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highway one vs. american standard
Poll ended at Wed Oct 10, 2007 12:15 pm
american standard 56%  56%  [ 10 ]
highway one 44%  44%  [ 8 ]
Total votes : 18
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 4:23 pm
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to settle the wood number debate i e-mailed fender customer service and they said that most highway 1 guitars are made with three pieces of wood.


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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 4:57 pm
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Reference Highway One being more than one piece - sounds like you know what you're talking about a lot more than I do about how guitars are made. I was told at the time I bought it buy the guy at GC who was very enthusiastic about the Highway One that the body was one piece of wood rather than a bunch of little pieces stuck together as is the case with MIM guitars. Also, I can see through the paint and I don't see any seems anywhere. So, they do a nice job of joining the wood very smoothly. So now I'm learning that GC guy, who is a pretty knowledgeable musician and plays a Mesa Boogie amp, is a little off and it's two or three pieces. Okay, but I'm still glad it's not a whole bunch of little pieces glued together, like probably my Squier was, and the pictures of the MIM standards shown here. One thing, the Highway One is very light - much lighter than my old Squier. Not a bunch of manufacturing and adhesives. Sure Les Pauls are heavy, but I like a light alder body.


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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 5:11 pm
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I'm an old dude, way way way over the age not to be trusted according to a (younger) Mick Jagger. My computer skills are pretty antique. So, I'm not going to be able to post a picture of my own guitar. However, I have the wine transparent and this link has some pictures that look exactly like it, including the wood visible. They're pretty good with covering up the joints.

http://www.fender.com/highwayone/


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Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 8:51 am
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There's a lot of confusion about the Highway One wood, people are talking past each other, and I've definitely been adding to it. Well, I did some research last night and I've got something to contribute that might help.

1. My Highway One is definitely made from one main piece of wood. The whole exterior outside of the pick guard is one piece. I can see through the thin paint and I went over it carefully yesterday using a halogen light. The grain is continuous with no joints throughout the visible part of the body. Makes a huge difference compared to my Squier which I'm sure is the little pieces joined together and heavily lacquered like they showed for the MIM standards, or even something cheaper. Play my Highway One with the amp off and it resounds beautifully and sounds great. The Squier is dead with no amp. but you know what that's okay because that Squier was a workhorse for years and sounds pretty good for the price, and also the high action is similar to an acoustic and I used to play a lot of acoustic. Now, that don't mean my Highway One body is totally one piece. After some research, I'm sure it's There's plenty of room unde the pickguard for another piece of wood or two. Details aren't always so clear from me so what I'm getting at is the Highway One, like other made in the USA guitars the American, Am DX, and up, is made from a main piece and that does make a difference in the sound, to my ears.

2. Production made in the USA Fender Stratocasters have always been made from two or three pieces of wood, since Leo Fender started making them in the 1950s. Not talking about custom shop specials or something. Check this out about Fender manufacturing.

http://www.kellyindustries.com/guitars/ ... aster.html

3. A Highway One is not a multiple piece of wood joined or glued body like some of the cheaper guitars that are MIM, although I don't believe all of them from down there are that. That's what people are concerned about when looking at it. Nope, the Highway One, like older made in the USA strats and even Gibson Les Pauls, will be out of 2 or 3 pieces. Hey, Fender sells better but I like my Highway One a lot.


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Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 9:03 am
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stratcat, your guitar is not made of one piece of wood. Just as the guy from Fender told us, Highway Ones are made from three pieces of wood. ANd when they say that, they don't mean a couple of little pieces you can't see hidden under the pickguard, which wouldn't make any sense from a production standpoint. They mean it's made from three equally sized pieces, glued together with the glue joints running up along the body, and so there are two long joints that run the entire length of the body... one that runs through the upper cutaway and another that runs through the lower cutaway.

Alder has a lighter, tighter grain than ash, and multiple pieces can often be joined and sanded with the appearance of no joint.

Even on the Fender website, where they show the lower body of the trans red H1 Strat (pic #3 in their line-up), you can clearly see one of two body joints, which begins just a hair to the left of that lowest pickguard screw and extends straight down across the lower edge.

I'm not trying to bust your chops: I'm just telling the rest of community (just in case it would matter to anyone, which it shouldn't) that Hiway ones have a standard three-piece body and you can't tell by looking at it because joints in alder can be very hard to see.

You also can't tell by playing them: I've played five peice bodies that rang like bells.


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Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 9:24 am
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Most Fender bodies are made of at least two pieces of matching grained wood. As we have learned even three pieces. that is not unusual as even Martin tops and most backs are made with 2 mirrored matching grained pieces. That means the grain on one side matches the gain on the other. Because the rarity of some woods and big enough pieces, some backs are also made of not two but three pieces and you can tell them by the trapezoid.


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Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 10:00 am
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Gravityjim,

I know it's not literally one piece. Let me repeat: I know it's not one piece. In case you feel the need to tell me that again, let me do it for you - I know it's not literally one piece. It's also not a whole bunch of pieces chopped up small and glued together, which I suspect is my Squier, and I've seen posted here and been told is the case with some MIM standards. People posting here have been concerned that's how Highway One's are made, and that's not how they're made.

Fact is, production made in the USA strats are made from 2-3 pieces, according to the information link about Fender manufacturing, which I posted, and that goes back to the 1950s and Leo Fender. That includes mine.

I've learned a little bit about how they make Stratocasters and I've tried to share it. Exactly where are the 2-3 pieces on my particular guitar, I cannot tell you. I suspected a big piece, not a small one, under the pick guard. With transparent paint under bright halogen light, no joints are visible. Is there a joint that's not visible because the grains are matched - if you say so and you know specifically how they're made then I don't doubt it.

Is a Highway One more likely 3 pieces than 2 compared to an American? I don't know. Could be, based on the price. What it's not, though, is a whole bunch of little pieces glued together as on some imports. I suspect I own one of those - my Squier. With the amp off, there's a huge difference.


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Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 10:26 am
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wow this post turned into a gravityjim strat58cat battle. cool. :lol:

gj do you own a h1?


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Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 10:42 am
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No, it isn't a battle.

No, I don't own a Highway One. I just know how Fender builds their guitars.


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Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 10:48 am
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this is off topic but you (gravity jim) said in a previous post that sweetwater was a competing store/studio. so where do you work/play at? you also said you are a professional. what band do you play in?


Last edited by harmonicchaos on Tue Sep 11, 2007 12:15 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 10:54 am
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Personally i prefer my current strat (ltd ed Lite Ash strat with seymors) it has a really deep tone. LOVELY


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Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 12:18 pm
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Not a battle. I realize why it came across that way. Earlier I did say one piece based on just the way it looks without really checking how they're made. Based on what gravityjim said and some other research, I've learned a lot. It's 2-3 pieces, usually 3 according to the Fender post, similar to other production made in the USA Strats. It's not a whole bunch of little pieces glued together like some lower-priced guitars. Even when I said "one" I wasn't really thinking only one piece in the whole guitar, but I was thinking "not a whole bunch of little pieces." Les Pauls and my Yamaha acoustic and Taylor acoustic are also not one piece of wood.


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Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 4:04 pm
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I have to agree with the others (though the poll was tied when I checked in). I have both and I pick up the Hwy1 more than the American Series or for that matter, any of the other guitars I own. The American is a bit more refined and the playability is slightly better, but sometimes I wonder why I spent the $$$ for the American when I was perfectly happy with the Hwy1. Just another case of G.A.S. I guess.


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