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This is my first American Strat, and I'm not Disappointed at all. She is everything I wanted in a guitar and then some. I have a MIM Blacktop Strat that I love, and it's so well made I just could not Imagine that the American Strat could be much better. I was wrong it's better in a lot of ways, first the wood she's made from is beautiful and I love the way the wood grain just comes through the finish. The neck is so smooth and the rosewood fret board has a nice dark tone that looks Ebony.

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When I ordered my guitar and I was so OCD about the neck and frets being right I failed to notice that the case did not include the whammy bar ,strap and cord. I was upset because I received an opened guitar. I called customer service and explained my problem and they were very apologetic and gave me a return label and I received a new one with in the next few days and everything was perfect. My experience was a good one because they did the right thing. Thanks again

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This guitar feels comfortable and solid right out of the box. The set up was amazingly well done for a factory set up and I was able to get to playing right off the bat. The finish is perfect and overall a joy to play. There were two small issues that made me consider returning it. 1- it had an intermittent signal problem with the switch. 2- at first I was not very pleased with the rosewood streaks on the fretboard. Normally I would send it back but, this Strat plays soo nice, the action was soo low and sounded soo good I popped the hatch and fixed the switch myself. And kept it. Yes, that nice of a Strat! As for the rosewood, meh... It's like meeting the girl of your dreams but she has a small birthmark.. It grows on you quickly and you begin to quite like it as an endearing quality! Haha. The Fat 50's pups are really quite good. They give that classic Strat sound you hear in your head without fail! Also the classic hum without fail as well.. But oh well that is the nature of the beast! The neck is great, very comfortable and it's true that the rolled edges give the neck this slightly worn in smooth feel while of course being new. The back of the neck is a comfy satin finish and the fret work was VERY well done. I am very happy with this score and I'm already thinking about which color should be next!! American Standard is clearly worth the additional cost over the Standard and that's with the Standard already being an excellent guitar to start with. Thank you zZounds for being easy to work with! If you're thinking about it,buy it!! With zZounds you have nothing to lose if you don't like it!

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This is a fantastic guitar for the price. I got this as a open box deal and it didn't have a blemish on it. I've always loved Strats and have wanted an American Standard for some time (have owned a MIJ Strat for years) and this did not disappoint! It's the tone I've always dreamed of and the playability of Fenders (especially Strat's) is my cup of tea. My MIJ Strat quacks a little but the PUP's on this baby quack like you hear on classic recordings. PUP's on their own are classic tone as well. As for zZounds, the guitar was missing the trem bar and they worked quickly with Fender to get one shipped out for free, so I was very pleased with their service.

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This guitar is by far the smoothest playing stratocaster I have ever played. Replacing my mim stratocaster, it took a little getting used to the slimmer neck, but was easy to adjust to. Overall the tone of the guitar is very bright and sounds just like a Stratocaster should, with bell like tone in positions 2 and 4 and a sparkling clean tone in the other positions. I find myself on the neck pickup most of the time, because the bridge can be a little piercing. I have been playing for 11 years and prefer this guitar to the Deluxe Stratocaster or any of the reissues. If the reissue strat is a classic car, this would be like a brand new BMW. Smooth right of the box and has all the features to make it one of the most comfortable playing instruments on the market.

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This is my 2nd American Standard and both times I've been impressed. Maybe I've been lucky but I don't believe it when people say fender doesn't make a great guitar anymore. Right out of it's nice heavy duty case it played great and was ALMOST in tune! The guitar plays easily, very solid feel, no fitment gaps at the neck... Just a good sounding guitar. I love the sound of the fat 50's pickups. Very Stratty sounding in particular the 1 and 4 positions. After a little set up to tune it down a half step ( I just love the way a strat sounds at that tuning), I just played it for hours. Even acoustically it sounds very loud and clear. My only gripe. The rosewood fender seems to select isn't very appealing to me at all. I know some people like a bit of grain figuring but not me. I prefer a very even appearance to the board and preferably dark rich brown. Instead both guitars have had large areas of streaking and light colored areas. Unfortunately zZounds doesn't have individual photos of these specific model guitars to select one more to my liking. Perhaps in the future this will be added. Other than that, and as usual, zZounds is an absolute joy to deal with!

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I love it, the Fender American Standard Strat with rosewood rocks, or anything else you want it to do. It plays great, sounds great, feels great, looks great and makes people jealous great. They're all beautiful but mine is probably the nicest looking 3 color sunburst I've ever seen, call it luck if you want but I couldn't have picked a nicer one and I've always been very happy with everything I've ordered from zZounds, and I give the manufacturer support a 5 star because Fender has always been great in the past and no doubt they will with any issues that may arise in the future.

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I absolutely love the guitar. Wasn't too happy about having to get the nut worked on immediately...kind of a bummer to shell out so much money for a guitar that needs to be worked on right out of the box. That's no big deal though. I'm happy. I'll be buying my next guitar through this site hands down.

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When I was 15, I was the proud owner of a 1966 Fender Stratocaster. I sold it 10 years later for $200 (barely used, all original, doh!) I'm now 62 and want to revive the experience. The 2014 American Standard is the real deal and easily surpasses my '66 in quality, tone and playability. The sound is remarkable. Hats off to Fender. They did not disappoint. The 3 color sunburst is something you have to see in person. Beautiful.

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The first one I got had some problems. Sent it back, they sent me a new one, no problem, no cost. This is one of the best strats I've ever played, certainly the best I've owned. Once I straightened the neck and adjusted the saddles a bit, it was perfect. Even the trem was adjusted perfectly. It stays in tune! Took off a point for some fret edges that needed smoothing, easy fix. Love the pickups, too. I even love the case! I don't usually like to buy guitars unseen, but zZounds stands behind their guarantee, and I love this guitar!

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Fender has to be just about the most well known guitar ever. I got this guitar and was not disappointed. Very well made, the details were clean such as fit finish, frets, set up was great out if the box, the Fat 50's pups sounded great and after stretching out the strings... It never slipped out of tune! My only disappointments are 1. The case. While it is a very good case I was let down that it didn't come with the REALLY nice SKB heavy duty case I thought the American Standards were coming with. 2. How quickly Fender (along with other big names) keep raising the price tags on these babies! Just my opinion. Beatiful guitar I bought the 3 tone sunburst with rosewood fretboard. Very rich looking finish. I love how the neck was very smooth and natural on the back (no gloss). Some may say it's a very simple guitar that hasn't changed or kept up with the times but isn't that a good thing also? There are modern touches that are great like the neck finish I mentioned, the height of the tuning posts matching their positioning, vintage trem but rides on two points, aged plastic that is subtle but makes a very nice visual difference to a sterile white, the rolled edges to smooth out the feel of the neck, the micro tilt neck adjustment... As they say, the devil is in the details! And the details in this guitar make it an instrument that can easily become anybody's #1 go to guitar.

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This is a very nice guitar American Standard USA made. Plays like a pro, u want to sound like SRV, Buddy Guy Eric Clapton. Well u see what they prefer. To top it all off ZZ is the friendliest,most informative about what they sell. I have bought several guitars from ZZ all were set up perfectly..one happy camper...

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First, the look of this guitar is absolutely amazing! The Pearl Jade Green finish is eye catching. However, the sound and playability of this guitar is truly heaven. I am a lifetime Les Paul guy but needed a strat for a switch up in sound and tone. After having a professional setup, which I do for all my guitars, this baby sings. Do not hesitate. Wish I could say more but I'm new to the strat world and really love my choice..

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I have been a Les Paul & seven string player for a majority of my musical journey. However, at times I wondered why I never owned a strat even though I have used a few borrowed ones over the years. So I bought the 2013 American Std. in Pearl Jade. First, this is an absolute stunner visually. I was expecting the loss in output with the single coils, but it had it's uses. This guitar sings on rhythm work where cleans are important, and of course you can wring the beejesus out of hot blues leads. The only issue was a string noise problem which required a professional setup, but I do this with all new guitars anyway. Buy one, buy from zzounds and make some great music.

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The strat was just as I expected the smell of a new guitar oh man and the case it came in was sexy. Guitar got here fast and everything was as listed. It plays so well I mean I've had Jacksons, ibenez, Gibson, and nothing compares to this strat. I would say you have to at least once in your life own one cause you don't wanna be that guy that always said he would but never did.

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I am very pleased with ZZ sounds and I'm pleased with the guitar in general, but a little disappointed in the setup of the guitar. The Fat 50s are nice sounding pups but a little bright on the neck pickup. I remedy this by simply adjusting the tone knob. The bridge pup is nice and twangy and a bit trebly as per usual on a strat bridge pup but the rear tone control is a very nice option and is more than acceptable. I expected more from Fender since I paid a lot of money for a high quality American Strat but the setup was unacceptable. I had fret buzz across the entire neck. I'm not a pro at set up but I've been tweaking the action, truss rod and saddles and am about ready to take it to a professional. This is a drawback from buying online. You can't talk to a tech and tell him what you expect from the setup before you carry the guitar out of the stoor. Also, to be fair, environment changes a setup a great deal so it could have played perfectly before it left the Fender factory. All in all, this is a great guitar and I'm sure it will be a source of pleasure for years for me and my daughter as well when I hand it down to her.

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