| Mark from Erie, Pennsylvania, USA |
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| Subject: | 90% of the Guitar for 50% of the price |
| Quality:
| I was extremely impressed with the fit and finish on this guitar, no sharp frets no excessive glue and every nut and bolt was tight. |
| Sound:
| The tone was Passable but a bit muddy for my liking. I installed some Fender vintage noiseless pups and couldn't be happier with the tone. |
| Reliability:
| I just recently received the guitar but so far it seems like it's just as burly as any Strat I've come across. |
| Overall:
| Overall I feel this guitar is a great bargain. I have two American made stratocasters, both with rosewood fretboards but I’ve always liked the look of the maple neck and sunburst body combination. After playing one of these MIM strats at my local music shop I felt confident enough to purchase one. I ordered mine from AMS because they were $75.00 cheaper than my local shop and I couldn’t be more impressed with AMS’s service. Not only was AMS less expensive by a considerable amount they offered fast free shipping and actually followed up on the sale with a phone call and email to ensure I was completely satisfied which is far more customer service than I’ve ever received from the local music warehouse. I’ll never buy from anyone else. |
| Playability and Feel:
| It feels like a cold beer on a hot day. Just right. |
| Tone:
| The stock pickups were too muddy for my taste but with a set of vintage noiseless pups it really screams. |
| Finish:
| The finish is flawless and very deep, the pictures I've seen online don't do it justice. |
| Action:
| The action was very playable right out of the box with just a bit of buzz in the upper register. However, I prefer a very low action and adjusted it accordingly. |
| Skill Level:
| Semi-Pro |
| Do you own this product?:
| Yes |
| Date submitted:
| 2/1/2010 |
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| Pete S. from Chicago, IL, U.S. |
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| Subject: | If you're looking for a "player's" guitar, this is for you! |
| Quality:
| Like I said, I've owned this guitar before and never had any problems. Yes, it's made in Mexico...boo-hoo! Get over it! They're made well! I would have no problem using this as my main guitar at gigs. |
| Sound:
| The tones are great from clean to dirty with a great twangy sound. |
| Reliability:
| I've owned these in the past and I've not had any issues with them. |
| Overall:
| You get a lot of bang for your buck with this here axe. This is NOT the guitar to buy if you are a collector. However, if you actually intend to PLAY the guitar a lot, this is a very hard guitar to beat in this price range. |
| Playability and Feel:
| Very easy to play. Smooth C-shaped neck (can't stand those V-shaped ones!) with good sized frets. This guitar is not too heavy, but not too light. Well balanced. And, of course, the Strat shape fits like a glove. |
| Tone:
| The range is huge with the 5 pickup positions. In my opinion, it's greatest feature is it's unique "twang". |
| Finish:
| The finish is decent. Again, these are not made for their visual artistic appeal. I think it looks pretty sharp. |
| Action:
| The strings were set a bit high for my liking, but that can be fixed fairly easily. |
| Skill Level:
| Semi-Pro |
| Do you own this product?:
| Yup |
| Date submitted:
| 12/14/2009 |
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| Aldebaron from New Orleans, Louisiana - USA |
| aldebaron101@yahoo.com |
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| Subject: | QUALITY vs. COST |
| Quality:
| I've owned 7 strats over the last 25 years and this is the first one that didn't have that old familiar strat hum on the neck pickup. |
| Sound:
| clean, dirty or somewhere in between. This one can do i all. |
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| Overall:
| great guitar for a great price. If you don't want to spend 3000 on a prs then THIS is your guitar |
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| Tone:
| with a TS9 tube sreamer and a strat you can accomplish just about any kind of sound that you want. |
| Finish:
| midnite wine. awesome |
| Action:
| real good action straight out of the box. a small bit of fret buzz on upper register but nothing a 3 second allen wrench adjustment couldn't fix. |
| Skill Level:
| Semi-Pro |
| Do you own this product?:
| yes |
| Date submitted:
| 10/11/09 |
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| Wolf Moon from Tampa, Florida |
| cnorris5@gmail.com |
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| Subject: | Awesome Strat for the Price |
| Quality:
| Made in Mexico is something not to be afraid of. I can definitely say this guitar was made well. It isn't made like the American Standard, but still very well made. |
| Sound:
| It comes with lower end stock pickups, but still sounds pretty good, if you're looking for a classic strat sound, this guitar won't disappoint. |
| Reliability:
| Only had the guitar a little more than a day, but so far it has been reliable. The first thing I did was tune the guitar and it is still in tune fairly well, even after some pretty deep bends. |
| Overall:
| I just got this guitar yesterday and I live it. Exactly what I expected from a Fender guitar. It is made in Mexico, but the quality is definitely great and it was inspected and set-up at the Fender USA headquarters. Played great out of the box. |
| Playability and Feel:
| Very easy to play. The weight is about average for a strat, not too heavy like a Les Paul, but not overly light either. I also have a Jackson Dinky and it weighs about the same. I played it for about an hour with a strap and my back or neck didn't bother me at all. |
| Tone:
| Not bad. A classic Stratocaster sound. I do plan on upgrading the pickups with the EMG David Gilmour pickguard and PUPS down the road. Playing blues, jazz or classic rock will sound good with these stock pickups. |
| Finish:
| AMAZING! I got the Midnight Wine finish with Rosewood fingerboard and it is just gorgeous! When I have it hanging on the wall in my music room it is just like a piece of art. |
| Action:
| The action is pretty good for coming right out of the box. I do plan on getting it set-up eventually, not that the action was high, I just prefer a lower action. |
| Skill Level:
| Semi-Pro |
| Do you own this product?:
| Yes, just delivered yesterday |
| Date submitted:
| 09/11/09 |
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| Bluesman Sammy Guy from Pa |
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| Subject: | Fantastic Upgrades!!! Fender Is back!!! |
| Quality:
| This is one of the best made Strats I have seen in a long time. I own many guitarts, all either Gibson or Fender. and this is one of the better ones I have. I truly am impressed with the quality. |
| Sound:
| Sounds as good as my Custom Shop Strat that I paid well over $2000.00 for 15 years ago. And that one needed work more than a few times. This one gets a good Stevie Ray sound that I have been looking for. |
| Reliability:
| Seems too good to be true, but appears so well made I think it should last a long time. Only had this one a few days, but it seems every bit as capable of holding up to my schedule of 3 gigs a week plus practice. So only time will tell, but so far so good. |
| Overall:
| I had a Mexican Strat a few years ago and was really disappointed. Sold it on Ebay after 2 weeks of misery. But, wow, when Fender says 'upgrade' they really mean it. This is fantastic. Neck is super smooth, and straight, frets perfect, intonation, action and all else was excellent right out of the box. This is first guitar I ever owned that needed NO adjustment at all. I am stunned. |
| Playability and Feel:
| Took no time at all to get the feel for this new one. Neck was fast and smooth, no waviness on the back of the neck like we used to feel on cheaper Strats. Fret job was top notch. I am very impressed. |
| Tone:
| Tone? Perfect Strat tone. I play everything from oldies 50's music (sock hops) to heavy metal and grunge (Alice in Chains). I even play Sinatra stuff. Depends where we are booked. I think if I had to, I could use just this guitar to get whatever sound and tone I want. Been playing 42 years, I think I know a good guitar when I play one. Only source of income is gigging and I make a good living at it. I would gig with just this if I had to. |
| Finish:
| Midnight wine, white pick guard with mapel neck: No finer colors for a guitar, in my humble opinion. Can't find any flaws in finish, and believe me I look. No ripples, orange peels etc... just a smooth, mirror finish. NICE! |
| Action:
| Action was just perfect right out of the box. I was very surprised by that. I usually need to at least tweek the action on every guitar I owned, but surprisingly, not on this one. The last Mex Strat I had NEVER felt right no matter how I adjusted it. This new upgraded one is superb. |
| Skill Level:
| Pro-Rock Star |
| Do you own this product?:
| Yes |
| Date submitted:
| Aug 22 2009 |