NGD: Fender American Elite Stratocaster - HSS Shawbucker

grayn

Went out guitar shopping, today.
Tried out some very nice guitars, including a high end Yamaha and a vintage Gretsch.
I was looking for a really versatile guitar though and decided that an HSS strat was probably the way to go.
After playing a few Fenders, it came down to either a Sienna Sunburst American Pro or a Pearl White American Elite.
Due to offers on the guitars, it worked out the Elite was only £80 more than the Pro.
And I preferred the neck on the Elite, with it's compound radius.
Add the locking tuners and even more importantly, the S1 switching, which really adds to the tonal variety and gives that versatility I was looking for, in this lovely guitar.
I'm not that keen on white guitars, in general, but this pearl white, is creamy, with a some metallic translucence.
Add the creamy, vintage white knobs/pickups and tort pickguard and you get quite a looker.
I've still to explore all it's tones but the ones I've used, on clean and mildly crunchy, have sounded great and very useable.
The pickups are quite hot, on this Elite.
Noticably louder than my Elite Tele.
Both aethetically and functionally, this Strat just really works.
Great sound, extremely playable and an overall feel of great quality.

SPECS:
Colour- Olympic Pearl
Fingerboard Material- Ebony
Body Material- Alder
Body Finish- Gloss Polyurethane
Neck Material- Maple
Neck Finish- Satin Urethane Finish on Back of Neck with Gloss Urethane on the Headstock Face
Neck Shape- Compound Back Shape, Modern "C" to "D"
Scale Length- 25.5" (648 mm)
Fingerboard Material- Ebony
Fingerboard Radius- 9.5" to 14" Compound Radius (241 mm-355.6 mm)
Number of Frets- 22
Fret Size- Medium Jumbo
Nut Material- Bone
Nut Width- 1.685" (42.8 mm)
Position Inlays-Large Pearloid Dots
Truss Rod- Dual-Action
Truss Rod- Heel-Mounted Spoke Wheel Adjustment
Bridge Pickup- Shawbucker™
Middle Pickup- New 4th Generation Noiseless™
Neck Pickup- New 4th Generation Noiseless™
Pickup Configuration- HSS
Bridge- 2-Point Deluxe Synchronized Tremolo with Pop-In Arm
Tuning Machines- Deluxe Cast/Sealed Locking (all short posts)
Pickguard- 3-Ply Tort
Control Knobs- Aged White Soft Touch Knobs
Case- Elite Moulded Case

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Vinylfan

That is awesome! Only £80 more than the Pro?

AlexC

Lovely guitar. HSS is my favourite set up.

Whitecat

 Very consistent piece of ebony on that one too. They are using “streaky” stuff (presumably to keep the cost down) - this looks more premium. 

Fez

Very nice Happy NGD

grayn

Vinylfan said:

That is awesome! Only £80 more than the Pro?

Yeah, the shop had all sorts of offers on the various Am Pro and Elite models, they had in.  The sienna sunburst Am Pro looked great, with a maple fretboard but the Elite just had so much more to offer.  Now it's home I am so glad I made that choice.

grayn

Whitecat said:

 Very consistent piece of ebony on that one too. They are using “streaky” stuff (presumably to keep the cost down) - this looks more premium. 

Yes, not streaky at all.  The whole guitar has a very well thought out design and has a great feel to it.

MattFGBI

grayn said:

Whitecat said:

 Very consistent piece of ebony on that one too. They are using “streaky” stuff (presumably to keep the cost down) - this looks more premium. 

Yes, not streaky at all.  The whole guitar has a very well thought out design and has a great feel to it.

They are all streaked ebony so each one will be different. We didn't want to dye it because you lose the individuality but I understand that most people are used to black ebony. 

Great guitar by the way :-)

Vinylfan

grayn said:

Vinylfan said:

That is awesome! Only £80 more than the Pro?

Yeah, the shop had all sorts of offers on the various Am Pro and Elite models, they had in.  The sienna sunburst Am Pro looked great, with a maple fretboard but the Elite just had so much more to offer.  Now it's home I am so glad I made that choice.

Well it looks amazing. Could you share the name of the shop? I’m after a new one so maybe they’ll have something that takes my fancy. 
Hope that’s ok?

timmysoft

That’s a killer looking guitar! 

exocet

I like the look of that one. I was thinking of a HSS Strat myself but really didn't like the look of the Shawbucker equipped guitars - I didn't like the zebra look of the humbuckers against the scratchplate / finish of the guitars. That one looks very nice, makes the humbucker appear less obvious.

exocet

Care to name the shop / price? Think I'm very tempted to go looking

StefB

exocet said:

Care to name the shop / price? Think I'm very tempted to go looking

The shop photos are from Frets, in Cleveleys. 

ZenOvertone

USA prices have got very competitive recently, interested in where this was bought too :-)

grayn

Yeah, I got this beauty from Frets, as stated above.
Bought an Elite Tele, a few weeks before, from them.
Worth a visit and Cleveleys has a nice beach, too.