It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 3:44 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 39 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Author Message
Post subject: Re: USA Professional Standard Stratocaster HSS
Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 10:21 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2013 7:36 pm
Posts: 638
Tiger J wrote:
Toronado wrote:
There's not a lot on that spec sheet which I'd consider a leg-up from a regular Am Std. At least the latter comes with a hardcase. :roll:


I think it is an FSR that is intended to be inferior to the American Standard at a price break. Weird marketing... it is $100 higher than an American Special and $200 lower than an American Standard. No hard case and unspecified pickups. It does give folks considering purchasing an American Special an option to get a small headstock.

Maybe it is just another special run to use up overstock parts and offer another "under $1k" US model just in time for Christmas... nothing really "professional" about it!


Might have better been labelled as a "working man's" US made Strat rather than "Professional."

_________________
Tiger J

my gear:

Jackson USA Phil Collen PC-1
Warmoth Custom-Build Stratocaster (The Andersong)
Fender American Special Stratocaster
Squier J. Mascis Jazzmaster
Fender Mustang GT40
Eleven HeadRush w/ two Alto TS212 FRFRs


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: USA Professional Standard Stratocaster HSS
Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 10:48 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2008 4:06 pm
Posts: 534
Location: Northern Virginia
Too many Strats.....that's why you can't have just one :D .


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: USA Professional Standard Stratocaster HSS
Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 4:05 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:55 pm
Posts: 6
I posted a couple responses over at Strat-talk about this model. I do NOT care what a guitar is named. What I care about is the feature set that I'm looking for, and until THIS guitar Fender has failed to give me what I want. That means every Strat I play has numerous mods that cost me money. I bought one of these a couple weeks ago and the ONLY thing I had to change was to add Fender Schaller locking tuners for $45.15 off Amazon. Here is the feature set I could not find on a production line Strat. I'm not talking about artist models that are upwards of $2,000 or more:
  • Rosewood fretboard
  • 22 Jumbo frets
  • Vintage headstock (I hate the look of the '70s headstock- Google Snuffy Smith and look at his nose)
  • 6-screw bridge - I block all my bridges and, IMO, the 6-screw sounds better than 2-post)
  • HSS with pickups that are well-balanced
  • American made

PICKUPS:
I am pleasantly surprised by the pickups and the S1 switch. Positions 2 & 4 are not hum-cancelling unless you depress the S-1 switch. Position 1 with the S-1 switch splits the coils of the humbucker and give you a true single-coil that seems to keep up OK with the single-coils in the neck and middle. The S-1 switch does not have an affect in positions 3 & 5. That means you get 8 different sounds by using the S-1 switch (2 sounds in positions 1,2 & 4=6 and 1 sound in positions 3 & 5=2.

Some guys have complained about the zebra bobbins. Yeah, I agree. I had every intention of changing that humbucker to a SD '59, but I like the balance of the pickups so much, I'm not changing it. I personally, don't like the looks of Strats with white pick guards and black pickups or vice-versa I find that contrast to detract from the body. The reality is, your hand covers the bridge pickup most the time when you're playing, anyway. I assume GC did this to make the guitar more recognizable as their exclusive design. If I could find out what that pickup is and could get an exact version of it with white or mint bobbins, I WOULD change it. :(

I have various combinations of Seymour Duncan and Fender pickups on my other Strats. My Candy Apple Red has a full-sized '59 in the bridge with a 'Lil 59 neck and stock Fender in the middle. My Candy Cola has a full-sized '59 in the bridge with a Vintage Hot Stack neck and Vintage Stack middle. My Olympic White Strat has 'Lil '59s in the bridge and neck and a stock Fender single-coil middle. The pickup combination on my USA Professional is the most versatile of all my Strats (except maybe the Am Deluxe which I don't play). I think it probably has the lowest output pickups, as well. I called Fender customer service and they could give me almost NO data about this guitar. They ARE Alnico 5 magnets, but no other info. It's a big secret, like KFC's 11 herbs & spices or Bush's Baked Beans recipe. LOL

NECK:
The fit and finish are very good. The frets aren't polished and rounded as nicely as my luthier does, but it also didn't cost me $275 to re-fret this guitar. I have jumbo frets at all my Strats, except my 2004 50th Anniversary, which I kept completely stock in the hopes it would go up in value (no such luck).

BRIDGE:
I block all my bridges. If I want to use a whammy bar, I have a Charvel with a Floyd. IMO tone and sustain are substantially better with the bridge on the body, and the 6-screw bridge guitars seem to sound better blocked, than the 2-post. All I had to do to my USA Professional was loosen the 6-screws, tighten the springs until the bridge was flat on the body, and then re-tighten the screws till they were slightly snug, but didn't rock the bridge back up off the body. I didn't even have to adjust the saddle height or intonation. I rechecked it yesterday before a New Year's gig and the G string required a slight intonation adjustment. The other 5 strings were perfect. GOOD quality control before this guitar left Fender. Honestly, I think the best bridge I have is on my Candy Apple Red Strat, which is a Wilkinson that costs about $175. My only complaint about this bridge is the height adjustment screws aren't machined very smooth, so they are kind of rough on the palm of your hand. A little emery cloth or fine-grit sandpaper would probably solve that.

TUNERS:
The ONLY missing feature I like is locking tuners, and those are a very inexpensive mod and incredibly easy to change. I have them on all my Strats and my Tele. They were $45.15 shipped free via Amazon Prime. If you've never changed tuners on an American Strat, you'd probably be shocked how easy it is. The tuners are held in place via a 10mm collar. The tuners have two small pegs that fit into two small holes in the back of the headstock, which is what keeps the tuners from twisting. The collar holds the tuners in place. It took me maybe 2 minutes extra per string to change the tuners, while changing strings. There are some that believe that you should have 2-3 winds on the post for sound or sustain, but I prefer the convenience during string changes of having locking tuners. I have a few Les Pauls and the ease of changing strings on a Strat with locking tuners is one huge plus to being a Strat player.

WHY NOT THE AMERICAN SPECIAL?
Now, the reality IS, the American Special is almost exactly what I want, but that huge ugly headstock (and that's just my personal opinion) is a deal-breaker for me. IF Fender made the American Special with a vintage headstock, I'd be fine with that guitar, as well. To show you how much I hate the '70s headstock, I bought my American Special Candy Apple Red body off eBay. I then asked the guy to find me an American Special rosewood neck (which didn't come on the Candy Apple Red bodies back then), AND paid him to take the neck to a luthier and cut the headstock down to vintage size. It came with no Fender logo, so I found a Fender waterslide sticker online and paid my luthier to put it on and put a clear coat over the sticker.

THE NAME:
Some guys seemed to be incensed by the name "Professional", and that implies that every other Strat is less professional. Could GC have come up with a better name...probably.

I am not affiliated with Fender or GC. I DO play for a pretty famous guy, so I got a good deal thru GC. I just really like this guitar, because it's well made and I spent about $400 less by not having to re-fret and change pickups. As a traveling musician, I'm happy to find a Strat that fits my need and is less than $1,000, as that is the amount I think most airlines limit their liability to.

Hopefully, this info is useful to someone.

Edit...here is a photo of my USA Professional Strat. Other than the rosewood fretboard, it actually looks very similar to another 2004 50th Anniversary Strat I recently sold:
Image

_________________
Fender gear
  • 2013 Fender USA Professional
  • 2011 AM Std Candy Cola rosewood*
  • 2012 AM Special Candy Apple rosewood*
  • 1999 AM Std Olympic White rosewood*
  • 2004 50th Anniversary AM Deluxe 2-color
  • 2009 Nashville Deluxe Power Tele
* Seymour Duncan P/U's


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: USA Professional Standard Stratocaster HSS
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 12:48 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2008 4:06 pm
Posts: 534
Location: Northern Virginia
RockingCPA wrote:
THE NAME:
Some guys seemed to be incensed by the name "Professional", and that implies that every other Strat is less professional. Could GC have come up with a better name...probably.


It's amazing how some people can take an enjoyable activity like guitar playing and try to spoil all the fun out of it. Really????Wow!!!Anyway, that's a nice Strat you've got yourself there.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: USA Professional Standard Stratocaster HSS
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 1:35 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:55 pm
Posts: 6
93greenstrat wrote:
RockingCPA wrote:
THE NAME:
Some guys seemed to be incensed by the name "Professional", and that implies that every other Strat is less professional. Could GC have come up with a better name...probably.


It's amazing how some people can take an enjoyable activity like guitar playing and try to spoil all the fun out of it. Really????Wow!!!Anyway, that's a nice Strat you've got yourself there.


AGREED!! I had an online retail auto parts company from 2005-2010 and most of my sales came from forums. it was amazing that the vast majority of people were decent, but small minority seemed to have nothing positive to offer the community and seemed to live to bash and complain about anything and everything, while hiding behind the anonymity of their forum ID. Maybe Fender should use model numbers instead of names, to avoid issues like this.

I would love it if you could place an aka-carte order for a guitar without it costing thousands. You know, like when you order a custom neck or body from Warmoth, you can select headstock, fretboard, frets, neck profile, etc. The problem there, is I'm fickle, and guitars made from aftermarket components do not have the resale value of a brand name AND by the time I'm done, I've spent almost as much as I did on THIS Strat. So I question, why does Fender (and Gibson for that matter), not offer more guitars with jumbo frets? I think it's because they want to force you into a much more expensive artist/custom shop model, so they can make more money.

_________________
Fender gear
  • 2013 Fender USA Professional
  • 2011 AM Std Candy Cola rosewood*
  • 2012 AM Special Candy Apple rosewood*
  • 1999 AM Std Olympic White rosewood*
  • 2004 50th Anniversary AM Deluxe 2-color
  • 2009 Nashville Deluxe Power Tele
* Seymour Duncan P/U's


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: USA Professional Standard Stratocaster HSS
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 2:55 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jun 28, 2009 6:57 pm
Posts: 1868
Location: Kansas City Mo
Its just a American Special body with an American Standard neck?
I did the opposite I put an American Special Neck on an American Standard Body.
Love it! Its my favorite Strat.

Image

_________________
https://www.facebook.com/groups/fenderguitarandamp/


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: USA Professional Standard Stratocaster HSS
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 3:08 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2009 3:17 pm
Posts: 1986
RockingCPA wrote:
93greenstrat wrote:
RockingCPA wrote:
THE NAME:
Some guys seemed to be incensed by the name "Professional", and that implies that every other Strat is less professional. Could GC have come up with a better name...probably.


It's amazing how some people can take an enjoyable activity like guitar playing and try to spoil all the fun out of it. Really????Wow!!!Anyway, that's a nice Strat you've got yourself there.


AGREED!! I had an online retail auto parts company from 2005-2010 and most of my sales came from forums. it was amazing that the vast majority of people were decent, but small minority seemed to have nothing positive to offer the community and seemed to live to bash and complain about anything and everything, while hiding behind the anonymity of their forum ID. Maybe Fender should use model numbers instead of names, to avoid issues like this.

I would love it if you could place an aka-carte order for a guitar without it costing thousands. You know, like when you order a custom neck or body from Warmoth, you can select headstock, fretboard, frets, neck profile, etc. The problem there, is I'm fickle, and guitars made from aftermarket components do not have the resale value of a brand name AND by the time I'm done, I've spent almost as much as I did on THIS Strat. So I question, why does Fender (and Gibson for that matter), not offer more guitars with jumbo frets? I think it's because they want to force you into a much more expensive artist/custom shop model, so they can make more money.
I think the reason they dont offer jumbo frets on a regular production line guitar is it isnt in high demand. I have a AVRI Special run with 6105s and a 9.5 inch radius fretboard. We are lucky today to have more choices . Back in 64 you didnt have those choices. There was only 1 model.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: USA Professional Standard Stratocaster HSS
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 4:17 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:55 pm
Posts: 6
Here is my Am Special body with a Am Special neck (headstock cut to vintage shape). That's my 2011 Candy Cola Strat on the couch. Note the Wilkinson bridge on the Candy Apple Strat and my custom 2-knob pick guard assembly. I did that because it's only been the past few years that I have played Strats as much or more than Les Pauls. The assembly is 6-8 years old and I moved the volume knob down about an inch to give more room to rest my hand on the bridge without accidentally changing the volume knob. I'm now used to the volume knob in the stock position and haven't moved it on my other Strats.

Image
The first guitar I ever got was a 1962 Candy Apple Red rosewood, hardtail Strat that my dad gave me. He passed away a few years ago, so I wanted to make a Strat that was like the one he gave me. That guitar was gone by the time I was about 18 for a black Les Paul Custom. It would be worth some money, now, but it wasn't worth that much back "in the day".

Image
The Wilkinson bridge seems to be more solid and gives a fuller sound with more sustain than my guitars with a 2-post bridge. If I had the bridge floating, then the 2-post is probably better.

Image
I took the 2nd string tree off when I changed to the Fender Schaller locking tuners

_________________
Fender gear
  • 2013 Fender USA Professional
  • 2011 AM Std Candy Cola rosewood*
  • 2012 AM Special Candy Apple rosewood*
  • 1999 AM Std Olympic White rosewood*
  • 2004 50th Anniversary AM Deluxe 2-color
  • 2009 Nashville Deluxe Power Tele
* Seymour Duncan P/U's


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: USA Professional Standard Stratocaster HSS
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 4:28 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:55 pm
Posts: 6
donnycraven wrote:
Its just a American Special body with an American Standard neck?
I did the opposite I put an American Special Neck on an American Standard Body.
Love it! Its my favorite Strat.

Image


COOL!! Nice guitar. I like your taste in pick guards. :) What pickup did you put in the bridge position?

The entire point I was trying to make is there is no ONE guitar that is right for everyone. YOU like maple fretboards, the big 70's headstock and the american standard body with the 2-post bridge, so you put together a combination of features that meets your wants/needs. They finally put one together that meets MY wants/needs and, unfortunately, it's a GC/Musician's Friend exclusive that only comes in ONE color AND gave it name that got some guy's panty's in a bunch, because they called it "professional". Oh, well. You can't please everyone. LOL

_________________
Fender gear
  • 2013 Fender USA Professional
  • 2011 AM Std Candy Cola rosewood*
  • 2012 AM Special Candy Apple rosewood*
  • 1999 AM Std Olympic White rosewood*
  • 2004 50th Anniversary AM Deluxe 2-color
  • 2009 Nashville Deluxe Power Tele
* Seymour Duncan P/U's


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: USA Professional Standard Stratocaster HSS
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 4:32 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jun 28, 2009 6:57 pm
Posts: 1868
Location: Kansas City Mo
Very cool stuff I changed out my pickup covers knobs and humbucker to black which really set mine off.
I run the Atomic Humbucker in Black or Hot Rod in Aged White.
I run the Hot Alnico Highway 1 single coils but I exchanged the Alnico 3 rods for Alnico 5.
I also removed the grease bucket tone and wired it American Standard tone.
I used an American Deluxe Tremolo and Fender Locking Tuners, I can Van Halen or Hendrix with no tuning issues.

_________________
https://www.facebook.com/groups/fenderguitarandamp/


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: USA Professional Standard Stratocaster HSS
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 4:38 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jun 28, 2009 6:57 pm
Posts: 1868
Location: Kansas City Mo
I like what you have done to yours and I am glad you like the new one you got.
I have sort of been wanting an American Standard like that.

_________________
https://www.facebook.com/groups/fenderguitarandamp/


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: USA Professional Standard Stratocaster HSS
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 8:44 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2013 8:03 am
Posts: 575
Location: In the Land of "Stratocaster"
This strat looks pretty sweet. And from what have read so far... Sounds like a winner. Been wanting one w/ a bucker.

_________________
★ ★ ★ ★ ★


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: USA Professional Standard Stratocaster HSS
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 11:05 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 10:34 pm
Posts: 10760
Location: Athens, Greece
RockingCPA wrote:
Image


Very tasty strat you gotta have! :P The HSH configuration will give you lots of tonal flexibility. :wink:


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: USA Professional Standard Stratocaster HSS
Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 8:54 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jun 28, 2009 6:57 pm
Posts: 1868
Location: Kansas City Mo
This is the latest incarnation of my Strat :) I'm leaving it this way.
Also an older picture of it with black pickguard and aged white pickups.

Image

Image

_________________
https://www.facebook.com/groups/fenderguitarandamp/


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: USA Professional Standard Stratocaster HSS
Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 12:23 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:55 pm
Posts: 6
donnycraven wrote:
This is the latest incarnation of my Strat :) I'm leaving it this way.
Also an older picture of it with black pickguard and aged white pickups.

Image

Image


Personally, I like it better with the pearloid pickguard and dark pickups. I went to school for photography, and one thing they taught us, is your eye is naturally drawn to the lightest (highlights) part of a photo (scene). That is part of why I don't care for the '70s headstock and I prefer pickguard/pickups of the same color, either all white or all black. I find my eye going to the headstock on a Strat with a '70s headstock. That was probably an intentional marketing idea. With the old black pickguard setup, my eye goes directly to the pickups, which, to ME, is NOT the coolest part of a guitar. Again, this is just MY opinion. To me, the shape of the body is what I like about the design, and you've got to know THAT was a huge design departure from traditional looking guitars, back in the 50's. The Telecaster and Stratocaster were ahead of their time and lasted, where the Flying V, Explorer & Moderne were too wild for 1958 and didn't sell well until the late '60s and '70s. I think it was probably Hendrix that had a big influence on the V making a comeback.

Nonetheless, the Strat is really cool BECAUSE you can customize and personalize it to your liking. My R7, R8 & R9 are basically bone stock. The only thing I changed on them was to put on Faber Toneloc stoptail posts. The guy I play with, I take my R8 with 11's tuned down a whole step and one of my Strats with 10's tuned down 1/2 step. That gives me a VERY versatile combination.

_________________
Fender gear
  • 2013 Fender USA Professional
  • 2011 AM Std Candy Cola rosewood*
  • 2012 AM Special Candy Apple rosewood*
  • 1999 AM Std Olympic White rosewood*
  • 2004 50th Anniversary AM Deluxe 2-color
  • 2009 Nashville Deluxe Power Tele
* Seymour Duncan P/U's


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 39 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: