What are the differences between a Fender Standard, American, Deluxe, Vintage?

CitizenAudio · #1 11-03-2006, 02:54 PM

Other than appointments how are these strats/teles different soundwise?

passerby3141 · #2 11-03-2006, 09:56 PM

Um, tough question. You may have to go to a Fender specific forum for that one!

I think the new Americans have a different pole height than the vintage on the G string. Many players find the G to "take over" to easily on the original pups. I think it's a matter of setting the pups height correctly in the first place! (And tuning regularly). Other than that I can't really say??? I know the Americans get a lot more attention before they leave the factory, but with the "miracle" of modern manufacturing, I'm not sure how much that makes a difference, except the Americans are set-up better, something that can easily be remedied, if it's a problem. The standards may be made of more pieces of wood glued together in the body too. Just a guess.

This is my feeble attempt!

timshort · #3 11-05-2006, 08:33 AM

Other than pickup or switches, I really have a tough time telling much difference between the Standards and the Vintage series. I think you are playing for the name and label more than the actual quality of the instrument. I have a standard Tele (which is made in Mexico), and I like it as well as any other Teles I have played. It's up to you, but buy the one that feels right to you. Too many people get caught up in the image of an electric instead of focusing on its role as a tool for music. Good luck.

trpullen · #4 11-05-2006, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by passerby3141

Um, tough question. You may have to go to a Fender specific forum for that one!

I think the new Americans have a different pole height than the vintage on the G string. Many players find the G to "take over" to easily on the original pups. I think it's a matter of setting the pups height correctly in the first place! (And tuning regularly). Other than that I can't really say??? I know the Americans get a lot more attention before they leave the factory, but with the "miracle" of modern manufacturing, I'm not sure how much that makes a difference, except the Americans are set-up better, something that can easily be remedied, if it's a problem. The standards may be made of more pieces of wood glued together in the body too. Just a guess.

This is my feeble attempt!

Pole piece height has nothing to do with setup and everything to do with fingerboard radius. The vintage stagger on a Strat was to conform to the 7 1/4" radius on the early stuff. Now, most at 9 1/2" radius necessitating a flatter stagger on the pickups.

passerby3141 · #5 11-05-2006, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trpullen

Pole piece height has nothing to do with setup and everything to do with fingerboard radius. The vintage stagger on a Strat was to conform to the 7 1/4" radius on the early stuff. Now, most at 9 1/2" radius necessitating a flatter stagger on the pickups.

Right! I didn't even think of that! I am so used to my vintage mexi strat, and don't really play any other Fenders on a regular basis.

trpullen · #6 11-05-2006, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CamelbackCinema

Other than appointments how are these strats/teles different soundwise?

You know, this is SOOOO subjective, its hard to explain how tones differ.

As a rule, the Mexican Standard Strats have Ceramic magnets in the pickups. USA and USA Vintage will be AlNiCo Magnets. Deluxes will now have Samarium Cobalt. American Series guitars will have a little more winding than the Vintage stuff in theory yielding a little more midrange and less high end.

Really....just go someplace that carries them all and play them through the same amp, same settings. I prefer the feel of the Deluxes, not keen on the pickups. Like the sound of the Eric Johnson sig guitar...hate the neck. Cool thing about Strats is...if you find one you like to play, you can make it sound any way you want.

Acoustic Cowboy · #7 11-05-2006, 05:38 PM

Come on you guitar rookies..... the Fender guitar vintage series are true to the original as much as possible. The neck size, 3 position switching, wiring routering, old style bridge, etc.

trpullen · #8 11-05-2006, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acoustic Cowboy

Come on you guitar rookies..... the Fender guitar vintage series are true to the original as much as possible. The neck size, 3 position switching, wiring routering, old style bridge, etc.

I think we all know that. The question was, other than appointments, how do they differ in sound?