2021 Fender Player Stratocaster Limited Edition Surf Pearl

Long name, good guitar.

I'll first answer the question of what makes this particular version of the Fender Player Stratocaster a limited edition.

Answer: Special colors for the body and plastics. Surf Pearl is one of two Guitar Center exclusive colors (the other is Shell Pink), and as far as I'm aware, this is only one of two versions that has the mint green pick guard. I'll mention the other in a moment. However, exclusive to this guitar is the slightly darker color pickup covers and a tremolo arm (as in the "whammy bar") where the plastic tip matches the knob color.

I'll get to the story of how I bought this but first a few notes on the colors and specs.

What is Surf Pearl?

It's Surf Green with a very fine metallic flake that's almost sand-like in texture. You don't see the shimmer unless the guitar is literally right next to you.

There is a no-flake Surf Green CME Special Edition of this guitar at the time I write this. The shade is distinctively different but yes, definitely a Surf Green. It also sells for $50 less than the Guitar Center guitar even though it's exactly the same, hardware-wise.

Which of the two surf colors are better? Neither is better than the other. What I can say is that if you want a surf color with just ever-so slightly more "pop" to it, that's Surf Pearl. However, if you prefer a traditional Fender surf color that's more "smooth" in appearance, that's Surf Green.

Per my last article, you know I traded out a bunch of guitars to get this one.

The story of this guitar buy

This was rather interesting.

I had no intention of buying the Surf Pearl version of this guitar. What I wanted originally was the Buttercream finish, with the "backup" color being Polar White.

Of the two Guitar Centers near me, one store had both guitars in stock, so I drove on down there to check them out, and this is what happened:

The single Buttercream model had a bad nut where the B and high-E had some sitar noises going on when playing those strings open.

Both Polar White guitars (this store had 2 in this color in stock) had the same problem.

I asked the salesperson if there were any other Player model Strats in stock. Yes. There was the Surf Pearl guitar.

I tried it out and liked it. But I also tried out a Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster. This was really nice, but the pickups just weren't bright enough for my liking. I also tried out a Squier Classic Vibe Jazzmaster. Also nice, but the sound of it didn't really work for me.

The Surf Pearl Strat is what I bought - but - this guitar journey wasn't quite over yet. I mentioned to the salesperson that there was another Buttercream Strat at the other Guitar Center store. He said what I could do is buy the Surf Pearl guitar now with all trade-in and discounts applied, and then just price-match it at the other GC store if I wanted to swap it out with the Buttercream model at the other store. I agreed with this just in case the other Buttercream Strat ended up being a dud.

I left that GC with the Surf Pearl Strat and then immediately drove over to the other GC store to see Buttercream Strat #2.

In I went, found the guitar, plugged in, tuned up, played it, and...

...another bad nut. Sitar noises on the B and high-E.

I asked a salesperson there if that Buttercream Strat was the only one in the store, as sometimes they have more than one in the back that hasn't been unboxed yet. He said yes, that was the only one. I said thank you and left with my Surf Pearl Strat.

It took playing five to find a good one

It took me trying five Player Stratocasters to find one that didn't have a nut with slots cut incorrectly. Two Buttercream, two Polar White, and ending with the Surf Pearl which was the only one of the lot with a proper nut.

This is precisely the reason why I went to try the guitars in person, and why I bought the Surf Pearl Strat right there and then before trying Buttercream #2 at the other GC store. If I hadn't, there was the real possibility I might have ended up with nothing.

The buy of this guitar was one of those "I'd better chance it with this one and take it now just in case the guitar at the other store is a dud...", and I was right.

When buying guitars, it's okay to accept playability flaws if the guitar is cheap. But this guitar is not cheap. It's not Fender Custom Shop expensive either, but still, it's best to check guitars of this price in person just to be absolutely certain everything is okay.

Here are the specs of the guitar for those of you that care about such things.

The body wood is alder with the aforementioned gloss polyester finish.

All three pickups are labeled as "Player Series" Stratocaster pickups with alnico 5 magnets. This lends to a very bright, trebly sound. I did not have to set the pickup height that high because the output is certainly there. Output for a Stratocaster, that is.

String saddles are bent steel. I may change these out for full-block saddles later.

The bridge block is full size and not the skinny block Squier uses.

The neck shape is the "Modern C" and does agree with my fret hand quite well.

The neck itself has a satin urethane finish on the back and gloss on the front. The headstock is glossed just like the neck is, which is proper. Nothing looks mismatched.

Frets are not the narrow-tall found on the American Pro II Stratocaster but rather the older medium jumbo - which I prefer.

The nut width is 1.650" (in comparison, the Am Pro II has a 1.685" nut width).

Is the Player Stratocaster the old American Standard but now built in Mexico?

No.

2016 was the last year Fender produced the American Standard Stratocaster before switching to American Professional. The Player Series out of Mexico didn't appear until 2018.

The '16 Am Std Stratocaster has a neck with 1.685" nut width and "Custom Shop Fat '50s" single-coil pickups, neither of which ever appeared on the Player Series as far as I know.

Also, the Am Std Stratocaster does have a Micro-Tilt adjustment on the neck plate, which the Player Series doesn't have either.

And if you really want to get ultra-specific about it, the Am Std had a "tree" style string retainer on the headstock whereas the Player has a "wing" style.

At a glance, the Player looks like the old American Standard from 2016, but it's not. Pickups and neck are the two main differences. There may also be some other electronics differences I'm not even aware of.

However, this brings up an interesting point...

The Player is a decent modern Stratocaster...

...provided you can find a good example of one such as I did.

It's worth it to hunt for a good one of these.

Maybe you'll get lucky and get a great one on the first try. Or you may have to do what I did and try several before you find one that doesn't have any issues with it.

If it's a Stratocaster you want, and you want it made by Fender, be willing to try a few of these before committing to a purchase.

When you find one of these that's sorted properly, the feel, playability and sound is all there. It's "all Fender," as it should be.

Is Mexico making a better Stratocaster these days?

Yes and no.

No, in the respect I had to try five of these before finding one without a nut slot issue.

Yes, in the respect you get better color choices and "more normal" electronics and pickups.

I'm going to directly compare the SSS (meaning not HSS) Player vs. American Pro II, starting with colors.

Colors

(M next to the color means maple fingerboard only, P means pau ferro fingerboard only, R means rosewood fingerboard only, MP means choice of maple or pau ferro fingerboard, MR means choice of maple or rosewood fingerboard.)

Player: 3-Color Sunburst (MP), Black (MP), Tidepool (M), Polar White (MP), Buttercream (M), Capri Orange (M), Silver (P)

American Pro II: 3-Color Sunburst (MR), Olympic White (MR), Mystic Surf Green (MR), Miami Blue (MR), Mercury (R), Dark Night (MR), Roasted Pine (MR), Black (M), Sienna Sunburst (M)

The Player, while having fewer color choices, does have the better color options.

Pickups and Electronics

The Player has alnico 5 magnet pickups that I best describe as "the most normal." They have a reliable and predictable sound to them, with the only real (and very welcome) change being there is tone control wired to the bridge pickup.

The Am Pro II has V-Mod II pickups. V-Mod means "vintage + modern" and this is the second generation of them. It is Fender's attempt at getting the best blend of vintage and modern tones in a pickup set. V-Mod II pickup magnet configuration is as follows: Front side neck pickup has alnico 2 magnets on the bass side and alnico 3 on the treble side. Middle pickup has alnico 5 on the bass side and alnico 2 on the treble side. Rear side bridge pickup is all alnico 5.

Only one complication exists for the V-Mod II, and that's the push-push tone control that adds in the front neck side pickup on selector positions 1 and 2.

V-Mod II tone is decent, but it's the push-push to add in the front neck side pickup that gives the Am Pro II the advantage over the Player - if the two tone types added in are of any use to you.

For some players, the Am Pro II is the dream Stratocaster they've been waiting for because of that push-push. Now they finally have a Strat where in addition to the regular 5 positions, bridge+neck is now there for Telecaster-like twang, and bridge+middle+neck is also there for a "fuller 2."

However, if all you want is a regular Strat with regular pickups (meaning no fancy dan pickup magnet mixing) along with tone control wired to the rear bridge pickup, then the Player is the better option.

Longevity considerations

In the end, the Player model isn't necessarily any better than the American Pro II, but I do believe it will age much more gracefully. The Player as it gets older will age just like any Stratocaster does. As for the Am Pro II, absolutely nobody knows (because it's still far too new) how those mixed-magnet pickups will age or whether that push-push will stand the test of time or fail quickly.

I'll just say that had I bought the Am Pro II instead of the Player, the first thing I would do is buy a replacement push-push switch - even if that meant I had to call Fender directly just to get one.

A push-push potentiometer looks something like this:

The price of one of these isn't exactly cheap. Why? It's a very nonstandard type of potentiometer for a guitar. This thing is long because of the switching mechanism. Is this the one Fender uses? I have no idea, hence the reason I would ring Fender up to get exactly the correct potentiometer they use in production Am Pro II Stratocaster guitars.

I know that switch will be the first thing that fails on that guitar, so I'd buy one and keep it in storage until needed. And it has to be a "Genuine Fender" part just to ensure the stupid thing will fit in the guitar correctly. The cost would be ridiculous, like $25 or so (which is a lot for one potentiometer), but I'd buy it anyway just to make very certain I'd have a replacement ready for the #1 thing to fail on the guitar first.

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Published 2021 Aug 26