Fender Player Stratocaster - Buttercream with Maple Fingerboard Reviews

I was wanting a nice Fender Stratocaster specifically to put a set of Fender Custom Shop Fat 60's pickups into. I had been looking at the Buttercream with maple fingerboard for some time. The basic Player series Stratocaster is a great "everything you need, and nothing you don't" guitar. It came properly set up and intonated, with no flaws whatsoever. I highly recommend this Fender model. To my elated surprise, the pictures online didn't show the magnificently flamed neck on the one I picked out. (See attached photo) Every once in a while you just get lucky I guess! Many thanks to my sales engineer, Jim Ridings, and the rest of the Sweetwater team for another perfect purchase experience.

I've had time to compare my new Player Strat and my Am Standard. The trem/bridge on the Player is a little different from the US one, but not to the point of being objectionable. The trem itself works great (floating). The action is very fast (and I can get it even faster, but I got bored during the setup). The feel is fantastic, pretty much identical to the US one. The string tree is a bit basic; I may replace it, but it is functional. The nut is fine, frets are very nice. It seems a tad heavier than the US, feels great while standing. The sound is really nice. Neck PU is very expressive with some gain. Will not change the PUs. $1100 with a case. Well, well, worth it. A great guitar — a great Strat!

Took lessons 55 years ago on a cheap guitar that had to be tuned with pliers and the strings wouldn't touch the fret board without enough pressure to cut my fingers. Finally decided it was time to buy the guitar that was always coveted.

Sales engineer Todd Kitchen was terrific in going through the purchasing process and more importantly, encouraging me that 65 was not too old to shred.

Zero buyer's regret. I love my buttercream Strat and being able to say it's mine. Just wish it had come to me back in the late 60s and I could actually play it!

First I want to say, I've owned American professional strats, and an American artist series.
I had purchased 2 American pro 2 strats from sweetwater... Both had issues out of the box, so I returned (not as easy as they make it sound)
After a while I decided to order this less expensive MIM model, and throw in a YJM loaded pickguard... Mainly because I want a YJB signature, but I'm not sure if I'd like the scalloped neck, and sweetwater isn't as kind about returns as they claim, unfortunately.
But upon receiving this buttercream beauty, I was shocked. I honestly see no downgrade from the American pro strat, with exception of 3 things...
1. No contour to the heal... But that's fine, I'm used to the strat block heal.
2. No s switch... But honestly, that wasn't really my thing anyway.
3. No case (but let's be honest, those are never free, they are bundled in and called free).

I love this guitar so much I'm tempted to buy another to put the YJM in, as this sounds and plays great.

In a blind test I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between this and an American model. It's just a great guitar.

Bought this guitar with help from my Sales Engineer Adam Vaughn so I could leave my American Professional strat at home when playing out. Thing is, this guitar is *nearly* as nice! Full size pots, shielded cavity, really great pickups and love the two point tremolo with full size block. Will swap out the tuners for lockers, but that's a personal thing and not really necessary on this guitar.

Made in Mexico Fender products are really almost on par with their American made counterparts...at a seriously substantial cost savings.

Thanks again Adam and Sweetwater!

This Strat is just gorgeous! She plays beautifully and didn't need a set up. What can I say!? She's a bonafide Stratocaster!! A friend asked; is it made in America!? The last time I checked, Mexico was still a part of N. America AND California was once part of Mexico. So yes! She's as American as any other Strat I've played. She delivers that sweet, clean, single coiled sound that you only get from a Strat. I love, love, love this guitar. I just can't seem to put it down!!

DM

The team at Sweetwater were awesome from start to finish. And this player strat is everything I was looking for! Love it! Plays and sounds fabulous!

Purchased the Player Stratocaster in Buttercream and ordered a bone nut upgrade and had it Plek'd. The guitar looks and plays great. The pickups sound nice and there really isn't a bad thing to say. It's a really nice Strat.

An excellent buy! Workmanship is outstanding and thanks to the guys at Sweetwater it was ready to play right out of the box! Free shipping was very fast!

I'm very happy with my experience at Sweetwater. After I set up my account, I placed my order for this guitar. It was important for me to see the exact guitar I would receive on the website. Shortly after, I received a phone call thanking me and my guitar shipped the same day. When I received it, everything was perfect. The level of customer service was impressive. I will definitely be ordering from Sweetwater again.

Received my Fender Player Series Stratocaster a few weeks ago. I got the Buttercream color. First of all, the 55 point inspection delivered a perfectly setup guitar. It plays great and sounds incredible. For $... you get a lot of guitar! I'm really satisfied with this guitar. While I have several Gibson ES 335s, I wanted at least one solidbody and this was the right choice. It's much lighter than Les Paul's I've owned and the body contour is incredibly comfortable to hold and play. My rep Dan was super helpful as always. Sweetwater rocks!

This is my first Fender in my collection of a dozen or so - hey, no such thing as too many guitars, right? This is by far the most ergonomically correct guitar ever - like is was made for only me. Flawless, gorgeous, a genuine star in the company of Gibson, Gretsch, D'Angelico, Ibanez, PRS and others. Real variety with the multi pickup settings.

I bought a Buttercream Player Strat and I love it. Ive played Fender since 1979, and this is the best import from below the southern border I think Fender has made to date. Solid build quality, great feel, and really authentic sound are the highlights of this guitar. Many Thanks to Jeff Green for his expertise and knowledge as always. Jeff's the reason I buy from Sweetwater rather than other online stores.
I actually bought the guitar as a gift for a family member, but I'm thinking long and hard about letting it go. It really is a sweet guitar.

Out of the box, this Strat is ready to for the gig. Tune it up, plug it in and enjoy the evening. Detailed, finished & adjusted. I had to do some personal preferences like strings, and string height. I've owned many guitars over the decades, including many Strats. From low end Squiers to high end collectors. This is definitely a working man's guitar. Girls too. A guitar you'll love to keep.

Love my new strat. Fast shipping w/ tracking, and the guitar was set up very well out of the box. Excellent customer service too. Sweetwater does great business!

Ordered this guitar two weeks ago..all I can say.. AMAZING...sound ...feel..and looks.. my first real fender Stratocaster..thanks Sweetwater..and Patrick Dennis my sales rep..came perfectly set up in flawless condition...will be doing more business with Sweetwater in future...

This guitar was great right out of the box.Great tones in this axe.I love the fit and finish.The neck has little gloss on it but feels great,not that tacky feel at all.Very happy with this purchase and great dealing with Brad Jahn,many thanks.

This is the 3rd guitar I"ve purchased from Sweetwater in the last month. None were terribly expensive - a Player Series Telecaster, an Epiphone Les Paul, and now this Strat. I had Sweetwater Plek all 3 of them prior to shipment. Also had Graph Tech TUSQ XL nuts installed. These 3 instruments have the BEST necks I"ve ever played, period. For the life of me, I don"t see why anyone would buy a new instrument and not have it Plek"d. Easily worth the cost of the process. This guitar is flat-out amazing! Even better that the Custom Shop Strat I owned 40 years ago.

Love The Way It Plays and Sounds and Looks

I absolutely love my new Strat. I went to the store for this purchase and the sales guys were great. I wasn't sure about the color so they had 3 different strats brought down from the warehouse (butterncream, polar white, and tidepool). I knew it was the buttercream from the first glance :)

If you're on the fence about a player series, I don't think you can go wrong with it.

Purchased this player series strat and absolutely love it!! Great feel and playability. The satin maple neck feels and plays great. This MIM strat would be hard to beat for the money! Kudos to Fender on this one. If you are thinking about buying one of these, my advice would be DO IT!!

This guitar is my first actual fender! I was playing a squier before this for about 2 years and when the player series was first announced I fell in love with this color before i even played the guitar. I found the same style in black and played it and lived the pickups and the feel of it. The pickups are quiet and sparkly like a classic strat so if you're looking for an overwound srv style sound you may not get it here but this guitar is amazing if you're looking for a blank canvas to create on.

I've bought several guitars from Sweetwater reviews are mixed. But this Fender player series is the best yet. What a guitar! I'm glad I went with the single coil pickups great classic stratocaster sound. Matt my salesman is top shelf and knows his stuff. He has been a huge help in introducing me to new products. " I'm a dinosaur " This fender player series is just the slickest guitar in my collection. Thanks to Matt and Sweetwater.

I received my Fender Player Strat about a month ago and this guitar rocks! This Fender Player has a nice warm, rich sound and has a very distinct sound that I've only heard on Fender guitars. This guitar felt perfect in my hands, it's very comfortable, nice and light. I can play this guitar much easier than any other guitar I've ever bought or tried. There's just something 'magical' about Fender guitars. I just can't say enough good things about this guitar. Shipping was super fast, customer service was great as usual. For anyone thinking about getting this guitar, all I can say is- get it, you can't go wrong! Thank you Sweetwater!

This is one beautiful Strat!
I own many American Fenders and in my opinion are the best pro instruments for the price.
When Fender released this MIM Player series it looked like a good value.
Brent at Sweetwater got me set up with a Buttercream with maple fretboard.
It arrived today and plays great right out of the box.
The finish is gorgeous and the neck profile feels really good.
The new alnico pickups are an excellent upgrade.
Tuners and electronics seem very solid.
Highly recommended.

These new Player Series instruments easily rival the (now discontinued) American Standard instruments. Fender Mexico hit it out of the park with these. The one I own was literally perfect, not a flaw on it. Level frets with no sharp ends, perfect neck relief, no finish flaws, nut cut well with no buzzing or binding strings. Electronics work well and very nice sounding pickups. Also it is lightweight at under 7.5 pounds. I was worried about the poly finish being too thick but looked at the back cavity and it is just like the American instruments, no problems there either. Well done Fender Mexico!!

So happy with this guitar. I cannot believe how good this thing sounds! Been slowly upgrading from squier, then EPI LP which is really nice in its own right. I feel now as of I've got the real McCoy strat I've been dreaming about for years. And I didn't have to spend a mortgage payment to get it. No upgrading needed. Tuners are tight, pickups have great vintage sound I want, finish is flawless. I put on EB Slinky right away and I lack nothing in endless tone options. The family has nicknamed it " Buttercrunch"

This guitar plays and sounds so well.
The finish is flawless, the fret work is great (although the frets aren't crowned very well, there are no sharp ends that stick out), the pickup/electronics are great, the neck is very smooth, and the nut was cut very well.
I had the tuners replaced from Sweetwater, with locking graphic techs, I can't say how well it held tune before, but it certainly withstands dive bombs now haha.
If I'm being super picky, one of the tuning screws was not properly countersunk, and the neck pocket isn't the tightest I've ever seen (still good though), but neither flaw seem to have an impact on sound or playability.

And as always, Kurt was very pleasant to deal with.

Great guitar for the price. It Is my first strat so I don"t have a lot to compare it to but it has met all my criteria so far. If your looking for a great guitar without breaking the bank, this is the guitar for you. I also would like to add that Sweetwater is the best place to order your gear from, I have never had a company call me to congratulate me on a purchase until now and I think that is awesome customer service!

I've been playing guitars and Basses since 12 years of age. Now 66 and still Rocking! I've owned American made guitars ad well as made in other countries. However., Fender is an awesome guitar. I've got a 1994 stratocaster I have customized thru the years. Recently brought the Players Series Stratocaster and Wow! Plays like butter. Flawless. Maple neck 3 single coils sweet tones. Don't hesitate to buy one. MIM and just as sweet as American.. Save your money! Enjoy this guitar.. Wish I had the money I'd buy the Tele too!

I"ve owned a lot of Fenders over the years - both American and Mexican made. Usually the Mexican models are nice, but clearly inferior to their American brothers and sisters. They"re the kind of guitars you would own because you couldn"t justify the price of the American models.

With the Player line, that has changed. The quality of the instrument is right up there with the American models. Fender didn"t chinz out on pickups or hardware like they"ve done on the Standard series of the past. The Alnico pick ups sound great and are much beefier than the old Mexi Strat pickups.

The Player line also has more options for configuration than the American line, which doesn"t make sense. HSS, HSH, or HSS w Floyd Rose are all options. And you can get some great colors in the Player series that are not available in the American series (Buttercream and Tidepool, specifically).

In short, the Player series is the Stratocaster you buy because it"s a quality instrument and it has the options you are looking for, not because of the zip code of where it was assembled.

Another note - This is the first guitar I"ve bought from Sweetwater and I"m a convert. The care and inspection of the guitar meant that it came out of the box perfectly setup and ready to play. My only negative is that it came with 9s, which are probably what Fender strung it with. Had I known that, I would have opted for the extra setup to use a set of strings of my choice (I prefer 10s).

Well I'll start by saying that I'm a late starter in the guitar world but Erik Bothwell sure helped me navigate through the process so Thank you Erik! This guitar is far superior to my skill level so I'm sure I can't even play it at the level it deserves. However, it is so easy to play that it motivates me to keep practicing. This guitar has made me push through the practice time and now I want to play every day. It's truly a masterpiece and I'm getting better every day. All I can say is thank you Erik! I have not only gained a wonderful guitar but I've also gained a friend that truly wants to help me navigate this process with success. That is worth more than the price of the guitar so thank you.

I've mainly played Les Pauls and SGs and considered myself a 'Gibson Man' but was curious to understand the appeal of the Strat. I bought the Player in buttercream and haven't touched a Gibson since it arrived. The build quality is very good on this MIM instrument -- I did a full setup but it needed just a few minor adjustments, mainly around intonation.

I can't get over how fast this maple neck is, and how much fun it is to play. I felt that in some pup positions the treble output is a bit weak, but that was fixed in EQ on the amp. It quacks, it chimes, it apparently already knows how to play a lot of my favorite Dead tunes 'cuz they fall right under my fingers now.

I'll get back to the SGs but for now I'm wearing a Fender t-shirt.

It's a sweet playing guitar. I'm very happy with the setup and playability . Also I'm happy with the condition it arrived in not a scratch on it .

I have many Fender and Gibson guitars, both high and low end, but wanted something new for myself for Christmas, around or under this price range. Not knowing these replaced the MIM standard, I was drawn to this guitar mainly for the color and also the features. Notably -1- the 2 point tremolo which I prefer and also have on an older USA strat. 2- Fender finally listened and put Tone control on the Bridge for the MIM models, and 3- The Alnico pickups which are far better than my old 91' MIM standard. I got back into the MIM series when I bought a Classic Players 60"s strat, then a Road Worn 60"s strat. To me the "series" or "players" strats seemed to be close on par with my USA strats, only with some great features you can't get with USA unless you're going Custom Shop or a high end signature model. In summary, this is a nice instrument that needed a little tweaking (for me- I use 10-46 strings), and a tremolo tension/height adjustment. I'd put it in the 'good' category for a new line of Fender guitars at a decent price point. With over 30 years under my belt of playing, I'd expect to have to pay over $ 1,500 for me to personally be 'blown away'. If you are considering a gig worthy strat out of the box, don't hesitate to pick one of these new Player series up. I'm still considering a HSS of this model as an addition.

This guitar is beautiful but not "perfect" it did need a quick set up. The bridge was tipped way to far, so i loosened up the strings a bit, took the back cover off and tightened up the claw. Some minor adjustments to the saddle heights were made and now it plays perfect! The neck is solid and straght as and arrow. The only downfall i have with mine is that it seems like fender hosed on either the gloss or the paint, inside of the horn cutouts are all ripply looking and when the shine crosses over the face of the guitar it isnt smooth like glass but rather wavy. Its not horrible or anything, just all i can think of..it sounds AMAZING and i naturally gravitate to shredding on this thing as it gives me an 80s vibe...i love it and it is definetly my dream machine.

I bought this Strat solely for that fourth position, out of phase tone. I wanted the bright sparkly sound that Strats are known for and I got 100% of that. I'm very pleased with that.

What I also got were sharp edges on the frets, a trem bar that wouldn't find a proper position through the trem block, and a half-filed nut on the 3rd and 4th string, so shallow so that the strings popped out of place with a whole step bend. Very frustrating....but easy fixes.

Are these deal breakers for you? I say, if you go into it ready to drop a little more on minor things like that, then this will be an excellent choice for you. If, on the other hand, you're an older guy like me and remember these same Strats were $... a few years ago, this might leave a sour taste in your mouth.

Personally, I've decided it's worth it for getting the main sound I set out for. The finish is perfect and there's a clean chime that comes out of this guitar (unplugged) that I always look for. It's a classic guitar and a classic sound. I am reminded of that every time I plug in.

If those other smaller details would have been taken care of at Fender quality control, this would have been a 5 star review.

Incidentally I'm keeping the guitar and making it as perfect as it should have been when I paid over $... for it. You don't play for 35 years and not find something that can be improved upon. To me, it's sad that an American Strat cost twice this much or more.

I don"t know why I do this to myself: it happens time after time. I"m well aware that there are so very few "hidden gems" or steals when it comes to musical equipment, but still, I get caught up in 5 star reviews and YouTube testimonials that anoint the next best thing since the advent of the wheel. Such is the case with the new player strat.

Despite the glowing reviews, This is typical Mexican "toy" strat. It should be called the "Bedroom" Player Strat, as that all the farther it should go. I also believe that to be the target audience for this guitar, and that I"m just a fool for hoping it could be something more.

First, the one improvement over the old Standard: It sounds more Strat-y. Not all the way there, but closer.

Some of the finishes are nice too. The buttercream with the white pickguard is a nice, vintage touch.

Unfortunately, that"s where the positives end for me.

Much like the rest of the Mexican line, these guitars have little presence. That"s to say, if you"re playing with more than one guitar you better be at 11, as this thing isn"t going to cut through and assert itself. It"s tone, while still closer to the real-deal, lacks the clarity and glassy-highs associated with the namesake. It can quack, but it sounds like it"s being muzzled while doing it. The pickups just don"t react to nuances in attack like a higher end model does.

For the life of me, I cannot get it to hold tune. When I first got it, things were good; I wasn"t abusing it and things seemed to hold up well. However, after I"ve had it for about 45 days and put it through its paces, I find that if I really dig in or even touch the bar, this thing is going out of tune.

I looked into returning it after about 20 days, but the cheap-o inside of me said, "no, throw some new pickups in it, it"ll be fine". Now I need to add new tuners to that list as well. At this point, I"d have preferred to have just returned it and throw down the extra $ for the American pro series. I have an ampro jazzmaster and it"s a fantastic instrument.

Bottom line? If you"re a beginning or strictly a bedroom player... this will probably do it for you. However, mind you that Fender has made minimal changes to a product and is now charging... more than the previous version...and it doesn"t even come with a gig bag. I"m not sure what they"re doing in their Squire line, as this to me seems quite entry level.

Since I"m past my return window I may throw in some Texas specials and new tuners and see if it will suffice. On the other hand I may just cut my losses, sell for $600 and go American or used Japanese.