Fender Player Stratocaster Review | Better Than an American Professional Strat? Let's Find Out!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ค. 2024
- The Fender Player Stratocaster is a serious music machine. I am so impressed with the look, feel, and tone! Let's dive in and see if this is your next Stratocaster.
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These are essentially the old American Standard series rebranded.. and that is awesome!
I've had a few American standards over the years, and this new Player strat destroys them all. Especially the pickups. For a MIM guitar, this is tough to beat.
@@funkster007 oh really!? I haven't had a chance to try one out yet, but I'm looking forward to it!
@@sirhc2242 I just got the Capri orange version, and I'm really loving it. But yeah, try one out first. Everyone has different tastes. I really don't think you'll be disappointed.
@@funkster007 oh nice! Capri Orange is one of the best colors, congrats.
It's the successor to the old Standard series, not the *American* series. (Though it may be the same quality as the AmStan.)
As said before, get these while you can. This series really is a home run for Fender and has made them a ton of money. The bitter-sweet, for Fender, is that these guitars actually do match the American guitars and that really threatens the American line. Especially as more people find out about these hidden-in-plain-sight gems. So one day, Fender might stop the Ensenada wave.
Just got one today for a steal. I love it
Have one in buttercream,beautiful guitar,no complaints.
I agree. I’ve seen the decline in MIA quality vs the improvements of the current MIM guitars.
Fender stop Mexican production? That'll never happen.
I just bought a buttercream HSH PLAYER STRATOCASTER and I'm happy with it for the tone that's unique
Just got my left handed polar white yesterday and I’m actually blown away
I own a black one with Paul Ferro fretboard and I'm so happy !
Super cool. Classic look.
Lefty one, Im saving to buy one soon
Did it need to be set up or was it pretty good out of the box ?
I just bought one of these (pau ferro fret board)
Tried a whole bunch of different guitars, including some more expensive ones. Nothing felt better in my hands than player with PF fretboard. Got a great guitar and saved a few hundred bills too :)
It's nice that you reviewed both the Fend Player Telecaster and Stratocaster. Guitars we working stiffs can afford.
I think they look sick in that electric green. Seriously considered it when I got my player tele
Truly, a great review. Thanks so much! 🙏🎸
I want one in that green so bad. I get a really good vibe from it.
I had a Les Paul, wonderful guitar, but the sound of stratocaster was very clear, almost acoustic guitar, now play a stratocaster and don't the i change because is awesome.
Very good review. I’m saving for one of these right now.
MIM has come a long way. I’ve got a ‘91 MIM Strat I bought brand new when I was a sophomore in high school...I’m 45 now. It fit the bill of an great starter guitar then. Good construction, great woods (poplar body then I think). The pups and electronics were subpar. I’ve upgraded a lot, and I’d put it up against a USA standard today. I’ll be doing a refin soon, and doing a FSS (filtertron bridge).
I have this guitar in LH in the capri orange and I love it. I’m a punk popper so threw a hot rails pickup in the bridge and I absolutely love it
Bought one on sale 2 months ago for $650. Got it set up and put a Hot Rails in the bridge. I love this guitar very much.
I love the fact that they made pau ferro an option for the fingerboard on the player series, SRV signature strats always had pau ferro.
Rosewood*
Nope. SRV Strats always had PF fingerboards.
Bought my player series strat for $699 Aug 2020. Surprised to see they’ve already gone up to $849. Still a great value
Tell me about it! I just bought one for $849. Didn’t know non-vintage guitars appreciate like that. 😳
I just ordered a special edition in candy apple red with the hss pickup configuration. Cant wait for it to come in.
That is going to be awesome. The HSS is my fav for a strat.
Oof.. that cand apple red looks so good.. how is it working out for you?
@@averyprice9422 It's working out nicely, the neck is super comfortable and the alnico pickups sound great.
Just bought a fender player and it’s my favorite guitar I’ve played so far
Here in Australia they are available for preorder. Its 19th jan 21 and the 21 model i found for $999 which is almost spot on 700 use. The good part is the place I ordered it from does a full pleck set up which is usually 250 hear included in the price. So I think its a good deal, everything is more expensive here because of market size and we live on an island 12hrs by jumbo from LA. Thanks for the vid it helped me pull the trigger now I have to wait till April.
Sorry for typos auto correct. 700use is supposed to be USD and here/hear?
Where did you get yours?
Port Macquarie Guitars
right on strat man :). from california
Glad to see that your player strat had great quality. My player series strat came with some quality issues. The neck wasn't set correctly in the pocket, and the frets were a bit sharp. Since I do my own setups I didn't mind and was able to fix these issues with 1 hour of work. The pickups on the player are noticeably hotter and brighter than my friend's 60's custom shop. I think that's why the bridge is wired to the tone pot, to help tame it. Overall, I love the more modern sound of these player series pickups but they may not be the right choice for people seeking vintage tones.
That's true. I am not a big fan of the player series pickups and the fret ends feel slightly sharp. But overall is a great guitar. I will do some mods and updates to mine.
@@victorperez3034 Interesting...Ive been wanting a player series for a while...but Im starting to think a Pacifica 612 that comes with Seymore Duncans, graphtech nut and grover locking is just superior value....would i just be spending $ on a fender logo and missing out on the better value guitar if i went for a Player series?
I’d buy one of these models but the 3 main dealbreakers are the 2 point bridge, modern machine heads and the 22nd fret.
I own 3 Player Plus Top Stratocaster HSS’s and I couldn’t be happier!
They are gorgeous!
The quality of MIM Fenders has greatly improved over the years almost rivaling American made guitars.
I also own 3 other MIM Strats and they are great too!
I am no longer a MIM snob!
What does “Plus top” mean? Still don’t understand that despite trying to look it up
@@dannydav709 …..it means highly figured wood grain showing through the finish…
I have the 2018 sage green HSS ,I guess that I had been the lucky few who got that color since it’s hard to find . I wasn’t impressed with the Pau ferro fingerboard at first since it’s very flat and dry sounding, overall the build was good for the money ,The pickups are decent . But when i modified the bridge with a BKP juggernaut which made the end result sound brighter .
I have a white one with a maple fretboard, it plays amazing and I 100% recommend this to other players! Really can't go wrong with that price.
Totally agree. I have a Schecter PT on its way to me that is in the same price point as the player series. It will be interesting to see how it stacks up.
Love mine, she has a butttercream color and a maple neck.
I just put a down payment on a Polar White. Is that what you got?
If so, can you give us some insight? I'm excited.
@@kangaroofoot Yep, I did get that one. It is really good and I think you will be happy with it!
i remember being there that day. i was the guy helping you record this.
i finally did it man...two years ago i got off all drugs and learned to quit cigarettes amd coffee too.
I have 2 player strats the first one was made in 2017 as the serial number begins with 17______ Its so slick, I love it. The other was made in 2021 and its not as lovely as the first but still a beautiful guitar
I picked up a 2019 players series strat a few days ago. Previous owner put on Fender locking tuners and upgraded pups to the Tim Shaw Yosemite pickups. It sounds and plays better then my 95' American Standard
Guitar, and Dodgers! Awesome combo!
How low can you get the string action. They are never set right in the stores and I worry I cant get that 1 to 1.5mm action I like at the 12th fret with that radius.
I have a red HSS player strat with a black pickguard Paul Ferro fretboard. It's amazing but I really want a 70s style neck on it (I love the jumbo headstock)
Thanks 🙏 para your review. I have a few weeks left if I wanna return it.
Re: HSH Player Strat rosewood board.
if you wanted to, can you upgrade this guitar? put in a booster and a TBX
i just bought this guitar this past week and let me tell you this thing is awesome. I added a few things like changing the plastic nut to graph tech TUSQ nut, graph tech saddles, and added string trees. These small additions made my guitar play way better and sound at the level of a 1500 dollar guitar:)
YES! So freaking cool. Super pumped for you and you are right on. These guitars are awesome for the price!
Synthetic bone nut...not plastic.
@@AbdassLeo_ (synthetic) man it's plastic. Sure feels and act like it
Maybe they can Say that the nut is "fenderplast" made
@@AbdassLeo_ Synthetic Bone Nut... AKA Plastic lol
I've the pink with mint green pickgaurd have to say I prefer this over my USA strat these player series are just great I love the middle pickup fender really hit the spot for the money
The middle pickup on mine is sonic perfection
My only gripe about the Player Series is there is no fiesta red finish available
That would be awesome!
There is a sonic red tho
Oh yeah me too
The green is what I like.
I have a jaguar that's fiesta red and it rocks!
I love mine.
I have the arctic White, Maple neck..
Gorgeous guitar.
Left handed version.
Nice video and useful information. I am considering one of the Player series. I just can't make up my mind on two aspects. Maple neck or not? And whether to get the HSS model or the 3 single coil pickup model.
Phil
NYC Area
Hey Phil! I’m not a big fan of the pau ferro, so for me it would be maple fretboard HSS 👍👍👍
got this one used for about 300 pounds and it stays in tune better than my charvel with Gotoh 510 term and hipshot tuners. The pickups are great and need no swapping. I've found they take gain exceptionally well.
Mine is a 2014, is it the same series? is it just as good?
Ordered mine in 3 tone sunburst yesterday
Thank you for the video. How is the Strat output compared to the Player Tele output? Same volume?
Very similar. Both are using player series single coil pickups. I am planning a side by side comparison so stay tuned!
The main improvements in the Player series are the alnico pickups and 2 point tremolo.
But what about that extra fret?
And spaghetti logo.. huge improvement also
The neck… the most important part of a guitar… feel the neck
I didn't catch any fret buzz when you played it ... when I saw an MIA demo that had some buzz. Run a fret rocker and mark high spots on the frets and see how good/bad the fretwork is. Squier Indonesia guitars have become a lot better in the last few years so the Mexico Fenders may be going the same improvement path -- benefits Fender as starter players are more likely to keep playing and then keep buying guitars rather than give up and go back to video games.
Fret work is great on this one. They really have stepped up their quality in the last few years.
@@bsideguitar I think that they had some QC difficulties when they launched this new series.. The first year the were many reports about sharp frets ends and a really poor setup out of the box.. I am considering a new strat and I hope they stepped up the game a bit... THe competiotion is fierce in this price class.. The new Sire S7 has locking tuners, rosted maple neck with a satin finished back and a bridge humbucker that does not sound to muffled or hot.. The onyl thing I wonder is whether the singles on the sire s7 is wired to a shared 500k tonepot making them really bright.
question for those who owns stratos, I bought my first and if I place the string action very low the bends became very hard to get and the octaves are hard to setup in some strings. Is this a expected behavior for stratos? my first was a jackson 24 frets+floyd rose. It is a new world to me.
A great guitar. I have a Fiesta Red one. That green one is gorgeous though.
Are these still good to purchase even now? I see a lot of positive feedback from when these first released but how about now? I’m looking to buy one and hope they’re still making them just as good
Just got a made in nov.22 and it plays great right out of the box for me at least. 3 tone burst maple neck. They are $850.00 now in the U.S. though
That color though. Super hard to find. Nice!
Unfortunately they do not have candy apple red....I was able to get the latest special edition in Ferrari red though!
Got my Player 2 weeks ago, buttercream colour! Great guitar!
Love that color!
Quality and playability is as good as any high end Fender. I am looking for a very light strat, I’ve yet to find a player that isn’t heavy.
I want that buttercream so bad..
Where did you get a green one?
Only real issue with mine was , had a heap of polish compound in the bridge cavity, thought that was a bit ridiculous
That’s interesting, but at least an easy fix ;)
I have a limited edition version in surf pearl. I will agree that they are a VERY good buy for the money. Totally pro quality. The important parts are mostly top notch: neck feels great (it’s very close to my pattern thin PRS’), tuners work really well and tuning stability is awesome (after I swapped out the string tree for an American roller style, the stock one kept grabbing the strings and causing tuning issues ), finish is perfect (they even sanded and stained the wood inside the cavities), build quality is perfect. the fretwork on mine wasn’t the best, but I’m very picky about that and it’s a cheap fix (about 50.00 at a good luthier shop). The electronics are pretty good and a major upgrade from the older MIM strats, but they aren’t amazing. The pickups sound like a strat but they do seem to lack some of the sparkle and character of the American pickups. The switch feels just like my American ones, the knobs don’t feel exactly the same but they’re better then other imports I have. The tone knobs don’t seem to have as much range though. There is kind of a spot around 6 or so where they just get super muddy (you can hear that in this video as well).
Overall I would say that if you’re in the market for a classic style fender, buy a player series. There is not enough of a difference in the American version to justify nearly doubling the price.
I got mine brand new for £300 from a man who bought it full price but realised he preferred acoustic! Best purchase of my life, it’s my main guitar and it’s a metallic Sage Green colour which I haven’t seen many other people with, she is a beauty for the price
What a great deal! 👏 I also love the sage green. Beautiful finish.
That's insane that exact same thing happened with me, a bloke I knew preferred his acoustic takimie and sold his tidepool player to me for 300
@@thomascrawley4968 We were destined to purchase our strats! 😁
@@mtth6758 hahaha yes and what a v
Beauty she is, plays like a dream
Fret work was horrible on mine had to take it to a fender auth. Service center! I’ll have to wait 3 weeks and hopefully they won’t give me the runaround. Every player I picked up had high frets, fret buzz in the 12 fret area bad all of them and frets are always unpolished,
That is the pimp green strat! So slick!
Seems like the volume drops with the bridge tone?
I dont know what to do, I love both Strat and tele, I prefer the sound of the tele but I neeeeed a whamy bar (and the strat look is awesome). I think im going for the strat
Can’t go wrong with either but if you have to have the tremolo, well then the answer is easy :)
Id get an SSS strat
I hope we get that green finish in Australia.
It was a limited run here, so wouldn’t be surprised if they did a limited run over there.
A month ago I bought a Fender Player Stratocaster Limited Edition in yellow ferrari with ebony fretboard. It looks and most importantly sounds fantastic! I only replaced the tuners with Fender Deluxe locking ones. Greetings from Poland... 🤘
Where did you get this color? I haven’t seen it anywhere?
Andertons.co.uk has/had a limited edition of this color!
I am torn between this guitar or used fender highway one?
Wow tough choice. Really can’t go wrong either way. May come down to cost. The Highway 1 stuff that I’m seeing is over $1k, but if you find a great deal on one that brings it closer to the Player, it would be hard to turn it down.
I’ve had mine about 1-1/2 years. Great guitar. Stays in tune always. Set up with floating tremolo. Only issues, never get it set up at guitar center. I needed the nut replaced after the setup and finally the single coil bridge pickup is fairly harsh. Need to keep the volume and the treble down on that one. All in all I still love it. Goes well with my SG special
@stirange that’s somewhat true but a pro tech can work wonders with a guitar set up if you’re having issues, especially with the nut like I mentioned. That takes finesse vs just mechanical aptitude.
@stirange your experience is just that, your experience. You can’t put every pro in that class. A good pro will fine tune everything to the setup you want and do the final tweaks when your there with him. That’s my experience. Well except GC. They’re horrible
Hi. I do guitar setups for a living. I have never used a predetermined set of measurements, each setup is dictated by the physics of the instrument. Some instruments are made better than others, and result in a better setup. I can tell you in all honesty that there is nothing more important to me when setting up a guitar, than the customers satisfaction. You’re absolutely correct when you say people can do their own setup’s, and that’s always an option. The main reason pro setups cost so much, is because they have to pay rent on the building they work from.
Just bought a player and I love it but the two things to put it to the next level are pretty easy fixes for Fender and not too expensive, a bone nut and a tighter fit for the trem which is pretty damned loose, a push in would be best but I will upgrade both. Cheers!
Went to check out a Player level strat at my local shop. It was ok until I picked up the Pro 2. Day night. Pro was a real delight feel and sound. Now I subsequently bought a Player télé and once again it was just ok. It’s currently in the shop getting the sub par quality neck fixed. I may not have bought it if it wasn’t COVID out and there was no other in stock Telecasters to be had or I may have found one that was better quality. BTW that pro 2 is an absolute delight to play.
Where can I get this strat with that colour ?
It was a limited color they did in 2019 I believe. I got mine from www.musicvilla.com but you may have to check ebay and reverb at this point.
@@bsideguitar thats sad..... awesome color
I have 2 player strats, love them both
I'm at a point where I want to get a Player or American Pro II. What would I be getting with the American Pro II that the Player doesn't have?
Rolled fretboard, parallel/series switch, a little different neck heal contour, different pickups and the hard shell case. Both are great guitars! If you are in the US call Music Villa in Bozeman, MT and tell them I sent you ;)
In the middle price point you can have the mexican Vintera or the American performer
Love the player series but its not as good as an American Pro II in my opinion. I have both. I'll still own and will continue to love all MIM Strats though.
I really like the color of that.
I bought a new players series tele last month. cant believe how nice it is compared to my american strat
oh and the flamey cherry sunburst finish on the tele is insane
Will this guitar last me a life time, and would the sound never change?
This guitar could definitely last you a lifetime if you take care of it. As far as the sound, the majority of the sound for an electric guitar is the pickups, so generally speaking, the sound would stay very consistent over time.
I wonder how that Japanese-made Squier I owned back in 88 would compete against these MIMs.
I have a mij e6 strat and bullet strat w tele head, both amazing tone for ceramics. The alnicos on my 19 player series is sparkly-er, but in a way a little thinner, more scoopy. The ceramics on the mij have more balanced sound, definitely a fuller Fender chime.
I have had three Player Strats and they were all great guitars.
amazing sound
good review. just bought one of these puppies.
Holy shit, that's the coolest color I've ever seen. I wish my American Standard had come with that.
Just wanted to say the green is awesome 👌
Right?!? Surprised I don't see more of these out there.
@@bsideguitar Did they discontinue the green color? I don't see it in any of the online stores.
@@bsideguitar I'm looking for the green as well, did they discontinue it?
I’ve been looking for this guitar for months, you wouldn’t happen to sell it would you
I know this comment is 4 months old, but there are a bunch on Reverb right now from Empire Music. I just purchased one myself. :)
@@KitzelFox fuck I just bought a electric guitar. Ughhhh I’m so mad I want it. Let me know how it plays
@@KitzelFox I pulled the trigger and bought it 😂
will I lose some signature strat sounds if i get the HSS ?
Inherently yes since you are swapping out that single coil. But I love the humbucker in the bridge and to me a strat is all about the neck pickup ;)
@@bsideguitar awesome, thanks!
Would this be suitable for an adult beginner?
This would be perfect!
Bought a tele player. Way beyond expectations in every way it actually is a better instrument than my u.s. tele …. The only problem the q. c. Is hit or miss . The fret work was so bad on mine I spent 4 hours doing a level and polish to keep the high e string from breaking mid fretboard 30 seconds into a song… not just 1 … all were terrible . This not go from the store to stage… would I do it again? Hell yeh!!
Dang.
That is a beautiful guitar! I want one! (but don't need one)
😂I feel the same way
I agree 100%, unlike Gibson, there is really nothing differentiating Fender's line, I would argue the Squire classic vibe and modern lines are very close. Fender needs to switch to a nitrocellulose lacquer on their American series, and they should all come with a hardshell case. I know their original series is finished in nitrocellulose lacquer, but most people, like myself, prefer the modern specs. I have been playing for 25 years, I am not a gear snob, the only thing I have to have is nitrocellulose lacquer, I love the feel, sound, look, and the way it wears over time is vastly superior. Once you go to the American Gibson line, they are all nitrocellulose lacquer, that's the amazing smell when you open a case.
Fantastic colour! 👍
I dont like the shape of the rear cutout though, it looks cheaper and uglier than the larger body cutout on the high end Strats.
GORGEOUS color
I had a ‘made in the USA’ strat and I sold it, because it sucked. The Mexis are good. I kept mine
My MIM strat had no shielding paint, there were routing burrs left in the inner cavity, hardware all bent up, sanding flaws all over the body and neck that are so bad they’re immediately noticeable... literally, the first fret position had a massive gouge in it ...it’s curved at the bottom. I paid nearly $1000 for it and I think the sixties spec custom shop pickups are the only thing that determines any value. I bought the same guitar when I was in my 20s that was an American made version and only a couple hundred dollars more than the MIM. It was flawless.
And I recently purchased a MIM Strat that was absolutely flawless! Seems pretty amazing that you could have found SO much wrong with the one you have. Do you have some reason why you went out of your way to publish an unbalanced comment about MIM products? There is very little supporting documentation to back your claims. In fact, I can not find anyone who is as dissatisfied wit their MIM product as you. Hope you can return your "defective" product. Honestly, I am having trouble with the validity of your comment, it seems completely outside of the shared experiences of so many other satisfied customers.
@@GradyElla plays good, has exceptional tone and is very addictive ...strat player for life.
BUUUUUUTTTTT! The MIM I got didn’t compare with my American version of the exact spec guitar... the American was only $200 more than MIM. I shouldn’t get the kind of flaws and shortcuts being I still dished out a lot of cash for it. $1,000 for an import... that’s good chunk of change.
@@clemdog76 "In your 20s!" Come on man, right now on Reverb, an American made strat is at least $1,200. A MIM strat is around $500. Look it up!
@@GradyElla right, American made spec of my strat costs almost $6000.00 from the custom shop to match what I had in my 20s. Then again, that’s also what’s kinda wrong with fender. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$😖
Love that green
hey im interested in learning how to play the guitar I was wondering what is a good beginner guitar and where could I buy it
This one.
If you got the loot get a Player series... Then they have the Classic Vibe Series...and if you aren't sure you are going to stick with it get an Affinity Series...
I bought a new Player Strat the other day, a limited edition Ferrari Red with Ebony fretboard. I really enjoy it. I think I go lucky because the fretboard was definitely rolled, probably by accident, at the factory because the neck felt identical to all of the Player Plus models that were there.... That being said, every other standard player I tried felt awful as far as the fret ends were concerned, one was so bad I couldn't even play it. These are definitely best bought in person.
Congrats! That is a super nice guitar.
If someone walked into a store 'what is the absolute MOST guitar I can buy for under a grand?' the answer would have to be 'Do you want a Strat or a Tele?'
That is hyperbole, there are other values out there... but man... at this price point? These guitars are freaking BEASTS.
I dunno.. seen the higher end Yamaha pacificas? Grover locking tuners, graphtech nut, Wilkinson trem, seymour duncans, coil split all for under a grand
My squire sea foam green Stratocaster is GREAT. All jokes aside . I played it back to back with 4999 custom shop fender stratocaster. And the squire won. I bought it 186 dollars.. it's the hands and player. Not the guitar. But some cheap ones are made better than some too of the line ones .. bit u must dig and find that one out of five.. that just has it. Just has that mojo u know. It's the player. Not the guitar
Really beatiful guitar.
If the necks are so phenomenal can you guarantee all the frets are level???
Not really. I have one and the frets are not perfect. But they’re not really that bad.
My HSS Strat is amazing
cool vid
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USA made not so good I had a signature malmsteen strat had to go back to fender for a fret dress now got MIM strat and p Bass never looked back.
I agree totally