Fender American Original '50s Stratocaster Review

[Phil O'Keefe]

Last year Fender discontinued the American Vintage series that had been running since 1982, but that doesn't mean they stopped making vintage-style guitars. I recently had the opportunity to spend some quality time with their latest vintage-inspired Strat - the American Original series '50s Stratocaster.

 

 

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What did I think of it? Click the link to check out the full review... and as always, if you have any questions about the guitar or comments, please feel free to post them here.

 

 

http://www.harmonycentral.com/expert...s-stratocaster

 

 

[Danocoustic]

Good review.

 

Do not like: heel truss rod adjustment. I know, historically accurate.

 

Like: tone control on bridge. Historically inaccurate, but a simple, reversible, USEFUL mod I've been doing for a long time.

[GAS Man]

I found that to be somewhat drool worthy. I just recently bought a Strat Pro Sienna Burst/Ash, so I won't be opting for "one more strat" any time soon, but I can see where that would be a strat that I'd be proud to own.

 

I did think it was a bit peculiar that they didn't have the tone control the middle p'up as well (but agree I given the split choice, I'd rather have it on the bridge than the middle). Any thoughts on that?

 

I also thought it slightly odd that the middle p'up is not reverse wound, but thought that might possibly enhance the vintage tone a bit more with possible more presence or vibe to the "quack settings" . Again, any thoughts on that?

 

Thanks Phil.

[Phil O'Keefe]

I did think it was a bit peculiar that they didn't have the tone control the middle p'up as well (but agree I given the split choice, I'd rather have it on the bridge than the middle). Any thoughts on that?

 

Personally, I liked it a lot better with the second tone control wired to work with the bridge p'up instead of the middle pickup. You still get tonal control on the neck pickup too, so there's some control with all of the switch settings except for when you're using the middle pickup by itself. Since I tend to use the bridge pickup by itself far more often than I use the middle pickup alone, the change made a lot of sense to me, and I think it's the more useful way to wire things - in fact I think I just might change the tone control wiring arrangement on my own personal Strat now that I've had the chance to try it the other way.

 

I also thought it slightly odd that the middle p'up is not reverse wound, but thought that might possibly enhance the vintage tone a bit more with possible more presence or vibe to the "quack settings" . Again, any thoughts on that?

 

I really don't think it makes a difference outside of the decreased noise in switch positions 2 and 4... it might make a tiny difference, but how would you even begin to do a comparison that only addressed that one variable? You'd need identical pickups with the exact same amount of wraps and the same magnet strength, only with one RWRP. By the time you pulled one and installed the other (since ideally you'd want to use the same guitar for all the tests), such subtleties would probably be forgotten by most listeners.

 

If it makes a difference in the amount of quack or the overall presence and glassiness, I'm not hearing it - and I've got a Strat with a RWRP middle pickup that I used for some side by side tone and playing comparisons.

 

Thanks for checking out the review!