Fender Stratocaster

The deluxe version of this guitar is my main guitar and I love it.

Just bought a fender hss and it arrived next day. What a great service, so good I recommended it to friend who also purchased one. Great site, great communication, highly recommended. GREAT GUITAR

I've just recently bought a Mexican Strat and am very impressed with it. I tried loads of strats at the shop including the lower end American models and the one I bought was the best of the lot including the USA ones that I tried.

The finish is good and overall the set up was fine with the action a little on the high side for my liking.

The pickups sound fantastic and when I play this guitar you know immediately its a strat... its got that sound!

I am however experiencing some very minor tuning instabilities but this should be sorted with some locking tuners.

This is a fantastic instrument at this price...

My advice is to try as many as you can till you find a good one.. I'm lucky as I did!

I bought my 2009 Mexican Standard Strat back in January this 2010, having spend some time trying to decide whether to go for the full-blown American version instead (at almost double the price!)

In the end, I decided upon the Mexican strat, mainly because it was the only one available in the colour that I wanted (Lake Placid Blue), to replace a blue Tokai strat I had back in the '80's

The guitar I went for was a Lake Placid Blue Standard Strat, with a maple fingerboard.

I am knocked out with the quality and sound of this guitar. Even playing it acoustically, it has the authentic sound and feel, and for some reason the string tension is a lot better (lower) than I remember from my Tokai.

The sustain is also impressive for a tremelo equipped instrument, no doubt partly due to the increased mass tremelo block that Fender introduced on the 2009 upgrade.

Medium sized fret-wire makes the guitar easier to play than the thin vintage style I was used to on the Tokai, where my fingers used to regularly slip on the laquered fingerboard during bends.

The pick-ups on this guitar are fantastic! The bridge pick-up is bright and snappy, but not overly-brittle (which is just as well, as in traditional style, the tone cannot be adjusted on this pick-up) Whilst the middle and neck pick-up are surprisingly clear and free from the muddyness you sometimes get with cheaper strats.

The out-of-phase pick up sounds are particularly sweet and full!

The action on this guitar was acceptably low when I collected it, but the guitar tech in the shop thought it would go lower still. I have now lowered the strings a little more on the bass side, without suffering undue fret rattle or buzz (which I hate!). The top strings I have left alone, as lowering the top "E" futher produces choking during bends. This is inevitable on strats, due to relatively small fingerboard radius, and the playing action is quite satisfactory with the standard string height.

The tremelo is a vintage style unit, with the "bent-steel" type saddles. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this unit (being used to floyd-rose type systems) but the trem has exceeded my expectations! After properly stretching-in the strings, and applying some graphite to the nut, the tremelo stays in tune remarkably well, although the use I have been subjecting it to is more "Dave Gilmour" than "Jimi Hendrix", as is fitting for a tremelo of this type!

One thing I did find was that the sound and playability of the Mex strats did seem to vary a fair bit, so it is probably worth trying a few before you buy. I played an identical model, where I was convinced that it had different pick-ups - brasher, and more gritty than those on the guitar I eventually bought, but the Guitar tech assured me that they were the same model, with the same pickups!

The build quality on this guitar is excellent throughout - I really can't fault anything! It has a pale blue metalic finish, and the neck has been stained slightly to give it a golden, vintage look.

I am so pleased I bought this guitar. It has met or exceeded my expectations in every respect, and I have saved £400 over the cost of an American instrument!

Fender Stratocaster, Mexican 2009 model. I had a Mexican Strat when I was a kid but never really learnt to play properly and ended up selling it when I went to college. After many years of regretting my lack of interest I bought a very cheap (£329) 2009 model last year, and I love it. The headstock no longer has 'Made in Mexico' plastered all over the front, which is a major plus for those of us too poor for the USA versions, but the build quality looks as good as anything I've studied from the US with the exception of 2 small indentations on the fretboard.

Guitar looks great, as do all strats, but I'm not as impressed with the pickups as I hoped - it doesn't sound bad by any stretch of the imagination, but the 'classic' strat tone that I think I remember from my 84 model just isn't quite there. That's easily fixed with modestly priced replacements pups, so I don't lose any sleep over it. Overall, very glad to own one and recommend strongly.

I've got a 1993 Mexican Fender Strat that I bought new when I was twelve. I haven't played it for a few years and it is sitting in its case in my parents' attic. Just asked them to dig it out and post it to me. Looking forward to it arriving!

I have recently bought a 2007 Fender Stratocaster USA maple neck standard kit. This is the third strat I have owned over many years playing. Feels a bit lighter in weight than previous models. Paid £500 for it from a guy who couldnt play guitar. Guitar is as new.

The Fender Stratocaster is an awesome guitar and i would recommend that if you are learning how to play, start on one of these!

I have one myself. My favourite features of this guitar are: The pick-ups (3 of them), the cord doesn't come out the bottom (unlike the les paul), it isn't too heavy and it is easy to install a strap lock. Out of my 6 guitars the Stratocaster is my favourite.

The Fender Stratocaster is a superb guitar with some good changes for 2008 model.

I love the Stratocaster. The sound, the feeling, the neck and fingerboard, everything. I don't know what else to say actually...