Fender American Professional II Stratocaster - Olympic White with Rosewood Fingerboard Reviews

Great guitar! The v-mod II'S are phenomenal, and sound great! They're incredibly versatile, sound awesome with distortion, while retaining that classic single coil strat sound. Thanks to Brady L. for help with the order!

I've owned numerous strats in my 53 years of playing. I currently own a 1974. This one is as perfect as they get in my opinion. I owned a hss ultra and just hated the sound but this strat sounds exactly like a strat should sound and of course plays like butter. Good value excellent quality, sounds awesome, what more can you ask?

I have owned (and still own some of) the following electric guitars:

Stratocasters:
- American Professional I Stratocaster
- Hardtail American Standard Stratocaster
- Squier Stratocasters (Standard and Affinity)

Telecasters:
- Ron Kirn Custom Telecaster
- American Standard Telecasters (Multiple)
- '52 AVRI Telecaster
- MIM Telecasters (Multiple)

Gibson:
- 1998 Gibson Les Paul Standard
- 2016 Gibson Les Paul Standard

Paul Reed Smith:
- Core Custom 24, 35th Anniversary Edition

However, this American Professional II Stratocaster, that I purchased in June, is objectively the best electric guitar that I have ever owned or played.

It weighs 7lbs 15oz. It is stock except that I set it up (with D'Addario XT 9-42s), dropped in a new set of Fender Locking Tuners, and landed on this 3-ply Mint guard (after trying a few other colors).

Tonight, I had the urge to play Wicked Game (by Chris Isaak), so I pulled out this Strat and started playing. It was easy to get the tone dialed in. In fact, the tone sounded great with numerous different pedal and EQ choices. I really had a hard time choosing a favorite tone setting, tbh.

After enjoying playing it for a while, I felt guilty that I had been neglecting my (forty-five hundred dollar) PRS over the past few months, so I changed guitars and began playing my Custom 24. But... I couldn't find a single tone option that worked. It was muddy in comparison no matter what I did (the strings are the same age as those on my Strat). I even switched to a few different amps (some generally more suited to the PRS).

I gave up, and I even began to doubt the tone I thought I remembered hearing from my Fender just a few hours before. So, I changed guitars once again and strapped up the American Pro II.

And, there it was -- heart-melting tone, regardless of the configuration.

I hope Fender Product Development hangs out here for a while. They need to get as many of these guitars into the market as they can, for posterity's sake.

This guitar is incredible to play. Feels super comfortable and sounds as great as it looks! Sweetwater is more than fair to work with and really goes above and beyond to get you the best price and service.

I own a ton of guitars , but the pro II is by far the most comphy neck ..Buy one you will love it

I've had my olympic white for over a month now & I absolutely love it. I already got an American Professional II Telecaster (butterscotch blonde) a while back & knew the American Professional II series is outstanding & everything a gigging guitarist needs … a dependable , quality workhorse.

Very satisfied with this purchase & want to give a shout-out to my man Cody Kraus.

I'm writing this review after having played my Pro II for about two months.

I'd like to start by saying the craftsmanship on this guitar is the nicest that I have personally seen and owned. The rounded fretboard makes for an extremely comfortable and fast neck. The fret ends are smooth as butter. The satin finish of the neck feels awesome and looks even better.

The electronics in this guitar are also a part of what makes this guitar shine. A lot of versatility here as far as tonal attributes go. The treble bleed circuit is a nice touch. It comes in handy when you want to roll off some of the higher frequencies for a warmer overall sound.

The fretwork on this guitar was excellent. Perfectly rounded sides and flat on the top. The pick guard is striking. It really adds the final touch to it all. Excellent work from Fender! Sweetwater always delivers. They're second to none in the industry. Thank you guys for always being helpful and sincere.

Fender got it right with this guitar. It feels great, it plays smooth, and sounds fantastic. I changed the string tree, and put on a white pickguard, but otherwise, there is no need to mod ANYTHING on this guitar. I've owned a lot of Strats and spent a lot of money modifying them chasing the tone this guitar came with right out of the box. I have a Nik Huber Twangmeister and an Orca 59, a Gibson 335, a Suhr Modern T, and a La Grange Grand Wheel- They all sound/feel different, but I find myself reaching for this Strat most of the time now. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.
Big thanks to Carson McClain at Sweetwater- he's been my "guitar guy" for over 15 years. He always gets me the goods at a great price and to my door faster than I expected. Half of the reason I shop at Sweetwater is that he's always there with good advice and fresh ideas.

The finest guitar I've ever played. Silky smooth, bright yet warm. Love the pickup toggle that adds the neck pickup at positions 1 and 2. This adds even more versatility to a guitar that wasn't lacking in the first place. Can't go wrong with this one.

This might not be the review your looking for but take it from a guy who is very picky about quality and customer service, been only playing for about 2 years and I feel that this will be my only guitar, very comfortable to play and sounds wonderful. Sweetwater delivered the guitar fast and safe and has top notch customer service. I highly recommend buying this guitar from Sweetwater.

I received my American Professional II about two weeks ago. The only problem is I can't seem to put it down. It plays great! The feel, the tone and action are perfect for my playing style. I compare it to my other guitars in my collection and nothing seems to come close. It's a beautiful guitar and the case is plush yet sturdy and contains my guitar perfectly. This is my "go-to" guitar.
My thanks to Nich Magnani, my sales engineer and the entire Sweetwater team for always making my shopping experience a pleasant one.

Absolute beauty!!! Thanks Ethan for your great help!! It's definite worth buying guitar. All the necessary settings and pickup combination. Flawless guitar!
Some people may find the tremolo arm a bit too tight and hard to remove or may prefer locking tuners, (which I may consider in the future) but tbh I wouldn't touch a thing. Love it as it is.

Best guitar I've ever owned and played. If you're thinking about getting one, just pull the trigger.

The Fender American pro II is by far the best strat I have played. It feels like a broken in playable guitar new out of the box. Most of all the five stars are for Sweetwater themselves. They have the best customer service in the world. my guitar was set up great. No matter who you deal with at Sweetwater they go out of their way for their customers. Amazing job Sweetwater.

I got a chance to visit the gear shop at Sweetwater, and thus had a chance to play quite a few guitars. This was the one I walked out with. I was undecided because I knew I wanted single coil (I have a PRS with HB at home), but was the Pro 2 really worth the extra cash compared to a player or performer series? The answer is a resounding YES.

This guitar was almost perfectly set up when it hit my hands, maybe a slight tweak to neck relief, but not enough to worry about. The neck is a little fatter than my PRS, but not as fat as an acoustic. The rolled edges and trimmed frets along with the satin neck finish make playing this a dream (it's so easy to switch from chords to riffs and back), and the neck bolt area being contoured actually does make a difference. The intonation was on point and the vibrato is tight and responsive. I like that I don't have to do much to get it to vibe while at the same time it feels incredibly stable.

After several hours playing, after acclimating it to the home, it seems to hold tuning rather well. I was initially a little afraid due to some (possibly inaccurate) forum reviews, but in regular session playing it doesn't seem to be a problem.

I'm a studio session player and composer so I doubt this will make it to a stage, but for my purposes I don't think I'll need another strat. It feels amazing, the new pickups are remarkably even in volume both across the strings and between pickup settings. I love the push-push tone option, as it helps get a pseudo-telecaster type tone in position 1, while the "all on" on position 2 is a unique tone that I'm still exploring. The pickups are full toned and respond well to pedals and amps, so the output seems to be the perfect amount of "hot"

Overall, if you're going to invest in a good, modern strat, this is the one. Feels amazing, sounds great, and has great tone options.

The overall build quality of this guitar was was pretty much as good as it gets. I have played many strats but this was to be the first Fender made strat in my collection. I just was not for me after playing it for a day. The deep C neck was a little fatter than I expected. I have average size hands and being able to play thumb over the top is important to me. Particularly on a strat. It was just slightly too much of a stretch for me on the lower frets.

I did not like the tall narrow frets. Probably something I could have gotten used to if I liked everything else but they just felt choppy under by fingers. I don't know how else to explain it. I also found out they are not stainless steel.

I also surprisingly did not like the VMOD 2 pickups. I found them to be a little too shrill and tinny for me. I guess the mid range they are intended to boost just took too much of the warmth out of the strat sound I am used to.

Overall I just do not connect with it or feel instantly comfortable with it like other strats I have played. That's the thing about buying a guitar online without playing it though.

Nice guitar but just not for me.