Fender American Standard Stratocaster Black RW

General

Fender invented the Stratocaster and is the only company that can use the name. If you purchase a Fender Stratocaster, you can be assured of the original Strat's beautiful classic sounds and looks. Fender regularly issues new, modified versions of this successful model so that there's a Stratocaster for everyone. This Fender American Standard Stratocaster, for instance, is equipped with special Custom Shop Fat '50s pickups. The guitars are available in several colours - this particular one has a chic black finish - and come with either a rosewood or a maple fretboard. The rosewood versions sound somewhat darker and richer on trebles. These guitars come with a highly reliable SKB case, an instrument cable, a guitar strap and a polishing cloth.

A fat sound and vintage look

The three clear alnico V single-coil pickups on this Fender American Standard Stratocaster live up to their name as these Custom Shop Fat '50s produce a wonderfully full sound that takes you back to the early days of the Strat, only this time, they produce more bass and less-protrusive mids. What's more, the middle pickup is reverse wound so that the guitar won't hum in the mid positions. Additionally, Fender fitted this model with aged-white knobs and covers for a classic, weathered look. Finally, the Delta Tone system has been used on Strats for quite some time now and allows this guitar to produce a wickedly raw sound with the tone knob on level 10, where it is kept out of the system and thus keeps the trebles pure.

American Standard Stratocaster: modern improvements

The Strat has been virtually unaltered since its introduction in 1954, but Fender has kept it up-to-date, providing the neck of the American Standard Stratocaster with 22 medium jumbo frets, a two-way Truss Rod and a flatter 9.5-inch fretboard radius. The vintage-style tremolo bridge has also been modernised with just two mounting points so that the guitar retains its tuning better. New friction-free steel bridge saddles and a solid steel block add more tone and sustain, and the staggered machine heads allow for optimal pressure on the top saddle without the need for a second string guide, so there is less friction and a more stable tuning.

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