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Fender Deluxe Players Stratocaster

 

Review of the Fender Deluxe Players Stratocaster by The Man in the Jar

A pretty blonde Strat who has a new trick up her sleeve...

Features of the Fender Deluxe Players Stratocaster

Tuners - Unbranded Kluson-style vintage design covered (not sealed) tuners in gold finish with small knobs. These work very well but the vintage-style split capstan does make re-stringing a mite trickier until you get used to it.

Headstock - The original dimensions scroll design has the Fender logo in spaghetti font and a single gold string tree guides the first and second string. The truss-rod access has no cover but is nicely finished. 

Nut - The white plastic nut is a set-in-slot type and is beautifully finished.

Neck - The bolt-on maple neck has a lovely creamy colouring offset by the soft-brown rosewood skunk-stripe. The modern C profile is a real joy to hold and play and the satin lacquer finish accentuates the pleasure.

Fretboard - There is no separate fretboard laminate, instead the maple of the neck forms its own maple fretboard. Visually this is seamless and it also feels "cleaner" under the hand as you play. The fret-markers are traditional black dots (which look great against the golden maple) and these are mirrored on the player's edge.

Frets - The well-finished medium jumbo frets combine with the sexy contoured fretboard radius to give a lovely feel under the fretting hand. 

Action - Good from the box, but on a vibrato-equipped guitar the balance of the bridge has as much effect on the action as the height of the string saddles. A short while of playing in and tweaking will get the best action possible.

Body - The ash body is a classic lump of comfort contoured Stratocaster. The finish is a honey-mustard tone which allows the grain of the ash to peek through. The photos do not do justice to this lovely instrument.

Bridge - This is the classic Fender vibrato (trem) bridge assembly in gold finish. The bridge is fixed at the front with six screws. The back part of the bridge has a metal block that extends into a cavity in the body. The block is attached to three springs. The bridge therefore pivots slightly on the six holding screws when the balance of tension between the strings and the springs is altered by the player depressing the vibrato arm. This alters the pitch of the note being played and was originally designed to imitate the wobbling vibrato of a singing voice. Note that this trem is not suitable for heavy metal style dive-bombing or any other type of extreme pitch changes. The strings are inserted through the vibrato block at the back of the body and each saddle is fully adjustable for intonation and string height. An essential feature of this bridge is the necessity for the bridge plate to lay parallel to the body surface when the guitar is at rest (in concert pitch tuning and no pressure on the vibrato arm). If it tips back towards the tail of the body it means the springs holding the vibrato block are too tight and need to be loosened. If it tips towards the neck those same springs need to be tightened. Gain access to the body cavity by removing the plastic plate on the back of the guitar. You will see the springs attach to a claw device that is fixed to the body with two large screws. It is these screws that need to be tightened or loosened as appropriate. Adjust them evenly by half a turn or so and then retune the guitar. Once in tune check the position of the bridge and continue adjusting and retuning until the bridge plate is parallel. Once adjusted correctly you will enjoy the best possible action (string height from the fretboard).    

Pickups - Three Vintage Noiseless single-coils.

Controls - Two tone controls, one master volume and a five-way selector switch. The selector switch gives the following combinations:

Position 1 - Bridge pickup;
Position 2 - Bridge and Middle pickups;
Position 3 - Middle pickup;
Position 4 - Middle and Neck pickup;
Position 5 - Neck Pickup.

But nestled in between the two tone controls is a push button switch. Depress this and the bridge pickup is added to position 4 and 5, like so:

Position 4 - Middle, Neck and Bridge pickup;
Position 5 - Neck and Bridge Pickup.

Scratchplate - The traditional Strat shape scratch-plate is here rendered in luxurious four-ply white/black/white/tortoiseshell.

Strap-buttons - Two large gold strap-buttons, one on the base of the body, one on the upper horn.

Output Jack - In the front of the body in the traditional Stratocaster dish.

Finish - This is a Mexican-made guitar overseen by American quality standards. Very well finished.

Accessories - A luxury padded gigbag.

 

Sound of the Fender Deluxe Players Stratocaster 

The Deluxe Players Strat delivers all the sweet single-coil sounds that built the foundations of rock 'n' roll with none of the background noisiness sometimes associated with that pickup type. Played both clean an dirty the highs are crystal clear and the ash and maple construction country-fies the overall tone. The new push-button control gives an extra two voices. I found that having all pickups on at once reduced the definition one normally expects from a Strat. Although the tone is full and luxuriant in this selection it doesn't really sound "Strat". Position 5 was a lot more interesting, running the neck and bridge pickups together gave the Players Strat a definite Telecaster edge to the tone.    

 

Overall Impressions of the Fender Deluxe Players Stratocaster

This is a very beautiful guitar. If you have aspirations to own a maple-boarded Strat, the Deluxe Player is a natural choice. It has all the quality you'd expect from a Mexican Fender with the added advantage of extra tone circuits. On top of everything else it's absolutely gorgeous to look at. Top marks!  

Buy the Fender Deluxe Players Stratocaster

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