Classic '70s Stratocaster Review

The U-shaped neck, large headstock, and "bullet" truss rod are unmistakable features that define an era. Now made at Fender's manufacturing facility in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, this beautiful replication has it all.

Features:	9.6
Sound:	9.2
Action:	9.2
Reliability:	9.4
Impression:	9.6
Overall rating:	9.4
Users rating:	8.3
Comments:	7

overall: 9.6

Featured review by: eXor, on november 04, 2005

Price paid: $ 630

Purchased from: little shop behind the corner

Features: My guitar has 21 frets wich is standard for a Strat, people say that 21 isn't enough but shred and stuff didn't exist back in the '70s, it has an unbreakable alder body (dropped it a million times and it only has 1 tiny dent in the back), it has a perfect very loose brige great for all the whammy work and it stays in tune very well. It has 3 single coils, 1 volume control, 2 tone controls and a 5-way Switch. // 10

Sound: I play mostly blues, classic rock, some hard rock and shred. The pickups are very versatile and will give you that classic Strat sound (like SRV, Eric Clapton, RCHP, Jimi Hendrix), there's a little hum if you select 1 pickup at 1 time, but that's with every single coil guitar. In combination with my Roland Cube 30, you can play everything from, country to hard rock, from reggae to punk, from blues to classic rock. I wouldn't recommend any Strat for heavy metal though (but I put a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in the bridge though so now I can play everything). // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: My guitar was in almost perfect condition when I got it, nice low (but not too low) action, the action of my high e string was lower than the rest though, but I think the shop did that, also, If you hit the low E string to hard, it sometimes (rarely) slips out of the fretboard, also, my bridge also worked only with 0.009 and 0.008 because the springs in the bridge were too loose, and the bridge was rising if you put 0.010's on but again, the shop might have done that. // 8

Reliability & Durability: As I said before, the guitar is as strong as a rock, the hardware will last a very long time, the strap buttons are very solid. And I would surely use it on a gig without a backup. // 10

Impression: As I said, the instrument can handle every music style there is. If I lost it, I surely would buy another one. I compared it with an ordinary Mexican Strat and this one just kills, (better looks, sexy head stock and pups, better playability, better trem). Just buy this guitar if you have the chance. // 10

overall: 9.4

Reviewed by: Henkie, on february 10, 2007

Price paid: $ 819

Purchased from: Kees Dee, Amersfoort, The Netherlands

Features: Mine is a Mexican made 2005 model with a maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, and an Ash body in a beautiful 3 tone sunburst. The rest is Standard, 3 single coil stock Vintage pickups, 5-way pickup switch, and the classic Fender 'syncronized' whammy bar. Couldn't ask more from a Fender Strat. // 9

Sound: I play a lot of different music styles, punk, pop, rock, blues. This baby handles it all very well. It's a guitar with character. Don't recommend it for playing metal. It can handle distortion, but not that much. For that you need humbuckers, but I don't care cause I don't play metal. I use it with a Vox AD50VT, and that makes it very versatile. On clean it's just brilliant, great for blues. Only on heavy distortion it makes some unwanted noise, but that's because of the single coil pickups. By the way, it's not really a problem cause there is a noise reducer on my amp. I'm not planning on changing the pickups, they are allright for me and provide that typical Strat sound. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: When I bought the guitar it was flawless and well adjusted. The stock strings sucked so I changed those with D'Addario 009's. Also, I don't use the whammybar so just like the clapton and Johnson strats, I had my bridge locked with a few extra springs. So now it's a really stable instrument which stays in tune very well. No buzz, nice low stringsetting, plays great! // 10

Reliability & Durability: Ofcourse I am carefull not to damage this guitar, and if you treat it properly, it will last you a very long time. I do expect that I will have to replace the inputjack in the future, but for now it's still steady. Strapbuttons are solid but none the less I always use straplocks cause you never know. I don't have a backup guitar cause I'm still saving for another one. I don't expect this guitar will fail on me, but it's always handy to have a backup. // 10

Impression: Have been playing for 2 years now and this Fender was my first electric guitar. I have had it for about half a year now and I still love it. It a great match with the music I play and it's a very durable instrument. I compared this guitar with a lot of different Strat guitars, also american made fenders. I could'nt pay for an American Fender Strat but this one gets very close in terms of sound and feeling. It has a personality of it's own, no Fender is the same, and I just love this model with it's big Fender '70s logo on the oversized headstock. So maybe it was a bit expensive for a first electric guitar, but you really get something great! If it was stolen, I would surely buy it again! If I had more money, maybe I would insure this guitar. // 9

overall: 8.8

Reviewed by: maddrumer, on august 16, 2006

Price paid: $ 675

Purchased from: marshall music

Features: I bought my guitar about one year ago, and have been nothing but pleased with this wonderful chunk Ash. the maple neck is a gloss polyurethane finish, and was literally flawless in my guitar (although a friend of mine played one on which the frets were so poorly filed he cut himself, so pay attention to the small stuff like that) it has 21 "Vintage style frets" (no idea what that means) The finish on the body was beautifully done (mine is in natural finish), altough on the back there were a few places that I could see the use of wood fillers, but hey, they were on the back anyway. I have been pleased with the tuners on the guitar and find that unless I really reef on the wammy bar it will stay in good to for up to a week (altough it should really be tuned before each session). The pickups are allright, but I replaced the pickups in mine with some high quality seymour duncans, a change that is well worth the money because the stock pickups are quite marginal. the gig bag that came with it is good for a gig bag, but it can't replace a good hard shell case. I also love the '70s look and the huge headstock. // 9

Sound: The sound is great for blues, rock, and funk. These are the main things I use it for, and it doese pretty good. I run it through a Peavey Transtube 212 EFX. I thought the tone was a little thin with the stock pickups, and it was somewhat prone to loud hum and a little feedback with too much gain. I gave it a seven with stock pickups, but keep in mind that I give it a ten with better pickups. // 7

Action, Fit & Finish: The action was piss-poor from the factory, but I spent some time on it and was pleased with ow responsive the guitar was to my finger movements and how easy my fingers could fly up and down the neck. The neck is possibly somewhat wider then most other, as it is styled as they were in the seventies, so those of you with smaller hands may have trouble reaching the low E-string. The fit is very good. The neck is shaped perfectly, and it is just heavey enough to tell you that you have a serious guitar, but not so heavey that it is uncomfortable. The top was so closely matched that on the one o bought you can't eaven see the seam on the two piece body, however, there was another one in the shop that was so poorly matched, it almost made me cry, so one again, pay attention to detail. The finish is simply impeccable. That is all that needs to be said. // 10

Reliability & Durability: The moment you pick this guitar up, you can tell it is durable. I don't know how much it weighs, but if you like ultra-light guitars, this isnt for you. I have had mine for a little over a year, and have found that it is as durable as a tank. I must at this point, however, chastise Fender for their stupidity in using three bolts instead of four to secure the neck on. I wish CBS hadnt bought the company. // 9

Impression: I have been impreased with this piece of Fender history. I own a Gibson Les Paul, and a Godin Montreal, and am now finding that the ol' Strat is the most popular guitar ever for a reason. If it were lost or stolen, I would go out and buy two more so that I could have a backup, because a guitar this good is likely to be stolen again. // 9

overall: 9.6

Reviewed by: unregistered, on april 22, 2005

Purchased from: Riccardo's Music And Arts Center

Features: I got a great deal on this guitar. Even though it was made in Mexico, I could still get double what I paid for it on ebay. 21 frets, standard for Strat. Ash body, rosewood fretbord. 1 volume control, 2 tone, and a 5-way selector for pickups. 3 single coil. No included accessories, but hey, $200, I could but a gig bag for an extra $30, so I don't care. U shaped neck and Bullet truss rod. Has fat headstock, and 3 screws that hold on the neck. Non locking tuners. // 10

Sound: It fits rock, classic rock, punk, and has a great RHCP sound. I use it with a peavy amp. A little noisy, especially on the bridge pickup, has a full bright sound. Great variety of sounds can be made can go from very mellow with the neck pickup and tone controls set to 0, and very bright on the bridge pickup. Probably couldn't do metal that great, but I dont play metal, so I don't care. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The factory set up was decent. Action is good, just a little bit of buzz on the G string. I had to fine tune the intonation, but that wasn't even much of a problem, it was pretty good to start with. Haven't adjusted the pickups, they seem fine. Finish has a few minor hard to see scratches, and fingerprints show easily on it, but nothing that can't be wiped away. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This guitar should withstand live playing. The only think I would be worried about would be the input jack. That loosens up slowly once in a while and it gets annoying, but other than that it is very durable. I've bumped the headstock god knows how many times and all that shows is a small dent about the width of my fingernail on one of the edges of it. I would have to do a gig without a backup because it is my first and only guitar, but I don't care, it has held up really well for half a year. The finish seems thick and should last a long time. The hardware is solid. The whammy bar puts it out of tune, but I don't even use it. Otherwise, I never have to check the tuning for weeks, and I play this thing alot. Solid strap buttons, before now, I wasn't even aware that strap buttons could/would loosen. // 8

Impression: I play mostly RHCP and Nirvana. This guitar is a great match. Turn up the gain really high, use the bridge pickup, and turn the trebble up on the amp EQ and it sounds just like Kurt. As for RHCP I like to use about the same QE settings, but no gain and the neck and middle pickups. This sounds really good. As I said, this is my first and only guitar. I started playing about half a year ago, when I bought this guitar. I own a peavy amp that sounds great with my guitar. If it were stolen, I would be crying for weeks on end, and definately buy the exact same guitar if I could find it again. Money would not be a problem, I wouldn't care about price.

I love the whole thing. I have no favorite feature, it is all great. The only ting I don't think is top quality is how the whammy bar brings it out of tune, but I dont even play with the whammy bar, in fact it gets annoying and I just leave it out. I prefer it that way and would play like that on any guitar. Also, the loose input jack gets on my nerves, but normally it stays tight for a week or two, and is effortless to tighten, I dont even have to take the cover off. I didn't compare it to any other products, I just saw a Fender Strat for $200 new, and realized what a great deal it was. The people working at the store couldn't believe the price on it. They said if I didn't get they would buy it at the end of the day. When I got home I came to realize that it was the Classic '70s style and Fender's list price was about $850.

The only thing I wish my guitar had was noisless Strat pickups. They would get rid of the extra static. the static doesn't get on my nerves too too much when it is clean, but is louder and a bit more annoying when the gain is up. I don't even notice this problem half the time, but once in a while it gets annoying. Great product, I would highly recomend it to anyone and I would be willing to buy it at $850 new after seeing how great it is and how well it is holding up. I have played it for about 2 hours a day for the last half year, and I haven't even had to get the strings changed. If you have the chance buy this guitar before someone else does it won't let you down. // 10

overall: 9.6

Reviewed by: unregistered, on may 04, 2005

Price paid: $ 1170.54

Features: It's a reissue and made in Mexico with 21 frets and a thin neck. My fingerboard is rosewood but also comes in maple. It's a laminated top, body is made from alder and the neck is maple. Lovely natural finish it has a Vintage tremolo with active. Basic Strat 5-way selector with 1 volume and 2 tone. Free gig-bag and allen key. // 10

Sound: I play rock and metal so I personally like the thin neck and singlecoil sound. I play it through a Vintage V30G 75-watt and a Drive CD100 19-watt with a Zoom 505#2 and it sounds very good. But just in case I'm buying a Marshall MG100HDFX. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The only problem I could see was that the tremolo was to loose and if I used normal gauge strings it would raise up pretty high, but I managed to fix it. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I don't know about live playing because I never played live before. I don't need to go into the details about how good everything on this guitar is. // 10

Impression: Like I said I play rock and metal, so strangely it suits perfectly although the bad thing is there is only 21 frets? Hey but don't fear it kicks ass compared to my Les Paul Copy (SX). I've been playing guitar for a year and my gear is old Vintage VG30 and a Zoom 505#2 effects pedal. If it was stolen I would definately buy it again, that or a Gibson LP Standard. // 10

Comments

[swe_fender]

I have an original 1977 Stratocaster with Sunburst =D

[kfong03]

well done, have a cookie...

[maddrumer]

One of my best friends dad has an original '52 telecaster. He let me play it and i blew a load in my pants.

[ShredIsNotDead.]

lol @ the cookie comment...

[kfong03]

i hope the load it blew in maddrumer's pants wasn't as big the cookie swe_fender is having

[punk&metal]

i think this might be 1 of the best guitars 4 punk

[cjimil419]

if you get the problem with putting .10s, and your bridge raises, all you have to do is tighten the springs by screwing in the bolts tighter and evenly. It can be tricky to get it right where it still whammys well but is flay, and professional help is where I would go if I'd never done it before, but its pretty easy