Fender Highway One Stratocaster Electric Guitar 3-Color Sunburst Rosewood Fretboard

This is the best American strat you can start with. Even stock as is, it's a great guitar. With a little bit of money I was able to get a vintage looking/sounding/feeling American strat. My guitar technician did some fret work on it (in a process I call 'butterization'), and the neck plays like butter, like its been played for many years. I'm very satisfied with this guitar, and I play it more than my Gibson SG or other guitars. The gig bag is silly; put this baby in a hardshell case. Finish: The satin nitrocellulose finish is absolutely beautiful. I've got a 2011 3-tone sunburst, and I put a black pickguard, knobs, etc., on it for that 70's look. The depth of the color seems to be light-sensitive: in direct light or sunlight, this thing shines and each tone is more brilliant. But it seems darker in less light (in contrast to the American Standard 3-tone, which seems to be always 'locked in' as darker because of its urethane finish). Neck: The satin maple neck is super smooth and feels great (much better than the glossy front on the American Standard), though you will want to get a fret dress to lower those jumbo frets. Pickups: the stock pickups are not bad, but they seem to be geared toward high-gain applications. I prefer a more vintage sound so I put Custom Shop Texas Specials in it, and it sounds great, like what I expected. Greasebucket Tone Control: this is a great feature to decrease the bite of the bridge pickup when necessary, without adding bass or muffling the tone. Overall great quality for the price, but I was a little disappointed in the tremolo spring tension the way it comes. When you do a cliche blues bend of one string while plucking another string, the non-bended string will go noticeably flat. This was because the bridge/tailpiece was too loose (the 3 tremolo springs in the back were not strong enough). So my guitar technician added 2 more Fender springs, and also adjusted the tremolo to make it stiffer (I don't use the tremolo bar any way), so that fixed it. Other than that, very solid American quality.

I got a beautiful dark-red version of this guitar in 2008 and it has been amazing ever since. It sounds just as good as many guitars that i have played that cost much, much more(including the American Standard). For any one looking for a great, versatile tone, this is the guitar. It can play anything from classic rock and blues to modern metal. Amazing guitar, especially for the price.

I love this guitar. It feels incredible and sounds outstanding. The only issue I have is that it doesn�ۡ���t have the two point trem. Its not a huge deal but its one of the little things that bothered me. But, that�ۡ���s it. The first thing I noticed was how light the guitar was. It is extremely light. It�ۡ���s one of the most comfortable feeling guitars I ever held. The frets are huge. But, I like them. Its very easy to move around and bend. In most reviews Ive read throughout the web, most people love the head stock or hate it. I love it. Looks awesome to me and sets it apart from most other Strats. I did an in store comparison of the American Special and the Highway One. The only differences between the two are the pickups and the finish. The Highway One�ۡ���s thin nitro-cellular finish was one of the big pros for me. I like the feel of it and the look. It supposedly adds an extra dimension to the sound by allowing for better resonance. I�ۡ���m not sure about all that but okay Ill buy the idea. Mostly, I like the idea that it will wear over time and change. I think it adds personality and a uniqueness to the instrument. The Texas Special pickups in the Special are definitely hotter. Which is not to say the Highway One pickups arent hot. When properly dialed in, they will roar and scream. Both are absolute beasts. Between the Alnico V�ۡ���s in Standard American and the Texas Specials, the Highway One pickups are right in between�ۡ����probably leans slightly more to the Texas Special side of the spectrum. Ive always been a huge fan of the Texas Specials. When properly dialed, I think they are the best pickups available (I play mostly blues). But I like the uniqueness of the Highway One pickups. When clean, they are super clear and articulate. When dirty, they get very very nasty�ۡ����in a good way. With some pickups, when the gain is pushed, a lot of tone is lost and it just sounds too harsh. The Highway One pickups cuts through all of that. So, you get the harshness but you don�ۡ���t lose tons of tone. The guitar is awesome.

This guitar is awesome! It definitely needs a setup out-of-the-box. I took it to an excellent guitar tech and he got this thing pearlin'. He set the bridge to a fixed bridge and got the action nice and low, without any buzz. I also had him set it up with locking staggered tunners. Out of the box it had some serious tuning problems but now tuning problems are near non-existence. The neck feels nice and smooth to move up and down and the contour of the neck also feels really great. The big frets make bends nice and smooth as well as playing across the neck. Most importantly, the tone on this thing is awesome! If your thinking about an American that won't break the bank.... GO GO GO!!!

I got the Satin Black with Maple Fretboard, it plays smooth and has the traditional Stratocaster Feel and Tone... will take a while to get used to the Jumbo Frets.. might have to get them changed... the Factory Setup was playable right out of the box and after a little streching the Fender strings (which I don't like but they won't be on there long) it stayed in near perfect tune... I only Played it for 10 to 20 hours then handed it over to a tech to intall aftermarket HSS pickups and install an original Floyd Rose.. I won't get it back a while but I already know it will be a screamer.. all my Fenders are... and the price is great get a hot modded USA Strat for under 1500 bucks what more can you ask for.. it isn't the prettiest with the satin finish but it will be a serious player... and like every other Fender it will out live me if it is taken care of... I dropped one and split the body in half so that is why I am replacing it with this one..

I bought one of these when they first came out about 05 mine has the 60th button on it....This one is Honey Blonde and has a rosewood neck....This is one of the nicest guitars money can buy...It has great pickups out of the box (But I did change them for Dimarzios,didnt like the hum )....You can get all kinds of music from this girl.. The neck has a great feel to it and the body is flawless....I will keep her for as long as I play shes a keeper.. Cant say one bad word about this guitar..I just ran into her in the store and could not put her down.....Had to have her there was no way out....This is one of the best sounding Stats I have ever heard....Then and now..Get one you wont regret it.. got it on a special the Guitar Center was running...But that was in 05 and now these babies are going up with everything else..Get one while you can still afford one...!!!!!!!