

The rolled edge fretboard and satin finish neck are instantly friendly but the reconfigured S-1 switching system will take a bit of studying to fully appreciate the dozen or so tone options available.


Access to the upper reaches of the fretboard is enhanced by a beveled heel and reshaped neckplate, still with four bolts, and featuring micro-tilt adjustment.With its flawless, vintage looking sunburst, the Deluxe HSS Strat is indeed a very desirable looking guitar, especially with the aged looking knobs and switch tip. New updates include staggered locking tuners, LSR roller nut and a synchronised two-point vibrato sytem with a pop-in tremolo arm. Even the ‘inbetween’ positions on the pickup selector, usually the worst offenders when it come to background buzz, were silent.Available in five colours, three-colour Sunburst, Amber, Olympic Pearl, Tungsten and Sunset Metallic, the Fender features a select alder body, a modern C shape maple neck and a maple or rosewood compound radius fingerboard with 22 medium jumbo frets. Equipped with the new N3 noiseless pickups, the new Deluxe Strat is about as quiet as an electric guitar can be – turning up the amp and taking my hands off the strings yielded nothing but silence, which is quite an eerie experience when holding a Strat.
