Fender American Standard Stratocaster Electric Guitar

Fender has been known throughout history. They have had some of the most famous guitar players ever as their best advertisements; hence they need no television coverage or radio ads. They get all they need from the massive stars who stand, carefree in front of thousands of fans, playing the MOST famous guitar that will ever be built. It is an AMERICAN standard.

The American Standard Stratocaster has every mark of a classic guitar, ...
...appreciate the craftsmanship of a Fender Stratocaster. The neck is smooth and not overly thin, and the string height is just “so” so that it retains that much talked about fender twang. That’s not to say it can’t play anything except twang, Strats have been used for everything up to an including light jazz, to death metal.

The sound is quite simply remarkable. There are few words to describe the sound of the ... more

Fender has been known throughout history. They have had some of the most famous guitar players ever as their best advertisements; hence they need no television coverage or radio ads. They get all they need from the massive stars who stand, carefree in front of thousands of fans, playing the MOST famous guitar that will ever be built. It is an AMERICAN standard.

Firstly, of course there are the finishes. Some guitars on a purely aesthetic level even fail, simply because their finishes are not flawless, or does not match the grain of the wood. With fender, you can be sure that this never happens. Whether it’s a white on black strat, or a candy apple red American hardwood buddy holly strat the finish is as smooth as a baby’s behind. The nuts, tuning machinery and tremolo system (the bit at the bridge with the whammy bar) are polished and usually silvery in colour, which adds nice effect to the overall look. The tone knobs are of course in classical styling, featuring numbers and a nice smooth motion.

The play. Well, the feel of a strat is unlike any other guitar. Even if you’re into superstrats of les pauls, you simply have to appreciate the craftsmanship of a Fender Stratocaster. The neck is smooth and not overly thin, and the string height is just “so” so that it retains that much talked about fender twang. That’s not to say it can’t play anything except twang, Strats have been used for everything up to an including light jazz, to death metal.

Some say that stamping “American” on what would otherwise be a guitar made in Mexico or Japan gives Fender a license to add about £300 to the price tag. I argue this is not the case. Sure, guitars that Fender make in the other countries are nice, but there is no case included, and the loss of the Delta tone pickups are a real miss. Few things can be truly made to sound this good. Thank God that Fender Strats do. Where would we be without the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Eddie Van Halen (who started on a strat)?

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