written by bruceinhonolulu on 31/10/2014
its too bad the Highway 1 is out of production. I own 2 of them and they're damn good strats! I think they sound and feel better than a the American standard and you can do any upgrade with no fear or guilt. the American special replaced this but its the same guitar but with a different paint job. They are equivalent to Gibson' traditional standard les paul models which also sound and feel better by it no weight relief than the Gibson les paul standard. The highway 1 is fenders' true and closest strat in this time and day that is like the great ones built in the late 50s to mid 70s.
written by skimhit on 25/09/2013
Good guitar a little noisy due to none reverse wound pick ups. My 2009 US standards defiantly better. 2002-2011 used 500-550 $ Canadian
written by on 03/03/2011
I decided to upgrade from a Fender Squire. I tried about three Fender Stratocasters in our local shop, and found the Highway 1 just felt and sounded the best.
The look and finish is great. I have noticed that the pickguard has a nice aged off white look.The ultra thin finish is perfect, as I am not that keen on high gloss guitars. I think these guitars will age really well. The reverse coil pickups, I think do sound thicker in sound, this maybe causes the bottom end to be a little too thick in sound, but the dynamics of the coils and tone knobs allows adjusting the tone to whatever style suits your playing, and the thick bottom end can be adjusted out.
My guitar has the maple fingerboard, which took some getting used to. Compared to my old Squire the frets felt huge and the fingerboard just felt too big!! However it was really just a matter of my hand getting used to the feel of the fingerboard, and I now find it fine.
Negative things. The guitar came very poorly set up. Fret buzz everywhere and action too low. I gave it back to the shop, who sent it to their guitar repairer. A total waste of time as it was only slightly better when I got it back.They blamed most of it on the fact that I liked it tuned to Eb??
I then took it to another guitar shop, who recommended thicker gauge strings,that and another setup, and the guitar is now awesome (even in Eb!!). I like quite a high action and love thick strings for that blues sound, and the guitar does not disappoint.
Overall if you are looking for a US built strat,give the Highway 1 a go. I have to say the price is a big plus but I would have spent the extra money on the standard US strat had it sounded better but it didn't. I guess the moral of the story is always try as many guitars as you can, and never buy a guitar without trying it first. Every guitar is unique,why risk spending all your hard earned cash on an online purhase when you can try guitars in a shop and find the one that suits you??
The tonal improvement over my old Squire is huge, and I always thought my Squire sounded great!! The only one thing I would say to Fender is,include a hardcase as standard (UK), and teach people in the factory how to set guitars up to be at least playable. It's such a shame, as Fender strats are beautifully made, and set up right,would be a joy to own from the moment you get one home,rather than after weeks of adjustment. I've owned several guitars but for me the Fender strat offers the most qualities I like from an electric guitar, plus the list of great blues players that have all made the strat their number one choice of
instrument, makes it the guitar of my choice. I play my Highway 1 through a VOX Valvetronix 100.Hope this helps.
written by Ajsfenders on 10/10/2010
i have three 2007 highway one sss strats i know today 2010 the
2007 highway one sss strats are very much sought after and are
selling if you can even find one between $1,200 to $1,300 theres
a few differnces between the 2007 highway one sss strats and the one's
of 08 - 09 and 2010's. right off the bat the 2007's were crafted with
a two piece Alder body the others are three piece alder body's and there's
a few other difernces. if you find a 2007 grabe it and fast thats even
if you can find one.the 2007 highway one strats are some of the best
fender strats crafted in many years!
Written on: 21/06/2011
where are you getting the info on 07 HWY one's being 2 peice? I have one....its a wonderful guitar and I love it. What are the other differences?
Written on: 04/10/2013
your nuts, $450- 500 max Kijiji Toronto,,ones over that just sit and never sell. The new American Standards excellent and way more guitar $1200 at most.
Written on: 25/09/2013
I have a 2004 sunburst, its actually a 2 piece body. solid colors tend to be 5 -7 piece as its easier to hide the seams
Anyone paying more than 550$ for a used highway one is an idiot.
written by sixfingers on 16/03/2010
THE HIGHWAY ONE SSS STRAT is simply one of the best
all around strats fender has produced in years. even today
i still havent head a strat that produces such tone versatility
sustain and classic old school feel like the highway one sss strat.
i bought 3 of them back in 2009 when they listed with (no case) $1,130
and i payed $930 a piece for mine and very well worth it. now that fender
has droped the prices on most of there strats including the highway one sss strat i'm thinking of buying a fourth. these strats have been caled by pro guitarist to be legedary and i have to agree. the new american standard strat doesnt come close to the Brilliant highway one sss strat.
and the new american special strats are a joke compared to the highway one sss strat. the highway one sss strat is already a legendary and classic strat and there are not many strat that are in this brilliant strats leage
and that even includes some customshop made strats. the highway one sss strat will deliver all the time and a lot more its simply a legend!
Written on: 20/03/2010
I found this review very helpful because...IS SIMPLY TRUE about the highway one sss strat its simply the best strat made in over 35 years. and its one of the most tone versatility strat ever fender has produced. the highway one sss strat is simply a straight up legendary stratocaster hands down!
Written on: 01/09/2010
I found this review very helpful because...
<br/>the 2007 highway one sss strats are highly sought
<br/>after today. i have seen the 2007 daphne blue
<br/>highway one sss strat sell for $1,200 this guitar
<br/>was discontinued january 1 2008. and its very hard
<br/>to find today. the 2007 highway one strat is a Brilliant
<br/>guitar period! it is a legendary strat for shure.
written by on 20/12/2009
these guitars are now end of the run into a new decade an the new american standard takes its place,they,ll be highly sought after without a doubt the looks an sound is awesome bearing in mind they launched in 2002 an didnt look any differnt from the american series except they had differnt pick ups , which annoyed everyone who had paid £900 for the american series £400 more than the highwayone,and the CARONA model previous to it,run for only 1 year because evryone was complaining that its was a mexican /american the mexican factory got them in to paint then they went back to carona factory to get assembled so in all the distain over the highwayone they remodelled it in 2007 put a 70s wide headstock and kept the 60s vintage body an put alnico3 pickups EUREKA a hybrid a guitar in its own right differnt looks an sound an even better than strats, at double the price,,FENDERS way of saying,,GET IT UP YOU~s,after all they ,re in market to sell guitars they,re not there to be dictated to by collectors and purist,s that have allready got them, overall you cant go wrong these guitars are the best value american strat ever sold,, people are snapping them up now i,m glad i bought mine wont be parting whi it ever ,, go BUY one marks 11 out of 10
written by on 07/07/2009
Brought my Honey Blonde Highway Strat 2nd Hand (2002) not that you can tell, fantastic guitar great sound and play ability would recommend this guitar to any proffesional.
Cannot give any negitive feedback on this Stratacaster.
written by guitarplay on 11/05/2009
fantastic! craftmanship/tone/sustain.
love the neck its very smooth no ruff
edges on the pick ups. alnico III pick ups
are very versatile some of the best sounding
pick ups out there today. bought this strat 7 months ago
and my 2008 american standard strat is doing nothing
but collecting dust. i cant seem to put the Fender Highway One Stratocaster down.
written by on 10/02/2009
The Fender Highway One Stratocaster is a beautiful instrument, it is a working piece of art. The alnico pickups sound vintage and sweet and the humbucker has good thick distortion. I bought the Satin finish and it just looks solid, tough, and vintage. Only bad point is the bridge, these old bridges are obviously not going to be as good as the new Floyd Rose style, however, it does stay in tune pretty well.
written by on 19/01/2009
these are awesome guitars well worth the money. mine has been played side by side with an American custom shop model,(friends in a band) Even he said it was hard to tell the difference beetween the tones on both guitars and how well the highway played. How awesome is that! Fender Highway One Stratocaster, they play like butter,awesome tone,i have a 2006 60th anniversary in honey blonde,superb.
written by Negativegravity on 07/11/2008
Great sound, great value for money and amazing quality. An overall amazing guitar.
written by on 15/10/2008
Great looks, good typical strat sound but the thin E string has no punch. It's a good guitar and cheap, recommended.
written by on 07/09/2008
The Fender Highway One Stratocaster is very gigable and rockable, i love this guitar.
written by ajstrat on 29/08/2008
The 2007 Highway Ones are in my opinion are the best strats out there today. I have compared the Highway One with the new American Standards and the Highway One walks all over the new American Standards in tone versatility/feel/sustain. The 2007 Highway Ones are simply a better strat.
written by on 30/07/2008
The Fender Highway One Stratocaster has a lovely sound but I'm not a fan of the finish they've used. Overall, a very good guitar at a nice price.
written by sixstrings on 23/07/2008
Compared the Highway One Strat to 4 different American Standards including the new 2008 American Standard and the Highway One simply is a better all around Strat than the American Standard. More versatile in tone better feel and playability the Highway One is simply awesome!
written by on 25/06/2008
After painful, droned hours of a guitar search the feel of this guitar's neck just stood out so much even though it was the first one I tried! The variation of tones is remarkable from the vintage 70's sound to the Gretsch jazz (but obviously not the real thing!). Definitely value for money considering for £500 you could only get a Gibson standard SG, the usual Jag's being around £600 and American series teles at around £600.
written by on 19/06/2008
I tried several Strats in the shop including some much more expensive models and this one stood out for me. Lovely set-up and action, beautiful tone, very playable. Love the 70s headstock and jumbo frets. None really. I can't understand why some people have a downer on this model. Maybe it's not quite the classic Strat tone but it has a awesome tone of it's own. This one's a keeper!
written by Fletch58 on 13/06/2008
Made from quality components, better than earlier fender models, plays great, sounds even better. These guitars are well made as good as any USA strat, buy one you can't go wrong !!!!!!!!! No bad points.
written by on 10/04/2008
The Fender Highway One looks fantastic, sounds just awesome. The bridge humbucker sounds particularly good. This guitar is more versatile, to my mind, than a standard strat, as I seem to be able to get a far greater variations in tone etc, as you can get the real solid humbucker sounds, but also the classic strat neck sounds, so anything from hard rock and metal, through classic rock and to blues sounds great. This guitar has massive frets, and as soon as I picked it up it felt so comfortable it was like id been playing it for years. Good value for money, American made. Real deal, and I think sounds just as hot as the American standard, and miles better than the Mex.
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Guest's Comment
Written on: 05/08/2012
I bought a 2004 highwayone SSS maple neck online and I was disappointed with it at first - the bottom E string had more rattles than a millionaires baby - I got a local guitar tech to restring it with ernie ball 9 gauge and adjust the harmonics - this improved it though the bottom E still rattled a bit but I soon grew to love this guitar - the pickups have that classic fender tone though the bridge pickup is a bit gutless for metal