Ordered a Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS - Videos added

[HowieJams]

I have a bad track record with Fenders...
I buy them and then realize I only play my Gibsons.
I end up selling them.

However, I would like one Fender Stratocaster to have around.

Things I would like the Strat to have..
Coil Tapped Humbucker is number one
Locking Tuners is number two - I usually add these later, but would prefer them to be on it from the factory
Hardshell case - for winter storage with humidipaks - (if not included I have to add it to the cost of the guitar)


There were two to three Strats I was considering...

Fender American Professional II HSS - $1889

Fender Player II Modified HSS - $1079

Fender American Ultra II HSS - $2379

If the American Professional II had locking tuners I would have grabbed it, but even so, $1889 is a lot for a Strat.
Since it doesn't have locking tuners this would have put the price closer to $2000 for a Strat.

The American Ultra II HSS has everything I want, but I did not want a compound radius neck, very unstrat like.
Plus the pickups are more modern than Vintage Strat.

The Player II Modified HSS had everything I want (coil tapped Humbucker, locking tuners except for the Hardshell case (it comes with a padded gigbag), but that is the easiest fix.
I can grab a cheapo Gator Wood case for $76 or a Gator ABS for $139.
I don't use the cases for transport, only for winter storage.
Fender molded cases are over $200, but is still an option if the guitar is great.
Plus, it has noiseless pickups which will be great with my high gain amps (Soldano SLO-30 & Astro 20 and a Friedman JEL-20)

On my shallower side...

I tend to be a cork sniffer about American Made guitars.
I do have a Mexican Made Martin Acoustic (it is all solid, no laminate and plays amazing, sounds pretty good too), I actually kept it over my American made Martins and a high end Taylor.
Not because it is better, but I rarely play acoustic so it is good enough.

I am hoping the Mexican Player II Strat is a similar situation to the Martin..
If it plays well and sounds good I will be OK, doesn't say Made in Mexico on the front anyway.

Lastly, I bought the guitar from Sweetwater, so it should come set-up pretty well.

So, do you all think I will be happy with the Fender Player II Modified HSS.

 

[roodboy]

If you are doubting yourself before it arrives the answer is you will not be happy with it

 

[HowieJams]

If you are doubting yourself before it arrives the answer is you will not be happy with it

Not doubting myself, I just prefer Gibson tone.
I still like Fender ttone, but if I were playing out I would always go Gibson, so why spend a lot on a Strat.
I figure, with a Humbucker at the bridge that I can split to get traditional Strat tones this might be my Goldilocks.

 

[Fiesta Red]

I just bought one of these not too long ago -- not the modified one. Fender has come a long way since I last played one of their cheaper models. The medium combo frets are not anything close to how I would describe medium jumbo. I also gutted the electronics and put in a custom pickguard with different pickups. The stock ones aren't bad but you can get better and more vintage tones from their Pure Vintage line, which are some of my favorite. I'll probably add a bone nut to it at some point. I like the way it plays and sounds and am pleased with it overall.

I'll just sell off the stock complete guard wired with the pickups for cheap.

I do like the yellow modified HSS one with the black guard. That looks cool.

 

[ners]

If you want a Fender just to have around when you mostly play Gibsons then I'd just go MIM. If anything buy a used one for like $500 then upgrade the wiring for coil split and locking tuners.

Seems silly to buy a MIA if you know you won't play it as much.

I did a similar thing and found an old MIJ for cheap and an doing upgrades myself.

 

[HowieJams]

I just bought one of these not too long ago -- not the modified one. Fender has come a long way since I last played one of their cheaper models. The medium combo frets are not anything close to how I would describe medium jumbo. I also gutted the electronics and put in a custom pickguard with different pickups. The stock ones aren't bad but you can get better and more vintage tones from their Pure Vintage line, which are some of my favorite. I'll probably add a bone nut to it at some point. I like the way it plays and sounds and am pleased with it overall.

I'll just sell off the stock complete guard wired with the pickups for cheap.

I do like the yellow modified HSS one with the black guard. That looks cool.

I did get the Yellow with Black guard.
I am glad to hear you are happy with the way it plays and sounds as it arrived, even if the American version might sound a little better.
I forgot to mention I wanted Medium Jumbo Frets if possible.

The American Professional II had narrow tall frets that I did not want, the Player II Modified has Medium Jumbo, my preference for a Strat.

I do believe the Modified has a better nut and pickups than the Player II stock, but that might be marketing.
As for the V-Mod pickups in the American Pro II, I had them in my American Pro II Tele and was not blown away.
I've never been blown away by any Fender pickups in the past, so I am hoping this guitar will be good enough for a low price that I will keep it for those days when I want Fender tone.
If the pickups are weak, then I might just give up on Fenders altogether.

I did notice on some of the videos I've watched that the pickups sounded a bit thin, but on some they sounded really good, so I just need to make that call when it arrives.

 

[romanianreaper]

I have a Miami Blue one that I got probably three years ago and is thd only Stratocaster i've kept in my life. Like you, i'm a Gibson fanatic. I have a Classic LP I gig with, Standard LP, and an SG. I'm looking to get another Gibson soon.

The Professional II humbucker doesn't have that string, trebly tone I didn't like in past Strats I had. I've never felt the need to swap out the bridge pickup.i think it is good to have one Strat just to get a different tone sometimes.

 

[Fiesta Red]

I did get the Yellow with Black guard.
I am glad to hear you are happy with the way it plays and sounds as it arrived, even if the American version might sound a little better.
I forgot to mention I wanted Medium Jumbo Frets if possible.

The American Professional II had narrow tall frets that I did not want, the Player II Modified has Medium Jumbo, my preference for a Strat.

I do believe the Modified has a better nut and pickups than the Player II stock, but that might be marketing.
As for the V-Mod pickups in the American Pro II, I had them in my American Pro II Tele and was not blown away.
I've never been blown away by any Fender pickups in the past, so I am hoping this guitar will be good enough for a low price that I will keep it for those days when I want Fender tone.
If the pickups are weak, then I might just give up on Fenders altogether.

I did notice on some of the videos I've watched that the pickups sounded a bit thin, but on some they sounded really good, so I just need to make that call when it arrives.

I wouldn't call the pickups weak or thin by any stretch. You'll get a good Fender tone from them. For me they were a little too modern sounding -- there was an immediacy to the note that their more vintage stuff doesn't have. You'll probably enjoy them just fine. I have other Strats too.

Enjoy!

 

[70 Mach 1]

Id be disappointed with any HSS strat.
The SSS Player II series i checked out were all awesome and priced well.

 

[HowieJams]

If you want a Fender just to have around when you mostly play Gibsons then I'd just go MIM. If anything buy a used one for like $500 then upgrade the wiring for coil split and locking tuners.

Seems silly to buy a MIA if you know you won't play it as much.

I did a similar thing and found an old MIJ for cheap and an doing upgrades myself.

I don't like modding except for locking tuners, but the MIM Player II Modified HSS already came with locking tuners, coil split, & medium jumbo frets right from the factory.

 

[HowieJams]

I have a Miami Blue one that I got probably three years ago and is thd only Stratocaster i've kept in my life. Like you, i'm a Gibson fanatic. I have a Classic LP I gig with, Standard LP, and an SG. I'm looking to get another Gibson soon.

The Professional II humbucker doesn't have that string, trebly tone I didn't like in past Strats I had. I've never felt the need to swap out the bridge pickup.i think it is good to have one Strat just to get a different tone sometimes.

The Pro II looked really great, if it had locking tuners and medium jumbo frets I would have grabbed it.

 

[HowieJams]

I wouldn't call the pickups weak or thin by any stretch. You'll get a good Fender tone from them. For me they were a little too modern sounding -- there was an immediacy to the note that their more vintage stuff doesn't have. You'll probably enjoy them just fine. I have other Strats too.

Enjoy!

I don't care if they are not totally vintage, but I have heard the ones in the American Ultra II HSS were even more modern sounding than the Player II Modified HSS, this was in a comparison vid on YouTube by Rhett Schull I believe.

 

[HowieJams]

Id be disappointed with any HSS strat.
The SSS Player II series i checked out were all awesome and priced well.

I can't do SSS, tried many times.

 

[HowieJams]

The Guitar arrived Tuesday and it was very cold out, so I waited 24 hours to open the box and then let the inner box acclimate a while longer.
So Wednesday I finally got a chance to unbox it and play it.

I was very excited to try it out and since I ordered from Sweetwater (55 point inspection and set-up) I expected it to play well out of the box.

Out of the box it was gorgeous, but the Fretboard looked very dry, I wasn't expecting a dry fretboard.
Then I plugged it in and before even hearing it I noticed that it was not close to playable, extremely high action.
Intonation was good as and it did not need any Truss Rod adjustment, but the action was terrible.
Also, the dry fretboard felt hard and this was making it not feel so good to play.

I spent a while tweaking the action on Wednesday and then oiled the fretboard, this got it to a point where it played ok so I messed around playing over some backing tracks.
Sound was pretty good, but I still felt the action needed to be lower and that would probably make a difference in how the guitar sounded, but I did not want to tweak to much in one day so I called it a night.
At this point I was heavily considering sending it back.

Today, Thursday I spent another hour tweaking the action and got it to a point where it felt good, the high E had a dead spot at the 17th fret so I raised that a little and solved that problem, the fretboard oil had soaked in and this also made a difference.
Now the guitar felt much better, really nice. Maybe not as good or polished as some of my previous American Strats, but good.
The sound really came alive with the lower action putting the strings closer to the pickups.

Keep in mind, the single coils are noiseless pickups which takes some edge or snap out of them, but there is absolutely no 60 cycle hum and with gain they sound great.

As for the humbucker it sounds good, it could be a little hotter for my tastes, but it seems pretty mild for my tastes.
As for the coil split, it sounds like a single coil, but since the Humbucker is low output it is not a drastic difference between humbucker and single coil.

After all the tweaking and playing today over more backing tracks I am leaning toward keeping it.
I am not usually a Fender fan and this is as good as my higher end Fenders I have owed before, at least 90-95% of the way there.

More to come later.

 

[matttornado]

All I ever owned were MIM Fender Strats starting back in the 90s. I love MIM Fenders. Being made in the USA, doesn't mean it's going to be any better than if it were made in Mexico or China. The US makes a lot of junk too! Just imaginary made-up borders are the only difference if you can understand that.

I have a Chinese made Squier J5 that is up there with any Mexican or US made body and neck, (the electronics on the other hand is a different story. LOL

 

[HowieJams]

All I ever owned were MIM Fender Strats starting back in the 90s. I love MIM Fenders. Being made in the USA, doesn't mean it's going to be any better than if it were made in Mexico or China. The US makes a lot of junk too! Just imaginary made-up borders are the only difference if you can understand that.

I have a Chinese made Squier J5 that is up there with any Mexican or US made body and neck, (the electronics on the other hand is a different story. LOL

I think they use better hardware in the American Fenders, but this specific model had a lot of that included.
I think the main thing the American Strats have over the MIM Strats is the playability and attention to detail of the necks and fretwork.
I also would have preferred a slightly thicker neck on this Strat.
I might do a fret polish this weekend and see if that makes it feel a little more refined and cmfortable compared to the American Strats out of the box.
This will only be day three for me of the new Strat, so I will keep reporting back.

 

[HowieJams]

I am loving this guitar more and more.
I have had to adjust the action a lot, fine line between low action and fretting out after the 15th fret.

Here are 3 videos I did today before work.

 

[ewill52]

congrats! i'm leaning heavily towards an Ultra ii. I love the updated heel, it's my biggest gripe against my strats and Charvels. Used market is ripe with them right now.

 

[Findthetone1]

I really love Strat tones over the years but every time I have one I don't play it much. I think I'm just done with 25.5" scale guitars. I've had a Strat for 12 years and I barely play it.
Congrats on your NGD! It looks awesome!

 

[GuitarVacation]

Love the yellow with black pickguard. Glad you're getting dialed in to be enjoyable.

I'm predicting a bridge HB swap haha. You know ya want too. I wonder what they did with pots/wiring on this model to make a happy situation for the HB with the singles.

Since it's a lower output HB, maybe they just let it ride on the usual 250k pots.

If the taper is good on the bridge tone control, be tough for me not to drop a good ol' JB in there.