Two months ago I bought my second Stratocaster, the Highway One HSS. I couldn't contain my enthusiasm over the sound of this new guitar and made a lot of posts which were met with well wishes. As I said, that was two months ago. I thought, hopefully without being too presumptuous, that I'd give an update of my impression of the Highway One.

First the back story:

As I said, this is my second Strat, the first being an American Deluxe. It is a beautiful guitar with lots of beautiful tones but it's missing the true spank of a single coil with the use of their Samarium Cobalt Noiseless Pickups.

Why the Highway One:

I liked the superlight weight, the growl of the Fender Hot Alnico III Single Coil pickups and the Atomic Humbucking Pickup on the bridge. The Sunburst finish is very attractive. Made in USA was important to me as I want to support my local economy first during these trying economic times.

Things I don't like:

Fret ends are a little sharp. Was disappointed upon the discovery of an MIM Tremolo bridge. Strings are narrow at the bridge with it's 2 1/16 string width. The tremolo arm bends easily in the throat of the tremolo arm cavity. Zinc tremolo block.

If I had to do it over:

Yeah, I'd go for it. As beautiful as my American Deluxe is, in the end a musical instrument is about sound not looks. The noiseless pickups in the AmDlx are close to the sound of a vintage Strat. The pickups in the Highway One are the sound of a vintage Strat with a few extra windings.

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"If I don't see you no more in this world I'll meet you on the next one and don't be late... don't be late." -Jimi Hendrix

Interesting to read your thoughts on this. I also got a Highway 1 (SSS) just a few months back, and couldn't be happier with it. I like everything about it, and I'm considering getting a SSH one in the new year.

The only thing I'm confused about is that I'd understood that the tremolo block (while it's obviously Mexican) was steel, not zinc. It's possible I'm dead wrong, but I've read that stated by more than one source.

Grats, mate!

Those Highway one's are pretty good indeed.

I have no issues witht the frets on mine (maple fretboard).

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Dean, Epiphone and Fender guitars

I love my '07 H1! You can pry it from my cold dead hands!

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yeah im pretty sure they upgraded it to steel from zinc in 06

Mine looks like the cheaper zinc blocks. I think Fender went back to using them on the 2009 models at least. Can any Fender pundit verify for us if Fender went back to using zinc for current model?

I bought this HW1 specifically for the humbucking bridge pup. An HSS guitar is like having the best of both worlds. As to my overall impression of the HW1--I too couldn't be happier. To be honest, if I had to be stuck on a desert island (with an amp and electricity) and can have only one guitar, I'd choose the HW1 over my AmDlx.

I'm totally satisfied with my HW1. As for the bridge, I've already decided to go with a Wilkinson 5+1 so the composition of my current bridge is really moot. The sharp fret ends are not sharp enough to cut but it does hurt the inside of my thumb after sliding up and down the bottom E aggressively. I can address this issue myself.

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"If I don't see you no more in this world I'll meet you on the next one and don't be late... don't be late." -Jimi Hendrix

BTW: the banner I made whichis visible below features actual images of my Vintage White Am Dlx and my Sunburst HW1. I bought my HW1 from the Guitar Center showroom in Westside, LA. I could have taken it back at any time if I wasn't satisfied. I am a tinkerer and I look forward to modding my HW1 to suite my individual needs. The HW1 is a great as it is but it's also a great foundation for building an excellent custom guitar on a low budget.

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"If I don't see you no more in this world I'll meet you on the next one and don't be late... don't be late." -Jimi Hendrix

manabu108,

I am glad you like your Highway 1. I absolutely love mine. When I bought mine it was a '07 SSS configuration. With some slight modifications, mine is now a HSS and a pure joy to play. I bought the SSS because it was the best playing one in the store and already knew that (based on the Atomic Humbucker in the Bridge position of the other ones I played) I was going to change out the SC for a Humbucker. I put in a 500K volume pot and Dimarzio Super Distortion in mine and it ROCKs now. I also put Fender/Schaller "F" locking tuners, "F" neck plate, changed the pick-up covers to black, and have a white pearloid pickguard on it now.

I have not had any issues with my tremolo itself, but the tremolo arm leaves little to be desired. I am looking for a replacement (maybe a Gilmore-type) in the future.

this:



to this:



RK

Interesting to hear that they switched back to zinc blocks - mine's an '06 model, which I'm sure has a steel block, but then again I'm not as well informed as many of the other folks who post here.

I was lucky to get it - much like kreisher, I found the best player in the shop and just got it, almost on a whim in my case. I was looking to get a MIA Standard, but just fell in love with this particular guitar on the day. It was the last H1 the guy had in the shop (it's a really small place five minutes from my house, but the only authorized Fender dealer for miles, here in the outskirts of Melbourne), and I'd seen it there before, but had never bothered with it, because it was "just" a H1. This one day, I was kind of on a mission, and played a ton of different strats, and found myself comparing every other one I played to this one. I figured that meant something, so I got it.

Look how wrong you can be!

The only other ones I really liked were the Robert Cray sig model and the Jimmy Vaughan sig model - the Road Worn ones were okay, but not my kind of thing. To my surprise, I didn't find an American Standard that suited me at all, so I think of this strat as my "destiny" guitar (as in, I was destined to own and play this particular guitar).

Going back to my comment that the fret ends are sharp, this would be in comparison to American Deluxe which has spoiled me due to its super smooth, hand rolled ends.

I actually went to Guitar Center hoping that they might have a Standard Floyd Rose Strat. There wasn't but I tried out a Standard, Lone Star, Road House and Deluxe Players Strat as well as the HW1 HSS. As I was trying other guitars I kept going back to the HW1 that I eventually settled on because . The Deluxe Players Strat is definitely and awesome MIM but the neck was too meaty for me. I couldn't wrap my thumb over the bottom E and play a clean Major Chord. The 12" radius and the thickness of the neck was too much for my hand. Also the HW1 features Jumbo frets which may add to the abrasive feel in the crook of my thumb. I do intend on getting some tools and supplies from StewMac.com to smooth out the fret ends.

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"If I don't see you no more in this world I'll meet you on the next one and don't be late... don't be late." -Jimi Hendrix

Zinc steel block? My 07 highway one has a thick steel trem block. The steel trem block was one of the upgrades for the 06 and up to current highway ones.

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Thanks for the info!

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"If I don't see you no more in this world I'll meet you on the next one and don't be late... don't be late." -Jimi Hendrix

Highway Ones are a good deal right now. The prices on American Standards and Deluxes and the Mexican Deluxe, Classic and Classic Player Strats have fluctuated wildly this year, so when it was time for me to buy an HSS Strat, the Highway One was my choice. $700? Yeah, I can do that.

The only thing I didn't like about my Highway One was the tremolo arm. It was a major pain to screw in so it had to go. The replacement arm I bought is easy to install and I'm one happy Highway One owner.

John

yeah,
i absolutely love mine.


it totally rocks. i wanted to change the pickups for cs 69s. but i didnt have the heart to remove those pickups, they go from glassy to heavy rock blues with ease. they are hotter, they serve their purpose.

so i got this one for the cs 69s

awesome strat too.

and for a different tone, not bad at all by the way i got this one.

love the maple v neck. the scns take time to get use to.
and my am strat. i would like to install either a fullsize humbucker.
like a seymour duncan jb, or a 59.
or a jb jr, i imagine paired with the delta tone pot, tones would be very interesting.

Whoa! I'm getting a GAS attack...

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"If I don't see you no more in this world I'll meet you on the next one and don't be late... don't be late." -Jimi Hendrix