Fender Player Stratocaster
A perfectly giggable instrument.
£639 at thomann.de | £589 at amazon.co.uk
There is a reason why many professional guitarists opt for the ‘Made in Mexico’ variant when looking for a reliable gigging guitar. It is a proven design and looks every bit as iconic on stage as the American Professional series. Furthermore, building the guitars outside the United States lets Fender focus on tone and playability at an affordable price point. Their global popularity also means you can get a replacement quickly, if necessary.
The Fender Player Stratocaster plays very well. It is light and balanced with easy access to the upper frets. The setup was great out of the box – low action and no high spots on the frets. The nut was cut and installed perfectly, although a bone or some self-lubricating material would have been better. That said, the guitar stays in tune very well and the strings don’t tend to get caught in the nut.
The fretwork is good, but not perfect. The frets are not as rounded as on the American-made models, since it is a very time-intensive process. They get progressively worse as you get to the upper frets, but at no point does it impact playability. There are no tooling marks anywhere on the neck and the finish has been applied perfectly. You’d think this is a given but Epiphone have proven otherwise. It is a lacquered maple fretboard with a satin neck – similar to the American Ultra series. Very comfortable to play.
The pickups are the Fender Player single coils with Alnico 5 magnets. The American Professional series will usually have a mix of Alnico 2, 3 and 5 magnets. Alnico 5 pickups will have more output and less articulation. This isn’t a bad thing and, in fact, most newer players will prefer the modern sound of the Alnico 5 magnets. Fender had to cut the cost down somehow and using the same pickup in all 3 positions seems like a fair compromise. The humbucker-equipped version will come with an Alnico Humbucker, which is their ‘Made in Mexico’ version of a Shawbucker. No matter what configuration you opt for, the pickups sound great and are not in any way inferior to their American counterparts. It is just a matter of preference. The bridge looks to be made of a softer material than on the American Professional series, but there is no difference in sustain or tuning stability.
It is also worth noting that the Fender Player Series is probably the most diverse range of guitars ever made and you are almost certain to find something that will fit your playing style. They come with SSS, SSH and HSH pickup configurations, a wide range of finishes and even flame maple tops, Floyd bridges and more. While it makes the Fender Player Stratocaster highly customisable, it doesn’t change the fact that it is the most popular guitar in the world. Everybody has either owned one, played one or heard one. If you are looking for something unique, a Fender Strat is probably not it!
There is very little to complain about with this guitar. The only thing I did notice is that all the screws for the pickguard and jack socket were not aligned properly. This was especially noticeable on the jack socket. It doesn’t really make a difference while playing, but changing the pickguard could be a bit of a pain. If you ever do choose to try different pickups – the body is routed for an HSH configuration and doing it yourself is very straightforward (if you opt for a pre-wired pickguard).
Bottom Line
The Fender Player Series Stratocaster is a rare case of getting much more than you pay for, especially when compared to the American Performer and Professional series. The guitars are extremely reliable and sound and play very well! You really can’t go wrong with picking up one of these.