The Best Electric Guitars of the FENDER brand

Having played guitars for 20 years now and been doing my own mods and setup I wouldn’t suggest anyone playing this directly out of the box.
My intention was to make it a test bed for mods (pickups, electronics, hardware, and stainless steel frets later) and I think it is perfect for that.
Pros
Neck is straight
Tuners are decent – stays in tune 95% of the time which is good for budget guitars like this
Mine was a 3 pc body but the 3rd piece is just below the control plate which makes it difficult to notice so at first glance it looks like a 2 pc body
I thought pickups were okay
Satin neck finish

Cons
Poor build quality – low E string tuner nut was loose and the pole was tilted – crooked screws (string tree, strap button, pickguard) as if it was assembled in 2 minutes
Neck had many charcoal like stains and several dents and scratches although shallow, you don’t expect this from a new guitar
Cheap electronics (pots, switch, wires)
Finish on body is so thick grains are barely visible
Frets can use a little polishing especially at the ends

Overall, I’m still satisfied because I only wanted a straight neck and an acceptable body and finish and for the price I couldn’t really expect more.
I immediately replaced the pots with CTS 205K pots, instealled USA CRL 2 way switch, Switchcraft jack, orange drop cap, treble bleed circuit.
Replaced the nut with a Graphtech Tusq XL 42mm (needs some sanding to fit the narrower slot of the guitar but it was easy)
Replaced the pickups with GFS Overwound Repro Vintage Alnico Tele pickups

The upgrades cost another 100$ and I did a complete setup (neck relief, action (saddles and nut), intonation, polished the fret ends but it’s all worth it.

The guitar feels 3 times more than its original price now

More orange than blonde but a beautiful guitar all the same, which is what it’s all about. Very well finished, no horrid scratchy bits, and a nice light action. I’m sure this will become a favourite.

Edit (a year later)
Still playing this guitar – I’m a beginner and have progressed well enough and I haven’t come close to exceeding the limitations of this instrument.
It still looks really good, I play it every day – I haven’t had any problems over and above those you would expect from normal wear and tear.
I’ve recently changed the string to some Ernie Ball 9s, although the original strings held up really well.
I recently changed the pickups to some cheap Alnico 5s, again not because i thought the originals were that bad, more because I fancied trying something different.
The only part which is a bit of a let down is the tuning stability – presumably this is down to the quality of the tuning machines – you do have to retune reasonably often. Not a massively big deal if you’re just noodling around at home but would be if you were playing a gig I’d imagine.

Edit (6 more months on)
I changed the stock tuners to Fender locking tuners (a bit of an extravagance) which has made a decent difference to tuning stability. This is now my favourite guitar.
I realise I’ve changed a fair bit on this guitar now but that’s mainly because I like fiddling – it was fine straight out the box and no need to have an expensive setup, which would be a bit intimidating for beginners. I’ve done some basic checking of the setup as I’ve become more familiar with how it all works and it’s pretty straight, so it’s worth investing in.

The body: huge, massive, robust body, compared to the former MIM standard. I resonates unbelievably well acoustically. The neck is somewhere between the modern C and very soft V. Very comfortable. Definitely a pro compared to the lighter body of the MIM standard.

The sound: it plays on a very wide range, however mainly it is a relatively hot strat sound. All pickups have more bass and a bit more high then for ex. a vintage sounding one. The clean is beautiful, and due to the hotter winding you reach a wide range of setups. If you dial back with the volume you can get close to vintage stuff as well. So If I ever change the pickups I’d keep this set, because its huge. I used it in one gig so far, and it held up the band surprisingly good compared to strats.

Build quality: as far as I can measure, it is perfectly built, no sharp edges, no extra laquer on the frets, and the buttercream color is love at first sight!

I would recommend the guitar and the service without hesitation.

This Fender MIM strat needs more work than three of my Harley Bentons (two electric one acustic).Guitar came with all tipical Fender flavs that i thought they menaged over the years.No sustain at all-two thick stickers in neck pocket, one on neck other in pocket that needed to be peel off, screw holes for neck to small- I drilled bigger so that neck can be thightened(screws cound not move free thru pocket holes), frets cutting in my hand -needed sanding, very poor quality tuners that I replaced with 22 euro Klusons that are ten times better than Fenders.I was very disapointed by this Strat, could not believe what Fender sells for 600 euros maybe more.

First of all, I ordered this guitar because I was looking for a Fender Stratocaster but the American Professional Series was too expensive for my budget. I was quite lucky, because the moment I decided I wanted a real strat was the moment that the Player Series came out.

The good aspects:
– The sound is amazing. Great pick ups with a nice output.
– Satin finish on the neck makes it comfortable and easy to play.
– Flawless fret job.
– The colour is beautiful!
– Holds tune quite well even when abused by the two point tremolo system.
– Tone configuration for brigde pick up adds a new tone diversity to stratocasters that just was not there in the past.

The bad aspects:
– The Volume and Tone knobs feel a bit cheap in my personal opinion. Not such a tidy construction here.
– The tremolo block is a bit thin for my taste. I would expect a 555 euro guitar to have a solid and thick tremolo block, but sadly this is not the case.
– I would prefer if this guitar had a tortoise shell pickguard to better suit the white colour. But this is a matter of personal preference. I might purchase one eventually.

Nevertheless, the guitar plays great, sounds as you would expect from a Fender guitar and looks absolutely stunning. I am well satisfied with my purchase.

This might not happen in your country, but the delivery of this guitar took a staggering 7 days (week days) which is not a good service at all. The guitar arrived Friday on the 6th of July in the nearest UPS station in my country. But it was only delivered at my house the following tuesday on the 10th. The reason? Thomann misplaced my address and I had to call UPS, thus spending more of my personal income, since they charge you for phone calls, to solve this matter. Not pleased with my service. Thankfully, the guitar arrived in good condition, otherwise I would definitely issue a refund.
But this was the first time that it happened, so I’m positive it will not happen to anyone else.

First of all thank you Thomann for great customer experience (in fact my first with you), everything went just smoothly.

The guitar itself is just great. Beautiful classical instrument made by Fender where everything is on the right place and proved by ages and millions of players all around the world. I was wondering what MIM Fender quality will be… but it is more than OK. I have MIA Fender Tele and from the quality point of view both guitars are very similar… equal I would say.

PROS:
– It is a Strat that I missed in my garage 😉
– Sound variability thanks to 3 pickups (btw sounding just fine) and its combinations
– It is well made, no issues at all
– Beautiful white color! (Butter cream was my second option, but I am finally happy that I made the decision to go with PWT)
– it arrived almost "ready to rock" no major adjustments needed (frets, neck… everything fine)
– After looong time quitar with Maple neck that I am having… It is nice experience at all that I recommed to those who are rosewood supporters as I am.

CONS:
– so far nothing, I got what I expected and ordered

For those who are hesitating to buy for some reason I have just one advice… GO FOR IT! 😉

This is my 4th Fender Stratocaster – and my favorite so far. I’ve had Mex Standard, US Standard and Classic Player 60s Stratocasters before, and this one beats them all. I used to work as a full-time guitar teacher and musician, now it’s a hobby – I play live now and then. The Player Stratocaster is definitely a step up or two from its predecessor – the Mexican Standard. Not that the Standard was bad, but this one is just so much better! Better pickups, better trem, and 22 frets for starters. It was perfectly set up right out of the box, the fretwork was excellent, the trem is smooth, the pickups are Stratocaster heaven, and the tone knob wired to the bridge pickup is very useful. The neck feels great, and the finish looks great. Slightly stiff tuners though, but they work good enough. I have hardly put it down since I received it. This guitar is basically an American Standard made in Mexico. If you want a slightly modernized Stratocaster for a really low price, this is where you should start.

This is my first Fender’s guitar and actually my first single coil guitar.
I already played an American Standard and an old version of mexican Stratocaster. I have to say that the new player series is an important upgrade wrt the old mexican one both from quality and sound points of view. The construction quality is awesome and it looks really good. The only cons is that the frets are not so smooth, but it is not a problem when you are playing. I think that American Standard product should be considered only if you are a professional player. Otherwise, the new player series performance are really satisfactory and you will get the classic Strato-sound. Actually it really fits every kind of musical genres.

What can I say about the Jimi Hendrix Strat other than it beats the pants off of any Strat in any range below American Vintage!

I’ll start with the best part of this guitar the sound, the American Vintage 65 pickup set is glorious and to me captures the Strat sound I hear in my head. They are not hot pickups and they will nail anything from Hendrix’s, Mayer’s or Stevie’s catalogue especially Slow Dancing. The bridge pickup is very trebly but not enough that its unusable and the neck pickup is utterly divine.

The look is of course striking, with the reverse headstock, stunning white with the aged hardware, it certainly stands out from the pack. But the look does more than make you stand out it makes you play different as the reverse headstock makes the string tension feel very different from a normal Strat with slinky low strings and slightly tighter high strings it makes you work for those bends!

The neck is a thin C profile which is comfortable providing lots of access for either the shredder style hand position or the thumb over the top blues style…my only minor criticism is the fret ends which can remind you that this is still a Mexican made instrument but they are still perfectly serviceable but the only reason this guitar doesn’t get all 5 stars.

This guitar is versatile for a number of styles and sounds not just exclusively Hendrix.

Beautiful Hendrix aesthetic but with it’s features the right way around.

Classic bright Fender tones in the vintage pickups.

The inverted neck give it a beautiful unique tone.

If you are looking for a reasonably priced guitar and a Hendrix fan. This is the guitar for you.

I never had a Tele before this one and I find it great even after 10 years of owning it!

The neck pickup was just too muddy for my taste, so I replaced it. The bridge one is great for that tele twang!

The guitar holds up in tune amazingly well. I was blown away by the quality of the tuners. You don’t need to replace them or do anything.

I love this guitar and will probably never sell it. Because it’s simply great. If you’re looking for that Fender Tele sound go ahead and get one, you probably don’t need to spend more money to get a perfect instrument.

I absolutely love this guitar! It is great fun to play, it sounds good and it is quite good looking. It needs some care but for that price it is a just great!

Pros:
1. Not very expensive
2. Plays very well and it is very comfortable
3. Sounds Great
4. Has everything you need in a tele
5. Super good looking
Cons:
1. The frets are a bit scratchy and they need polish
2. The tuners are a bit jumpy and needs some work until you tune it, but the tuning stability is fine
3. The pots are dreadful and needs replacement
4. The pickguard is quite easy to scratch