Fender Standard Stratocaster 2001

strtdv · February 2016

I think most guitarists will own a Mexican strat at some stage. I was told to get one of these when I was starting out, and bought this guitar with the proceeds of my first summer job.

I think I paid £280 or £300 for it.

It's blue agave, which is a slightly greenish metallic light blue.

Usual MIM standard strat specs:

21 frets (mine has the maple fretboard)

3 single coil pickups

5 way switch

25.5" scale length

Mine has had the following modifications: stock pickups replaced with Bareknuckle Irish Tours

Stock wiring changed to have the second tone control acting solely on the bridge pickup (I think stock the bridge pickup didn't have a tone control)

Tuners replaced with Kluson style ones (nothing wrong with the originals but I fancied a more vintage look)

It's fair to say this has had a lot of playtime in the last 15 years (it really needs a refret).

The Good:

-Incredibly comfortable neck, much nicer than the neck my 2007 American Standard Tele had. It's a little chunkier than the American Fenders and works very well

-Solid workhorse guitar, the fundamental construction is great

-Mine has a lovely flamed maple neck, I'm not sure how such a nice neck ended up on such a cheap guitar

-Sounds and plays like a strat

-With upgraded pickups is a great gigging guitar, could well be the only guitar you ever need

-All the hardware is fairly decent and functions well

-Paint finish is pretty good

The Bad:

-Very thick poly finish

-Poplar rather than Ash or Alder body, so the tone is a little snappier than other strats

-Stock pickups were terrible (ceramic bar magnets glued to the polepieces rather than polepiece magnets)

This guitar is a keeper, partly for sentimental reasons, but partly because it's all the strat I'll ever need, and I can't justify buying a more expensive one when this one is so good.

strtdv · February 2016

Terrible pic: (it's the one on the right ;-) )

strtdv · February 2016

Sound clip:

This is the strat with various levels of gain, showing mostly the bridge and neck pickup positions.

Richardj · February 2016

I have one of the very first of them from 1990, owned from new. Pickups and hardware were meh, but sort those out and the rest is hard to beat and it is still my go to Strat.

Sassafras · March 2016

I see you like Fenders. Wise man.

marantz1300 · March 2016

My first strat was the same as yours.
great guitars those MIM's.

darthed1981 · March 2017

strtdv said:

Terrible pic: (it's the one on the right ;-) )

I have that same strat, same colour and everything! Had it since 2003!

I've considered a pickup swap on it as the overall tone means I very rarely play it plugged in, I'm more of a humbucker or P90 guy - any recommendations for a swap?

HAL9000 · March 2017

@darthed1981 I had Oil City StoneTones put into my MIM Std Strat. These sound very organic and are pretty growl-y. (IMHO the stock items were quite bland and rather sterile sounding). It is currently my go-to guitar.

Interesting that @strtdv likes the MIM neck more than that on an American Std; I prefer the neck on my MIM Std to that on my 2005 American Std.

Howdy, Stranger!

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Fender Standard Stratocaster 2001

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