Fender American Professional II Stratocaster - Roasted Pine with Rosewood Fingerboard Reviews

First rate guitar…hard to put down!
So much less weight than my Les Paul.
Special thanks to tech. Adam H. for final inspection and beautiful job on tuning and intonation. And also to Robert Koch for all your help.
This guitar feels great to play and is literally the best sounding Stratocaster I have ever heard, and it's mine.
Orders and delivered in two days… thank you Sweetwater!

Looks great, sounds great! It is the reason you buy a Stratocaster!! Great guitar!

I would never have thought I could love something that wasn't organic but, this Fender American Professional II Strat, Wow! I am in love. I purchased it to replace a Mex strat I bought in 2013 (on a tight budget) which I was never really happy with the setup or sound. This Roasted Pine American Strat looks, sounds and feels amazing and I could not be more happier. Because I did buy the Mex strat online (from a different dealer) I was a bit worried about buying another guitar this way without playing it first. The guys at Sweetwater did not disappoint on this guitar. Great job!

Thanks Mike

This is my forth Fender Strat in a fifty year time period. it is everything I hoped it would be and more. it has great tone and the neck feels very comfortable. this is my new number 1 gig axe. Thanks to Mike Winebrenner for answering my questions and technical help. as always, I got the best service from Mike and the team at Sweetwater.

I've been wanting a nice strat for many years now and this one does play like silk. It has all the beautiful tones that a classic strat should have.

Bought the Roasted pine/RW model from Andrew K at Sweetwater. Flawless in feel and sound, its every bit as good as my 1996 Custom Shop TxSpec.
One of the smoothest necks ever. 7 way push/push PU selector allows an amazing range of tones and shines in the area of clean, light touch playing with ZERO noise or hum. Factory setup spot on.
Of the 25 i have, the 2021 Pro II is the best in most every category.

I absolutely love this guitar. It feels great in your hands and is super light weight with the pine body. Speaking of the body, the pictures don't do it justice. the grain in the pine almost shimmers and it a beautiful combo with the black pick guard and creme hardware. The neck is a bit fatter than your typical strat but I like it. It fits better in your hand and it feels great with the flat finish. The pickups sounds very well rounded and as a strat should. I could keep going but you get the point. Great guitar.

I've owned several Strats, but was intrigued with the rolled fretboard edges, new pickups, and narrow tall frets of the Pro II. I own a 2020 Pro II Telecaster, so I knew I'd like the neck and light weight of the roasted pine. The woodgrain on mine is gorgeous, and the guitar plays and sounds as I had hoped. Considering all the features and the included flight case (a $ value), you can't go wrong with this one. Fit and finish are exceptional.

Just a couple words to the wise from a salty vet: 1) The Pro II Strat ships with 9s. Although I play 9s on my Teles for country pedal bends and such, they feel very light on a Strat with a floating tremolo and narrow tall frets. Switching to 10s means changing the tension in the block, so you may want to order some springs if you struggle keeping a light touch on the stock Pro II Strat. 2) The fretboard was very dry and rough when the guitar arrived. I don't expect rosewood to be as smooth as ebony, but this one is much, much rougher that my '97 MIM Deluxe. It doesn't affect playability, but you should definitely have some MusicNomad F-ONE oil on hand to condition that fretboard. There was absolutely no fret sprout, but the board still soaked the oil up like a sponge. Now it looks good and plays nice and smooth.

A great axe, my new #1 Strat after 40 years of playing Fenders. Thanks to Josh Lively and all the great people at Sweetwater for going above and beyond yet again.

Fender produces so many Strat models it's difficult to keep track. I personally feel this Professional II Stratocaster is one of the best values on the market for an American made guitar. What makes this guitar unique is the Roasted Pine body which brings you back to the early Fender days when Leo built many of his guitars with pine. The Rosewood Fingerboard and deep "C" neck profile on this guitar is super comfortable. The V-Mod II single-coil pickups deliver vintage-style Strat sounds. As always I am very happy with my purchase from Sweetwater. Big Shout out to my Sweetwater guy Aaron Smith, you're the best!

My wife surprised me with this for my birthday, and as soon as I plugged in, I fell in love with this guitar. The most impressive thing is that it retains its Stratty-ness while having all the strings sound so balanced. Chords sound very full, rich, and round. Each pick-up position is a joy to play, especially the 2nd position plus the neck - it's always been a funkable position, but now it feels much bigger with the neck added. The feel of this guitar is also really pleasing. Every time I pick it up, it is hard to put down, and that is the primary mark of a good guitar to me. I have an American Pro I Tele, and the improvements on this round in the series are noticeable. The neck heel is surprisingly comfortable. I really had doubts because this cut seemed unimpressive next to the Ultra line, but really, it feels great getting up to the top frets, especially compared to my Pro I Tele. Have a hard time seeing why people would make the leap to the Ultra (or especially now the Ultra Luxe).

A big thanks to Nick Church (as always). He helped make this gift a special surprise: even though he is my own sales engineer, he worked like a ninja behind the scenes with my wife to make sure I wasn't onto them.

I purchased this gorgeous guitar last week and the pics doesn't do this justice ! It is absolutely beautiful! It also plays like a dream ! I can't stop playing it i play it non stop ! I love the variety of tones that it gives you to choose from ! Fender Stratocasters are my most favorite guitars ! This one is true beauty! The string action is great also! It plays so easy,so easy to chord . No buzzing,only that beautiful sound that a fender Stratocaster can give you !

I opted for the rosewood neck and roasted pine. If you are a vintage person like me and haven't bought a brand new guitar in a really long time you will be shocked by how "new" this guitar looks and smells. Really new. You will need a setup when you receive it (at least mine did). If you've never bought a guitar thru the mail, site unseen, don't immediately think you need to return it if it doesn't feel right just because they have a generous return policy. Have it checked out. Or, Sweetwater offers a setup, which I'm guessing is pretty good. My repair person said it felt "spongy" on the neck. Once properly setup, the 9's are perfect for the narrow tall frets and it plays like a dream. The neck is just fantastic and you don't need to replace the pickups, they are really good. The pine body is very resonant and looks fantastic and all pickup positions are usable. The tremolo floats really easy and I left it that way and it's nice and sensitive like a Bigsby on a Gretsch or something with no major tuning issues. One of the major selling points for me was the total weight. At 7.2 lbs, I can wear the thing all night. Very happy - great guitar and great value. The ability to choose the exact guitar from the Sweetwater site is a bonus. And though I mentioned it was really weird to buy a new guitar again, it's also nice to get something super fast and carefully packed, while not having to wonder if it was mistreated by a previous owner. I only took 1/2 star off because it's new. Great job Fender, and Sweetwater!

Great guitar.Right out of the box. Haven't owned a strat for over 30 years. I'm lucky enough to own 9 guitars and love every one of them! The finish on my guitar is second to none. Almost ordered the Miami Blue until I saw this one. picking out the exact guitar and then receiving it is unbelievable.It was set up great out of the box.You guys are amazing with the smallest of details! You guys are dangerous. You make it too easy to buy! Thanks again for all the hard work you do to make sure the customer is stoked!