Fender Standard HSS Stratocaster Guitar Review

Since the induction of the now legendary Stratocaster line of Fender guitars, their designers have been looking for innovations that would improve their sound and quality. One of the first of these innovations was a change in pickup setup. Instead of three single coil pickups, which had been up to that point standard on all Fenders, they put in a humbucker in the bridge position. With this, the "Fat Strat" was born. And since then, musicians looking for a little more versatility in their guitars have praised its uniqueness and quality. Let's take a closer look at the latest model of Fender's Standard HSS Stratocaster to see just how well the quality measures up.

Features: Nearly every feature on the HSS Stratocaster is identical to the classic Standard Stratocaster line. The body of the HSS Strat is made of alder wood, which helps give the Strat great sustain and a tone that has become instantly recognizable to music fans. There are also a bunch of finishes available on the HSS Stratocaster. They range from sunburst to electric blue to arctic white. All of them, however, come standard with a three ply white pickguard. The neck has a modern C shape, and is made of maple wood. The maple is standard on most of Fender's guitars because it is a sturdy, hard material that can be finished and smoothed beautifully. The fretboard on the neck can either be made of rosewood or maple, depending on which finish you choose. On all, however, there are twenty one medium jumbo frets with either pearloid or black dot inlays. The hardware, including tuning heads, bridge, and input jack is all chrome. Electronically, the HSS Strat, given its namesake, has one humbucker in the bridge position and a single coil pickup in both the center and neck positions. Also, there are one volume and two tone control knobs and a five way selector switch.

Playability: Throughout the many decades Fender has been in business (which should tell you something about their quality) the Stratocaster has become well known for being very easy to just pick up and play in just about any situation. The neck is thin and comfortable, and will make it easy for even the guitar player with smaller hands to make long reaches and complicated chord shapes. Also, the bridge on newer models is modified to have more direct contact with the strings. Combinded with locking tuners, this means that the HSS Stratocaster is just about impossible to knock out of tune.

Sound: The sound of the Standard HSS Stratocaster has a versatility that few other Fenders match. The Strat is known for its excellence in clean tones and lightly distorted blues playing, but has been suspect in harder edged gendres. Many say the regular three single coil Strat just can't crank out highly distorted power chords as clearly. Well, the HSS Stratocaster's humbucking pickup in the bridge position effectively solves that problem. It can deliver the classic thin Stratocaster tones while still being able to adjust and play distorted ones impressively.

Overall: For the mid to higher level musician looking for a highly versatile instrument, the Fender Standard HSS Stratocaster should not be overlooked. It combines the classic look, feel, and sound of the Strat with an ability to handle the heavier stuff as well. You can find the Fender Standard HSS Stratocaster in music stores for around $400.