Fender American Ultra Stratocaster HSS - Arctic Pearl with Maple Fingerboard Reviews

I've given many reviews on Sweetwater and have been playing Strats since 1970. I had a 1955 which got stolen in 1997. In 1998 I custom ordered a 98 Strat from Corona California to come as close to my 55 as possible. They came as close as they could but couldn't match the pups close enough. When Fender came out with the 54 pups I ordered them and am now pretty happy with the sound from my 98. I bought this new "HSS" Strat for the versatility of the humbucker but got more than expected. First off, I love the neck and frets on this guitar as I play lead and my fingers slide up and down the fingerboard like butter, "SUPER FAST". 2nd, the noiseless HOT pups are amazing, none of the buzz that us Strat freaks are use too and they sound great. 3rd, the S1 switching is really nice as you lose no volume or QUALITY of sound for the music I play which is Blues, classic Rock, and some country. This is the most versatile guitar that I have ever owned and yes, I've had many guitars over the years, from Gibson to PRS all American made guitars. I still have a Gibson Les Paul but only use it in various recording situations. I could go on and on about this guitar but will stop here by saying this, if you buy this STRAT you won't be disappointed and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this guitar. Of course I can't end this without giving a shout out to my salesman Randy Poteete and the entire staff at Sweetwater, they are the best!

Butter smooth, plays like a dream, spotless and sounds absolutely perfect. Small wonder these are *the* quintessential electric guitar.

No regret. I scarcely let it out of my sight and would buy this strat again without hesitation.

The Fender American Ultra Stratocaster HSS in Arctic Pearl with Maple Fingerboard is a beautiful guitar. The look of it is fantastic, and though I had second thoughts about a white guitar, I find the finish is very durable and clean. I bought a 8 lb. 9 oz. guitar thinking the extra wood would give it a better sound, but at this point I'm not sure, and kind of wish it were a little lighter in weight. It's hard to tell these type of things online and it would have been good to be able to feel the difference between versions. As far as the set up of the guitar, my local music store recommended a setup right away, as they thought there was some initial fret buzz. They said the neck was straight, which is good but the local music store locked down the bridge in one direction, for tuning stability, which I'm not sure I'm totally onboard with, but I'll give it a try. The pop-in tremolo arm was quite difficult to pop-in which is why I ended up in my local music store to begin with. The local store popped in the tremolo arm, but it took a good pop to get it in. All that said the guitar is fantastic and I love playing it. I still like my acoustic/electric Martin SC13E, which btw, also sounds fantastic. The Stratocaster is a whole different experience and is taking things in new directions. I'm still getting acquainted with all the different tone and sound configurations of the HSS Stratocaster. Overall a great guitar, and with a guitar strap, the extra weight isn't really that noticeable. It could be more of an initial observation coming from a lighter weight acoustic guitar, but still, it is heavier than other Stratocasters of the same make and model. I didn't know about the weight preferences when I bought it, but everything else about the guitar is fantastic and time will tell if the sound quality of the extra wood is a good trade off. It is much lighter than a Gibson Les Paul Standard, which I was also looking at, but the Les Paul is a totally different guitar. I'm very happy with this guitar. It is so hard to choose with all the options available, I'm just glad I got a great guitar, and that I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

We purchased this for our Daughter she is nine. We just wanted it to be a forever Guitar and thats exactly what it is. She loves the feel and playability of the neck and it will take her to the next level her instructor informed us that because of her musical preferences we should look at the HSS model...She likes the heavier stuff. Everything about it says quality. The arctic white really looks like light glistening off a fresh snow.

I have never before purchased a guitar without playing it first hand until I took a chance on this one…. The entire setup is exactly what I have been looking for in a Stratocaster. I have several Stratocasters, including a 96 Strat Plus with lace sensors which I thought was as good as it got. However, the Ultrs HSS has the hot noiseless pickups which give me a fuller tone than what I have gotten used to. The option to have a humbucker in my Strat was appealing, but being able to cycle back to a third single coil at the neck was what sold me. The modern D neck is as good (or better) than everyone claims. Super easy to play, and the artic pearl is absolutely stunning to see in person. The Strat Ultra will be replacing several of my other strats for the foreseeable future. I'm not sure when I'll be able to put it down!

The way Fender built this Strat is the way Strats should have been built over the last 20 years. The sculpted neck pocket, the lower horn cutaway, the compound radius neck make this Strat a much easier Strat to play when compared to the standard heel of other Strats or contoured heel of the Deluxe Strat. The pickups sound great no mater what amp I plug into. Whether my Marshall, my Fender or my Kemper. I would recommend the ultra to anyone looking for a Strat with the feel of a custom build without the cost of a custom shop guitar.

Bought the Guitar in April, it's been with me for 2 months already. It became the Best guitar I own.
The feel of the neck is something else entirely, super comfortable, and all the "stratiness" sounds are there but noiseless.
thanks to my sales Engineer Joel Helton for the top costumer service. It was the first guitar I ever bought online and It came in perfect condition I couldn't ask for more.

I spoke with Sales Engineer, Michael Morgan several times before deciding on my Stratocaster HSS Ultra. He was patient with me, asked intelligent questions about my musical preferences and provided valuable guidance to help me decide on the right guitar for me. I am so happy with the choice I made and the EXCELLENT customer service that helped me along the way. Thank you Michael!!!
Steve Ski

I love the guitar, pretty much everything about it. Highly recommend.

Great guitar. Fast, sleek and very appealing. After a bit of personal tweeking she was ripping and tearing. The neck is awesome. Pups are solid.

The Best Electric Guitar in The World. Available For Under $2,000. People Will Want To Purchase And Own This Guitar. Whoever May Be Lucky Enough To Ever Even Play One Should Consider Themselves Extremely Privileged. This Guitar Is Why The U.S.A. Is Awesome. A Once In A Lifetime Product And Experience That Cannot Be Undervalued. Epic, Majestic, And Amazing, If Only For A Moment. ~ ARC inc.

The first thing I noticed about the guitar was the feel of the neck. It's very comfortable. I mostly play in the neck position but the other positions sound great. Overall I'm very happy with it. Great for many different styles of music. I fell in love with the white body and maroon pick guard. I play through a Princeton and it sounds wonderful.

Before I get into the quality control issues with this guitar, I'll just add that Sweetwater did a fantastic job (as always) with my order.

As much as I wanted to like this guitar, I have encountered several quality control issues that other buyers should be aware of. One would think that this guitar being Fender's flagship model, you would be getting a good quality product. Maybe I got a lemon, but it's really just not well built.

Issue #1 - The guitar was shipped to me with the neck angle out of alignment. The neck pocket is massively oversize (not a snug fit at all) and there's a bit of play in the neck bolts so everything was out of alignment and the strings were all skewed towards the bass side of the neck. This issue was easily repaired.

Issue #2 - The pickup pole pieces are massively out of alignment on the neck pickup and the bridge pickup. This issue is unrepairable and is a fundamental design flaw at Fender.

Issue #3 - The nut slot for the b and high e string was cut extremely shallow, so playing things like barre chords down at the first fret are much more difficult than it should be. This issue is repairable, but Fender has a spec and they didn't meet it here.

Issue #4 - Frets 6 and 8 are high. I was hearing a ton of buzz around this area of the neck so I double-checked the neck relief and string heights. The neck had 0.010" of relief, and the strings we at a medium height of 0.060". The buzz didn't go away, so I confirmed the sloppy fret work with a fret rocker. This issue is repairable, but it shouldn't be necessary to level and crown the frets on a brand new guitar.

Issue #5 - The S-2 switch was faulty on arrival had intermittent failures. This issue was repaired by spraying Deox-It into the pot. Again, inexcusable on a brand new guitar.

Issue #6 - The guitar arrived with significant fret sprout on the bass side of the neck. The fret ends and the fret dot markers are all rough to the touch.

Issue #7 - One of the grub screws on the D string saddle is seized up and cannot be adjusted. Poor machining tolerances? Cross threaded at installation? Unsure, but is a significant issue.


All this is to say... the guitar sounds great and has an unbelievably nice neck on it. But buyer beware, with Fender quality control you might get a total lemon of a guitar.