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Fender American Straocaster HSS
You gotta give Fender credit: they take one of the greatest guitars, ever designed the Stratocaster, and then keep improving the product so you have to buy another and another and another. Fender American Stratocaster HSS guitar, will save a lot of you the time and trouble of doing your own modifications. The HSS Strat looks like an ordinary Strat to the ordinary on-looker. Those with any semblance of experience will immediately note that, instead of the usual three single-coil pick-ups, there is a humbucker pick-up in the bridge position.
Except for this humbucker, it basically is a garden variety American Stratocaster. It comes in two different varieties, one with an Alder body the other with a maple. The neck is a maple C shape with either a rosewood or maple (butterscotch finish only) fretboard. The neck is 25.5” with the usual 22 frets, the cutaway offering excellent access all the way up the fingerboard (one of the Strat’s great design strengths). The tuners are Schaller Deluxe and the bridge American and 2-Point Synchronized Tremolo.
The heart of the design lies in the pick-ups. It comes with two Tex-Mex single-coils in the neck and mid and—herein lies one of the major innovations—a Diamondback humbucker in the bridge. The two Tex Mex’s deliver the typical Strat blues/rock tones that have made the guitar justly famous, while the humbucker provides a, fatter humbucker sound that may not quite be a Gibson Alnico but is getting into the ballpark.
The real difference lies in the volume controls, which are not what they seem to be. Apparently the standard one volume/two tone control design, the HSS actually employs Fender’s S-1 switching system, which (see the chart below) provides nine different switching alternatives: the pick-up selector has the usual five, but moving the master volume control up or down permits you to select five additional choices. With the volume control up, you get the choices that would be most familiar to the Strat player, with the exception of engaging the humbucker: With the S-1 switch down you get a completely new animal, with pickup combinations not achievable by a garden variety American Strat.
1. Bridge with humbucker in full series
2. Middle with inside coil of humbucker in parallel
3. Middle
4. Middle and Neck in paraller
5. Neck
It’s when you push the pot down that things get a lot more complicated:
1. Bridge with Humbucker in full series (same as 1 above)
1. Full Bridge Humbucking Pickup with Coils in Series, in Parallel with Neck Pickup
2. Full Bridge Humbucking Pickup with Coils in Series, in Parallel with Neck and Middle Pickups that are Paired in Series
3. Inside Coil of Bridge Pickup Paired in Series with Neck Pickup, in Parallel with Middle Pickup
4. Middle Pickup in Series with Neck Pickup
Model Name American Stratocaster® HSS
Model Number 011-7000-(Color #) and 011-7002-(Color #)
Series American Series
Colors (700)* 3-Color Sunburst, *add $50.00,
(706) Black,
(744) Shoreline Gold,
(747)** Sienna Sunburst, **add $150.00 for Special Wood Requirements,
(750) Butterscotch Blonde, (Maple Fingerboard Only),(Polyurethane Finish)
Body
Alder on:
(700)* 3-Color Sunburst,
(706) Black,
(750) Butterscotch Blonde,
(791) Chrome Silver,
Ash on: (747)** Sienna Sunburst
Regular Price: $999.99
On Sale For: $999.00
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