Vintage down to a "V" (Fender Classic 50s Stratocaster MN)

Member Name: amnesiac

Product:	Fender Classic 50s Stratocaster MN
Date:	02/07/09 (12 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Comfortable neck, vintage accurate, good pickups

Disadvantages: Rounder radius chokes out bends

This is a reissue version of a 50's era stratocaster. Pricewise (and specswise) this sits above the standard Mexican strats and just below the better speced classic player reissues. This is a mexican made strat.

As it's a reissue of the earliest strats this guitar is only available with a maple neck with a vintage neck. These necks have my personal favourite neck profile called a soft V. It is thicker than the modern C profiles and in my opinion a lot more comfortable. For a player used to these modern neckshapes this might take some adjustment. The neck also comes with vintage frets, smaller than most modern day equivalents. The neck is a rounder radius than most modern guitars as well, which makes for very comfortable chord playing. One problem I've encountered however is bending notes. Unless the action is increased larger bends will get "choked" or fret out.
The body is a standard alder body. It is a good weight, certainly not too heavy and not too light. I'm not a fan of light bodied guitars.
All the hardware appears to be good quality. The bridge is a classic 6 point trem. The tuners are vintage style which may take some getting used to but with various guides online for restringing they hold tune pretty well.
These guitars come with better pickups than the standard MIMs. These are staggered alcino pickups rather than the usual ceramic ones found on standards. This provides a huge improvement on tone, much closer to a classic strat tone.

If you're looking for a vintage accurate strat for a good price look no further. While a lot of the features on this guitar come down to personal preference it is mostly vintage accurate. It is a better vintage representation than the slightly more expensive classic player strats.

Summary: A great, vintage accurate strat. Maybe not suited for the modern player