Fender Mexico has REALLY gotten their act together w these new, upgraded 2009s / DO NOT overlook a Fender guit because it's MIM! / Play EVERY guitar you can within your price range, even if you initially had your heart set on a given one (within AND outside of the brand you're looking at) / you just might find that you, personally, fall in love w a different, perhaps even less expensive guitar...and some other stuff that slipped my mind, but you get the idea.
I do love every guitar I own. Each has a uniqueness and a personality that I love about it. They range in price from that 1983 Fender Bullet (now worth abt $500 +/-, and rising!) to my Peavey HP Special USA Custom Shop (which I paid $1500 for). In between are the others in my signature, including my dearly beloved Taylor SolidBody ($1299) and Peavey HP Signature EXP ($599). But, I gotta tell ya, this MIM Fender Standard HSS is feeling right now like the one I was meant to own, of all the rest! THE ONE that had my name on it!
An absolutely amazing guitar, and for $499! And I'd put it up against any other Fender Strat made anywhere in the world, and it would hold its own and then some! At this point in my storied guitar career, this, I think, is the one I could NEVER part with, for any reason!
Thanks for reading. I know this may sound a bit over-the-top, but every word is true and heartfelt. I have found MY guitar - for me, everything about it is perfect!
(Here's a link to MF's page for this guitar. Click on "color/options" and select Lake Placid Blue w Rosewood Fretboard. This is my baby:
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Standard-Stratocaster-HSS-Electric-Guitar?sku=501160
The color is a bit more striking in person, but you get the idea.)
G
(EDIT: Please don't think I'm showing off like some rich guy who can afford any guitar he wants. The purchase of this guitar and my Taylor SolidBody was only made possible by the monies from the sale of my Ric 360/12 and my Ibanez S520EX. Thank you and goodnight. :) )