Jamie's got a gun and crying 'cause she's amazin' crazy cryin'
Written: Nov 14 '01 (Updated Apr 13 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Design suits me well. Layout of the 3 Pickups make diverse sounds.
Cons: Pickups hum. Floyd Rose difficult to set up. No Tele sounds. Universal body routing!
The Bottom Line: Why pay for Acura Integra when you can pay less for a Civic and it is the same car? (Hint) Acura=American Strat-Civic=Mexican Strat. Get vintage series!!!!!!!
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| brandobean's Full Review: Fender Standard Fat Strat Electric Guitar Maple Fr... |
Update!!--------------------------------------------
I opened this bad boy to change the pickups and noticed it is universally routed (meaning one could install 3 humbuckers in the body). I thought this guitar was a little lax in volume and/or tone, but attributed it to the Floyd Rose Tremolo system. I think that the trem is part of the problem, but the basically hollow body most likely killed much of the tone. Most Mexican Strats have universal or similarly over-routed bodies. I recommend the Mexican Vintage series for the best Strat sounds and vintage style body routing (holes will only accommodate single coils). The universal routing is, in my opinion, a cheap way for Fender to cut corners and it makes their star guitar as nice as a Hondo knock-off. The pocket for the neck also had wide gouges cut out for neck positioning just in case the neck didn't fit correctly. The body also had 3 dime sized holes drilled into it for no functional reason. I assume they were used to hold the body in the jig while the router hacked away at the poplar.
I ended up selling this disappointing guitar because it seems that the pickups have more effect over the tone than the body did and I didn't want humbuckers anymore. I also preferred a maple fingerboard over the rosewood. I desired a brighter tone that the rosewood couldn't give me.
Nice effort for Fender, but I prefer the original. I guess I am not an avid fan of new things. I hated New Coca-Cola and Crystal Pepsi too.
Sorry Fender. I had to ding it a star for this reason.
Update! over..--------------------------------------------
Like the stupid Adam Sandler skit spoofing Aerosmith, this guitar is Amazin' Amazin' Amazin'.
My admiration for the Strat began when I was a teenager. Simply put, I needed one. I wanted a guitar just like Eddie Van Halen's. When I first traveled to the guitar store I decided I wanted a Telecaster, but the Tele's body was frumpy and uncomfortable to me (then a 16 year old). I finally got a Fender Mexican Strat with a little help from my dad and no help from his reluctance. (Let's just say he is cheap).
For nine years I have been in Mexican Strat heaven. Lately, the frets started wearing unevenly and I had them filed, but I didn't wish to retire my loveable Mexi Strat just yet. I decided to buy a new guitar to delay the unavoidable.
I strolled through many guitar stores looking for my next new prize. I decided that the Strat design was perfect for me, but I wanted this new Strat or Strat type guitar to have a double locking Floyd Rose Tremolo because I wanted it to stay in tune better after my abuse. I also wanted pickups that were quiet. I have tried almost all of the single sized double coil pickups made by Seymour Duncan and Dimarzio. While these were excellent pickups, I really wanted single coil size with a single coil sound and no hum. I knew this was a tall order, so I decided conventional pickups might not fill that void well.
=====================================================UPDATE!
There is a trick to tuning your strat and having it stay in tune. If you are actually reading this and are curious Email me. This is a tuning trick for STANDARD (syncronized) tremolo systems not Floyd Rose.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++UPDATE OVER========
My final decision was between a Midnight Wine Fat Strat Floyd Rose 2 and a Silly Purple Ibanez with 2 humbuckers.
My choice hands down was the Strat. I liked the smaller frets better than the bulky Gibson style of the Ibanez. I am not saying they are better. I am saying that they suit my Jazzy chordings better than the bulky frets.
I was in tune with the shape of the Fender's body. The Floyd rose bridges on both guitars canceled each other out. The final clencher was that the Fender has the single coil in the neck position. For me this is the most important pickup in the guitar. For $310.00 I bought it.
I played it for a few weeks and decided I didn't like the pickups. The singles were too treble and buzzed and the Humbucker was too muddy. Over the next two weeks I traded out many pickups in this guitar before finally settling on the Lace California pickups. Yes, I realize that I totally defeated the purpose of the FAT Strat. The body has a hollow rectangle cut out of it so you can install any type of pickup configuration you can fit between the neck and the bridge. (The previous useless raw information was sponsored in part by me).
I know I may be a traitor to the ideals of what a Fender is, but if you are reading this review you too are thinking about becoming a Fender non-purist. The very essence of this guitar is treachery to the original and in many ways this design has been improved upon with the floyd rose and the Humbucker.
==========Update===========================================
I currently disagree. After a steep learning curve I detest Floyd Rose especially if using an Eddie Van Halen Dtuna. The D-Tuna was a brilliant idea and a nut saver (no pun intended), but the Floyd was too much hassle for me. I like to waste time playing, not tuning. You have to unclamp the nut every time you need to do a full tune and when you clamp the strings all go sharp
I am open to the roller nut idea, but I have found tricks to staying in tune with standard strat equipment.
=========================Update over======================
My final setup:
I had to adjust the intonation on the bridge and I completely recommend against doing this yourself unless you totally know what you are doing. In this case you are willingly punishing yourself. I had to also adjust the action up a bit. The maple neck with rosewood fret board and poplar body make a good, resonant combination. Too bad the body had so little wood. I was surprised to find that the rumors were true that rosewood on the fret board gave a darker tone. I welcomed that tone especially with the bright sounding ceramic stock Mexican pickups.
The Floyd Rose has been great so far and I have purchased an Eddie Van Halen D-tuna. This is a device that drops your E string to a low D and back. This has worked well with the guitar's overall setup. Keep in mind you can't have you bridge floating with this device. It certainly is a trade off.
Replacing the pickups was a good move for my needs and in my opinion. The Lace pickups took out most of the buzz and I also employed the use of the Acto-tone switch. This is a switch that helps the guitar sound like a semi acoustic. I still get buzz when I am near my computer screen, but that is natural for all pickups. I imagine it will always be that way. The lace pickups aided canceling hum as well. In fact, I only get hum when I am near my computer monitor. Transducer pickups are my favorite!
My only complaint about this guitar (now) is that it is a bolt on neck. If you have ever been playing on the 1st string and bent a note up, you may have noticed that the lower strings go flat. This doesn't occur on guitars with through necks or on set neck Parkers or Steinburgers. This is a minor gripe and for it's price range this guitar is an excellent value.
If you are considering a Strat or a Fender Strat, I believe that this guitar is the way to go. It has the same hardware as the American models, but the body is poplar instead or ash or alder. This makes no visible or sonic difference to me except when the body is hollow. The electronics inside are the same except for the pickups. The Mexican Fenders have ceramic bar magnets with steel poles whereas the American Pickups have AlNiCo 5 pole magnets and no ceramic bars. Both are wired exactly the same in the standard and in the Fat Strat layouts.
The quality, attention to detail, and workmanship are every bit as good as the American made Stratocasters. (Yes sadly some American Strats have the universal routing). I am now all about Brown Pride simply because of this guitar. I can't thank Fender and Mexico enough for this great guitar at a responsible price. (I want you to think Mexican made American Vintage series when I pay this compliment).
I feel that Stratocasters are great kit guitars and there isn't much to improve upon short of a total redesign. Don't spend over $400.00 (Mexican) $800.00 (American)or thereabouts for a Fender it simply isn't worth it. You can thank me later for saying this, but you can keep on thanking the Mexicans for building this superior kit guitar.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
brandobean
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Member: brando brando
Location: Utah
Reviews written: 64
Trusted by: 11 members
About Me:
I am compiling Utah musicians to release an album on my site soon.
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