I have a Deluxe Strat (American) Well, actually I have 2 (:-)) Anyways, one of the 2 is a GC mahogany Special I got a couple years ago. I already had an Ash Deluxe Strat which is my alltime fav guitar, so I knew what to expect.....so I thought.....

I noticed on the GC one that the rosewood on the board wasn't as nice. The pickups weren't noiseless like the other Deluxes sold at the time either.

Also the neck bows in a wierd way. I won't go into it bc it is within spec, but it ain't what I'd call correct

I figured GC had this model made with every cost cut to boost net gain. GC has pull with Fender due to sheer numbers of guitars they sell. As far as deluxe Strats go, this one is sub-par.( I will never buy another GC special)

This guitar is VERY bright sounding barefoot and amplified. I tried several pups in the bridge spot to get it to sound good amplified, but unplugged it's so trebly sounding that I can't use it when I'm just sitting around watching TV.

Mahogany should not sound that trebly. I'm thinkin the saddles are some low cost alloy, like zinc instead of the stainless it it supposed to have.

The reason I say this in addition to what I stated above about the quality of parts used, is bc I have a Floyd Rose Special that had a zinc block and saddles. (I own OFR equiped guitars and I know what they sound like) I changed the block to a real Floyd brass one and it helped but those dam zinc saddles sound thin and trebly, just like my Strat does.

So in the end of my long story/rant (lol) I would like to know if anyone knows about the saddles on the GC Strats, and also if I can get better (which size/type?)saddles - either Graphtech or some replacement parts maker.


Thanks a bunch

Not sure what they are using on them, but I'm looking at a set of the string savers from graph-tech. Already have the TUSQ nut and I love the sound it has provided. The Kenny Wayne Shepard signature model has them installed from Fender. That is a pretty good endorsement to me. They claim to reduce some of the higher register sounds. So they might help your issue.

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the vacuum store is a lot like the guitar store. but they do not attract the same clientele as the guitar store, cause if they did, the vacuum store would be loaded with a bunch of broke guys who just wanted to run the new vacuums.

Not saddle related, but have you tried different strings? Are you using the same brand on both Strats? Maybe try a set of pure nickel strings, they're warmer sounding.

I am curious about the wired neck bow you mentioned........is it a twist? A Hump?

Thanks everyone for the responses. The neck as you sight along each side of it - on the high E side it is basically straight from the 12th up the the 22nd and from the 1st up to the 12th. Most of the bow occurs at the 12th fret. There isn't a bow so much as a V shape. That's the best way to describe it.

Now on the low E side it is dead straight from the 22nd up to around the 5th fret. from there on up to the nut it hooks up (in the right direction, just in the wrong place).

In addition, I believe from about the 10/12th fret on the low side that is actually has a hump. So that would mean the neck is S shaped on the low E side, and V shaped on the high side, so yeah, I guess you could say it has to have a twist in it.

The high E side doens't present a problem setup wise. I can get good low action without any buzz. The most of my issues I'm contending with are concerning the Low E side. What happens is that when I put .010" relief in the neck it really is deceiving bc it really isn't relief in the sense that it is straight midway on up, with this hook on the low frets.

The result where the low E side problem is, is that the relief I set makes for less (not all but less) buzzing on open strings, but the rest of the board is stright or back bowed so I get buzzing fretting just about every note all the way up.

So far I've just put up with it.

when I just said less buzzing on open strings, I meant to say that to get it to not buzz at all open I have to set the nut height to well above .020" (It is an LSR roller nut). This makes for sharp note around the first 2 or 3 frets on the lower 3 strings.

Bottom line is I have to compromise between buzzing on open, buzzing on fretted notes, and higher action than I should have to put up with.

I love the guitar, just not the way it is set up.

Oh, btw, I forget to mention that the nut slot is cut so deep that they cut into part of the truss rod assembly. It seems everything about the neck is poorly consructed.
I am the original owner and it is registered with Fender. Do you think they should replace the neck?

Sorry for hijacking my own thread - lol

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I believe that your guitar isn't supposed to be an American Deluxe - although there was a special run American Deluxe in mahogany circa 2005-ish; these were sold by all the big Fender dealers.

Your model Strat was an exclusive for Guitar Center/Musician's Friend that was a mahogany body version of the American Series HSS guitar - which is why it has regular pickups (should be Tex-Mex single coils and some type of Fender humbucker) instead of the noiseless pickups. It should have exactly the same saddles as any American Series guitar made at that time - these were 2007 models.

Actually the condition of your guitar sounds pretty disturbing to me - particularly the neck issues you have detailed. Just changing the saddles isn't going to do that much to the overall tone of the guitar; it sounds like you might have other electronic issues going on along with your neck issues - if you've change the pickups, what about the pot values or the tone caps, etc?

Tex Mex and a Diamondback hummer. 2009 serial. And yes it is a GC special run, which I might add, they are still marketing. It's a Fender Deluxe mahogany Special. I still have the sales receipt.

Thing is I have a HB from a PV Limited (pre-HP Special, but same pups, basically a Tone Zone) and amplified it sounds great now, so no problems with the live tone. I sounds real bright unplugged, which I can live with. I just don't play it barefoot. I have other guitars for when I'm sitting around. I have 2 Mahogany gibbies so I know what mahogany is like. his guitar is brighter that anything I've ever played, even my all maple Kramers.

It is my beflief that the saddles and/or block on this puppy are zinc, by the way it sounds. The Floyd Special my kids got me for Christmas had the same problem when I built my project guitar.

On the Fender I now have the trem blocked for dive only and it does sound better. I really think they used different materials in this guitar......

On the neck issues, I don't believe that they use quarter sawn maple either. From the grain it doesn't look like quarter sawn to me. I'm no expert though.

Last night I put some Hybrid strings 9-46 on it. What this did for it was that it required me to tighten the TR to counteract the extra pull from the heavier low strings. A stiffer neck seems to have caused it to bow a bit more in the correct way, instead of just at the last few frets. I don't know if that makes sense, but it seems to be what it needed.

I have the action down to just below Fender's specs at the 15th fret, with no buzz open or anywhere on the neck other thn minimal buzz that is what I'm used to with the action height that I use.


I read the warrantee the Fender hs on their guitars. The neck is deffinately something that is a covered thing, but it says I have to return it to where I got it and let the service guy there try and fix it first (on my dime!) I know the guy and he's kind of a pompous guy who will try and tell me what it needs and how he is going to fix it by doing a setup on it. As long as I can manage with it the way it is I'm not going to mess with the guy