Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

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NippleWrestler
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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by NippleWrestler »

Ah they don't seem vintagey if they're 6105 on the professional strat. This is a good thing.

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by mr_sooty »

Yeah they don't specifically state 6105's, but the description fits. But yeah they're not vintage frets, they're tall like jumbos or medium jumbos without being as wide. They're good frets, very popular.

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by mr_sooty »

StratMatt wrote: 6105 frets are slightly shorter but a bit wider.. I think.
The opposite of this.

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by mr_sooty »

I may have made a mistake about the fretboard radius here. I can't find anywhere that says it's a compound radius. It may just be a straight 9.5". I was told it was 9.5"-12" and it seemed that way to me, but according to the specs it's a standard 9.5". (Edit: Have taken the part about the compound radius out of the review, as apparently doesn't actually have one).
Last edited by mr_sooty on Sat Dec 10, 2016 10:17 am, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by StratMatt »

mr_sooty wrote:
StratMatt wrote: 6105 frets are slightly shorter but a bit wider.. I think.
The opposite of this.
Shows what I know lol
Loving it so far

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by Polar Bear »

Whilst I liked the neck, I strongly felt that it looked and felt a bit cheap. They sound fine, like a strat, but I suspect a lot of buyers will look to replace the pickups with aftermarkets fairly quickly.
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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by mr_sooty »

Ok, seems I'm wrong about the tone controls too according to the spec sheet online, which says tone 1 is neck middle, tone 2 is bridge. I could have sworn that the 2 controlled the bridge and middle. This is what happens when you play a guitar for five minutes then write a review. Also I should have put this in the reviews section. Hang on, I'll go out and come back in again, maybe we can start over.

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by Molly »

Don't think anybody's commented on the price. Do you think you'll shift many at $3k?

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by mttn3 »

It seems weird to not have an adjustment screw for the pop in trem arm friction.

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by mr_sooty »

Molly wrote:Don't think anybody's commented on the price. Do you think you'll shift many at $3k?
Fender prices have been escalating rapidly over the last year. A combination of the NZ dollar (most gear across the industry has gone up over the last year) and Fender themselves slapping on a fifteen percent increase on everything. I agree, it's getting up there isn't it. We're seeing some model Squiers hitting the 1k mark now too. I've been trying to buy at the old prices where I can but it's getting harder to find pre price rise gats.

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by NippleWrestler »

How much will lefties be? $3,500?

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by bender »

mr_sooty wrote:
I'm possibly more excited about the new American Pro Jaguar and Jazzmaster, they look amazing!
I struggle to get excited about those. I prefer the standard pickup switch position on a Jazzmaster, so I'd have preferred it if they'd either put no controls in the upper bout or come up with a better option for the rhythm circuit (like two volumes where the current ones are and treble/bass tone controls where the rhythm circuit normally is). I've always thought that the extra controls on a Jag or JM are a prime opportunity to do something cool, but hardly anyone does. Similar with the Jag, but at least they've got the pickup switch in the right place. Pickups are a bit of an unknown quantity too- could be great, or disappointing. The American Vintage '65s in my 60s lacquer JM are terrific.

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by mr_sooty »

Polar Bear wrote:Whilst I liked the neck, I strongly felt that it looked and felt a bit cheap. They sound fine, like a strat, but I suspect a lot of buyers will look to replace the pickups with aftermarkets fairly quickly.
I didn't think it felt cheap. The quality seemed about the same as an American Standard. Not sure it justifies a 3k price tag, but you could say the same thing about a lot of Fender stuff, it's getting pretty pricey. Thankfully the quality of most of the Mexican stuff is outstanding, so there's that option, and there's some great stuff in the higher end of Squier.

I thought the pickups were really nice. I don't think I'd change them. Incidentally, after trying many different pickups in my American Standard I'm currently running the original stock pickups and really liking them a lot.

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by zedhed71 »

Great review,cheers.

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Re: Review: 2017 American Professional Stratocaster

Post by mr_sooty »

I have made a couple of changes to the review. I had the guitar in my hands for 5 to 10 minutes, and wrote the review the next day. I have taken out references to a compound radius which it apparently doesn't have (the Fender rep told me it did), and changed some parts around the tone control configuration.

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