Members Giannis Posted December 4, 2007 Members Share Posted December 4, 2007 Hi everyone, I'm wondering if anyone has played the 2004 American Series USA Stratocaster. The thing is that I'm wanting to buy a Stratocaster for some SRV/Hendrix (and maybe even some Knopfler or Gilmour) work. Being slightly short on cash in order to purchase a brand new guitar I turned towards the second hand market. Out of the guitars I'm browsing I've found the above mentioned Stratocaster being sold at a good price - and, it has also been given some really great reviews. However, when I dropped by local store I picked up a couple of Mexican made Stratocasters - a 50's reissue and a 60's reissue. None of them pleased me as I thought the sound was kind of week for the work I'm wanting to do with my new guitar. Then I picked up a third guitar - an American Standard Stratocaster. In short it sounds great (even though it must have been stringed with 0.9 a - a bit to light for me) and I hearing what I want to hear. Accidentally I plugged the third Strat into another amp and that's where my question comes in. I did a little research on the 2004 American Series Stratocaster and I find that it has 50's reissue pickups - would I get the same thin tone with that guitar as I got with the 50's and 60's reissue models? If I would, can I replace the pickups in order to get a fatter sound? I really appreciate any help I can get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitar-fish Posted December 4, 2007 Members Share Posted December 4, 2007 I have a 2004 American Series Strat. It has the 50 Anniv neck plate on it, 1954-2004, btw. I never read anything about it having 50's reissue pickups, that's news to me. The spec list simply says "3 American Strat Single-Coil Pickups". I wouldn't consider them thin by any means. For what its worth, it's a great axe! Mine's in chrome blue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Blackbelt1 Posted December 5, 2007 Members Share Posted December 5, 2007 I have an '04 HSS MIA Strat with the S-1 switch. Love it. ~Blackbelt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Burningleaves Posted December 5, 2007 Members Share Posted December 5, 2007 I have a 2004 American Series Strat. It has the 50 Anniv neck plate on it, 1954-2004, btw. I never read anything about it having 50's reissue pickups, that's news to me. The spec list simply says "3 American Strat Single-Coil Pickups". I wouldn't consider them thin by any means.For what its worth, it's a great axe! Mine's in chrome blue. News to me as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AXEL276 Posted December 5, 2007 Members Share Posted December 5, 2007 I also have a 2004 50th anniversery USA strat. Mine is a HSS config and came stock with 2 SCN single coil pups and a Duncan humbucker in the bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitar-fish Posted December 5, 2007 Members Share Posted December 5, 2007 Just to clarify, there's the 2004 "50th Anniversary" Strat which has the S1 switching and other bells and whistles, and there's also the regular 2004 American Series, (which is just like the 2003 or 2005 Strats), except it has the 54-04 neckplate. I think the special anniv Strat only came in suburst, IIRC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gadzooka Posted December 5, 2007 Members Share Posted December 5, 2007 Sorry, I can't answer the pickup question. However, the stock pickups in my 2003 American Series Strat are excellent. I picked this guitar out of a group of slightly less expensive Strats (MIM, Hwy-1, etc) based on the superior (to my ears) sound. I assume the quality of the pickups had something to do with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuzztone Posted December 5, 2007 Members Share Posted December 5, 2007 I had a 2004 American Strat,mine was stock and it had american strat singlecoil pickups,not 50's reissue pickups.Great sounding Strat!I like the no load tone control on the American Series strats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metropolis74 Posted December 5, 2007 Members Share Posted December 5, 2007 Giannis - I'll try to make this clear for you (and everyone else) It's probably just a run of the mill everyday 2004 American Series Strat that you played. Unless it had a two color sunburst finish on an ash body, single ply beveled parchment pickguard, and comes with a special tweed case, then it's a 2004 "Limited Edition 50th Anniversary Strat" and it has pickups based on the Custom Shop '54's. btw I have one of these Strats and it's awesome! Fender created a lot of confusion in 2004 with the whole 50th Anniversary thing. There was a "Limited Edition":rolleyes: American Series, Deluxe, and Custom Shop 50th Anniversary versions, but it didn't help that EVERY non custom shop U.S. Strat that year had the 50th Anniversary neckplate....so some people think they have a "Limited Edition" when in fact it's not. Click on the link and it will all make sense. http://namm.harmony-central.com/WNAMM04/Content/Fender/PR/50th-Anniversary-Strats.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Giannis Posted December 21, 2007 Author Members Share Posted December 21, 2007 Thank you for all your answers and I apologize for not having replied earlier. That particular Stratocaster slipped through my hands but I can get a SRV signature instead which really appeals to me(I always loved Stevie Ray Vaughan, you know). I will make a good desicion on which Stratocaster to buy any day now so any info is much appreciated. I saw the SRV signature has gotten rave reviews here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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