Fender Mexican Player series

Octafish

Just a shout out for the new Mex Player series. I played one of these the other other day when trying out an amp and wow, what a guitar. For me the Mex Std were alright guitars for the money, but always felt a bit lacking compared to Squier CVs or Mex Classic Series.

The new Player series guitar I tried had a great feeling neck, alnico pickups rather the old harsh ceramics, high quality finish, nice body contours and good weight - I'd guess around 7 3/4 - 8 Ib. Most importantly it sounded bloody good. In many ways they remind me of the of the old US std model with a similar spec. For me the Player series I tried is a way better guitar than the far more expensive Am Pro and Am Elite models I tried recently, both of which I found uninspiring and overweight. I'd be up for one if they did one in Candy Apple red with maple fretboard.....

barnstorm

Good to hear people saying positive things about these. I’m interested in the HSH Strat but the colours for that particular model are awful.

Maybe there’s a FSR colour or two to follow - or a helpful swimming pool rout under the pickguard of the SSS version...

crunchman

2 point bridge puts me off the Strats.  I'd still prefer the Classic Series.  I might even look out for one of the old Mexican Standards and replace the pickups with Alnico ones.  The pickups seemed to be the biggest issue on them.

skunkwerx

I bought one recently, a tele though.. 

I’ve no experience other than a Squier Affinity, so its going to seem better to me.. but so far so good. Intonation was wayyyy out when I got it.. its better now but not perfect. Nut spacing also leaves a little to be desired. But overall I’m happy with it.

CasperCaster

@barnstorm there are already a few unloaded Player series bodies for sale on the Stratosphere site in the USA, and its clear to see that the Strat bodies are routed HSH e.g. 

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/2018-Fender-Player-Stratocaster-Strat-BODY-HARDWARE-Guitar-Parts-Black/142885028604?hash=item21449c82fc:g:2BUAAOSwfH9bW0-U&_nkw=142885028604&_from=R40&rt=nc&_trksid=m4084.l1313

Easy enough to drop a different pickguard into the guitar of your color choice. Also, the neck cavity rout is now curved at the heel as per vintage Strat's, rather than the 'W' rout which was present on the outgoing Mexican Standards - the latter is really just cosmetic, but gives me confidence that even with these entry level models Fender are trying to do things right - IMO a definite improvement over the Mexican Standards.

barnstorm

Good to know - thanks very much for the tip.

guitargeek62

Just an FYI to all -  Mex standards have had alnico pickups from ~2008. They underwent a major revamp around then when they moved to the transition-style logos, and added the big-block trems and a few other changes.

https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/guitars/fender-mexican-standard-stratocaster-25204

Octafish

guitargeek62 said:

Just an FYI to all -  Mex standards have had alnico pickups from ~2008. They underwent a major revamp around then when they moved to the transition-style logos, and added the big-block trems and a few other changes.

https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/guitars/fender-mexican-standard-stratocaster-25204

Don't think you'll find they did (other than some occasional FSR), that article is wrong. Fender did overhaul the range in 2008, but they kept the ceramics. You can even tell they're ceramics from the photos on the musicrader article.

MattFGBI

Yeah, they were ceramic on the Standard. 

guitargeek62

Octafish said:

guitargeek62 said:

Just an FYI to all -  Mex standards have had alnico pickups from ~2008. They underwent a major revamp around then when they moved to the transition-style logos, and added the big-block trems and a few other changes.

https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/guitars/fender-mexican-standard-stratocaster-25204

Don't think you'll find they did (other than some occasional FSR), that article is wrong. Fender did overhaul the range in 2008, but they kept the ceramics. You can even tell they're ceramics from the photos on the musicrader article.

Hmm.... you must have x-ray specs if you can see through the bobbins in those photos and/or analyse the mettallurgy of the polepieces.

There’ve been a few revisions to the range over the years, so let’s ask the expert - @MattFGBI ;

Octafish

guitargeek62 said:

Octafish said:

guitargeek62 said:

Just an FYI to all -  Mex standards have had alnico pickups from ~2008. They underwent a major revamp around then when they moved to the transition-style logos, and added the big-block trems and a few other changes.

https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/guitars/fender-mexican-standard-stratocaster-25204

Don't think you'll find they did (other than some occasional FSR), that article is wrong. Fender did overhaul the range in 2008, but they kept the ceramics. You can even tell they're ceramics from the photos on the musicrader article.

Hmm.... you must have x-ray specs if you can see through the bobbins in those photos and/or analyse the mettallurgy of the polepieces.

There’ve been a few revisions to the range over the years, so let’s ask the expert - @MattFGBI ;

No need, he's already replied above you confirming they were ceramics . Don't need to see inside the pickups, in the pic below you can tell from the pole piece profile and shineyness that they're ceramics...

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/b2b68ad4053a8a5becf330f7ebe92c2d-650-80.jpg

Calum13

I like the strat with the buttercream, but it would look better with a tortoiseshell pickguard. The same colours as a les paul junior.