player opinions

Fender American Deluxe 50th Anniversary Stratocaster

Fender American Deluxe 50th Anniversary Stratocaster

  1. Name: David Lindsley

  2. Band: Broadband

  3. Model Year: 2004

  4. Price Paid: $1100

  5. Performance

  6. This is a jaw-dropping beautiful guitar. The tape was a hassle, but not too bad — it covers the pickguard and the tremolo cover. It takes about 15 min to get it off. The first thing I did with the guitar is take the slinky string set off. Restrung with .11 DeAddarios which is really easy with the locking tuners. Just slip the string in, tighten the lock and clip the string. Set up for the new string set, which included trem spring adjustment, neck adjustment and string height adjustment, was about an hour. To the guy that had to unscrew the trem cover — just put the trem arm on and put some pressure on it, that will bring the strings in to range to change. The neck is a work of art. Special attention was evidently giving to fret dressing. You can set the strings as low as you like.

  7. Performance Rating: 10

  8. Sound Quality

  9. I have a ‘93 American Standard Strat that has always sounded beautiful — alnico magnet pickups. The 50th Anniversary Strat with the S-1 switching and the SCN pickups provide ten distinct tones that can only be described as ethereal. It’s hard to describe — you need to play one to appreciate it. The sounds of this Strat put other normal Strats to shame.

  10. Sound Quality Rating: 10

  11. Construction

  12. One piece select alder body. Two tone sunburst. Beautiful wood grain, beautiful poly finish. The neck has the standard medium jumbo frets, but these have been beautifully filed and polished. The neck is finished in satin, including the fretboard. The headstock is high-gloss and clear-coats a beautiful silver Fender spaghetti logo. The SCN pickup covers and knobs are a little aged and discolored. They match perfectly with the gold hardware. Every screw in the guitar is golden. Included is a set of golden strap locks. The S-1 switch works clean and the guitar is quiet. Comes with locking custom tweed case, gold plush lining with 50th Anniversary Logo, nice leather strap, a 9 foot cable and a polish kit. Case made by G&G “The original vintage case company.” This is an instrument that can keep you happy for a hundred years. Great price too!

  13. Construction Rating: 10

  1. Name: Bungee

  2. Band: Various

  3. Model Year: 2004

  4. Price Paid: $3000 AUD

  5. Performance

  6. This is the first guitar I have purchased in fifty years of buying, playing and collecting that played beautifully straight out of the case with no necessity to set up. I have a number of Strats and Teles, all of which I have had to spend a fair bit of time to get ‘em right. This guitar played sweet from the start.

  7. Performance Rating: 10

  8. Sound Quality

  9. The sound took me back to my first Strat I bought in 1961. That lovely Fender Strat sound which is almost impossible to get in any other brand. The S1 switch is interesting and is full of surprises. I need more time to experiment with it to really do justice to this review. The guitar sounds so good without it, maybe it is just a bonus.

  10. Sound Quality Rating: 10

  11. Construction

  12. The construction and finish on my guitar is absolutely beautiful. It just doesn’t get any better than this. I have seen many guitars which cost twice the price or more which don’t come up to this quality. The only small criticism is one of the saddles (gold plated) has milling or casting marks that the rest don’t. Otherwise I would not be able to fault the construction and finish of this strat. For a guitar that is made of select timbers, and only being produced for this year it has to be the bargain of the century.

  13. Construction Rating: 9

  1. Name: Stan Gulley

  2. Model Year: 2004

  3. Price Paid: $1200

  4. Performance

  5. The guitar looks and plays great with excellent tone. I can really tell the difference between the sound and quality when playing. It is a beautifully crafted guitar with a nice looking tweed case to match. The fingerboard is quick but I have played Strats with better/faster action.

  6. Performance Rating: 8

  7. Sound Quality

  8. The tone is really good, and without the S1 switch, it sounds like the Strats of old. With the S1 you get a noticeable boost that sometimes sounds really good on specific amp effects settings. Overall, I think the S1 is more of a selling point than something that I would actually use playing live. I do use it when recording sometimes to give more of an accent to specific guitar tracks.

  9. Sound Quality Rating: 8

  10. Construction

  11. This is an area I have concerns with. The first 2 categories about performance & sound can be easily evaluated. Reliability is based on time (wear & tear). I’ve already had some irritating problems in this area:

    1.) The guitar was totally wrapped with a very sticky thin film that covered the whole guitar. It took about 45 minutes to work the film off. It was stuck on before the knobs where put on so you either have the choice of removing the knobs, which would be ridiculous, or trying to get the film to let go under the knobs. After a lot of effort I finally got the plastic out from under 2 of the knobs but one of the tone dials stick when you turn it. There is also a Fender Silver bullets ad on the back panel that was a real pain to remove.

    2.) I had the guitar about a month when I broke my first string (B string). The Fender Bullets that shipped with the guitar lasted about 1 month. Strings usually last me for over a year on my other electrics; but it didn’t concern me that much. Then I tried to change them out. What I expected would take 15-30 mins. took almost 2 hours. The string holes are suppose to align with a slot in the back panel, but the string holes were more than 1/2 way under the slot so I couldn’t get the old strings to push out (stuck inside the slot hole). Next, I had to get a phillips screw driver, remove all 6 wood screws and pull of the back panel just to change out a set of strings. I have cooled down a little bit now, but it seems the Fender is much more concerned about cementing on ads and constructing the guitar in such a way that it makes the guitar a nuisance to maintain.

    As far as the electronic, or how long an S1 switch last before going out, who knows. I really enjoy the guitar but I am now paranoid about the wear and tear on the back panel screws, or how well the guitar will hold up in the long term. Some really sloppy work on the back panel.

  12. Construction Rating: 4

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  1. Average Ratings
  2. Performance: 9.3
  3. Sound Quality: 9.3
  4. Construction: 7.6
  5. Ratings Key
  6. 10: Excellent
  7. 0: Useless
  8. Company
  9. Fender

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