fender standard stratocaster... yikes

This new guitar from Fender is not going over well, at least from what guitar players on YouTube are saying.

Yes, if you look up Fender Standard Stratocaster, this is a new model at the time I write this. You will see Fender on the headstock, and a price tag below that of a Fender Player Stratocaster. So what gives? Why so cheap?

Answer: The guitar is made in Indonesia. Not Mexico. Not America. Indonesia.

Is that a problem?

No.

The problem is that the price is a really big ask, especially when compared to a Squier Classic Vibe Stratocaster...

...but even more damning is this:

Remember the above guitar? No? It's the 2012 Fender Modern Player Stratocaster HSS, made in China, which I did own personally.

That particular guitar was made every bit as good as a high-end Mexican Fender. It was honestly constructed very well. The sound didn't agree with me (which is why I parted with it), but it was HSS with push-pull to split the dual-coil to single-coil.

More importantly however is that the MP HSS "felt like Fender", even while being the lowest cost official Fender Stratocaster made at the time it was in production. Right weight, right look, no nasty stuff going on anywhere on the guitar, and just got it right. It was China-made but felt exactly correct. Again, it was just the sound (mostly the humbucker to be honest) that turned me off from it. Had the MP HSS been alnico V SSS with 250k pots, I'd probably still own it now.

Based on what I've seen in YouTube videos complaining about the new Indonesian Standard Stratocaster, the '12 Modern Player would absolutely wipe the floor with it.

In other words, China did a lowest-tier official Fender Strat better. A lot better.

To be very clear, Indonesia can in fact make a good guitar, and proof of that is easy to find. Just play a Squier Classic Vibe '50s or '60s Stratocaster. The only problem with doing that is it makes the Fender Standard Stratocaster, which costs more, look bad.

The only good thing about the new Fender Standard Stratocaster is that it's the lowest price to get an actual real-deal Fender branded Stratocaster guitar...

...and that's all I have to say about that.

Published 2025 Feb 18