American Special HSS Strat

kineman karma · **Posted:** Sun Jan 24, 2010 5:56 am

I want one now...LOL.

I think I will be selling one of my MIJ's and top up the rest of the $ to purchase a new American Special HSS Strat.

I reckon it well be the 3 tone sunburst.

Cheers. Ohh enjoy this well done vid.

http://www.fretbase.com/guitars/1831-fe ... hss/videos

chromeface · **Posted:** Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:58 am

I wished Fender to offer the guitar with a maple neck option, a white shell pearloid pickguard and a better humbucker. The Atomic sounds very crappy.

Texas Specials in the neck and middle, a Pearly Gates in the bridge and voila! you've a great-sounding axe for a smoky blues-rock jam!

Making a maple-neck HSS model is easy to do. Simply swap the rosewood neck with a maple one taken from a "regular" SSS model.

rkreisher · **Posted:** Mon Jan 25, 2010 8:09 pm

chromeface wrote:

I wished Fender to offer the guitar with a maple neck option, a white shell pearloid pickguard and a better humbucker. The Atomic sounds very crappy.

Texas Specials in the neck and middle, a Pearly Gates in the bridge and voila! you've a great-sounding axe for a smoky blues-rock jam!

Making a maple-neck HSS model is easy to do. Simply swap the rosewood neck with a maple one taken from a "regular" SSS model.

You can buy the SSS model, buy a new pickguard, and put in the Pearly Gates. That is what is great about Fender guitars, you can do anything you want to them. If the American Special is built anything like the Highway 1, it should already be routed for HSS configurations. The SSS models have maple necks.

Granted mine is a Highway 1 but it started out like this:

to this and no routing required:

RK

HWY1Strat · **Posted:** Mon Jan 25, 2010 9:33 pm

chromeface wrote:

The Atomic sounds very crappy.

I have to agree! I've tried 2 Am. Sp. HSS's and was thoroughly UNIMPRESSED!! (at least with the electronics anyway!!)

Granted..it is a visually stunning axe to behold....but much like the 7 Highway One HSS Stratocasters I own...it's gonna need WORK!!

The Atomic humbucker does indeed SUCK!! The Texas specials sounded a bit weak to my ears and like all single coils...are noisy as hell when cranked!! (I NEED noiseless pickups!!)

Don't even get me started on those cheap crap PING tuners!!!

I may indeed buy this axe....only to sink another $2 to 300.00 in it to get it RIGHT!!

Heck...I changed ALL the pickups, tuners, yes and even the saddles on ALL my Highway One HSS Strats and now these things rival Custom Shop instruments!!

chromeface · **Posted:** Tue Jan 26, 2010 2:36 am

Noiseless pickups are sterile. Texas Specials are just perfect for the Pearly Gates.

Pure gritty blues tones combined with a huge dose of snarl into the mix make for a smoky blues-rockin' axe that lets you play everything from warm, gritty SRV to crunchy, raw ZZ Top!

Want gritty Texas blues tone without the noise? Throw in a set of Fralins or Rio Grandes. :wink:

Ping tuners are the cheapest tuners I've seen on a Strat.

Sperzel, Schaller, Grover and Hipshot make high-quality locking machine heads.

You told us that your guitars now beat even the most expensive Custom Shop models. Please specify the mods you've made (i.e. hardware, pickups and electronics).

HWY1Strat · **Posted:** Tue Jan 26, 2010 5:45 am

chromeface wrote:

Noiseless pickups are sterile.
You told us that your guitars now beat even the most expensive Custom Shop models. Please specify the mods you've made (i.e. hardware, pickups and electronics).

You obviously have NOT tried the DiMarzio Area series of noiseless Strat replacement pups...they are FAR from sterile and you will save bundles of cash over Fralins.

I never said "THE MOST EXPENSIVE" custom shop models....just...Custom Shop models.

Here are my "improvements" :

The breakdown:
(Walnut) DiMarzio Area 67(n) Area 61(m) Gibson Burstbucker 3
(Sunburst) Fender Vintage Noiseless, Gibson 57 Classic Plus
(Ebony trans.) Fender Vintage Noiseless, Gibson 498T
(Daphne Blue) Dimarzio Area 67, DiMarzio 36th Anniv. P.A.F.
(Black) Fender Vintage Noiseless, Gibson 490T
(Amber) DiMarzio Area 58, DiMarzio P.A.F.
(Wine Trans.) DiMarzio Area 58, Dimarzio 36th Anniv. P.A.F.

ALL have Fender/Schaller locking tuners...the GERMAN made ones... along with Ferraglide/Graphtek saddles.

I have Fender Vintage Noiseles in 3 of them and I DO like them in spite of their negative feedback.

budglo · **Joined:** Fri Jan 02, 2009 3:17 pm **Posts:** 1986

HWY1Strat wrote:

chromeface wrote:

The Atomic sounds very crappy.

I have to agree! I've tried 2 Am. Sp. HSS's and was thoroughly UNIMPRESSED!! (at least with the electronics anyway!!)

Granted..it is a visually stunning axe to behold....but much like the 7 Highway One HSS Stratocasters I own...it's gonna need WORK!!

The Atomic humbucker does indeed SUCK!! The Texas specials sounded a bit weak to my ears and like all single coils...are noisy as hell when cranked!! (I NEED noiseless pickups!!)

Don't even get me started on those cheap crap PING tuners!!!

I may indeed buy this axe....only to sink another $2 to 300.00 in it to get it RIGHT!!

Heck...I changed ALL the pickups, tuners, yes and even the saddles on ALL my Highway One HSS Strats and now these things rival Custom Shop instruments!!

Why not save yourself some money and look for a used MIA Texas Special Fat strat.I imagine you can get one for around 500-600 .They come with better tuners and the custom staggered TSs are more balanced than the ones on the American Special.If they are adjusted correctly , they are far from "weak".They are actually higher output pickups.

HWY1Strat · **Posted:** Tue Jan 26, 2010 6:27 am

budglo wrote:

Why not save yourself some money and look for a used MIA Texas Special Fat strat.I imagine you can get one for around 500-600 .They come with better tuners and the custom staggered TSs are more balanced than the ones on the American Special.If they are adjusted correctly , they are far from "weak".They are actually higher output pickups.

I LOVE the look and feel of the Highway One series; the 'C" shaped neck, BIG frets, and BIG headstock.
I don't mind spending the extra cash because I'll have EXACTLY what I want afterwards. My guitar WILL NOT be interchangeable with an off the shelf Guitar Center guitar!
As far as the TEXAS SPECIALS........I generally play DIVE-y places with bad flourescent lighting and questionable power.........I NEED noiseless performance!
I am playing a guitar that indeed came about in the 1950's....there's no need, with today's technology, for me to HUM and BUZZ like a 1950's guitarist!

budglo · **Joined:** Fri Jan 02, 2009 3:17 pm **Posts:** 1986

HWY1Strat wrote:

budglo wrote:

Why not save yourself some money and look for a used MIA Texas Special Fat strat.I imagine you can get one for around 500-600 .They come with better tuners and the custom staggered TSs are more balanced than the ones on the American Special.If they are adjusted correctly , they are far from "weak".They are actually higher output pickups.

I LOVE the look and feel of the Highway One series; the 'C" shaped neck, BIG frets, and BIG headstock.
I don't mind spending the extra cash because I'll have EXACTLY what I want afterwards. My guitar WILL NOT be interchangeable with an off the shelf Guitar Center guitar!
As far as the TEXAS SPECIALS........I generally play DIVE-y places with bad flourescent lighting and questionable power.........I NEED noiseless performance!
I am playing a guitar that indeed came about in the 1950's....there's no need, with today's technology, for me to HUM and BUZZ like a 1950's guitarist!

Thats why Fender makes so many models.I have Texas Specials and American Standard pickups and to be honest the AS pickups hum more .I know what you mean about the lighting and power in some of the places we play,I doubt anyone in the audience hears the hum from me because of all the background noise.Nothing wrong with an "off the shelf"guitar.Its all a matter of what your needs are.Some people find them , some dont.Doesnt make it better or worse,just a matter of taste.

DetroitBlues · **Joined:** Thu Oct 08, 2009 7:58 am **Posts:** 2187

The American Special Strat HSS or SSS is almost the same guitar as the Fender Lonestar and Roadhouse Strat's for $150 less. The finish is almost the same and the big difference is an extra fret on the American versus the MIM. However, the Lonestar and Roadhouse are deluxe series with tinted necks and improved fret dressing; not to mention the 50's/60's headstock.

I'll stick with my Roadhouse. I'd only consider the first Highway 1's that had the smaller headstock. The 70's headstock was the dumbest thing CBS did to Fender...

budglo · **Joined:** Fri Jan 02, 2009 3:17 pm **Posts:** 1986

DetroitBlues wrote:

The American Special Strat HSS or SSS is almost the same guitar as the Fender Lonestar and Roadhouse Strat's for $150 less. The finish is almost the same and the big difference is an extra fret on the American versus the MIM. However, the Lonestar and Roadhouse are deluxe series with tinted necks and improved fret dressing; not to mention the 50's/60's headstock.

I'll stick with my Roadhouse. I'd only consider the first Highway 1's that had the smaller headstock. The 70's headstock was the dumbest thing CBS did to Fender...

Dont the Deluxe Series have a 12 " radius neck?

HWY1Strat · **Posted:** Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:42 am

HWY1Strat · **Posted:** Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:48 am

DetroitBlues wrote:

The 70's headstock was the dumbest thing CBS did to Fender...

Hell-to the NO-WAY!!

Believe me,...CBS did a lot WORSE to the Fender brand than this great headstock design...........crappy pickups, lead anchor body weight, 1/2 inch thich poly coating are just a few WORSE items that come to mind!!

The 70's headstock is cooler than ice!
It's the silouette/shadow of all my/our heroes.....Hendrix, Trower, Lowell George, Blackmore, Beck and countless others!

Hendrix or Trower would not have looked the same with the smaller headstock!

It's all about the LOOK.....you either LOVE it or don't!

It is, without a doubt...a ICONIC headstock design!

I'm so glad Fender brought those back and now I can get them without paying crazy prices for actual 70's Strats!!

DetroitBlues · **Joined:** Thu Oct 08, 2009 7:58 am **Posts:** 2187

budglo wrote:

DetroitBlues wrote:

The American Special Strat HSS or SSS is almost the same guitar as the Fender Lonestar and Roadhouse Strat's for $150 less. The finish is almost the same and the big difference is an extra fret on the American versus the MIM. However, the Lonestar and Roadhouse are deluxe series with tinted necks and improved fret dressing; not to mention the 50's/60's headstock.

I'll stick with my Roadhouse. I'd only consider the first Highway 1's that had the smaller headstock. The 70's headstock was the dumbest thing CBS did to Fender...

Dont the Deluxe Series have a 12 " radius neck?

The only Deluxe series with 12" radius is the Deluxe Players Strat. The other three are only 9.5". The only other MIM strat I can think of with a 12" radius is the Kenny Wayne Sheperd Strat.

dkals · **Joined:** Tue Nov 06, 2007 6:01 am **Posts:** 179

Slightly off topic. What kind of saddles are on the H-1 upgrade / American special? Cast or bent steel?

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