Fender 0374005500 Electric Guitar: Full Review

The Fender Squier Bullet Stratocaster electric guitar provides an excellent option for beginner and intermediate guitarists looking for classic Fender tone and playability without breaking the bank. Part of Fender's affordable Squier series, the Bullet Stratocaster features a poplar body with a slim C-shaped maple neck and laurel fingerboard. It comes equipped with a tremolo bridge system and three single-coil Stratocaster pickups, providing a versatile array of Fender tones that can handle genres from rock and blues to funk and pop. While made with cheaper materials than its American-made Fender counterparts, the Bullet Strat still retains much of the look, feel, and sound that has made the Stratocaster one of the most popular electric guitars over the past 60+ years. It's an ideal choice for new players starting their guitar journey as well as a solid backup option for more experienced guitarists.

Body & Neck

The Fender Standard Stratocaster features a solid contoured alder body with a gloss polyester finish. This gives the guitar a balanced, resonant tone with plenty of sustain and brightness.

The neck is made from maple with a modern "C" profile that's comfortable to play. It has a 9.5" radius rosewood fretboard with 22 medium jumbo frets for smooth playability. The neck joint uses Fender's patented "Deep C" cutaway for easy access to the higher frets.

Overall, the Stratocaster's iconic double cutaway body shape along with the bolt-on maple neck offer great ergonomics and playing comfort. The quality tonewoods like alder and maple provide a lively, rich sound.

The Fender Stratocaster is one of the most popular and iconic electric guitar models ever made. Its versatile sound and smooth playability have made it a go-to choice for countless guitarists over the decades. However, Fender isn't the only company making high-quality Strat-style guitars. The Yamaha PAC112V is an excellent Strat-inspired model that delivers impressive performance and value.

Like the Fender, the Yamaha PAC112V features an alder body and maple neck for bright, ringing tone. It uses a pair of single coil pickups in the neck and middle position for Strat-like snap and quack. The bridge pickup is a PAC112V's secret weapon - it's a vintage-voiced humbucker that can go from glassy cleans to singing leads. Having a humbucker in the bridge expands the guitar's tonal palette.

The PAC112V's maple neck has a modern C-shape profile that most players find comfortable. It's topped with a rosewood fingerboard that plays smoothly. The vintage-style tremolo bridge provides expressive wobble and pitch effects. Hardware and electronics are high quality for a guitar in this price range.

When it comes to looks, the Yamaha stays true to the iconic Strat style. It has the familiar double cutaway alder body with beveled edges and pointed horns. The pickguard and control layout also gives off vintage Fender vibes. That said, Yamaha adds some modern touches like the open-gear tuners and gloss polyurethane finish.

Overall, the Yamaha PAC112V provides an impressive combination of Strat-inspired sound, feel, and looks. While not an exact Fender copy, it delivers great bang for the buck. The versatile humbucker bridge pickup is a nice extra not found on standard Strats. Guitarists looking for Strat-style quality and tones without the Fender price should definitely check out the Yamaha PAC112V.

Playability

The Fender Standard Stratocaster offers a comfortable and fast playing experience thanks to its modern "C"-shaped neck profile, 9.5" fretboard radius, and 25.5" scale length.

The neck has a smooth satin finish that allows for fast up and down motions during lead playing. Its modern "C" profile hits the sweet spot between vintage chunkiness and modern thinness, providing a full rounded shape that fits nicely in the hand.

The 9.5" fretboard radius gives the Stratocaster a rounder feel compared to vintage models. This allows for lower string action and easier bending on the treble side without causing fret buzz. The flatter radius also makes it easier to play complex chords without sharp fret ends digging into your hand.

With a 25.5" scale length, the strings have the ideal tension for great tuning stability, while still being flexible enough for string bending. This standard Fender scale also provides comfortable familiarity to most guitarists. Altogether, these specs make the Standard Stratocaster feel fast, slick, and easy to play right out of the box.

The playability of the Fender Standard Stratocaster is one of its standout features. The modern "C"-shaped neck profile provides a comfortable rounded shape that fits nicely in your hand. The smooth satin finish allows for fast lead playing up and down the neck. The 9.5" fretboard radius gives a rounder feel for easier bending without buzzing. The 25.5" scale length offers ideal string tension and flexibility. Overall, the Strat feels fast and easy to play.

While the Stratocaster is known for its comfortable playability, there are other great options for easy playing electric guitars. The Taylor F043016016000141000 is an electric guitar with a fast, slick neck and low action perfect for speedy solos and intricate chords. Its compact body shape provides comfort and balance. The Taylor produces crisp, articulate tones well suited for pop, rock, blues, and more. With its comfortable feel and versatile voice, the Taylor F043016016000141000 is another excellent choice for an electric guitar that excels in playability.

When shopping for an electric guitar that feels great to play, models like the Fender Standard Stratocaster and Taylor F043016016000141000 are excellent options to consider. Their fast neck profiles, quality fretwork, ideal scale lengths, and comfortable body shapes allow for easy chord changes, speedy leads, tight bends, and hours of playing comfort. Great playability makes learning and practicing guitar enjoyable. Testing out the neck profile, radius, strings, and weight when choosing an electric guitar ensures you find a model with playability and feel that inspires you to keep picking.

Hardware

The hardware on the Fender 0374005500 electric guitar includes quality components that allow for great tuning stability and a versatile range of tones.

Bridge

The guitar features a synchronized tremolo bridge, which allows players to raise or lower the pitch of the strings for interesting effects while still returning to proper tuning. The bridge is very solid and smooth in operation.

Tuners

Closed-back tuning machines provide excellent tuning stability and accuracy. The tuners hold tune well even during heavy use and allow for quick and precise tuning adjustments.

Pickups

There are two single coil Strat pickups and one double coil humbucker pickup. This versatile pickup configuration gives a wide range of tones from crisp and articulate Strat-style tones to thick, warm humbucker tones when needed. The 5-way pickup switch provides access to seven pickup combinations.

Sound

The Fender Player Series Electric Guitar produces a well-balanced tone with crisp highs, punchy mids, and tight low end. The alder body and maple neck contribute to a balanced tonality, while the Humbucker and Single-Coil pickups provide tonal versatility from clean to overdriven sounds.

This guitar can achieve sparkling cleans, fat blues/rock crunch, and searing leads. The Humbucker bridge pickup delivers powerful rock tones with thick sustain. Switching to the bridge Single-Coil elicits a brighter, twangier tone suited for country, funk, and indie rock. The two pickups complement each other well for layered tones too.

Sustain is very good thanks to the quality hardware and materials. The notes bloom nicely when playing legato licks. Chords ring out clean with minimal dampening. Whether playing chords, intricate fingerpicking passages, or wailing solos, the sound remains balanced.

Overall, the Fender Player Series Electric Guitar provides excellent sonic versatility. The combination of quality pickups and hardware allows the guitar to cover various genres with ease. It's a reliable workhorse guitar that can handle anything from jazz to metal.

Craftsmanship

Fender has a longstanding reputation for excellent craftsmanship and the Fender Squier Stratocaster electric guitar upholds those standards. The fit and finish of this guitar are impressive, especially considering its affordability.

The body contours are smooth and symmetrical. The neck joint is tight with no gaps or rough spots. The fret edges are finished nicely with no sharp bits to irritate your hand during long practice sessions.

The Sunburst finish on the body and neck has an even coloring with no splotches or blemishes. The paint lines where different colors meet, like the edge of the pickguard, are crisp and clean.

Hardware pieces like the bridge, tuners, pickups, and controls are installed straight and secured tightly. This attention to detail helps components function properly and improves the guitar's sustain and resonance.

Overall, the Fender quality control on this model seems to be rigorous. Issues like sharp fret ends or poor neck alignments are rare, based on reviews. Fender's mass production techniques allow for consistency so each guitar meets their standards.

For an inexpensive import guitar, the Squier Stratocaster exhibits impressive craftsmanship that rivals more costly instruments. The care put into construction and finishing is evident when inspecting the guitar up close.

Value

The Fender Player Series Stratocaster offers excellent value considering its quality components and construction. Though not the cheapest Strat-style guitar available, it provides a lot of bang for your buck.

The Player Series sits in Fender's mid-range guitar lineup, above their lower-cost Squier guitars and below the more premium American-made models. Compared to Squiers, the Mexican-made Player Series features higher grade woods, hardware, pickups and electronics. The fit and finish is noticeably better as well.

At around $700-800, the Player Strat is priced similarly to Epiphone's Les Paul guitars which are also manufactured in Mexico. Between the two, the Fender edges out for having name brand pickups and hardware. The quality control from the factory also seems to be better.

When looking at other mid-range Strat-style guitars, the Player Series goes head to head with models from G&L, PRS, and Sterling by Music Man. The Fender has the legacy name on its side, though the others make a good case for themselves too. Ultimately the Player Strat's combination of great playability, classic looks and diverse range of tones makes it a wise investment for intermediate players. More advanced guitarists may still prefer paying a bit more for an American Professional or Ultra Strat.

Overall the Player Strat hits a sweet spot for price versus performance. While not an exact copy of the legends it succeeds, it carries forward Fender's heritage superbly while keeping costs down through its Mexican production. For tone, playability and looks it's hard to beat at this price point.

Alternatives

When shopping for an electric guitar in this price range, there are a few other major brands to consider as alternatives to the Fender Player Series Stratocaster:

Epiphone

Epiphone, owned by Gibson, produces more affordable versions of classic Gibson models like the Les Paul and SG. The Epiphone Les Paul Standard is a great Strat alternative with a mahogany body, rosewood fingerboard, and Alnico Classic humbucker pickups. It has a thicker, warmer tone compared to the brighter single coil sound of the Strat. The Les Paul is ideal for rock, blues, and metal.

Ibanez

Known for fast shredding guitars, Ibanez offers great Stratocaster alternatives for rock and metal players on a budget. The Ibanez GRX70QA has a poplar body, rosewood fretboard, and Infinity R humbucker pickups. It plays very fast and smooth, with versatile tones from the HSH pickup configuration. Ibanez excels at high performance and playability.

Yamaha

For an affordable yet well-made Strat alternative, the Yamaha PAC112V nails the look, feel, and versatility of the Fender at half the price. It has an alder body, rosewood fretboard, and custom Vintage Alnico single coil pickups. The PAC112V plays, sounds, and looks remarkably close to a Strat for those on a tight budget.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Classic Fender styling and build quality
• Great playability right out of the box
• Versatile pickups deliver classic Strat tones
• Excellent value for a Made-in-Mexico Fender
• Reliable tuning stability

Cons

• Pickups could be a little hotter for some players
• Not as refined as American-made Fender models
• Limited color options
• Volume knob can be accidentally turned down when strumming aggressively
• No locking tuners or tremolo arm included

Overall, the Fender Player Series Stratocaster offers fantastic bang for your buck if you're looking for an affordable yet high quality Strat. While it may lack some bells and whistles, it nails the iconic Strat tone and feel that Fender is known for. The few shortcomings like pickup output and hardware are understandable given the accessible price point. For intermediate players or those wanting an inexpensive Fender without compromising on build, the Player Series Strat is an excellent choice.

Conclusion

The Fender Standard Telecaster Electric Guitar offers a classic design and sound at an accessible price point. This model is best suited for guitarists looking for the traditional Tele tone and feel, without paying a premium.

The Tele is known for its bright, cutting tone that works well for country, blues, rock, and more. The combination of the ash body and maple neck give it the signature sparkly twang. While not as versatile as other guitar models, the Tele excels at clean tones.

Younger players will appreciate the budget-friendly price, while more experienced guitarists may want to consider upgrading certain components like the bridge and electronics. Overall, this is a quality entry-level instrument for those who love the look, history, and tone of the Fender Telecaster.

This guitar hits a sweet spot between affordability and features. Beginners will appreciate the comfortable playability and simple controls. For intermediate and advanced players, this can make a solid backup electric or be modded and upgraded over time.

If you're a fan of the Tele design and sound, the Fender Standard Telecaster is easy to recommend. While not as cutting-edge as other contemporary models, its vintage-inspired style and voice make it a reliable choice.