Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

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mr_sooty
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Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by mr_sooty »

Yesterday the Fender rep brought out the new 2017 Fender American Professional Stratocaster for me to try. Thought I'd share my thoughts about it with you.

The American Professional Series is replacing the American Standard series, which is pretty significant as the American Standard has been in production consistently since 1987. Why are they changing the name? I don't know, but this guitar is quite different from the American Standard in several areas, more than just a slight tweak on that model.

The big changes are:

- New neck profile, which they call a 'Deep C'.
-New redesigned pickups featuring a combination of Alnico 3 and Alnico 5 magnets
- No more 'no load' tone control
- Treble bleed volume control
- Slightly different tone control arrangement
-Pop in Tremolo Arm
-Bone nut
- Head stock says 'Corona, California', no more 'Made in USA'
- New colours
- New case

I'll start at the top and work my way through the changes. The neck is WAY chunkier. I really like it. My only complaint about my 2008 American Standard Strat is the slim neck. I used to like slim necks, but my tastes have changed. I feel a fatter neck, as long as it's not 'too' fat, is both more comfortable to play (less cramp) and I firmly believe it improves the tone of the guitar. That may sound like one of those weird guitarist 'snake oil' theories (raw tremolo springs anyone?) but it makes sense when you think about it. When Les Paul was experimenting with solid body electric guitars he would stretch a string across various surfaces listening for different sustain levels and different tones. Apparently a railway track was the winner. On an electric guitar the neck stretches over 2/3rds the length of the string. The instrument isn't being amplified acoustically by the body in the same way an acoustic guitar is. I have experimented with different Strats switching pickups and necks between them. I believe the neck swap makes a noticeable difference. You can certainly hear it with maple vs rosewood fretboards, but you can also hear it with neck mass. So I like the new neck better, but it won't be to everybodies taste. It's not a Jeff Beck baseball bat, but it was certainly fatter and more rounded than an American Standard 'Slim C'. The tall frets are an improvement though. I'm not sure if they're 6105 frets, but they're that style.

The pickups sound fantastic. Combined with the thicker neck this really is a better sounding Strat. Well balanced across the 5 positions, with just enough grunt in the bridge pickup. Very clear and articulate across the board without sounding thin or harsh. I don't know if each individual pickup has a mix of Alnico 5's and 3', or if some of the pickups are Alnico 3 (presumably neck/middle) and some are 5's (bridge?), but however they've done it they sound great. Sounds like a Strat should!

Ditching the 'no-load' is a good move. One of the reasons the bridge pickup sounds a little better on a Tele is that it's permanently connected to a tone control. Traditionally a Strat bridge pickup has no tone control, one of Leo's few design errors in my opinion. The first thing I always do with any Strat that has no tone control on the bridge is hook one up. Even if you never turn it down, having it connected to the pot gets rid of some of the harshness associated with Strat bridge pickups. The no-load gives you the option of having the traditional sound, but given that most people never wind it back at all, they lose the benefit of having the tone control permanently connected. A stock standard tone control makes more sense to me. The treble bleed volume control worked great. I normally don't go for them as I find they make the guitar sometimes sound a little unnatural when you bring the volume down, but this one worked really well. The guitar cleaned up nicely on a dirty tube amp while still retaining all the character of the sound with the volume right up. It sounded very natural.

I didn't check this properly but according to the spec sheet the tone controls are 1: neck & middle, 2: bridge. This makes a change from the American Standard which had 1: Neck, 2: Middle and Bridge. The new arrangement makes more sense to me, this is how I have always rewired my Strats. I like a separate tone control for the bridge pickup so I can back that off a bit without affecting neck and middle.

The pop-in tremolo arm would be the deal breaker for me. I just don't really like them. It pops in great, and there's no play which will appeal to some. But I want my tremolo arm to fall down when I let go if it so that it gets it self out of the way when I'm done using it. And I like screw in arms because there's a point where the arm stops falling, which means it doesn't just swing back and forth when you're jumping around on stage. So this is a minus for me personally. I feel this feature is maybe more suited to the higher end Elites. But if you like a pop-in tremolo arm, then it does the job. There's unfortunately no way to adjust the tension so I would consider that a minus. The arm doesn't swing, it just stays wherever you leave it.

The lack of 'Made in USA' on the headstock is an interesting one. The story from the rep is that new US regulations mean that for a product to have 'Made in USA' written on it, every component of the product must be manufactured in the US. This means if you were using say German tuning heads, you couldn't say 'Made in USA'. I don't know which part of the guitar isn't USA made, if any, or even if that's the real reason. I asked the rep if it was possible that the bodies were being painted elsewhere, as with the 'California Series' guitars they did in the mid 90's where the bodies were painted in Mexico but the guitar was otherwise USA made (not to be confused with the much cheaper Squier California series), but he didn't think the was the case. It seems that it's still a genuine USA made Strat, but that could be an issue when you're trying to resell it on Trade Me and get bombarded with questions from all those people who don't think it's a 'real Fender' if it doesn't have 'Made in USA' written on it.

The colour of the one I played was kind of an Army green with a black pickguard, maple neck. In all honesty I wasn't a big fan of the colour. Not my cup of tea, but they make em in other colours too. I'm one of those weird people that actually likes 3-tone sunburst, so as long as they make that I'm pretty happy. The new case looked really solid, still an SKB style ABS job. The type that eventually cracks open revealing the polystyrene interior and dropping tiny white polystyrene balls everywhere you go.

Overall it is a great guitar that is very nice to play, and has a lovely tone. I liked some of the changes, especially the neck and the pickups, but I'm a traditionalist and there are some things that I like to stay a bit more old school. If I was buying a new Strat now I'd be a bit torn between this model at $2999 and the American Standard which is currently on special at $2599 while they last. Tough call. I still kinda like the American Special actually which retails at $2599.

Let me know if you're keen to get hold of any of these, as I run an independent retail store in Kapiti and we're an authorised Fender dealer. Always keen to hook forum members up with good deals!
Last edited by mr_sooty on Sat Dec 10, 2016 10:37 am, edited 6 times in total.

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by hamo »

Good to hear from you Cam, nice review.
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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by Conway »

Hopefully this won't be a re-run of Gibson's 2015 disaster!
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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by GrantB »

I think the no M I A is a mistake for Fender. Gibson too are blurring the lines - some of their hardware is now cheap Asian crap...yet the guitar states M I USA. Wait until Trump gets a hold of this!
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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by olegmcnoleg »

Thats a really useful review. And I agree about the neck heft...it is perhaps the biggest improvement in tone you can get from a Strat (after you've fitted Lollars that is ;-)

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by null_pointer »

olegmcnoleg wrote:Thats a really useful review. And I agree about the neck heft...it is perhaps the biggest improvement in tone you can get from a Strat (after you've fitted Lollars that is ;-)
This. My Suhrs have the heftier neck, which on paper I'd have said I wasn't a fan of but the proof is in the playing and the sound. My guitar tutor still reckons they're an impediment to shredding ('nice rhythm guitar you've got there, mate' while we're trying harmonic minors)

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by mr_sooty »

null_pointer wrote: My guitar tutor still reckons they're an impediment to shredding ('nice rhythm guitar you've got there, mate' while we're trying harmonic minors)
I don't really agree. I don't actually think a skinny neck helps you play faster at all. Lower action yes, light strings yes, but not a skinny neck. As long as the neck isn't like 50's Les Paul fat - and even then it wouldn't make much difference if you have big hands - I don't think a fat neck stops you from playing fast at all.

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by StratMatt »

For the most part I like the sound of those changes. I'm a fan of thicker necks on strats (not super strats mind you ;) ) and I really like the 6105 frets. I play a mexi so no M I USA stamp obviously doesn't bother me, but if I guess I was paying that price it would be preferable. Interested to hear the new pickups.
Loving it so far

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by null_pointer »

mr_sooty wrote:
null_pointer wrote: My guitar tutor still reckons they're an impediment to shredding ('nice rhythm guitar you've got there, mate' while we're trying harmonic minors)
I don't really agree. I don't actually think a skinny neck helps you play faster at all. Lower action yes, light strings yes, but not a skinny neck. As long as the neck isn't like 50's Les Paul fat - and even then it wouldn't make much difference if you have big hands - I don't think a fat neck stops you from playing fast at all.
Yeah good point, maybe he was being a generalist. He's a big Wolfgang fan and I wouldn't call those skinny necks per se, however I do see that JEM hanging on his wall...

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by Molly »

Good review. Thanks. Totally agree about the difference a substantial neck makes.

The pickups' description sounds interesting. When you talk about a mixture of magnets is that between pickups (like the Ancho Poblano) or within them like those SD Five-Two pickups?

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by Bg »

Personally, I think a big fat neck is only an impediment to barre chords. Isn't shredding all about having the classical style thumb on the back of the neck and a light touch? I like both me.
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by mr_sooty »

Molly wrote:Good review. Thanks. Totally agree about the difference a substantial neck makes.

The pickups' description sounds interesting. When you talk about a mixture of magnets is that between pickups (like the Ancho Poblano) or within them like those SD Five-Two pickups?
As I say in the review, I'm not entirely sure. I suspect within the pickup itself?

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by mr_sooty »

I forgot one change in my review. The new one has a proper bone nut. Added it.

I'm possibly more excited about the new American Pro Jaguar and Jazzmaster, they look amazing!

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by NippleWrestler »

One thing Fender said on their changes list was a change to "tall, narrow" frets. That puts me off. Are they vintage style? Or like you'd find on a MIJ Fender? The highway one had massive frets and was great fun to play.

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by StratMatt »

NippleWrestler wrote:One thing Fender said on their changes list was a change to "tall, narrow" frets. That puts me off. Are they vintage style? Or like you'd find on a MIJ Fender? The highway one had massive frets and was great fun to play.
6105 frets are slightly shorter but a bit wider.. I think. Still pretty fat. My JS has 6105 frets and it feels great.
Loving it so far

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