Fender American Special HSS Stratocaster Electric Guitar  

I absolutely love my Fender American Special Strat! I bought the HSS in sunburst. The black pickguard over a sunburst body with the CBS headstock gives this guitar a classic 70's look. I was actually somewhat startled when I found this guitar. I had been thinking about buying a late 70's strat mostly for the looks, but I wanted something that would play more like a modern strat. This really was the perfect guitar for me. The Texas Special pickups sound amazing. They have a mellow but gritty sound that's perfect for blues. The bridge position humbucker gives you a nice option for a pretty hot lead. It's not quite a scorching metal sound, but its a lot hotter than a traditional single coil. I especially love the neck. It's thin and fast enough to not get in the way of my solo work, and the jumbo frets are a great touch. So far I have replaced the tuning machines with locking tuners. This helps quite a bit with tuning stability when bending or using the tremolo. I also plan to replace the saddles with GraphTech saddles. Note that this guitar comes set up for 9's. If you're like me and prefer 10's, you'll have a good amount of setup work ahead of you.

ok so i get to lookin at the reviews on this website and a few others on this guitar and i think ok? looks like a good buy. never before have i bought a guitar that i have not played before i bought it. plus bein a classics man (gibson and fender only!!!) through and through i though it was woth the risk. so i bought it. and ppl listen to me i ben playin anywhere and everywhere from late nights at the bars, great nights at college frat/sorority parties, local resturaunts, to every sunday at a local church with out of about 50 ppl in the congregation only about 10 of them bein under 30. this guitar can do anything and everything especially with the texas special pickups. i have played this at gigs and then switched to my original 56 LP with the stock P90's and some ppl have asked why didnt you stick to the guitar you started playin with at first? and i tell them that if you play any kind of music whith a lot of distortion ( even though for a fender this can hold a hell of a lot cause of the texas specials) it just wont hold up to it like P90's will. but for those of you who are just startin out and are willin to spend the extra money on a american standard i would say save some money and get this. if you dont like the sound, change the pickups and have a local guitar shop do it so that you know they are done right and yet still save some extra money !!! leads to a hard shell case that this guitar deserves. for those wantin to go for the MIM deluxe players? save and get this!!! i know a couple hundred dollars seems like a lot but it really is not when you put your mind to it and if its somethin you ( plus the ladies =)will love) and trust me, this thing blows my deluxe players away and dont even look back... all in all, the best guitar that fender makes from the factory excluding the custom shop... nothin comes close to me custom shop eric clapton strat... my opinion, i wish i would have known about this guitar when i firsat started playin. if i did, i i would own only 5 guitars out of 9; 2011 custom shop eric clapton strat, my all original 56 Gibson LP goldtop ( passed on from my grandfather), an acoustic hand crafted by a gut named robert hamlin from Bloomfield, Indiana, (anybody wantin an acoustic guitar, none of that acoustic electric crap, acoustic sounds so much better miked!!!!, Fiddle, Dobro, or Mandolin made this is the guy to go to!!)! i got a guitar that is handcrafted by Martin between 1880 and 1900. (passed on from great grandpa, to grandpa, to dad to me, this makes 4 generations, FAMILY HEIRLOOM!!! DO NOT MAK AN OFFER TO BUY) i cant find the exact date for some reason but im workin on it and i own this Fender American special. if you were smart you would buy this. beginner or pro, this belongs in every collection