BROOKS!! I wish all info-vids were this intelligent, informative, and entertaining. A great job, my friend. Even though it's fairly obvious to any Strat owner, I just wish you had indicated on all the audio samples what pup combinations / selections were used.
yeah, I should have titled each pickup selection. It's neck, bridge/middle and bridge. I thought everyone would get bored with a sample in all 5 positions. Thanks Chuck!
I have a 2020 Fender Player HSS strat, and when the replacement necks come out for the Player II guitars I will probably pick up one for my original Player guitar.
The American made Fenders are just too expensive. Put the Vintage pickups in the Player series and you have basically the equivalent guitar for a lot less money.
When you hold them in your hands and play them they are very different. The player series feel like a much lower quality instrument. The necks are really thin and they are not as resonant, which I guess doesn’t matter for an electric guitar. Player series are great for what they are though.
It's like a REAL Gibbons, if you aren't holding one for yourself you just don't know man. It's got a contoured neck joint, you just wouldn't understand.
That's what I will do. Buy a red Player II Tele change the pickups to a Pure Vintage 51, change the saddle to a 3 barrel and even the pickguard to a white one😅
Put vintage ii pickup in MIM guitar will not make Mim sounds like vintage ii unfortunately. It will improve the tone little bit, but not even close to the vintage ii level.
I was on the fence about the player 2 Strat in coral red I’m sold on it thanks to your video review .. thank you .. hopefully I’ll be getting mine soon .. it’s now the 10th dec 24 but I can’t order till next weeks paycheck so it will be after Christmas when I get it 😢.. 😂😂😂😂❤❤❤❤❤❤can’t wait
Rose-wood veneer fretboards actually adhere to the maple neck more solidly because there is a bit more contect area. Fender did have problems getting a solid bond with the slab cut rosewood..but by now they have got them to work better. As the chap above said" a player 2 and a set of good pickups should sound great. If I was going to get a player 2 it would be a HSS version which makes for a much more versatile instrument. Thanks for the comparison. Try them both out yourselves if you are thinking about buying one or the other , try not to let videos and sound samples do the choosing for you.
I'm literally just getting into playing guitar and just bought a Player II and to my untrained ear the only difference I can hear is the Vintage II is a little bit louder, clearer and has a little more bite! I'm looking forward to learning on my Player II.
I have the Fender American Vintage II '61 Stratocaster in Fiesta Red, no regrets. I also have a Player 1 series and it's a great guitar. Your personal preference and budget will decide which is right for you.
I get so pumped when I see you put up new videos. Love them all and this was no different. Great job man. If the Player II series would lose the black trus rod hole guide, no one could tell the difference. Even Squiers don’t have that black plastic piece. They always bothered me. Thanks for the video brother. Really enjoyed it.
how does the coral red compares with the fiesta red in person? in the side to side comparison they look essentially the same color and the pickguard surely makes a difference in the color perception
The american vintage II Is my dream guitar, since I love the 7.25 radius, but I think (since the Stratocaster I own are all from Mexico) that Fender with this player II raised the game. They are terrific and with the same amount of money for an Am Vint, I take home the Player II, a premium Fender valve amp and a set of 57-62 Fender custom shop pickup set if I don't like the voicing of the Player one. The transparent aged cherry with chambered mahogany body is in my list. Can't wait to buy it!!😍😍😍😍😍😍 Wonderful video!!❤️❤️❤️❤️
I was waiting for this video to make a purchase decision and without a doubt, it will be the Player II. Do both guitars have alder bodies or is the AVRII selected alder? Thanks a lot
was playing both yesterday incl american performer, all were great but vintage was winner in playability. even squier i tried was easier to play than sky. psr has nice shorter neck though which i reeaally liked.
All strat single coils are trash! I put Dimarzio double rails tone zones in mine. I play classic rock and metal.my new red player kicks ass! Thru them trash single coils in the trash.
The sound difference in your examples was really obvious! Much preferred the Vintage II. I've been looking at the Player II Strats because I'm not really a Strat guy, but think it'd be nice for the occasional time a recording calls for it. Played one at the store the other day and it played decent. Not as good as my Am Pro II Tele, but also cheaper. Hearing your comparison, I'd probably have to swap pickups. Good video as always 👍
This is the best comparison I've seen on Strats. This is great, awesome. I would like to ask, have you ever compared the Player II with Maple Neck as opposed to a Rosewood neck? Is there a difference in sound? Thank you for posting this.
Thank you Angel for the comment. I have not compared the Player II rosewood to maple but I do have other maple guitars to compare to rosewood. The typical thing you'll hear is the rosewood sounds a bit darker and the maple has a little more spank to it. Personally I think it's more feel than sound. I think a maple neck feels slicker and faster. I think the Rosewood has more of a solid feel. I have guitars with both and I would not choose a guitar strickly on Rosewood or maple. It's a feature that I look for in certain guitars but it's not the biggest factor for me. Now I would never have a Les Paul with a maple neck!
@@airtimedesign Hey thank you! I play a lot of Classic rock, i.e., AC/DC, Beatles, Stones, 38 Special, Greenday, Sabbath, Zeppelin, Skynyrd, etc. What strat can you recommend to play these kinds of music? I love the sounds that you are getting out of the Strats. I have SGs, Les Paul Tribute, Teles. I could neve really bond with a Strat. I don't think I've played the right strat yet. Would you say I should get a Strat with the HSS Configuration? Sorry for the many questions.
for me, the american vintage sound better because i hear much more reverb than player II tracks. But both sound very similar. I owned both models , an american vintage 62 strat and a Player from 2019 and both was fantastic guitar for their price range...
It sounds to me like the AVII out of phase sound is more "quacky" than that of the PII, presumably because the AV's pickups are vintage-correct. I had a 1979 Strat for many years, and it was very quacky. My current Strat is a Squier CV, with RWRP middle pickup, and it lacks that Strat quack. For that reason, I prefer the old way, even if it isn't noise-cancelling. I would add that I prefer six-saddle bridges, as Strats with two-post bridges seem to lack something in the tone department. When I bought my CV in 2019, it sounded better to me than the Player Strats.
The paint/finish on the American is a biug plus for me. I love the Nitro. The Polyurethane “armor” on most basses and guitars is not my fav, but not much one can do about it. I bought the Player and Player 2 basses because they are fine instruments for a fair price, but sure wish that they would have the Nitrocellulose lacquer finish. Thanks, fine video.
@@bruceman9581 Fender has used thin poly undercoats since 1962. It helps the nitro adhere. Fender has tried nitro without the undercoat and the nitro came off too easily. The nitro will still relic but some people expect a new guitar to relic in 1-5 years the way a 60 year old guitar looks. The nitro will age and discolor the same way, where guitars that are full poly won't.
Hello Brooks , great review as ever , excellent looking Player Series , but if primary a home player oddly the AV2 would be the best i feel as the sound is far superior and in a band mix i doubt you would hear the difference ?? , i owned one for a period but couldn’t get over the poor fit and finish and ket it go “ my loss” as the sound was excellent, but how is it the Mexican fit and finish is always very good , even Far Eastern guitars are to the early AV2s , sorry rant over and that has all been covered . Agree with your ending summary though. Cheers from 🇬🇧
Hey John, I think the fit and finish on the Player II is very good. Not as good as the higher end Fenders but much better than the previous Player gen.
I have an AVII, for the money it’s great, but so is the American pro II as the player II. I’m actually putting my AVII up for sale. It’s great, but I just don’t need it. The player II has been a revelation. It’s a lot of guitar for the money.
Can easily grab a Fender or Squier to play from my guitar rack. They are all very nice. Play my Squiers twice as much. Guess that says I like Squier guitars more? Weird. ✌🎸
I love some Squiers too. Squier provides very beautiful guitars you cannot find in Fender. A must is tunners replacement though. They are pretty bad in general.
Brazilian rosewood has been protected and unavailable since the 1970s. Indian rosewood is what is used now days. A slab board is the cheapest and most common and basic kind of fingerboard. The round laminate rosewood fingerboard was introduced in 1963 (on Fenders) to improve stability- not to cut cost. It's a much more difficult procedure and therefore costs more to implement, and many people prefer the sound (brighter). The most authentic classic styled Fender series was the American Vintage (V1) Series introduced in 2012, ending in 2018, certainly not this current one (AV2).
I've got a Player I . I love it,2018,artic white lefty. I've also got a 1994M.I.M.Thatwas manufactured when the Mexican plant burned down. Supposedly the body and neck came from California and the guts from Asia. Ceramic pick-ups but it's hot. Fender bender.🤠
The Player ll pickups are akin to a young kid whose testacles havent yet descended compared to the full bodied quack of the Vintage set…Yes you could grab the Mexican made Strat for a smaller wedge of hard earned cash and go grab yourself a set of aftermarket pickups, but it’ll still be a Mexican made Strat with an expensive set of pickups, and not a virtual copy of an original made U.S 61 that will increase in value.. You pays your money and you takes your chance.. If someone was gifting you either guitar, I suspect the vast majority of us would grab the Vintage 61 and not the Mexican one… Some will feel 2 grand is just too much, while others feel it is worth it for them to own it…
whats the deal with the blonde bassman? the front panel looks like a black panel....I have 2 late sixties bassmans that the previous owner recovered in blond and changed the silver panel to black, they look alot like that amp
It's easier to change the strings. Cut the string 2 pegs further than the one you're loading, insert the string and in a seconds - there you go... ready to play...
I can't be arsed to do that and pre-cut, and i tried it and cut it too short and I cant afford to waste strings/ money on more strings, modern tuners you just put it through the hole tighten it a bit then cut the extra off then tune it, that's way easier than measuring the space of two tuner pegs every time , especially if you were to go on stage @ratkopetrovic4959
That's the same impression I got and it was not apparent until I put the samples back to back. With the right amp and pedals I'm sure the stock Player pickups would be fine but in comparison with the raw sound of the pickup the AVII wins IMHO.
BROOKS!! I wish all info-vids were this intelligent, informative, and entertaining. A great job, my friend. Even though it's fairly obvious to any Strat owner, I just wish you had indicated on all the audio samples what pup combinations / selections were used.
yeah, I should have titled each pickup selection. It's neck, bridge/middle and bridge. I thought everyone would get bored with a sample in all 5 positions. Thanks Chuck!
I have a 2020 Fender Player HSS strat, and when the replacement necks come out for the Player II guitars I will probably pick up one for my original Player guitar.
The American made Fenders are just too expensive. Put the Vintage pickups in the Player series and you have basically the equivalent guitar for a lot less money.
When you hold them in your hands and play them they are very different. The player series feel like a much lower quality instrument. The necks are really thin and they are not as resonant, which I guess doesn’t matter for an electric guitar. Player series are great for what they are though.
Thats what the 70th anniversary player is. Its basically a Player II with pure vintage '59 pickups.
It's like a REAL Gibbons, if you aren't holding one for yourself you just don't know man.
It's got a contoured neck joint, you just wouldn't understand.
That's what I will do. Buy a red Player II Tele change the pickups to a Pure Vintage 51, change the saddle to a 3 barrel and even the pickguard to a white one😅
Put vintage ii pickup in MIM guitar will not make Mim sounds like vintage ii unfortunately. It will improve the tone little bit, but not even close to the vintage ii level.
I was on the fence about the player 2 Strat in coral red I’m sold on it thanks to your video review .. thank you .. hopefully I’ll be getting mine soon .. it’s now the 10th dec 24 but I can’t order till next weeks paycheck so it will be after Christmas when I get it 😢.. 😂😂😂😂❤❤❤❤❤❤can’t wait
Rose-wood veneer fretboards actually adhere to the maple neck more solidly because there is a bit more contect area. Fender did have problems getting a solid bond with the slab cut rosewood..but by now they have got them to work better. As the chap above said" a player 2 and a set of good pickups should sound great. If I was going to get a player 2 it would be a HSS version which makes for a much more versatile instrument. Thanks for the comparison. Try them both out yourselves if you are thinking about buying one or the other , try not to let videos and sound samples do the choosing for you.
I'm literally just getting into playing guitar and just bought a Player II and to my untrained ear the only difference I can hear is the Vintage II is a little bit louder, clearer and has a little more bite! I'm looking forward to learning on my Player II.
I have the Fender American Vintage II '61 Stratocaster in Fiesta Red, no regrets. I also have a Player 1 series and it's a great guitar. Your personal preference and budget will decide which is right for you.
Oh yeah! COol One! I was waiting for these two's comparison videos just for fun! Thank you.
you're welcome!
I get so pumped when I see you put up new videos. Love them all and this was no different. Great job man. If the Player II series would lose the black trus rod hole guide, no one could tell the difference. Even Squiers don’t have that black plastic piece. They always bothered me. Thanks for the video brother. Really enjoyed it.
My pleasure Mike! Thank you for the comment, I appreciate it!
Player II with the 57/62 set is just good enough
how does the coral red compares with the fiesta red in person? in the side to side comparison they look essentially the same color and the pickguard surely makes a difference in the color perception
The american vintage II Is my dream guitar, since I love the 7.25 radius, but I think (since the Stratocaster I own are all from Mexico) that Fender with this player II raised the game. They are terrific and with the same amount of money for an Am Vint, I take home the Player II, a premium Fender valve amp and a set of 57-62 Fender custom shop pickup set if I don't like the voicing of the Player one. The transparent aged cherry with chambered mahogany body is in my list. Can't wait to buy it!!😍😍😍😍😍😍
Wonderful video!!❤️❤️❤️❤️
Thank you I hope you love it!
I was waiting for this video to make a purchase decision and without a doubt, it will be the Player II. Do both guitars have alder bodies or is the AVRII selected alder? Thanks a lot
thinking about selling my silver sky for the fender vintage II. unsure if that's a good decision though.
I've never played a Silver Sky so I can't help you.
was playing both yesterday incl american performer, all were great but vintage was winner in playability. even squier i tried was easier to play than sky. psr has nice shorter neck though which i reeaally liked.
Wow! The American Vintage sounds SO much better!!!
The tone on AV II is more warm
Solid video, informative and thorough! Well done, thank you for this!
Thank you for watching and taking time to comment. I appreciate it.
American vintage sounds way better. Player is all treble with no low end. Doesn’t sound terrible, but no comparison to the American vintage.
All strat single coils are trash! I put Dimarzio double rails tone zones in mine. I play classic rock and metal.my new red player kicks ass! Thru them trash single coils in the trash.
The sound difference in your examples was really obvious! Much preferred the Vintage II. I've been looking at the Player II Strats because I'm not really a Strat guy, but think it'd be nice for the occasional time a recording calls for it. Played one at the store the other day and it played decent. Not as good as my Am Pro II Tele, but also cheaper. Hearing your comparison, I'd probably have to swap pickups. Good video as always 👍
Thank you!
This is the best comparison I've seen on Strats. This is great, awesome. I would like to ask, have you ever compared the Player II with Maple Neck as opposed to a Rosewood neck? Is there a difference in sound? Thank you for posting this.
Thank you Angel for the comment. I have not compared the Player II rosewood to maple but I do have other maple guitars to compare to rosewood. The typical thing you'll hear is the rosewood sounds a bit darker and the maple has a little more spank to it. Personally I think it's more feel than sound. I think a maple neck feels slicker and faster. I think the Rosewood has more of a solid feel. I have guitars with both and I would not choose a guitar strickly on Rosewood or maple. It's a feature that I look for in certain guitars but it's not the biggest factor for me. Now I would never have a Les Paul with a maple neck!
@@airtimedesign Hey thank you! I play a lot of Classic rock, i.e., AC/DC, Beatles, Stones, 38 Special, Greenday, Sabbath, Zeppelin, Skynyrd, etc. What strat can you recommend to play these kinds of music? I love the sounds that you are getting out of the Strats. I have SGs, Les Paul Tribute, Teles. I could neve really bond with a Strat. I don't think I've played the right strat yet. Would you say I should get a Strat with the HSS Configuration? Sorry for the many questions.
Great review!
A company shipped me the 70's Player, so I tries it out. It sounded and looked fantastic too. A little anemic in the pickups, but, very nice.
for me, the american vintage sound better because i hear much more reverb than player II tracks. But both sound very similar. I owned both models , an american vintage 62 strat and a Player from 2019 and both was fantastic guitar for their price range...
You think the player 1 70ths anniversary is routed for two humbuckers ? It with the two tone bursts ?
I am a sucker for lower output pickups
Thank you for this video. Such a great summary.
you're welcome!
I really hear the difference in your sound test.
I would have loved to have heard an american professional 2 in there as well.
It sounds to me like the AVII out of phase sound is more "quacky" than that of the PII, presumably because the AV's pickups are vintage-correct. I had a 1979 Strat for many years, and it was very quacky. My current Strat is a Squier CV, with RWRP middle pickup, and it lacks that Strat quack. For that reason, I prefer the old way, even if it isn't noise-cancelling. I would add that I prefer six-saddle bridges, as Strats with two-post bridges seem to lack something in the tone department. When I bought my CV in 2019, it sounded better to me than the Player Strats.
The paint/finish on the American is a biug plus for me. I love the Nitro. The Polyurethane “armor” on most basses and guitars is not my fav, but not much one can do about it. I bought the Player and Player 2 basses because they are fine instruments for a fair price, but sure wish that they would have the Nitrocellulose lacquer finish. Thanks, fine video.
Thank you Lasz and I hope you have fun with the Player II. You're right it's hard to beat for the money!
The american vintage have polyurethane under the nitro.
@@bruceman9581 Oops! Fender wants to keep all the relicking to themselves…😟
@@bruceman9581 Fender has used thin poly undercoats since 1962. It helps the nitro adhere. Fender has tried nitro without the undercoat and the nitro came off too easily. The nitro will still relic but some people expect a new guitar to relic in 1-5 years the way a 60 year old guitar looks. The nitro will age and discolor the same way, where guitars that are full poly won't.
Hello Brooks , great review as ever , excellent looking Player Series , but if primary a home player oddly the AV2 would be the best i feel as the sound is far superior and in a band mix i doubt you would hear the difference ?? , i owned one for a period but couldn’t get over the poor fit and finish and ket it go “ my loss” as the sound was excellent, but how is it the Mexican fit and finish is always very good , even Far Eastern guitars are to the early AV2s , sorry rant over and that has all been covered .
Agree with your ending summary though.
Cheers from 🇬🇧
Hey John, I think the fit and finish on the Player II is very good. Not as good as the higher end Fenders but much better than the previous Player gen.
I have an AVII, for the money it’s great, but so is the American pro II as the player II. I’m actually putting my AVII up for sale. It’s great, but I just don’t need it. The player II has been a revelation. It’s a lot of guitar for the money.
Can easily grab a Fender or Squier to play from my guitar rack. They are all very nice. Play my Squiers twice as much. Guess that says I like Squier guitars more? Weird. ✌🎸
I love some Squiers too. Squier provides very beautiful guitars you cannot find in Fender. A must is tunners replacement though. They are pretty bad in general.
Brazilian rosewood has been protected and unavailable since the 1970s. Indian rosewood is what is used now days. A slab board is the cheapest and most common and basic kind of fingerboard. The round laminate rosewood fingerboard was introduced in 1963 (on Fenders) to improve stability- not to cut cost. It's a much more difficult procedure and therefore costs more to implement, and many people prefer the sound (brighter). The most authentic classic styled Fender series was the American Vintage (V1) Series introduced in 2012, ending in 2018, certainly not this current one (AV2).
Thank you Carlton for the information. Interesting about the Slab board.
I've got a Player I . I love it,2018,artic white lefty. I've also got a 1994M.I.M.Thatwas manufactured when the Mexican plant burned down.
Supposedly the body and neck came from California and the guts from Asia.
Ceramic pick-ups but it's hot. Fender bender.🤠
I prefer the specs and feel of the Players.
And the vibratos?
The Player ll pickups are akin to a young kid whose testacles havent yet descended compared to the full bodied quack of the Vintage set…Yes you could grab the Mexican made Strat for a smaller wedge of hard earned cash and go grab yourself a set of aftermarket pickups, but it’ll still be a Mexican made Strat with an expensive set of pickups, and not a virtual copy of an original made U.S 61 that will increase in value.. You pays your money and you takes your chance.. If someone was gifting you either guitar, I suspect the vast majority of us would grab the Vintage 61 and not the Mexican one… Some will feel 2 grand is just too much, while others feel it is worth it for them to own it…
Well ,a Les Paul,PRS, etc won’t help with songwriting so i’m all about the adventure of the 3’fer🎼🚀.Good review,Brooks 🎼
Thanks Potter!
Wow the AVII sound sooooo much better.
whats the deal with the blonde bassman? the front panel looks like a black panel....I have 2 late sixties bassmans that the previous owner recovered in blond and changed the silver panel to black, they look alot like that amp
why does the Player II Sound so Thin ?? tinny .. I think in a blind fold test The Vintage is clearly Better .big difference i hear ...
Actually I was surprised at the difference in the sound of the two guitars. I didn't expect as big a difference.
It must be noted that the volume of the Vintage recordings are slightly louder than the Player. It can play a part.
AVII is a sweet guitar ... just has the wrong sized frets and the wrong radius.
The frets and radius are right. It wouldn't be a vintage reissue otherwise.
Great video again
Thank you!
Thank you!
The player 2 is definitely heavy. I’d say a whole ass lbs heavier than my player 1. But great guitars nonetheless
Player 2 obviously not quite as full, but slap some pickups in there and you basically have the same shit
I dont understand how people find vintage tuners easy, im probably stupid , i dont like them.
It's easier to change the strings. Cut the string 2 pegs further than the one you're loading, insert the string and in a seconds - there you go... ready to play...
I can't be arsed to do that and pre-cut, and i tried it and cut it too short and I cant afford to waste strings/ money on more strings, modern tuners you just put it through the hole tighten it a bit then cut the extra off then tune it, that's way easier than measuring the space of two tuner pegs every time , especially if you were to go on stage @ratkopetrovic4959
AV ii sounds like the record 😂
American is WAY juicier.
I want one! Bye Bye pau ferro
Player II sound so cheap AVII sounds like a record
That's the same impression I got and it was not apparent until I put the samples back to back. With the right amp and pedals I'm sure the stock Player pickups would be fine but in comparison with the raw sound of the pickup the AVII wins IMHO.
@@airtimedesign Ok but on the session studio engineer/producer would send player to the junk yard.