Fender American Special HSS Stratocaster Electric Guitar 3-Color Sunburst

Most Liked Negative Review

There are reasons its priced lower than other American Strats

When I first saw this I thought, "Wow, an American Strat for under a grand. SWEET !!". Ok, I just knew I had to own one, so I made the purchase, and headed home with a smile. Sadly, my happiness was short lived. First off, I'll discuss the things I really liked about the American Special. On top of the list, playability. The guitar played well right off the shelf, and with a quick set up, played as well as any higher priced guitar I've ever owned. a true gem in the playability department. Next, fit and finish. You'd be hard pressed to find a nicer guitar for the money. It looks great, fit and final assembly were obviously quality checked before the guitar left the factory. Kudos!! Now, the not so pleasant issues ... First off, tuning. This guitar ((maybe it was just mine)) was a lesson in frustration as far as tuning stability, because, well, there wasnt any. Bend a note, gently slightly shake the vibrato bar, even put the guitar down for a couple of hours and its a sure bet you will need to retune. Most of the reason (I think) is the tuners. They are horrid. They had alot of play in them (backlash some call it) and the factory installed nut seemed to have a love affair with the strings, as it grabbed them every time it could. Even a few drops of lightweight oil didnt help. The bridge ... Seemed very "light" and the vibrato arm fit very sloppily. the bridge inserts were very cheesy, and seemed like they were grabbed from the Korean parts bin. Maybe they weren't, but they sure seemed like it. Now, about the electronics ... The Tex pups ... total let down. Very weak and tinny sounding. My Squier CV60 gives a far better tone. Clean tones are weak, adding any amount of overdrive simply adds to the debacle. Even the humbucker was a letdown. Very weak, and lacking in any real tone. If I could explain the tone, Id say, a Duncan JB ... cut to half power. Bottom line, a total let down. Sure, I could have installed locking tuners, an aftermarket nut, and some new pups. But to me, being forced to immediately upgrade those items on a guitar in this price range is unacceptable. Seems like Fender simply slapped a few inexpensive parts together and put a Made in USA tag on this series just to try to appease the mid range buyer looking for an American guitar. Sadly, the idea fails, and a potential Strat buyer can get a far better instrument for alot less cash by simply looking into the Mexican Strat series. Truly a sad day for American craftsmanship.