I recieved my Mexican strat in Artic white and by the way the name of the finnish is wrong it is Olympic white. That was not a big deal but the midlle pickguard was screwed tight to the body of the guitar so that it was completely flat, raising the side screw did NOTHING...Needless to say the guitar was sent back and I'm awaiting a refund. My question is do you think it would behove me to go the American Highway one?? I'm into the clean and spank od a strat and really don't do distorteed tones. Is this more of a metal guitar or did I just get a bad one and should I send for the burst (which is $50 more but at the same 499 price)The lake placid looks cool too.Price is a big issue to me. Thanks in advance for your opinions, Steve

I recently had to send back my MIM Blackmore. To make a long story short: get the MIA Highway One, it looks awesome and prices are incredible.
Good luck.
M.

What's uo wuth adding $150 dollars to a mexican start to "upgraded strat" and then they ship them out when their defective? I'm losing my confidence in Fender...they cut $50 off and it seems like any quality control went with it. Will I be getting a better quality guitar with a highway one or is it just a mexican assembled in the USA???

The Highway 1 is a great guitar, but I'm sure that in your case all that happened has that you got a bad mim. It happens. The great majority of players instantly love their mim's from the getgo.

Personally I'm awaiting my Highway 1 to come in Keep in mind that the frets are jumbo, though. So long as you're comfortable with them it should serve you very well.

As far as I can tell, both model Strats you mention are predominantly of Mexican composition, regardless of where they are assembled.

I've seen and heard many players with legitimate issues over their Standard Strats just as much as I've heard complaints over Highway Ones; fret sprout being the chief problem. Conversely, I've seen countless models of each which were absolutely fantastic and after time, were still outstanding specimens. Consequently, if you are buying your Strat from a website, meaning, you can't see or play what you're getting first, it is going to be, "the luck of the draw" either way. One thing to keep in mind should you choose the Highway One though: The body does not come with a glossy, sealed finish. Rather, it comes with a flat, unsealed finish and if you do try to polish it or even intensively wipe it down by usual means, the paint will come off on the rag and you will forevermore see on the body where you tried to polish/seriously wipe it.

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You dig?

I've got a nice Arctic White with Maple MIM rented out with that I quite like. Buying online is always risky, especially for guitars. The MIMs seem to vary more. I played a MIM a couple weeks ago and absolutely hated it and just kinda veered away from them for a while. Then i found this white one that I am currently renting and love it. However, MIM's probably wont be able to give you that sparkling clean sound you're looking for. In fact, I don't think the Highway ones will either as the ones I've tried out in the shop didn't. The American Standard Strat is fantastic for clean tones. The one I tried out was virtually noiseless too. However, if price is an issue I personally would go with the MIM. I didn't like the Highway ones I tried out much but that may have just been that particular guitar.

Btw, regarding Martians comment about the Nitro finish. I love the nitro finish, I think it looks better and I like how it lets the guitar age real nicely so you'd never have to buy a "reliced" guitar

My Highway 1 is 6months old and is already showing changes in the (Honey Blonde) paintwork. It has 2 dings that a poly finish would have laughed off and the area where the wrist/forearm rests is already thining and polishing up. And that's absoultely cool. One of the reasons I bought the guitar was for the thin finish and the though that without too much effort it would come to look nicely used and naturally relic'd. In 20yrs I expect it to look like Rory Gallagher owned it..

As for the clean sounds sought by the post originator, I wouldn't expect the Highway to be entirely suitable. The stock Alnico V pickups are a bit on the spiky side and lack real body behind the initial attack. I've changed mine out.

Other attraction of course is that it's an American guitar. Might be valuable to you..

The Hwy 1 has a little bit hotter output pickup than the MIM std. I would say you should play both and see what you like for your style. Everyone I've talked to about the Hwy 1 says it has a great tone with distortion because of the hotter pickup. Just a thought.

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2005 Fender American Stratocaster W/Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in bridge and Seymour Duncan SSL-5 in neck.
1995 Fender American Standard Stratocaster
Line 6 Spider II 150 watt head W/Ampeg 4x12 Cab
Laney Pro-Linebacker PL65R

Yes to that ... and also what finish are you after? The poly and nitro are vastly different in look and how they age.

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

I'll probably go to the Mexican and get the blue finnish so I know I'll be getting an "09.....the white one I bought online was an '08 but sold as an 09 and I know they didn't make them in blue in 08.I am dissabled so getting out to tryt them isn't a possibility..(veteran with badly damaged legs) so I am stuck to ordering online. I am thinking for the same price the sunburst which would be a better value at the same price but there's no way to tell if it would be an 08 or an 09. I am concened about the finnish and appreciate the info. I don't do much with distortion so I don't need the hotter pickups or the thin finnish...neither is a selling point for me, personnally. I will undoubtedly end up replacing the pickups with Texas Specials for their smoothness or possibly some SCN's but I just want one that isn't defective. I'm going to give it one more shot and that's it. If Fenders quality control is that bad that their sending out guitars with broken pickup mounts and the pickups just screwed in flat to the body (with no way to lift them) and I get another like that I'll be all through with Fender (as well as all my students)...There are other worthy guitars and the PRS SE line and the Reverend guitars are as nice or in some cases quite nicer for about the same money and less than a Highway one. I'll give Fender one more shot. I like their sound....but it's not the only good sounding guitar. I am dissapointed in their quality control...This was soooo obvious and they just shipped it out...Leads me to believe the upgrades sure didn't improve their quality or inspection (or should I say WHAT INSPECTION???). I guess getting the blue is the only way to guarantee it's an 2009 since that color wasn't availabe in 2008.

I'm a big fan of the Highway One series.

American made
Great playability
Nice features
High "coolness" factor
Outstanding price

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"Life is like eating jalapenos. What you do today may burn your arse tomorrow"

They are a very cool guitar but it seems to be more of a darker, heavier sound. Not quite the clean sweet, glasy sound of the more conventional pickups and I don't want to ruin the finnish of my guitar by just playing it. I don't want a "broken in, worn, or reliced guitar....wht does Fender get off on destroying the instrument before you get it and then chargibg you retail...a worn strat?????Why can't the just sell you a non-ruined new American for that discounted "worn" price???? If I wanted to knock the crap out of my guitar, I'd rather do it myself than pay a grand to have someone else ruin it for that price..IMHO

You might also want to question the seller. The guitar could have been ok when it left the factory. You are buying the guitar from a "middle man" and who knows what goes on in the warehouse of a giant online distributor.

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2005 Fender American Stratocaster W/Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in bridge and Seymour Duncan SSL-5 in neck.
1995 Fender American Standard Stratocaster
Line 6 Spider II 150 watt head W/Ampeg 4x12 Cab
Laney Pro-Linebacker PL65R

It was inside 2 sealed Fender boxes the only one who actually touched the guitar was Fender..No middle man had opened the boxes and then perfectly resealed them. This goes squarely on the shoulders of FeOR quality control, Isn't it said to say we "expect" some of then to be bad and you have to play several to find a good one???? That's a pretty sad comentary on a company much more interested in profit than it's product.

It sucks hearing about your experience Keep in mind that things like these are very atypical of Fender.