Fender Player Stratocaster - Black with Maple Fingerboard Reviews

After a set up , this is really a great guitar, don't let made in Mexico fool you, the sound and quality is pure Fender, solid and all fender parts, set up guy I brought it too said very well made guitar, I have now used this more and have more fun playing it than my American made Telecaster in the band, I love it!

This was my first ever guitar, it's been 3 years and I can say that I'll never sell it, plays amazing, sounds amazing, I've modded it many times and decided to keep it as a Billie Joe Armstrong replica (mods wise).

Here are some pictures of what it looked like throughout the years!

No longer does a Fender Stratocaster that was made in Mexico "MIM" carry with it a stigma of being the cheep real model! This new Mexican Strat's quality is simply unreal! The quality of the maple neck is incredible! The Alnico V single coils sound great! Comes with synthetic bone nut, and just the fact the bridge is 2 pole bridge with a nice beefy block tops it off basically placing it on the same playing field with its Japanese cousin and closer then ever to its American father! No longer can the guitar snobs of the world turn their nose up at this Mexican strat. Well done Fender

I have always been an American fender snob but I wasn't trying to spend the money for an American version this time. The build quality is fantastic and I am going to have my guitar tech do a full set up with some minor fretwork but it still plays and sounds solid. Going to put some fat 50's pickups on it and it'll sound the way I like. I wish these we priced lower but it seems like everything is more expensive now.

This is a great littel guitar I got it and order some fat 50s to put in it but the pickups that were in it sounded great . I love how fender gets guitars into every players hands affordable good quality guitars for the rich person and the poor a little something for everybody. I only wished my other favorite guitar maker Gibson would do the same. Affordable guitar with Gibson name on it. The fender mexican guitar is a sweet little player.

First off if you are anyway concerned about a Fender made in Mexico just stop it! Same wood, same equipment and same training as it's American counterpoint and these Players being produced are just amazingly great. I am so stoked and my buddy who is playing a 70's era Strat he has had since new is wanting one for his arsenal. Three wives same Strat over decades.... a Strat fanatic.
This was a "project" guitar for me. I wanted a "Gilmore Strat". I had played a 2021 Player from a friend and was duly impressed with build quality and sound. The guitar was just crazy solid so I decided to go with a Player as my Strat of choice.

Additions installed before shipping:

1. David Gilmore Pre-wired pick guard with EMG DG20 pickups.
2. Plek Pro Fret Adjustment

First off the pre-wired pick guard will blow you away. Dialing in Gilmore .... SRV..... just some amazing sounds. It is a killer set up and exactly what doctor Floyd ordered.

Plek treatment made running the neck smooth as ..... well butter for a well worn phrase. Totally suggest this for anyone who has a bit of coin to spend... it is amazing the difference it makes. I truly do not believe the American Standard has much on this guitar now. The plus side is if you ever sell the guitar it is added value.

This has been a terrific experience and many thanks to Cameron Green for bringing it all together.

Straight out of the box (from Sweetwater and their 50 point quality checks) this guitar is an amazing value .... add a little bit and it gets even better.
I sound just like David Gilmore now (If he was totally drunk and had his finger stuck in the strings).... seriously practice is taking on a whole new experience. Now if I could just download Gilmore's hands.

Want a terrific strat for a reasonable purse? Buy this guitar!

Wow... I am still utterly speechless over the quality and sound of the Fender Player Stratocaster! Sweetwater (and mainly the sales engineer Stephen Graham) really went all out to provide me with the best!

I'll be honest and straight from the heart... Deep down I was somewhat hesitant to order an "unplayed guitar" from an online music store, as I have never done it before. I didn't know what to expect. Granted, I DID check out the Player Stratocaster at my local music store (here in Richmond, VA). But the "Buttercream" paint color was not for me. I loved the sound of the guitar when I demo'd it, but just couldn't bond with the yellowish coloring.

I made two individual YouTube videos, if you are interested. (1) I'm unboxing the black Player Stratocaster direct from Sweetwater, as soon as FedEx showed up at my door. (2) After I let the guitar reacclimate to room temperature and get tuned up, I play a few songs of different genres, different gain channels, etc... The guitar is *PERFECT*!!

First off, I've always been mainly a Tele player. I've had several over the years, with my latest being an American Performer Hum that I bought from Sweetwater a couple of years ago. I've always loved the simplicity of a Tele - two pickups, two knobs, and a three-way switch - and I still do. Recently, I got the urge to own a Strat and thought that the Player series would be a good choice to get my feet wet. Am I ever glad I went with this guitar. In every way, I am blown away with the quality of this guitar! From set-up, to intonation, to tuning stability, to fit and finish, I am of the opinion that it is the equal of my American Tele. It even looks good next to my wife's baby grand!

I've been playing since the early 80s and can say guitars have came a long ways in terms of value and quality. This Player series Fender Strat is a good example of that. I recommend this one. Definitely a good choice. The people at Sweetwater are first class as well.

I got this Strat for my wife, although I admit it's like the episode of the Simpsons where Homer buys Marge a bowling ball. My first electric was a 1991 Standard Stratocaster, made in Mexico, that I got for my 17th birthday in 1992. There are MIM's out there with MN0 serial numbers denoting made in 1990 but by most accounts the Ensenada factory didn't really start pumping out guitars until 1991. It didn't occur to me until I was changing the strings on this guitar that I had 30 years of Fender MIM Strat history in my studio.

Comparing my 1991 Standard Strat to the new 2021 Player Strat was fascinating. I had changed the OG 1991 pickups to Vintage Noiseless pups about 8 years ago, adding a blender knob and THX tone control as well. Other than that it's stock. I do remember how the original ceramics sounded in the '91 and they weren't bad, but the Player's Alnico pups are much more "Stratty".

The neck on my 1991 is what attracted me to the guitar when my Dad took me to get it. It has only gotten better over the years. I've had people offer me serious dough for just the neck, it's plays that beautifully. The Player series neck is very comfortable, a bit meatier, and the bigger frets feel great. The tuners were identical, the Player series bridge/tremolo assemblies are a huge step up; my '91 still has the puny block in it.

All in all it's obvious that Fender has evolved the MIM's to a point where they just exude quality. This is a REAL Stratocaster, make no mistake. In fact it wasn't my 1991 MIM Strat that the Player Strat reminded me most of, it's my 2014 American Standard. These Player Strat's with the 2 point bridge, Alnico pups, Alder bodies (my '91 is Poplar), modified vintage wiring (bridge tone control!) and thinner Poly finishes really are like American Standard's from just a few years ago!

I'm totally impressed and the wife is thrilled with it. Thanks to my Sweetwater rep Loui Al-Alyoubi, he was extremely helpful and was super friendly.

Best customer service for an on-line purchase in my life. Great communication with my "Sales Engineer", Ian Lemberg, kept me informed throughout the buying and shipping experience and even sent me photos of my new guitar. I live in Florida and would love to visit the Sweetwater HQ next time I'm in the Fort Wayne area. The Fender guitar, Fender amp and accessories arrived when promised and in exceptional condition. I could tell that the equipment had been opened from their original boxes, and run through Sweetwater's quality control program and professionally repackaged. I absolutely love my new Fender Player Strat. I am "new beginner" having played guitar back in my teens and just now picking up the guitar once again now that I am 71. Sorry I took to long to pick it back up. Thank you for my wonderful buying experience.

I recently purchased this guitar as a birthday gift for myself. I have to say that for the price is almost the same as the pro version and it doesn't feel like other cheap guitars. Plays and feels amazing.

It was tuned right out of the box, I had to do some minor changes to the setup.

If you're a starter and want a great guitar under 1k, then this is perfect for you.

My " Blackie " arrived double boxed and perfect. Beautiful playing and sounding guitar, great setup from Sweetwater...it was flawless, Thank You!

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!

Love The Way It Plays and Sounds and Looks

Excellent strat for the price and it has alnico V pickups with a saple neck. And the best part is that now we've got the spaghetti logo, not the same old boring mim logo. And it performs just like an American strat. Must buy it, it's a 5 star guitar for sure! Idk why there are few people who reviewed it. It should be a featured selling guitar. Because it is worth it!

LOVE this guitar! The sound is fantastic. Chimey and bell like as a Start should be.I got the 'Blackie" I've compared it to my other Strats with ceramic pickups and they sound dark and muffled compared to this new Player Series Start. She plays really well also. Low action, no fret buzz. I'm already looking and the Player Series Tele to keep her company! Don't hesitate on getting one of these, you won't be disappointed.

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!

I've had three prior strats - American Standard, Elite, 70's Classic and finally found one that is perfect right out of the box - this stunning black '18 Player sss. The other ones had issues, the Standard was fine, but the ceramic pickups lacked that strat sparkle and chime and spank, the elite had that strange compound radius fretboard and lackluster noiseless pickups and it was a 9 pounder, the 70's was the hardest to play with, 7 1/4" radius and "Martinish"tiny frets. I went years without a strat till I played a Classic 60's Player one day at the local git shop. Liked the guitar but the gloss neck back was a deal breaker for me. Then these beasts come out! After watching a couple Captain vids on youtube I was intrigued. My first "great" guitar was a 12 pound Gibson natural 70's LP with maple fretboard. I loved that maple board! So, I pulled the trigger on this and when it was delivered I thought Sweetwater forgot to pack a guitar in the box! She weighs in a little over 7 pounds. Great packing Sweetwater and the goodies were in there too. I looked it over with a microscope. Not a single paint or build flaw, tight neck joint, perfect string alignment and relatively in tune! It was so perfect, I was afraid to plug it in. So I gawked at her like a schoolboy's first crush. Finally, I plugged her straight in to my little Blackheart amp and was in the Stratosphere. Perfect setup, effortless low action fast neck and med jumbo frets. The neck is one piece maple too!!! At least this one. The pickups are incredibly quiet for single coils even at settings 1,3 and 5! I am strat smitten with this one. I chose the simple classic black color with parchment pickguard and with the maple neck and black dots it is a stunner. I thought the other colors were awesome too. Home Run Fender/Mexico thank you so much! I think this might be the best strat Fender has ever produced and at $649 it is a steal. Leo would be proud! And thanks Jeff Holman Sweetwater for sending me the hi-res pics! I can't wait to plug into my Supersonic and AC-15 rig with some pedals. I also may check out the Player teles!!!!

I am very pleased with this guitar. It has a great feel in the hand and plays great. The main reason I got this was to be a versatile and dependable second. It is all the things you"re looking for from a classic three single coil pickup Stratocaster. It will also get its chance to shine as the number one for some of the songs I play with my band.

God bless!
First and foremost. Sweetwater is just the best buying experience. In regards to the product I most say Im a bit disappointed with the QC. The body had a little scratch in one of the horns and the neck also. Plus one of the screw on the cable plug plate was stripped. Don't get me wrong, it's a great Strat but with some visible flaws that shouldn't be in a brand new guitar.