American standard Strats- Best years?

John C · **Posted:** Tue Jan 17, 2012 3:42 pm

93greenstrat wrote:

Xhefri wrote:

.... I kind of assumed that the early Strats, being American was Fender's "standard" issues so therefore called "American Standard Strat." BUT I can't see where Fender really used that title "officially" until after the CBS buyout and the start of this line in the middle of 1986 and then released at NAMM in January of 1987.

Well I think what you have here is all part of Fender's re-launching after emerging from CBS ownership. Since Fenders were by default, all American made, there was no need to specifically identify them as "American Standards"....you simply had the "Standard" Stratocaster etc. Also, bear in mind that during the transition from CBS to FMIC, the company relied almost exclusively on Japanese made Fenders to keep themselves going until the new Corona plant was ready for production. While the then new American Standard is in essence a continuation of the classic Stratocaster design, it also introduced some significant changes compared to its Standard predecessor in terms of not only form, but functionality. It was a new model, but yet very familiar.

This is the case; the name "American Standard" dates to the model line introduced by FMIC at the January 1987 NAMM show - even though they were actually in production in late 1986. I'm not sure if it was a "soft launch" of the instruments and they were actually shipped to dealers or if FMIC was just ramping up production and wanted to have instruments in the pipeline to fill orders taken at the January 1987 NAMM.

Name-wise there was just the "Stratocaster" until 1979; then they added the "25th Anniversary Stratocaster" as well as the plain "Stratocaster". In 1980 the 25th Anniversary run was over and they added the model called "The Strat" to go along with the plain "Stratocaster" model. CBS/Fender adopted the name "Standard Stratocaster" in 1982 for the "plain Stratocaster" model that Dan Smith had reworked a bit (with the return to the 4-bolt/heel truss rod adjuster neck, deeper body contours, hotter bridge pickup, small but not vintage accurate headstock shape with the large decal). This was done to differentiate this model from both "The Strat" and the newly introduced USA Vintage '57 and USA Vintage '62 Stratocaster models.

In 1983 CBS/Fender continued to use the name "Standard Stratocaster" but it was now applied to the 2-knob guitar with the Free-Flyte tremolo that replaced the 1982 "Dan Smith" Strat (keep in mind that Dan Smith also designed the 2-knob Strat as well - I just have taken to only using "Smith Strat" for the 1982 version and using "CBS Standard Strat" for the 2-knob version). Of course "The Strat" was also phased out in 1983 and the new Elite Strat series was released. They still made the '57 and '62 reissues.

Quite confusing, eh?

paris · **Posted:** Tue Jan 17, 2012 3:53 pm

Xhefri wrote:

paris wrote:

I'm guessing that when you say, "American Std. Strat" you are referring to all Std. American Strat (to include Strats made from 1954-1986, the Am. Std 87-99, the Am. Series 99-2010?, and the current Am. Std from 2010?- to the present).

Best from 1955 - 1962 (Best years of the model)
87-99 Am. Std A return to the good sounding quality guitar that we missed, but didn't like the swimming pool puckup cavity or flattened body contours.
99-2010? I really love this version. Love the rolled edges on the neck and the better, more rounded body contours. I don't like the thinner bridge block.

Hey Paris, this is what I was thinking the same things your stated with my first post on this tread, but then when I went back and did some digging around, I never saw where Fender "officially" called there pre-CBS or even CBS "American Standard Strats." Please correct me. What I did see was the obvious: Strats were American made, but the officially title "American Standard Strat" seems to be used exclusively with the series in 1987. Can you shed some light on this for me? I am very interested. I looked through all my Fender books and I kind of assumed that the early Strats, being American was Fender's "standard" issues so therefore called "American Standard Strat." BUT I can't see where Fender really used that title "officially" until after the CBS buyout and the start of this line in the middle of 1986 and then released at NAMM in January of 1987.

Find a book called, "Stratocaster Chronicles" it's pretty good. But on the other hand, here is my take on it. Up until CBS sold Fender to the current owners, Strats were strats. Teles were Teles and so forth. There were very few special models of the Strats, just Strats for the most part*. It wasn't until the new owners had other models of Strats from Korea and Japan. Also Fender realized that not everyone wanted a run of the mill Strat. There were lots of different types of players and Fender wanted to be able to reach all players.

*Fender did sell "The Strat" and The Stratocaster Elite

Xhefri · **Posted:** Tue Jan 17, 2012 4:58 pm

You guys have confirmed what I thought. The official "American Standard Stratocaster" was from early 1987. Here is a nice one I have, from mid-1987, The only things not original on this is the Custom Shop Texas Special pickups I installed as the original pickups were long gone. Some time I hope to pick up some 87 AM ST pickups :

Miami Mike · **Posted:** Tue Jan 17, 2012 5:10 pm

While I am also a staunch supporter of Leo's original design,
the 2-point trem is a better design, always more stable and
smoother for my use.

Everyone's different, that's just how it rolls...

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