Hey guys, i found a 1997 Fender American Series Strat on a local forum, selling at US$570.

Positives:
- The fret wires seem to be well maintained
- Action seems fine set at 4/64ths of an inch over the 17th fret except for the bass E string w/c is a lil bit higher than the rest
- Maple fret board is flawless
- No rust found on bridge saddles and other metal hardwares
- Tone is definitely a strat

Negatives:
- Intonation a lil bit off but could be adjusted in no time
- It doesn't come with a hardcase
- Repainted to silver from i dont know what color it was before
- A small ding at the bottom of the body(could indicate it had an accident)
- The 5 way selector switch is kinda loose i can't feel it snap in every position unlike my mij strat

Comparing it to my MIJ strat which has a vintage bridge with 6 screws mounted and a bigger tremolo block, the MIA standard strat has thinner tremolo block with only 2 screws mounted on the bridge.

The MIA strat is lighter than my MIJ. The MIA pickups are non-staggered unlike my MIJ.

I don't know which of these differences is either good or bad affecting the tonality. I love my MIJ strat ('62 ri with 5 way switch 1993/94 model) but i don't know if the MIA amercian series strat is any better based on the above.

Is the US$570 worth the money?


Paul [/b]

one year ago I bought a 1997 MIA Fender Roadhouse strat in a tweed hardcase for 600.00 All original and in perfect shape and set-up.
I saw a month ago a 2005 American standard butterscotch in tip top. I don't have money Or i would have bought it. It was 500.00 dollars. I see lots of MIA strats for 500 to 650 dollars.
heres a pic of my 97 roadhouse

Wow! Beautiful! Good for you its all there including the tweed case. Oh btw aside from the missing hardcase, the whammy bar is too. I figured i could spend another extra $100 for a hard case and whammy. But i don't really know how the standard bridge and thin tremolo steel block be any good compared to a vintage type bridge with the folded steel saddles and thicker steel block... hmmm this really got me thinking. i noticed if i bend the strings, i could clearly see the tailpiece move. I don't know if that's a good thing. I've never tried standard strats before

The smaller steele sustain block is still very much a point of contention amongst players. I most often block my tremolo anyway as I am not much of a whammy user so for me it makes little difference. The floating bridge will cause bent strings to react a little differently. especially double bends. I fix this by either blocking or if I want to keep a chance of whammy. I use 5 springs. That usually is more than enough to counter a bent string or two.


Another argument I have heard is that the 6 screw tremolo bridge transfers sound to and from the body better than the 2 point. Again I have both and that is not evident to my ears. The 2 point is supposed to be smoother and less prone to bind. I like then both just fine. The MIA's have been 2 point a very long time so they must be okay. The 6 screw or vintage is on MIM and MIC and vintage MIA and others as that is what was originally on strats and it is a good bridge. The smaller trem block was a cost saving measure. so the larger blocks are now used to fill that void. Physics would dictate that a larger block would transfer better and of course there would be differences in the frequencies involved in those transfers. I still hear little difference from just the sustain block alone. I feel the differences are in the whole instrument/electronics/amp/player dynamic.


the difference between block or cast saddles and the bent steele saddles is to my ears very little. Others may chime in with their own take. The block saddles and bent(I have both) have made no discernable difference in sound or sustain to me. The only differences to me have been. The block(cast) saddles seem to grab the hair on my arm and that kinda sucks. The bent steele ones don't grab but the saddle height screws can tear up your hand. A fellow I knew who has been dead for nearly 30 years and who worked for fender back in the 50's and 60's said the bridge covers were to keep your hands from getting cut by the screws. I was also told is was decorative and others said it was to keep you from interfering with the bridge and strings while playing before palm muting and such became the vogue. Who knows ,right?


The point is you can change saddles and sustain blocks to your hearts content. So buy the guitar if you like it and modify as you will. MIA strats from the 90's on can be had for 500.00 plus and there is no shortage. So be picky and get one that sings to you.

Thanks! I couldn't find answers from google til here.. of course more opinions are highly appreciated. Right now, i feel like i need to test the guitar some more using my amp this time. When i first played it, i didn't quite felt "It" and the guy selling it only had a 10 watt amp so i couldn't really feel the difference. The quack was there but i felt this thing needs to be plugged to a 30 watt amp at very least to be able to hear the $500

No. Was this a pro refinish, or did some doofus just spraypaint the guitar? That seriously brings the price down.

In 1997 the basic US Strat was an American Standard, not American Series. The "Series" model which started around 2000 is far superior in my opinion.
Here are some more negatives to add:
- Swimming pool route under the pickguard
- Body possibly has a laminate on front and back
- Non-staggered tuners and two string trees increases chances of tuning problems
- Pickups are inferior to the Am Series and new Am Stds in my opinion

See if you can get him to go below $500. Or wait for a better condition Am Std or Am Series to come along for around $570. All my opinion of course.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

Ah finally heres an eye-opener.. The paint job was done well. It looked like a pearl finish. I could tell it was repainted because i could see the paint covering some of the steel plate where you hook the springs at the back and underneath it, theres a tiny chip where i could see the original color (dark blueish). Playing that guitar made me feel i wanted my friend's MIA 62 reissue more (also manufactured in 1997/98 ). I guess i'll probably wait for my friend to sell his.

waiting is probably a good idea as I said no shortage on MIA strats.

I am curious why that previous poster said that universal routs(i.e. swimming pool routs) are a shortcoming. Clapton,beck many blues cats even John Mayer use the Universal routed gits. Of course they don't know anything I guess. Also many decades of NON staggered tuners are meaningless as well i suppose. And 2 string trees are a problem? Again I would like to see some certain proof of those contentions. a string can bind on the nut as well as the trees and so much more. No perfect system exists. Fender has used much of these various systems for many decades and with great success. You can always mod your guitar also. The modularity of fender guitars is one of their most appealing aspects.

Refinish does affect value. The price was already low and getting it lower would only benfit you more. The primacy of the items value however resides solely in the eye(and wallet) of the beholder.
Are you interested in the guitar to resell or to play? That is an important question.

The other appealing point about Fender guitars is that they possess the potential to be a different guitar for many different people while at the same time being sufficient in providing a platorm of similarities so as to allow players at all levels a place from which to start. You can mix and match to your hearts content.

Claptons strats as well as SRV and others were not off the rack or custom shop models but guitars that they put together using the parts from various strats that they liked. Of course clapton had custom shops after the fact(built to the specs of the original parts casters) and of course the CS has SRV strats and such. The point is many professional players use off the rack and parts-casters as well as custom jobs.

I am not one for quoting musicians,but there is a part to a statement attributed to John Mayer,concerning his strat in the 2005 Fender Frontline Extra that says.

"Its got my name on the back of the headstock,but the rest of the guitar is for putting someone elses name all over it."

That is true off all guitars,most especially Fenders. You can buy that certain model and color and even year of Fender like your musical inspiration. and endevour to sound like them. however You will if you continue to play sound like yourself. Regardless of universal routs or number of string trees. Do not except the notions or opinions of person like myself or others as guitar gospel. Just take what we say as impetus to further your quest. Then decide for yourself
You have the right idea of playing the guitar through your own amp. Always make your own decision and not be swayed by the opinions of anonymous internetters Like myself or others. Its your ears and your fingers which must make the final decision.

Hi eyerish, the features of the old American Standards that I pointed out as negative are only in my opinion (I forgot to mention the TBX tone control, Yuck! in my opinion ). That's why I repeated "in my opinion" twice in my post. Fender chose to change the specs for a reason around 2000 and again in 2008, and I happen to welcome those changes. I'm also comfortable with vintage style Strats as Leo intended them. I just don't get along with most 80s and 90s Am Stds.

I'm not saying the old Am Stds are ALL bad guitars. My point is if I had a choice between a 1997 Am Std, an Am Series, or a used modern Am Std and each one was priced the same at $570, I would go for the Am Series or modern Am Std because I consider the features of these models upgrades over the old Am Std. For $570 I think the OP can do better than an old Am Std that was refinished in silver OVER the original dark blueish color and without a case.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.