Did a post on this forum and another forum about Dave Murray's current strats and they were saying that Dave Murray uses a Fender American Standard Strat, not a Fender American Special Strat HSS with Floyd Rose Tremolo that he uses at the moment. And I was wondering did fender release a Fender American Special Strat HSS with Floyd Rose Tremolo eight or nine years ago? I know that Dave Murray uses a brown sunburst Fender California Strat with floyd rose also.

Here is the website:
http://www.marshallforum.com/guitars/31594-dave-murrays-current-guitar-setup.html

And the one on Fender Forums:
http://www.fender.com/community/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=60030

I believe the confusion comes from the Premier Guitar spread on Iron Maiden from late last year that referred to these guitars as "American Standards". I believe you are correct that these were originally either "Floyd Rose Classic" guitars or "American Special HSS Locking Trem" as they were called for a few years. I'm basing this on the vintage tuners that don't appear to be replacements in the photos and that Murray appears to prefer more vintage-shaped necks (which these guitars had). People are also confusing that name with the current "American Special" series; these guitars are not the same, but Fender constantly recycles names.

Here's the scoop: The "Floyd Rose Classic" came out in 1992; they had a 1.650" nut width neck (vintage width), 2 American Standard single coils and a DiMarzio PAF Pro originally (the pickups changed several times over the years), vintage tuners, and the original Floyd Rose (OFR) without any backrouting. These were made under this name around 2000 when they were renamed the "American Special HSS Strat Locking Trem" (at the same time the "Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Strat" was renamed the "American Special 1968 Reverse Strat"); they carried that name until they were discontinued.

Based on your photos I believe Murrays are probably "Floyd Rose Classics" since he's had them for quite a while; of course they also have custom pickguards and replacement pickups.

Hope that helps.

Keep in mind that one his American Special Strats sported a mirror pickguard and black plastic parts; it became the source for the short-lived Iron Maiden Stratocaster made by Fender Japan from 2001 to 2003.



Here's a photo of Adrian Smith with the Iron Maiden Stratocaster: