Product Review: Fender Standard Fat Strat Electric Guitar

You want a Fender Stratocaster but don't have the budget to get the $950 US American made instrument, don't think that you have to lower your standards incredibly by going to the cheaper Mexican made version. Sure, it's no USA Strat but for the money, it's a great buy. Below is my review of this great musical instrument.

I ordered this Fender Standard Fat Strat through mail order. It arrived securely packed and without damage at my door promptly. I've always been a bit uneasy about ordering a guitar through the mail but this experience was fine (knocking on wood)

Features

The Fender Standard Fat Strat is a Mexican made electric guitar. The guitar features an Alder wood body, a maple neck, a maple or rosewood fretboard (I chose the maple), Fender tuning machine heads, one hum-bucking pickup in the bridge position, one single coil pickup in the middle position and one single coil pickup in the neck position.

The Fender Standard Fat Strat has a 5 way pickup selector switch, a volume and two tone knobs. It also features 21 vintage style frets with a vintage style tremolo bridge. The guitar comes in color choices of Black, Arctic White, Brown Sunburst, Midnight Wine and a Silverish Grey. All with a white pick-guard. That being said, let's get down to bare tacks.

How does it sound?

I play nearly every type of music and this Fender Standard Fat Strat fills the shoes weather it's Metal, Country, or Classic Rock. I'm using it with a Behringer GMX212 combo amplifier. It's got your normal single coil pickup hum but that's to be expected unless you have the noiseless pickups which aren't avaible on this model. With the 5 position pickup selector switch in the FIRST position (closest to the bridge) you have the Humbucker pickup which delivers a decent fat and beefy, thick sound with high output. Flick the switch to the SECOND position and the Humbucker turns into a SINGLE coil (emitting one of the coils) while at the same time combining the middle single coil pickup giving you a decent single coil pickup sound with the high output suited for single coil pickup "twang" leads. Flick the switch to the THIRD position and you have just the middle single coil pickup. This gives you a nice bluesy sound suited for something like Jazz. Flick the switch to the FOURTH position and you have the middle single coil pickup combined with the neck single coil pickup. This gives you a nice bluesy sound with more bite. Flick the switch to the FIFTH position and you get the neck single coil pickup only. I've adjusted this pickup close to the strings and use it combined with a mild overdrive and it gives me a great blues tone similar to Stevie Ray Vaughn style. This Fender Standard Fat Strat has massive versatility and is suited for nearly any type of music.

Does it stay in tune well?

This Fender Standard Fat Strat is light and stays in tune reasonably well. The tremolo bar isn't a Floyd rose or locking trem so you can't go dive-bombing and making siren sounds and expect it to stay in tune but for simple vibrato, it's fine. If you are interested in doing a lot of tremolo work, you may wish to consider this guitar in the available version that includes a locking Floyd Rose Tremolo.

How is the action and playability? How does it FEEL in your hands?

The action (how playable it is) was great. The intonation was slightly off but that's to be expected. Keep in mind that when ordering an instrument through the Internet or mail order, it's really a crap shoot as anything can happen in transit. If the intonation is off on your Fender Standard Fat Strat when it arrives, consider yourself lucky that is ALL that happened. It may not always be necessary, but when ordering, inquire with your local music ship and make plans to have it set up by a pro. The pickups were adjusted decent but I re-adjusted them to my own preference to get alot of volume from my neck single coil pickup.

No flaws in the finish or neck whatsoever. I've owned a USA Standard stratocaster in the past and loved it. I didn't expect the neck on this instrument to feel as good but it did. There were no frets that needed shaving and the neck was smooth and straight. Wasn't expecting this guitar to feel as good as my USA but it did and sound wise, it likely doesn't sound as good as a USA fat strat but it's pretty close as far as my ears are concerned.

The only thing I would change is that it would be nice to have more pickguard color options but that's the ONLY thing. I love my Fender Standard Fat Strat.

I paid $379.00 US for this Fender Standard Fat Strat and after playing it, I would pay $500 for this guitar. Currently as of June 19, 2006, the instrument is going for $400.00 from the same online store I purchased mine. The guitar does not come with a case so I recommend the purchase of a hard-shell case for less than $100 US. Grab yourself a Fender Standard Fat Strat before the price goes up again!! It is my opinion that this guitar is capable of providing a lifetime of enjoyment and music making.