Fender Player Stratocaster SSS Electric Guitar, Buttercream, Maple Fingerboard

Exceptional value imo. Regarding the law of diminishing returns I don't see why I'd spend 5 or 6 bills more for the non MIM Fender. This is a quality for cost instrument. Fender has done a great job w their MIM line.It came well packaged. Mine is Polar white. I didn't attach the tremelo bar for these pics. The case is my old fender case not to confuse anyone it didn't come with the guitar.Every aspect of it is 100%. The finish is perfect and it's incredibly beautiful. Everything is set up to play. Neck is straight, frets seem fine. Bridge is floated and she seems to hold pitch but I only do mild dives at best.Over-all I'm very happy, not one imperfection. And it sounds great so far. For now my old MIM is my player. This one I'll work in slowly. I'll know in time if I need to tweak anything but so far she seems great.

It's a beautiful guitar. Came shipped with the Fender box in a larger box to keep it safe. No issues with blemishes or fret buzz or sprout. The fretboard is very glossy and sealed (I'll see if this ends up being too sticky and needs to be buffed out). Intonation is good out of the box. Neck is straight. All the signs of a good guitar arriving ready to play. I just had to let it acclimate and tune the strings.I have a '96 MIM strat I bought new in a music shop that I've been playing for 25+ years. They play and sound nearly identical. The '96 is a bit louder, and has the pickups set closer to the strings. I may play around with the pickup height on this new guitar to get more punch.The biggest difference between the 2 is that the newer Player Strat's knobs look cheaper. The ones on my '96 have a green patina (maybe from copper in the paint?), and just look more crisp.Overall, good quality and arrived ready to play!

I've been playing for over fifty years and have owned many guitars in just about every price category. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I give this guitar five stars (of course the price is a consideration). It annoys me when buyers have unrealistic expectations about the setup and playability of a guitar right out of the box...like whether it arrives in tune!?!? This guitar needed to be tuned, neck relief set, string height adjusted, intonation set, and so on. It's what you do, particularly if you're fussy about your setup and appreciated a guitar that plays well.I like the pickups, and the fact that the Mexican Fenders now have 22 frets. This particular Strat stays in tune very well, even with a full floating setup on the vibrato. Chap Stick on the nut slot helps a lot.The frets are fairly smooth right out of the box, so bends are smooth, although I'll be polishing them on the next string change. I like them glassy smooth.Sure, I have a couple of gripes. Fender, PLEASE stop using screw in vibrato arms. They wiggle too much and rattle around. Quit it! The fret ends on this guitar are sticking out a little and the rounding on the fret ends could be better. That said, I don't really notice it when I play, so it's something I can remedy when I feel like it.My previous Strat was an American Professional II, costing more than twice as much, and I don't have a sense that this is a lesser guitar (other than the screw in vibrato arm). This guitar is my current #1.

For the price of this Fender, albeit made in Mexico, this is a great value.I've had many MIM Strats over the years since Fender started making them in Mexico. This particular Strat is the best of the bunch, in my opinion. There is some definite heft (weight) to the guitar which I found surprising since I don't recall the orginal MIM Strats (the ones from +20 years ago) having much heft to them.The Floyd Rose Special is pretty darn good. People complain that it's not as good as the FR Original. Honestly, if I were to close my eyes and play both, I really couldn't tell the difference. As for longevity, who knows? I don't beat on trems so it'll probably last a while for me.The pickups are just ok. If you want more of vintage sound they're decent enough. But for that hard to modern rock sound they do fall short. However, a pickup upgrade/replacement should alleviate that issue.Right out the box, after a quick tuning, the guitar felt pretty good. I did have to lower the action and adjust the tremolo ever so slightly (just a half turn of each screw in the body). Other than that, there wasn't anything else that needed to be done to have it playing the way I like it. The neck is smooth and the frets are nicely finished.The packing wasn't very robust so I am pretty surprised it arrived in pristine condition.

I have other Strats and Strat-inspired guitars, but I wanted something that has an HSH pickup configuration so that I can get a sound that is something between a Strat and Les Paul. I got the Buttercream (yellow) one with the Pau Ferro neck. Both Pau Ferro and the yellow color have grown on me. I like the two-screw synchronized tremolo bridge and 22 frets, since I've always had Mexicans and could never afford an American Strat. So this is an upgrade for me, and matches my goal of being something in between a Strat and Les Paul. I like the Alnico V pickups. They sound bitey like a Strat should, and the humbuckers make the signal even hotter. It could use a little more mid-range, but I have other guitars that fill that sound requirement. It seems that HSH guitars are not very common, so I'm glad I picked this one up. The only downside I had with it is the pickup adjustment screws are too skinny to securely hold the pickup mounts, so the neck pickup would wobble a little. I used clear plastic tubing from the hardware store to go around the screws (cut a little shorter than the screws), and now it holds them completely firm. Other than that, it's been a great guitar.