GAS - Fender Select Stratocaster

I recently picked up a 2012 model, beautiful flame top and neck, paid £1875 here in the UK. I've been trawling Reverb for years and this was probably the nicest looking non-Custom Shop Strat I've seen for sale. I bought the USA Standard (see pic) new in 1999 I think (for £799 back then), and it's been my main player from a rotating stable of normally 6-7 guitars. (I'm not even sure what model this is equivalent to in the current Fender lineup, is there no such thing as an American Standard anymore?) So comparing the Select to what I would consider your bog standard USA Strat, here are my thoughts, a lot of which are probably down to preference and individual playing style and of no use to anyone (and I agree with all Hellbat's points, particularly regarding nitro):
  • The Select looks beautiful, the flame top really pops, and I love the look of the flamed maple neck, to me that's the standout part of the guitar. It's hard to see in pictures, but the dot markers are also black pearloid, not just black plain plastic - a nice touch. Personally, I dislike the look of rosewood and - unlike the flame maple neck model - wouldn't consider it an 'upgrade' over e.g. a cheaper model, which is why I guess the model in the original post has a bound neck, an upgrade of sorts.
  • Although in reality, the difference would be measured in millimetres - and it feels a bit silly to say this - but the body of the Select feels noticeably bigger under the arm than the Standard when playing seated, I noticed it immediately. You might be able to see in the pic that the edges of the body are much more rounded on the Standard, I'm guessing this is due to the maple top on the Select requiring a less bevelled edge (if 'bevelled' is the right word). It just feels...squarer, more like my Jackson Soloist or I guess a modern Charvel. I've only played these two Strats, and they were made over a decade apart, so I'm not sure which of them is the more 'standard' shape.
  • Again, millimetres, but the neck on the Select feels wider, still classic Fender neck feel, and the heel joint is much better for playing up high than on the Standard. I didn't notice it was a compound neck until I saw Hellbat's comment, it plays like a Strat.
  • The bridge on the Select is nice, and the tremolo action is probably a little smoother than the Standard. It seems to hold tune well, and it's got locking tuners, but I prefer the modern string saddles on the Standard. When I'm playing with my hand over the bridge with the bent over saddles, they kind of scratch my hand as the screws are much longer than the ones on the Standard. If I raise the saddles to eliminate this, the action would be sky high. I'm just used to the flatter-topped saddles and my playing style has evolved with that setup.
  • I don't really like the finish on the body on the Select, it's looks quite delicate (as already mentioned, and mine has several spots where the finish has just worn away) and when I play in short sleeves, my forearm sticks and rubs on the forearm contour. So, not really a fan of nitro. Don't know what the finish is on the Standard, but I assume it's not nitro as I never have this problem on that guitar. In fact, I think my PRS DGT also has a nitro finish, and am not really a fan of it on that either.
  • The Select has pickups made especially for this model, they're really nice, slightly different sounding to the Standard's pickups, but equally Strat-ish and pleasant. The pole pieces for the D and G strings are raised up quite high however, and my pick kept hitting them when playing over the middle pickup, so I've had to lower it out of the way.
I'm inspired to play the Select just because of the way it looks, and it's in Eb while the Standard is in... standard, so I feel like I have a reason to own two almost identical sounding guitars. Overall, I prefer the look of the Select, but I prefer the playability of the Standard. I think I was expecting the Select to be twice the guitar the Standard is, because it's significantly more money, but in reality, you are paying a premium for the nice woods on the Select and that's about it. I guess after having bought a Harley Benton Fusion II for £200 last year and it being better specced than a lot of guitars I have played that cost £750+, I'm finally starting to realise that when it comes to quality and playability, it's diminishing returns after a certain price point. But it's nice sometimes to have something a bit 'special' in the collection.

If you don't have a Strat, the Select is a really nice one to get - is it significantly better than the standard models? Probably not. Do I think I overpaid for mine? Yes, probably by 10-15%, if not more, but they don't come up for sale often, and I'm not sure how many made it to the UK. There were a few more dents and finish issues that I didn't notice or weren't shown in the shop photos, so I'd ask for some close up shots of the body, I notice there's no photos of the back of the body on that Reverb listing, so may provide an opportunity for extra haggle room if there are dents/blemishes. Guitars and guitar equipment seem cheaper on that side of the pond, so I'd suggest just swapping the £ in the price I paid with a $, somewhere in that $1750-$1850 range would seem like a good price for a good model. That way I can console myself with the knowledge that although I think I overpaid, they at least appear to hold their value and are worthy of the 'just below custom shop' tag :-D

IMG_0744.JPG
 
My thoughts exactly. I guess it's to compensate for the Reverb fee as well as coping with bids.
 
I was saving to buy the geetar but at one point, the seller removed it from Reverb.
Apparently he had sold another guitar.
I contacted him, asking him to inform me when he wanted to sell it again.
And today I noticed the same guitar on Reverb, but this time it was being sold by a shop in the same town as the original seller.
I contacted him again, to make sure it wasn't a scam and he confirmed he had traded it on a whim because he wanted a guitar from that shop and was afraid they were going to sell it very quickly.
So, in the end, I could buy it from the shop and I'm now eagerly waiting it's arrival.
 
Back
Top Bottom