Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster HSS Electric Guitar  

the addition of a humbucker makes an already great guitar even better. the bypass switch is nice when you want to cut through the mix. The passive mid boost is also cool. A lot of guitar for the money

There's no question  this is top quality for the money. the features, fit and finish, tone and most of all playability has always attracted me to fender. I own three strats and I love them all. I own other guitars too but I love playing a fender stratocaster. those who know understand what i'm saying.

Value has always been a hhallmark of fender instruments and this is no exception. Rosewood, top notch pickups, LSR nut, excellent build quality and finish and sound like no other.. for under two grand? No wonder I love these. I'll put it up against anything.

Overall this is one mean strat. The single coils give a nice ringing tone while the humbucker gives a fat mid heavy tone. Some reviewers found the new N3 pickups to be thin. I do not agree with this. I find all the pickups on this guitar to be sweet. I supose everybody has a different idea of how the pickups should sound. I can get everything from Hank to Hendrix on it through my hot rod deluxe. Don't hesitate. this will surely become one of your faves. No wonder so many musicians play these.

I got this strat ~3 weeks ago.  I love it. it sounds fgtreat and is very playable.  The S-1 switch doesn't do too much for me, but it doesn't hurt anything etiher.  The only issues were 1) - a small pinhead sized bubble in the finish on the neck, and 2) - pretty bad fret buzz from having the action set too low.  The fret buzz is easy to fix, but the bubble on the neck is there forever.

I got the 5-8 days shipping, ordered the guitar on Friday late and it got here on the next Wedensday.

The only issues were 1) - a small pinhead sized bubble in the finish  on the neck, and 2) - pretty bad fret buzz from having the action set  too low.  The fret buzz is easy to fix, but the bubble on the neck is  there forever.I got the 5-8 days shipping, ordered the guitar on Friday late and it got here on the next Wedensday.

I wanted an American strat, and liked the features on this one. It fits like a glove.

I've been waiting to get this guitar, so I wanted one with the bells and whistles.  I was having a hard time deciding between the color I got and the metllic sunburst, but I like natural wood, and wnet with this one.

The most important part is to just play.

i have played for over 40 years, and 25 of them in the bars.i'm an old rocker that plays country as well.i bought one of these HSS 3 years ago and it's the only one i gig with.i will admit, as some have said, that it's hard to get use to the different volume levels of the pickups, but once you get that,it's well worth the money.i can play my country on this and then switch right over to heavey metal,all in the same set on stage and never switching guitars.then walk right into some stevie ray vaughn!!!.........i love it so much ...i just bought another one today...different color!!!i own gibsons and other fenders...this is my work horse...hope this helps you in your decision!!!!

I have many other Strats which I all love, but decided to take the next step up to the American Deluxe, mainly for the compound-radiused fingerboard, which I love.

Pros: Action and fretwork are the best I've ever played. The radius is subtle, yet noticeable aand extremely comfortable. Very solid joint. Definitely feels like it will last a lifetime, which is good because it's probably one of the very few guitars I will always keep. Locking tuners and pre-installed strap-locks are a nice touch. The case is also great, and I have no hesitations about shipping the guitar in it (it's already made the Transatlantic journey once). S-1 with the HSS gives many voices. But...

Cons: The pickups. Firstly, they were set up horribly. I understand that the humbuckers are going to have more output than the single coils, but the volume difference made switching pickups undoable. As for the sound, they've definitely got a more modern sound to them. It's actually quite a "perfect" sound, but to the point of being sterile and characterless. Unfortunately it sat in the case for most of the past year because, while it was incredibly great feeling to play, it sounded pretty boring to play. Of course, that's just my opinion and others may love the tones. I've ordered some new pups to stick in there to hopefully get some more life out of it. My second major gripe has to do with the body. I got the Olympic Pearl with maple, which is a beautiful finish, but even with the opaque finish you can clearly see, and even feel, the seam where the body blanks were glued together. It's a good 0.5mm raise. I would've been surprised to see this happen this badly to a Squier, but the fact that it passed QC to an AMERICAN DELUXE is absolutely unacceptable. Unfortunately, that's just one of the risks of buying blindly online. It's still not a bad guitar because of it, and sure it's just a cosmetic issue, but for that much money I would've expected a little better.  Once I get new pickups in it, this will definitely be a great guitar.