By now you will have no doubt heard about Fender’s newly re-designed American Standard line for 2008.
I won’t go into a long re-hash here (Modern Guitars Magazine covered it well, as always,) but since I hadn’t seen much in the way of photos––and yeah, I’m pretty much a junkie for gear pictures––I contacted Fender and surprise, surprise: they sent me some photos!
So here goes… enjoy!
Fender American Standard Series ’08
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January 15th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Awesome photos. I’m really looking forward to checking these out.
January 15th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
That sienna sunburst Strat with the rosewood fretboard looks very cool. Kind of like a Strat dressed up in Les Paul colors.
January 15th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Thanks for the pics…hey can you write them and ask about the Elvis Costello Jazzmaster?
:)
January 16th, 2008 at 3:16 am
Fender like re-inventing the wheel, don’t they?
It must be an easy life working in their design department.
January 16th, 2008 at 7:30 am
Yup, a big re-launch for what exactly? A few invisible changes in materials. Bah!
January 16th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Eh, could be cool, but what prices are they asking?
January 16th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
I rather like that bright red tele but i agree its about time Fender dreamed up some new guitars rather than variations of old models .Trouble is new fangled guitars often just look as if they are designed to avoid looking like a Fender rather than having an aesthetic value of their own .Sometimes simplicity is best and Fender ‘s are certainly simple ..2 planks and a magnet or three .
martin
January 17th, 2008 at 9:15 am
dbell: Gibson is releasing an Elvis Costello model at NAMM (an acoustic). That either negates the possibility of the Fender going production, or this will be a first, IIRC.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
I have purchased the ’08′ American strat.
I paid $1087. and wondered if, for that tag,
it would live up to the hype.
I did’nt hook it up to my rig for hours because I still had my
gibsons. Shit! I missed out on hours of fun.
It’s like a drink. I wanted more.
And it comes in a tough, stackable case, with a few goodies
inside. Even a well seasoned stage ham can appreciate this
instrament. Beautiful tone and quality.
I mean DAMN FENDER! Got damn.
February 26th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
hmmm… I think the ’08 American Standard strat might be a winner. HOWEVER… what’s getting really annoying is these user reviews that keep popping up on web sites that are always glowing and never fail to mention the “tough, stackable case” that comes with the guitar. They always sound just like an ad. Maybe Fender is conducting a shill marketing campaign on the many guitar sites around the net? I mean, nothing is better than word of mouth, right Fender?
February 26th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Hehe… “tough, stackable case”. That’s priceless :)
March 2nd, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Well, just ordered one of these 2008 strats today, 3 tone sunburst w/rosewood neck…should be here in a couple of days…can’t wait to get my hands on it and hollar back on my impressions, but i’m sure it’s gonna be great from what i’m hearing!
b
June 24th, 2008 at 9:40 am
if you want a guitar with an intuitive design team, go with gretsch. fenders are absolutely pristine but they hardly transcend from variety.
July 13th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Hello There, I’ve purchased a olym white, maple board/neck 2008 stratocaster ($1,058) and it is one of the easiest strats i’ve ever played..(I did a lil’ tweaking to to the saddles…great now), sounds very “stratty” compared to my ’66 strat and you can play w/ the tone controls to “roll off” some of the maple neck toward a rosewood tone…this is ONE GREAT guitar…the extra $ were well worth spendin’…this plays perfect!!! the string spacing feels good and you’ve got to love the return of the “original” steel bent saddles..I tried about 15 of ‘em but this one nails it!! Nice chunky neck as well, Jon Grrenwood.
July 20th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
I bought a new 2008 Maple neck, Blizzard Pearl a couple of months ago. My first thoughts were that it was beautiful, decent sounding, great quality and feel, and the new features were great, including the new case. I thought that the pickups would need to be replaced as they didn’t sound like any other pickups that I’d heard, they were too thin sounding. The first thing that I liked, besides the looks, was the satin finish on the back of the neck, it’s very smooth and fast. The guitar is lighter than my Ash body Strats, but not as light as my 62 RI which is also Alder.
After doing some tweaking on the string height and pickup height and playing it for awhile I found that it sounded and played great! The brightness of the pickups, especially the high output bridge pickup, was easily tamed with the Delta-Tone system. The pickups produce all of the subtleties of every little touch on the strings, and only require light playing to get great sounds with lots of sustain.
I’ve been playing the guitar on a Blues Junior tube amp clean and smooth and the tones are very nice and bluesy in the neck position with all of the quack and twang that you can handle in the other positions. When I kick in a distortion pedal the pickups really scream and sustain which is great for rock.
The improvements and features worth mentioning include: a thinner undercoat on the body, staggered tuners, satin finish on back of neck, tinted neck, rolled fret edges, bi-flex truss rod, new bent-steel saddles, Delta-Tone control, high output bridge pickup, copper infused high-mass bridge block, parchment pick guard and pickup covers, and new design case.
Overall this is a great guitar, that I would recommend. It has great looks, sound and feel and is the best American Standard ever produced in my opinion.
October 16th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Hi, I really love FENDER and just bought the new American Standard Strat. Could you email me the two photos of the stratocaster and the tele with the american flag in the background? I would like to put the photos up in my home. Thanks!
November 19th, 2008 at 7:52 am
I have tried the various American Stratocasters and they are very nice. They are available in maple and rosewood. Peronally the maple fretboard ones sounder better because the rosewood ones sound a bit muddy and have a buzzy/muddy sound on funky chords. That is my personal opinion perhaps others might like the sound. I prefer the maple sound. Feel wise the guitar feels beautiful. I would have liked a blue coloured guitar with maple fretboard as an option. I defintely recommend it.
January 2nd, 2009 at 1:32 pm
This guitar is not worth it. I own one already. Poor decision making. I wish I could get what i paid for to sell it. Quality is poor. Sound is substandard for a product that has been around since the inception and innovation of the electric guitar. Leo Fender would be turning in his grave.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Hi Id love to get one soon. The only thing is… Can you give me some more of your opinions on the maple x rosewood neck difference in sound? Is it something that you can really hear? Have not had a chance to try the same model with different necks.
Cheers
Jan
February 9th, 2010 at 6:47 pm
I just bought the sienna sunburst strat. This strat is an amazing guitar. I’ve been playing guitar for 25+ years and I definetley like the maple neck on the new strats, the rosewood ones just did’nt feel as good. As far as the colors the picture dose not do it justice, it looks much nicer in person.