what is the difference fender american series Stratocaster with the american standard Stratocaster ? Which is better for playability? thanks

Hi fahmad_firdaus: somewhere around 2000-ish Fender renamed it's American Standard the American Series, probably to avoid confusion with the Standard guitars coming out of the Mexican plant.

Then around 2007 (give or take a year; my memory is foggy) they decided they didn't care about that confusion anymore and renamed the American Series the American Standard again.

Over time the specs have continued to change bit by bit. I think at the moment the Am Series turned back into the Am Std they also replaced the dicast bridge saddles (as on Am Dlx's) with vintage style ones, brought in the "copper infused" bridge block and added a mild tint to the neck lacquer. They also lost the S1 Switch which I have on my 2005 Am Series. These tiny differences were called "up-grades".

However, to all intents and purposes the American Series and American Standard are the same thing.

Cheers - C

Ceri's got you covered pretty well. Here is how it ran:

1st Generation American Standard - late 1986 through July 2000

American Series - July 2000 through December 2007

2nd Generation American Standard - January 2008 - present

The updates from the 1st Generation Amercan to the American Series were pretty significant (rolled fingerboard edges, staggered height tuners, 50s-style body contours, staggered polepiece pickups among others).

All those features carry forward to the 2nd Generation American Standard, and as Ceri listed one of the major updates was to the trem (now with bent saddles and a heavier trem block). The other major update was to the neck; it is now a tiny bit narrower at the nut (current American Standard is 1.685" wide; the American Series and original American Standards were 1.6875" wide) and the maple fingerboards now have a gloss finish (the earlier ones had a satin finish on fingerboard).

Playability is going to be similar; some people prefer the older style neck and trem, others like the new style neck and trem. That is all personal preference.

What model Am Series do you have? The S1 was stock only on Am Deluxe and HSS Am Series. Regular SSS Am Series didn't have the S1.

A couple of other "up-grades" were the thinner polyurethane finish as touted by Fender as having superior tone (that is highly debatable, marketing hype ) and the cases for the new Am Stds are an improvement over the ones used for Am Series.



I couldn't agree more. They have more in common than differences. Playability between the two is not an issue at all.

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

Hi metropolis: that's the one. Yer 'tis:



Nicely matched ash bod, too. Sienna Sunburst; parchment 'guard, knobs and covers. Love those rolled fingerboard edges. All together, the Strat against which all my others are measured...

Cheers - C

Now we get into even more models when we include the HH and HSS versions; this is more info than the OP asked for but here goes:

USA-made HSS Strats - not including American Deluxe models (or Strat Ultra):

1996-July 2000: Lone Star Strat - had 2 Texas Special single coils and a Duncan Pearly Gates Plus, unique finishes, pearl pickguards. Body, neck and hardware same as 1st Generation American Standard

July 2000 - July 2003: American Series Fat Strat Texas Special (or maybe it was "American Series Texas Special Fat Strat) - had 2 Texas Special single coils and the Duncan Pearly Gates Plus; body, neck and hardware same as American Series Strat

July 2003 - December 2007: American HSS Strat - had 2 Tex-Mex single coils, a Fender humbucker, and the S1 switching; body, neck and hardware same as American Series Strat

January 2008 - present: American Standard HSS Strat - has 2 Tex-Mex pickups and Fender humbucker (no more S1 switching); body, neck and hardware same as 2nd Generation American Standard Strat

USA-made HH models:

1996-July 2000: Big Apple Strat - had a Duncan '59 and a Duncan Pearly Gates Plus humbucker pickups, unique finishes, pearl pickguards. Body, neck and hardware same as 1st Generation American Standard

July 2000 - July 2003: American Series Double Fat Strat - had a Ducan '59 and a Duncan Pearly Gates Plus pickups; body, neck and hardware same as American Series Strat

July 2003 - December 2006: American HH Strat - had 2 Fender humbuckers (both different than the Fender Humbucker on the HSS Strat) and the S1 switching; body, neck and hardware same as American Series Strat. Discontinued at the end of 2006 and not replaced.

What they said

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

+1 what they sad above. Just bumping my number of posts.

Hello,

Bass player needing info on the lonestar strat. Anyone on here that can tell me about their experience with this model. Explain about the pickups in this axe ,pearly gates and the two single coils SRV style pups.

thanks

You'll get more views and replies if you start your own thread here titled "need Lonestar Strat info" or something to that effect.

Here is some Lonestar info to keep you occupied in the meantime: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sour ... +&gs_rfai=

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