With so many choices out there in the guitar world it can be a challenge to know where to start when looking for an instrument to purchase. I would like to offer my personal review of a particular guitar- namely the Fender Deluxe Player’s Stratocaster.
The Fender Deluxe Player’s Strat is the second incarnation of what Fender used to call the Super Strat. This instrument is a mid-priced offering from a company that covers the entire spectrum in terms of both quality and price. The Deluxe Player’s Strat is a notch below the American series in the Fender line, but does offer a lot of quality features and workmanship. It is also several notches up from the Squier brand entry-level Stratocaster.
Some notable features offered in the Deluxe include gold hardware, Fender’s Vintage Noiseless Pickups, tortoise shell pickguard, 12″ fretboard radius, medium-jumbo frets and a unique push-button switch that adds two more pickup combinations not available on a typical Strat.
Specifically, when the five-position blade switch is in either the bridge-only or the bride-middle position, pushing the switch in turns the neck pickup on. This enables you to use the neck and bridge pickups together or all three at once- something you can’t do with the standard setup. The new sounds aren’t overly dramatic but adding the neck pickup does add some fullness when compared to the same position without it engaged. It especially sounds nice when played clean.
Speaking of sound, I am very impressed with the tone this Strat has. I have always loved the sound of Strats in the 2 and 4 position; they have a very bell-like quality and the Deluxe is no exception. Using the bridge pick-up alone gives you plenty of Fender twanf to play country. It’s not quite a Tele in that regard but comes pretty close while still giving you the Strat’s versatility. My personal favorite is the neck pickup only. You can get that high-fidelity Hendrix/SRV tone, especially when pushing a good tube amp to overdrive.
Playability is very good, while slightly different than a “classic” Strat neck in that it has a more modern 12″ radius with Gibson-like jumbo frets. The fit and finish of the guitar is very good. Maybe not quite as refined as a higher-end American Strat or a Les Paul, but very good, especially for the money. My particular Deluxe has a 3-color Sunburst Finish with the previously mentioned gold hardware and tortoise shell pickguard. It’s a very striking combination. I have also seen some beautiful examples in blonde and in transparent red and blue, all with the same hardware and pickguard.
My only real complaint with the Deluxe Player’s Strat is it’s weight. This is a hefty instrument. It isn’t necessarily a problem for me, but I can see that it would make a smaller player pretty tired after a long gig. I would suggest using a nice wide strap.
Overall, I highly recommend the Deluxe Player’s Stratocaster for the working guitarist who is looking for a high quality yet affordable instrument that will serve him or her well in most any situation, from rock to blues to country.
