Fender Player Stratocaster HSS - Tidepool with Maple Fingerboard Reviews

It has everything you love about the signature strat sound but with an awesome bridge humbucker for that added crunch and chug when you need it. It's a beautiful guitar. My sales engineer, Jason Duncan has always been so helpful and informative over the years. Sweetwater service is the best.

Purchasing a guitar online without actually touching it is a stressful event. Sweetwater removed that stress by showing me photos of the actual guitar with serial number and completing the 55 point inspection before shipping. When I received the guitar, which was shipped across the US, it was just as advertised and met all my expectations, which were high. The quality of the guitar and how it plays is fantastic! It also arrived on the day I was told it would, which actually was my birthday! I added a BOSS WAZA headphone system which allows me to rock-around-the-house without bothering my wife. Thanks Sweetwater for a great buying experience and quality product!

My Tidepool HSS is everything and more that I could have hoped for. Color is gorgeous!!! Looks like the paint on classic cars. Every time I look at it, I just want to pick it up and play. Special thanks to my sales engineer Jay Dyer for answering all my questions and assisting me with the order. Sweetwater has been terrific!!!

The looks of the guitar is very very nice. No imperfections that I can see, pickups have a very usable sound quality, the neck is smooth and playing this guitar is very nice. I am quite pleased with this purchase and my rep from Sweetwater was very helpful.

I've had this guitar for 5 days now and have put it through it's paces. I played a set at church Sunday morning and it sounded great. Tonight, I set it up to my liking (adjusted tremolo and put 10s on it) and now it's even better! This Players Stratocaster reminds me of a 2008 USA Standard that I used to have. If feels similar but maybe a chunkier neck, which is a good thing.

The two-point tremolo is smooth and fluid. The tremolo block is full-sized too, not the thin and dead blocks like the old ones had. This means better sustain and richer tone. The two Alnico V single-coils sound a lot like that '08 Strat and that means a lot to me because I loved the way those pickups sounded. The Alnico II humbucker sounds great and fits in well with the other two pups. I just dropped the pickup height to keep the volume level similar to the other two and it's a great balance, just the right amount of boost and girth for added gain and dirt when you need it.

I got the Tide Pool with maple fingerboard and it's beautiful. Flawless Finish on the body and the neck is smooth. I like the gloss fingerboard and satin back, very nice. The frets are polished and finished well, no sharp edges. The neck is a bit hefty compared to a mid-90s MIM Squier that I have but still very comfortable and resonant.

This is a huge improvement to Fender's base model Stratocaster and Mexico is putting out fine instruments. I do believe it's worth the rise in price as there are a lot of improvements and this is a higher quality instrument.

Well done Sweetwater and shouts out to Ed Nystrom!

I bought this because I thought the color was cool, and because my other Strats are all single coils. I figured for the money I could try the HSS combination and If I didn't like it, no big loss. Well guess what ... Never would I ever have expected this guitar to be as excellent as it is! It easily stands up to my American Elite and Pro! The Humbucker screams! The single coils are all you expect them to be! I was skeptical of the gloss finish on the fret board, but changed my mind as I was sliding up and down with minimal friction. This guitar surpassed my every expectation! My Sweetwater Sales Engineer Anthony Longano, as usual, made this a great overall experience. Even though I asked for locking tuners to be installed, I still got the guitar in two days! It was ready to play right out of the box! Yeah, no gig bag - but I prefer hardshell cases anyway. Picked up a Fender Tweed case...

Bought my first strat as a college freshman in 1970. Bought a Gibson Les Paul standard in 1977. Bought an American Stratocaster Elite HSS in June 2017. Bought this Fender Player Series Stratocaster HSS - Tidepool with Maple Fingerboard from Sweetwater about 2 weeks ago. The color is breathtaking. The craftsmanship is excellent. The components are topflight. Aside from all that, it can do something that neither my strat elite or the Les Paul standard can. It sounds like a "strat". Only a single coil pickup allows a Stratocaster to sound like a Stratocaster. Noiseless pickups are "single coil looking" humbuckers. That is why they are noiseless. Don't get me wrong, I love my strat elite. It is an awesome guitar but my Fender Player HSS gives me that unmistakable pure unadulterated strat sound with the neck pickup as well as that vicious Gibson lead bite with the bridge pickup. Yes, I had to spend some time setting it up. I use .008, .010, 015, .024,.032 and .042 strings. That requires resetting the intonation, pickup height and string height. I also outfitted it with locking tuners. With my Marshall DSL 40 with the Creamback speaker from Sweetwater, this guitar is real live monster.

This is my first Fender guitar and I am very happy with it. I am also very happy with how it arrived. It was in tune and it was in perfect condition. I can't put it down! Great job by Sales Engineer Ben and Sweetwater.

I played a Gibson Les Paul Studio for the last 12 years. I wanted to add single coil sound. I looked at a lot of Strat-like guitars, but in the end it seemed wiser to just buy a Strat. I found this beauty and decided to go HSS. The guitar is sweet. The beautiful blue finish and the flawless neck. If you are looking for a quality solid body guitar then you can't go wrong with the Fender Player Strat.

It's a beautiful blue guitar that plays like a dream! :)

Another in a long line of impressive MIM Fenders. Recently had a 2017 Deluxe, but just could not for the life of me adapt to the 12" radius neck, which made for noticeably more difficult chording. SO GLAD to have the 9.5" again, and in such a great package. I like my Strats kinda hefty - I was lucky to score an 8 lb-10oz copy, which feels awesome on the body, and possesses great acoustic sustain for a Strat. Whether it's the body, the bridge, the saddles, or the harmony of the entire package - this thing really rings out with a beautiful, chrystally chime. My specific request setup from the guys in tech was nailed perfectly, as well as junking the stock Fender 9-42s in favor of my go-to D'Addario EXL120+ 9.5-44s. Thanks once more to the team of David Hess/Adam Lill for getting the trigger pulled! 4.5 stars for the mere reason Fender "Modern C" necks & headstocks are both on the slightly thin side & could stand a little more chunk/depth.

I got mine a week ago and I love it! It came to me all setup just like they said it would and in tune! You can"t beat that, it plays like a dream, looks like a beautiful instrument that is ! I only have one issue, I should have bought it sooner! Thanks Sweetwater

Before I write my review this is in no way negative towards Sweetwater.
Ok,
I picked one of these from a choice of 4 guitars.
I looked carefully at each one.
I bought it and it showed up at my home.
Upon inspection the guitar I ordered was beautiful but, had a string alignment issue.
(Strings were not centered on fret board)
This is a common issue on strats I know and I've personally fixed this issue on several before but, felt as though I shouldn't accept this on a new guitar.
That being said, I returned the guitar and requested another one.
Sweetwater had no issue with this and promptly sent me another guitar of same model and color.
Unfortunately the next guitar had the same issue (just not as bad).
I ended up just fixing it myself (btw, the one they sent has a beautifully grained neck!!)
After a few hours of setup etc.
The guitar plays as well if not identically to my USA 2011 HSS.
And to my surprise the fit and finish is right on with my older USA strat.
No issues other than neck alignment.
They are very well made and the pickups are hot and sound pretty good.

Just be very selective of the neck!