Best Guitar 4U

Located between the American Standard series and the MIM Standard series, Fender's USA-made Highway One Strat is a unique guitar that is emphatically worthwhile of the name "Fender." What makes this particular Stratocaster special?

We surveyed a Highway One Strat that came in a classy Flat Black finish. In order to trim costs, Fender selected a light nitro satin finish for this series. In addition to being more budget-friendly, it has a particular look that we really liked. More than a cost-cutting strategy, though, the lighter finish will let the guitar's alder body resonate more freely over time.

Here's the rundown on the other details. It boasts large frets, a 70's style headstock, vintage vibrato, C-shaped neck, maple or rosewood fingerboard, 3 single-coil pickups (Alnico 3 magnets), and a "Greasebucket" tone control circuit. In order to trim costs, the instrument ships with a gig bag instead of a hardshell case.

Although it's got some noticeable differences from the American Standard series, it was clear from the first chord that this is a top-notch USA-made instrument. Like we stated earlier, the nitro satin finish is nice and one that some people might actually prefer over the American Standard's glossy finish.

We decidedly liked the pickups, which had a little more "punch" and dirt than American Standard pickups do. We especially dug the Greasebucket circuit, allowing you to decrease the highs without simultaneously increasing the bass. This guitar is particularly suited for blues and classic rock tones.

The C-shaped neck also gave the instrument its own flavor. It's a little big for some folks, but we really dug the combination of the bigger neck and large frets. It greatly facilitated sweep arpeggios and similar "shredding" technique. The neck construction quality was flawless, as was the maple fretboard we chose.

If you don't like the feel of big frets, then this might not be the guitar for you, but we found it really comfortable.

The Highway One Stratocaster has a street price of less than $700, which makes it pretty hard to pass up. We loved everything about it - the large frets, the C-shaped neck, the Satin finish. It's in all ways worthy of the name "Fender" on its headstock.

Need to find the best prices on a new or used Fender Highway One Stratocaster? Then head on over to Ray's Guitar Shop, which offers the lowest prices on all new and used guitars (electric and acoustic). It doesn't matter if you need a Fender Stratocaster, a Gibson SG, or a PRS McCarty, they can help you find the perfect guitar.