Fender Electric Guitar Black For Sale (2024 Update)

I bought the Honey Burst because I didn't have a burst and honestly not a big fan of "bursts." But when I saw this honey, and it lacking a really dark edge like most bursts do I decided to play it. Sounded fantastic, played so sweetly, just as fine as my Miami Blue American Pro II, and my American Showcase. Don't spend the extra money on one of those if you're on a budget, tryin to save some money, but want USA made, this performer stacks right up with them, you won't be missing much if anything. I uploaded a YT vid, its my American Showcase, In the process of making a vid of this Performer, like sub and stay tuned! If you mention this review and leave a link to on of your vids I will reciprocate!CHARLES

Manufacturer Support: Did not contact manufacturer. Overall: I just got done demoing the floor model at my local big box store and I have to same I'm really impressed. For comparison, my main Strat is an American Special with three single coil Texas Special pickups and the new Yosemite pickups and the Doubletap humbucker have a lot more output. I used a floor model Boss Katana amp (distortion) as well as a Marshall amp (clean). The Doubletap humbucker sounds great with light to heavy distortion. Even with max distortion, it is very clear and pronounced and I was able to distinguish all the notes being played without it sounding muddy (first position and coil split off.) The second position (coil split off) sounds amazing. Even with heavy distortion, I was able to get some great sounding blues solos with the first and second position. With positions three, four and five, I was able to get those classic Strat tones that everyone loves. Going from humbucker to the single coil via coil split, the pickup still seemed to have a higher output than the Texas Specials. Just to make sure it wasn't the coil split, I also demoed the traditional three single coil setup and still, they seemed very hot. I played the opening riff and the solo to Paranoid and was very happy by the sounds the guitar made but the clean sounds are what really sold me. I played various chords (major, minor, 7th, different positions, coil split on/off, etc.) and was not disappointed at all by what I heard. To me, it sounds very different from any other Strat I've played. I use my current Strat as an all round guitar but that's soon to change. The finish is satin and for those who haven't played a guitar with a satin finish, the finish may feel a little rough as if it needs to be sanded but it doesn't. I prefer a gloss finish myself but that aspect can be easily overlooked if you want an amazing sounding guitar.Russell

Tim Shaw double tap humbucker with yosemite pickups great combo! Covers a wide range. The humbucker in the bridge gives you that fat extra distortion. And when you want that single coil sound pull up on the tone knob and split the coils. Well balanced. Plus you can still get that Sweet Home Alabama sound in position 2 with the HB in single coil mode ! Yosemite Pu's have classic Strat tone in clean channel. The rosewood neck plays and feels good. Came set up out of the box. Fender did a nice job on their Performer Series. Definitely worthy. Kudos!Mikeb

Great buying experience! CME does a tremendous job checking the guitar over and making sure it’s totally right. This Fender short run exclusive was exactly what I was looking for! It does what a Jazzmaster is supposed to do … once you take the time to dial in your setup! The setup is a bit tricky for sure because everything has to be balanced and intonated just so to prevent the strings from buzzing on the adjustment screws OR on the bridge itself. It also helps to have the absolute tiniest amount of relief possible in the neck and to raise the bridge and angle it to the sweet spot for ideal string vibration and a high enough break angle to anchor the strings within the slots. Once you do these things and set the pickup height, the guitar truly sings, rocks, plays great, and stays completely in tune, even with serious tremolo arm use! My pickups are set to spec: 3.5 mm on the bass side and 3.2 mm on the treble side. If you aren’t comfortable doing a detailed setup, be prepared to locate a professional. I have set up MANY Fenders so I was able to do it myself in a couple hours of tinkering. The 65 pickups sound amazing! Cleans are shimmery and huge. Dirty sounds are fat and ringing. Perfect for indie and shoegaze styles. You can also roll off the tone for a darker, blues or jazz lead tone and, unlike the original jazzmaster bridge, the strings will stay PUT and allow you to pick hard and bend as much as you like even with 9 gauge. No need for a rhythm circuit in my opinion. This wiring setup keeps it simple, lowers the cost, and still gives you the full Jazzmaster experience. Buy one before they are gone! Love it!Joseph

Mine arrived looking beautiful but had a lot of hum/noise and I figured it had something to do with the pickups or 1 meg pots. I opened it up to shield it and the bridge ground wire was never soldered to the ground wire on the pot. After soldering it I plugged it back in and it was silent. I went from thinking it was ok to being my favorite guitar at the moment. This guitar looks, sounds and plays great and its priced very low too. It nails that classic Jazzmaster tone and does what a Jazzmaster should do. Before you jump into the Jazzmaster pool understand that these guitars require tinkering with. Saddle rattle can be fixed by adjusting the screws on the saddles. They tend to loosen and tighten when changing strings and if they're even slightly uneven they will rattle. Another way to fix this is to shim the neck so there's a slight backbow to it like a Les Paul. This will increase the break angle and put more pressure on the bridge preventing rattle. Using 11's or 12's helps too but the nut on these ones is perfect for 10-46. The 4th position is actually very usable and I find myself using this position more than I thought I would. This is a great guitar at a great price and CME is the gold standard in online purchases. Besides the ground wire mine came set up perfectly and almost in tune. The ground wire was never even tinned so I know it was never attached but again, it took me 5 minutes and 0 dollars to fix. I'm sure had I complained they would have fixed it for me. I bought the Silver Blue Metallic. The Shell Pink was definitely my favorite color but I wasn't secure enough to buy a pink guitar.john g.

I just received this guitar today. There is a lot of negative talk about the noiseless pickups, but it sounds phenomenal to me. Many complaints include that it sounds too "dark", but it sounds terrific through my 1966 Bassman. There is a tremendous range of fantastic tones that are possible with this guitar, but it is definitely not for metal. It gets a great tone for classic rock, alt rock/indie, jazz, funk, and stoner rock. I've gotten a great Gilmour tone to Hendrix to QOTSA, and it honestly doesn't take long to learn the guitar's wide tonal capabilities. The neck plays so well that I found myself inspired to get into new sonic territories and genres. I own a lot of guitars, and this is my favorite one currently. It's my pick over my Les Paul Traditional, Telecaster, Ibanez S Premium, and the others. Do yourself a fiver and try it out with an open mind. Don't listen to the naysayers. This thing rocks!The Hammer

I have twenty Fenders, including seven telecasters, and this is better than all of them. The neck feels like its been played for years, and the shape is perfect. Heavy rolled edges make it a pleasure to play with my thumb over the neck. First guitar I have bought that I had to raise the action slightly on the top two strings. Set up for fast playing or chords straight out of the case. The colour is sparkly brownish, but looks black in most light. Very well made guitar. The pickups are noiseless and are silent even with pedals. They sound like standard pickups, no loss of signal because of the extra windings for the noise cancellation. Sound fine. I must say, the pro 1 series pickups sound better. All in all a lovely instrument, well worth the extra few quid.STEVEN T.

Overall: I have an Ultra Strat in Cobra Blue, an Ultra Jazz Bass in Texas Tea, a Les Paul Standard Gold Top and other guitars. This has the most beautiful finish (Sunburst). Way better than the picture or videos. The tone is amazing. Light weight at 6.2 pounds. Officially my favorite guitar. Add to that they shipped it to me in 25 hours after promising 5 days. Ordered Monday noon and here it is. They had it in a warehouse near Reno and I got it next day. zZounds you ROCK.William

The Fender Ultra Telecaster Texas Tea is an amazing guitar, at first I noticed the D-Shape neck and quickly adapted to it. The neck feels silky smooth, hand glides over frets and is easy to play. The sound from pickups are brutally brilliant, and wit the S1 switch built into the tone knob, sends a slightly different signal, bit more gain with full richness depending on the selector position of course. I went initially seeking for the Jimmy Page Dragon Guitar and walk out of the shop with this Ultra instead, and for the few hundred dollars more, this guitar is totally worth it. The look of it is killer, and so classy – if there is an ultra guitar series in your guitar shop locally, don't hesitate to pick it up and test it out. This guitar is HOT! It's difficult to see in these photos but the colour under certain light angles are different and has small sparkling metallic substances mixed in with the colour. It's a black oily dark grey/brown. The neck has a vintage tone colour and the rosewood neck and skunk stripe just makes this guitar special.Jim T.

I picked up the Surf Green Ltd Ed. Bullet Mustang a few days ago off the rack. They had two. One had rusty strings and sharp frets but the one I picked was almost perfect. These Mustangs are great for smaller learners and older guitarists that may enjoy the lighter string tension due to the short scale. I love the sound of both humbuckers. The bridge one gives you a nice grungy Nirvana like tone while the neck is smoother but both love to be driven. I picked up the Imperial Blue Mustang HH a few weeks ago. They both use the same humbuckers, The only difference I believe is the wood type, Basswood vs Poplar. Both guitars are quite light with the Basswood Surf Green one being somewhat lighter.These Mustangs are ideal for modding but for now I've only changed the cheap pickguard on this Surf Green one, putting a Tortoise Shell on it. So far I'm loving both of them and my Fender P90 Mustang is getting quite lonely.Tingman

First of all, this is a ton of value for the price. I got it on sale which made it even a bigger steal. Now, this guitar needs a lot of setup out of the box. You should polish the frets since they are as coarse as beach sand. Otherwise, string bends will be impossible and will most likely damage the cheap supplied strings (which should be changed immediately as with most new guitars). Expect some fret buzz, so be ready to adjust the saddles and the truss rod (I like my action quite low so this was a minor tweak for me). The intonation was actually quite close to perfect, it only needed a bit of tweaking on the A string. The nut and string trees are the ones you typically get on Squiers, which are good enough but won't do wonders for your tuning and should be replaced unless you are patient enough to tune your guitar every so often. Be sure to change these first before changing the tuners/bridge if you have tuning problems, I haven't changed the tuners or bridge on mine and don't plan to – they just work. Finally, the pickups are surprisingly good for the price, not too mellow and you can get some nice tones from the bridge pickup. You might soon outgrow them, though, and might opt for better humbuckers or P90s. For all these reasons, this guitar is not the best as a first guitar or for beginners unless it gets a proper setup first or if you're really planning to learn how to setup or change electronics/other parts in a guitar. However, those are the same reasons (plus the low price and simple design) that make this a really fun modding platform, and if you don't feel like modding it, with the right amount of work it's still amazing. It's light as a feather and the neck is very fast; you can probably muscle through hours of playing with barely any effort at all. The stock tones are reasonable enough, and in my opinion it looks awesome. You can't get a better deal for the money once you're aware of the above.Carlos, M

I like this guitar because of the 24" scale length. Everything else was pretty bad out of the box. The strings were a 1/4" off the fretboard. The fretboard was super dry. There was fret sprout. The frets felt like sandpaper on bends. The E strings are too close to the edge of the fretboard. When you play you're constantly hitting the pickup selector switch. The finish on the neck is supposed to be satin but it looks unfinished to me and there are light and dark areas on the neck which look bad. It is the worst finish on a neck I've ever seen on a guitar and I'm going to have to put some kind of finish on it. Trying to load strings is tricky and not as easy as on most other guitars you have to bend the end of the strings to get them to load. So that is the bad. The good? The tuners are your typical Chinese tuners that come on all cheap guitars these days, and they are fine. The pickups sound good. The 24" scale is great and really fun to play bends on!Steve

I have a few guitars that are worth thousands, but they are all Telecasters (except for one 1977 Mustang). I had a Stratocaster, but I sold my it over 15 years ago. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on another guitar, so I thought I would give this Squire Bullet a try. I have never owned any type of Squire so I figured why not? My first impression was that it is a very pretty guitar. The finish is good and the neck feels smooth. The NECK feels smooth. I would like to emphasize that. Some of the FRETS on the other hand, are so sharp that I cut a groove in one of my fingers while sliding up the neck. To be precise, it was the 11th and 12th fret. Several others are sharp as well, but those two could be put in a Ninja's arsenal. I actually expected to see blood when I pulled my hand away from the neck. Jeez. Sharp frets suck, and should NEVER happen no matter what the price of the guitar. But, I can fix that. The only other issue I had with this guitar was the volume pot didn't want to work correctly. Being that it is a new guitar and I did not want to void any warranty it might have, I took it to the local Guitar Center (across two towns from me). The tech pulled the pick-guard off and sprayed the pot with cleaner. Easy solution. It works great now. No charge. I can't say enough about that particular Guitar Center. The folks there are always helpful and friendly. I will take care of the sharp frets myself. I could send the guitar back, but then I would not know what I was going to get in return, so I will keep it unless some other problem pops up. Why did I want to buy this thing in the first place? I missed the "Quack" of my old Strat. This might not be the best Strat out there, but it is serving it purpose. I just wish somebody would take care of those knife edge frets before selling these things. :p I would not hesitate to recommend this guitar friends, but I would warn them about the frets.JACB

I decided, after months of thought, to try my hand at guitar playing once again. At the age of 66, I'm not anticipating being on stage. I simply felt like fiddling around with a decent guitar at home; sort of as a hobby of sorts. After checking out numerous guitars and amps, I decided the Squire Bullet series was a good fit. I bought the Limited Edition in red sparkle. I also bought a Fender Champion 20 amp. The pros: A really nice looking guitar. No visible flaws. Nice slim neck, excellent for those looking for a great starter guitar, especially if your hands and fingers aren't big/huge. Could be a potential candidate for modification further down the line. Super pick ups for a guitar in this price range! Cons: One, some fret buzz on the 5th and 6th string. Not 100% sure though that this is caused by the guitar or my novice playing skills.Joe G.

This was my first guitar and I must say the feel is better than my American standard strat. It's very light, the Finnish is stunning and keeps in tune pretty well. Although there were a few minor flaws for one one of the screws running heads popped off. I was just playing and I popped off. Another thing the pickups are really really sensitive and playing through an amp will make it sound dirty. Also the frets will buzz a bit.Lastly some of the fret ends were minor lay sharp. This guitar is good but it had a "cheap" fell to it. I would only recomend this for beginnersColin

besides the weird booming sound coming from the amp when strumming, and the guitar constantly being out of tune. i would suggest this to a friend when starting out. however if you have more prior experience, get a better guitar and amp than this one. other than that, the price is somewhat equal to the quality of the guitar.thao

…so I purchased this as an alternative to my acoustic guitar. The 1st thing I noticed is how light it was. The maple neck was a different feel and gave me more accessibility to the frets. Once I got the guitar in tune I was surprised how nice it sounds. The amp is not the best, but if you don't have one, you won't notice. Overall I like this guitar. Thank you Fender for making an affordable electric guitar. I would get this again for a beginner. As I progress, this guitar is pushing me to upgrade to another Fender. It's that good. I have a lot of fun with this G-tar.No name

I have always been pleasantly surprised at the quality of these cheaper Squier Affinity and other similarly priced Squier guitars. I have played Squiers for decades, including jazz basses, Teles, and of course this Stratocaster. It plays as well as a guitar can play. It looks absolutely gorgeous. It sounds like any much higher priced Strats and the humbucker is a great go-to for playing leads without having to have a pedal boost or having to go to the amp controls for boost. It set up as well as any Fender I have worked on and I have worked on quite a few over the years. I would not hesitate to use this guitar on any stage or in any studio production. The frets needed no top or side dressing and no leveling.bobvarns

Ultimately, this guitar is terrific! It seems to be one of the few Squiers that has better than not appointments (considering the fact that they are generally "bare bones" in terms of body woods, etc …) If you're new & want a good single coil strat sound…..yep…….if you know what you're doing already & want a strat you can woop on……yep…..if you want a nice sounding guitar that would normally cost a few $$ more for equal quality?? ……..still yep…… Automatically, add a couple sets of strings to your cart too (I snagged a couple DR Blues 10-46 sets, although the stock Fenders don't sound bad at all honestly) & stretch em on! The only tuning issues I experienced was due to needing to stretch em out a few times to stay tuned (***….tug the string from bridge to nut, back n forth like you were playing a chello with a bow hahaha ….., while also continuing to tune them back up repeatedly). From there, you should be dialed & throughly enjoy this killer, cost efficient strat just about as much as you'd appreciate one that cost a grand!!! Cheers!!T Dogg

This is an incredible guitar ! I bought it as a modding platform, but after having spent a few hours with it, I quickly decided it what mostly stay untouched. These are economic tuners, but man do they stay in tune. After polishing and dressing the frets, graphite-ing the nut, and replacing the strings, I had to tune twice in a 2 week period ! The original plan was to replace them with vintage style tuners, but why waste the money, they're great ! I bought the shell pink, and the color, fit and finish are perfect. It weighs 7.5 lbs, so on the lighter side, which I love. The neck has a better looking wood grain than my Vintage Modified '70s, and about the same feel, at least I don't feel a difference. I don't know if it's because of the top load hard tail bridge or what, but this guitar is VERY resonant, and sustains forever. The pick ups are definitely not top of the line, as the price implies, but they sound really good. My original plan was to replace them with Kent Armstrongs, but I really liked the neck PU a lot, and while I don't have strong opinions either way about the middle and bridge, I thought I would try replacing the electronics first. I installed a Gunstreet Wiring Shop Blender harness (blends neck and bridge PUs), and now I get all the tones I could possibly want. I'm definitely keeping the stock PUs ! Like I said, with a little fine tuning of the set up, it plays and sounds like a dream, looks fantastic, and is priced incredibly well. I couldn't recommend it more.Playin for fun

This is my first electric guitar. It is well made and arrived in great condition. The Scan set up is a real plus and ensured it was ready to play straight out of the box. Everything you need to start your guitar journey is in the package. The included amp is small and simple to use. More than adequate for practice and home use. The Fender Play Instruction is well worth looking into. Overall an excellent package worthy of serious consideration.Heathpk

1 month review with guitar being setup professionally: Great pickups and tone and overall good sounding guitar after a proper setup, gorgeous nitro finish and paintjob. Relic effects are beautiful. The nitro finish feels thin enough for you to eventually make your own marks from repeated playing – a perfect way to tell a story and give the guitar character. Worn in neck feels amazing to play and not sticky to touch. Worth noting that the Pure Vintage 59 pickups on these don't have a reverse-wound middle pick, so there will be hum including positions 2 and 4. If you are easily annoyed with single coil hum, these pickups might not be for you. Also worth noting that these pickups do sound a bit warmer than a stock Fender Player pickups. These respond so MUCH better to high gain type of playing, all while still sounding amazing on low-gain and clean playing. Despite the pros, there are still some areas are lacking and needs improvement. The guitar had razor sharp frets along the binding that could easily cut you, meanwhile I have a $700 MIM fender player didn't have this problem straight out of the box. It's crazy to think that $700 guitar went through better QA than a $1200 guitar, but whatever, the frets are bound to be polished and worked on anyway with your initial setup regardless. CME's shipping page policies say "Every guitar gets a full inspection, as well as basic setup." Guitar came with an inspection card that had overall playability specs checked but some of it was questionable. The guitar was not playable at all out of the box despite letting it acclimate for over a day before opening BUT that is a given considering it spent time in a delivery truck trunk in freezing winter. However, it was a bit bogus how they even checked off volume output when the pickups were NOWEHERE near the appropriate height out of the box and there was BARELY any audible output on the treble side of the guitar. I highly doubt weather and temperature fluctuation will make the pickup screws spin by themselves to the degree at which the pickups came out of the box. Secondly, the tremolo springs at the back also weren't ******* in the appropriate depth for a either a floating or flushed trem setup – it was just sort of in the middle of the cavity. Weather fluctuation from their shop and may have affected string tension, but I also don't think it would make the claw springs in the back unscrew themselves to the degree the guitar came. Makes me wonder how thorough the inspection was. These might not matter as much to some especially those who will get their new guitars setup anyway, but it's good to note that you may still need to budget for a setup if you aren't doing it yourself. Although there could've been improvements on Fender and CME's part that I don't think could be blamed on external factors such as weather and climate fluctuations, overall, I would still 100% recommend this guitar, and it's a gem. The guitar played well after a proper setup, so I'm happy with it now. The price may be too expensive for some considering it's not made in USA, but it must be considered that this is the cheapest proper nitro-finish guitar you will currently find. The next best thing are Fender custom shop, so this guitar is perfect for those looking to enjoy vintage style paint/nitro body finish, and vintage specs without paying custom shop prices. The appearances are just a plus, since they sound and play amazing after a proper set up.Carlos T.

I've been playing for a little while, I rehearse with my band once/twice a week so my guitars definitely get played quite a bit, I've preferred Stratocasters from an early age. The shape is legendary and the tone is versatile. I own Chinese, Japanese, U.S. and Mexican Strats. This one is very comparable to my American Professional Stratocaster, the neck profile, the weight and intonation. Electronics are great, single coils produce a sweet twangy clean tone and the humbucker roars really nice with the right amount of gain/distortion. Makes it a very comfortable instrument that plays as easy as mantequilla on a hot tortilla. Only issue, (hence the 'almost comparable to MIA strats comment in the headline) are the frets… They are a little bit on the sharp side, I'm guessing it comes down to a player's preference? A competent luthier can dress the fret ends and make this one a real player/main axe. Other than the sharp frets, everything else is pretty solid and straight, the vatos down in Ensenada MX do great work producing these!Benjamin

So my story goes like this, I flew into Portland Oregon for work and immediately drove from the airport to Guitar Center. Upon walking in, someone was shredding on a guitar and it went on for a good 10 minutes. The guitar he was playing was the Candy Red Burst Fender Stratocaster Player Series. After he was done, I grabbed it and saw why he played it so long. It felt just solid in the hands. The strings, fret board and neck were silky smooth; Super easy to glide up and down with no fret buzz. The pickups are all Fender Player Stratocaster series which I have had no issue with and perform great out of the box. Also, just holding the guitar is a treat in the hands. It's a beautiful guitar. The Candy Red Burst has a very high functioning coat that gives a deep black fade anyway you turn it. It also fit my bill for something to remember Oregon by since the guitar is a deep Rose Red and Portland is know as the City of Roses.The Pau Ferro fingerboard is also eye candy as it has black veins that run through the grain matching the black hardware of the guitar. Other then that, I have had this guitar for 5 months as of this review and absolutely love it. The guitar holds its tune very well I enjoy playing it every time. Wait, you still reading this? Go get one already!Allan

I got this guitar on September 14th, 2021, and have had some minor issues with it. When I receive this guitar, it was perfect. Not a single case of fret buzz, the nut was perfect, and it was an all around great guitar. However, after about a month. I realized the tuners were a bit out of wack. I would be a bit flat, and turn the tuning peg over and over and over, only to not tighten the string at all. Then when I finally did one last turn, I'd be sharp by a whole note! Whatever, just replace the tuners. I had been putting that off. The next issue was a bit weird. I play really hard, and over time, the bridge pins were starting to get loose, and eventually a whole screw came out, and I had to take the guitar to a tech. I know this is probably user error, but still. I eventually just decided to turn it into a Jonny Greenwood tele, with lace sensors, a kill switch, and all. And let me tell you, this guitar is perfect now. The neck is (and always was) exactly what I was looking for. It's a bit thinner that my Squier Affinity Strat, but I like a thinner neck. Bottom line, I would recommend this guitar if your okay with getting new tuners. No one else I know has had problem with the bridge, so consider that. (P.S. I forgot to say that the stock pickups are amazing! I almost just kept them, they sound really good)Cory

Sound: I can get any sound I want just through the pickup selector, tbx and midrange boost controls, and the master volume takes it over the edge for extra crunch. Playing by myself I preferred the middle pickup, but in a band situation the neck pup cuts through brilliantly with lovely clean treble twang. This is a great guitar for biting blues or rock tones, or dial it back for a nice soft clean tone. I mostly play through a Blackstar TVP 60 or Marshall DSL40, but I keep both mostly clean where it's just starting to break up, which I can control by my attack. Features: The best feature for me is the playability of the neck. The satin finish combined with the low vintage frets is just super smooth. I played about a dozen different Strat models before finding the EC, and once I played it there was no other choice to make. The noiseless vintages pups are a breeze, and the controls do everything Fender claims. Ease of Use: The EC just fell to hand for me immediately, like no other guitar I'd played before or since. 'Nuff said. The pups allow me to keep tight control on feedback only when I want it. Quality: This is a pure quality instrument, and I love everything about it. Having said that, after 2 years there's quite a bit of fret wear from bending, so I'll need to refret with stainless steel wire for longer wear. The volume pot has started to get a bit dirty and noisy, so it needs a clean, even though I've only played in clean environments. Value: Worth it's weight in gold. I have not played another guitar that makes me want to buy it. Manufacturer Support: Haven't need manufacturer support, but in Australia I have Fender-registered luthiers. The Wow Factor: This is EC's guitar, as close as I'll ever get, which is a big selling point. But sheer playability, quality, and value for money, plus pride of ownership, make it simply the best. Overall: Just a fabulous, playable guitar, the best I've ever played.Peter

Arrived in great shape. So far, I love this guitar, and despite all the videos I watched and reviews I'd read, I was still amazed at the sheer number of tones you can get out of it. With the mid and treble boosts, you can really go from "typical strat" tones to get incredible sustain and hit the front of the amp quite hard to get good breakup.Pros:- American Strat quality, fit and finish is good, rolled fret board, etc.- The electronics – endless variety of tones. Not great for modern metal or hard rock, but anything else will work.Cons:- This would be a hard guitar to work into a live venue if you play with other guitars as well. It is LOUD, so much louder than my Les Paul or anything else I own that I have to play with the levels and EQ on the amp. In my house, no big deal. At a gig, that may be tough. That said, I don't own other guitars with active electronics, so maybe other active pickups are also this much louder?- Requires you to unscrew the back plate to change the battery. I'm sure this keeps costs down, but on my active basses it's a lot easier to open the battery compartment without screws. Make sure you have a full battery before a gig.- I was surprised at the amount of set-up I had to do to get rid of fret buzz. Given the amount of distance in shipping, time in warehouses, temperature/humidity differences, etc. my guess is that it was probably fine when it left the factory, but it's the first guitar I've bought online that had so many strings/frets buzzing. Luckily a couple turns on the saddle screws fixed it all without appreciably raising action.Neither good nor bad: – The neck profile is unique to the Clapton. It feels like "a more playable vintage profile" to me. It's definitely not a modern profile. You'll either like it or you won't 🙂 I found it really easy to adjust to, and it seems to work great for "thumb over"- The bridge is similarly vintage, and comes blocked. If you really want the newer Fender bridge, you are out of luck. Given my set-up experience (above), I'm not convinced I could just "remove the block" and have it playable without additional set-up.- Tweed case looks amazing, but is not form fitting like the new TSA case that comes with other American Fenders. I wanted a tweed case, and I don't fly with my guitar, so not a big deal to me.Overall I feel like I made the right choice in buying a Strat, and I can't put it down. If your goal is to make Clapton sounds (or any other great Blues/Rock sounds) – this is a fantastic guitar.Metal Head

I am a 59 year old guitar player, had expensive and cheap gear over the years. I don't think I'm technically great but know how to get a good sound. When looking for a cheap guitar to sit with, my Les Paul and even my '88 Strat often got a bit uncomfortable , I decided to try one of these, you can return them after all, no trouble. What a great little guitar! Obviously GAK probably don't get these out of the box to check them, my box was still stapled shut from the factory, and this is OK at this level but I worry a beginner would be put off if the guitar is poorly set-up. First off the finish is superb, no rough edges to the frets, the colour and gloss on the body was perfect, the unvarnished neck just sits comfortably in the hand, I picked this above the more expensive 'Affinity' as apparently the nut width is a little wider. I didn't need to adjust the neck, I just cut the nut a little lower on the G,B and E strings for comfort. The frets needed a light rubbing with fine wet and dry and that was it, a perfect, light practise tool. I would even gig with this no problem. Each and every one of the tuners work smoothly and firmly. Sound wise, it sounds like a Tele to me and this is always a very subjective and personal thing anyway, I don't like overly powerful pickups (my Les Paul has '57's) I prefer to push the sound with pedals. All I can say is, if not sure, 'Buy one'. I have done nothing but played this to death since I got it 4 days ago, hard on the finger tips as I haven't played regularly for a while. I hope I haven't just got a 'good one' and would like to think any of them would be as good, all the reviews I read suggests so.Customer

This guitar is the Squire Stratocaster Bullet by Fender. The guitar is an excellent guitar for the price. The tones have a wide range. You can get a very clean sound, a very bluesy sound, and good distortion when running through a pedal. I use a Zoom II 505 effects pedal and a Marshall practice amp. When I do not want to disturb the neighbors I can use just the pedal with headphones. Bright sharp sounds are crisp when run through the pedal. This is great for rhythm and leads because the guitar can get clear notes on distortion when playing from the Double Humbucker position. Playing from the neck pickup results in a rich tone that can sound like Iron Maiden. The fret board has a good feel to it. The frets are not as good as on higher end guitars, but a good player will feel comfortable with the smoothness in playing this guitar. The guitar also stays in tune remarkably well. I have not played in some time so I have yet to be adventurous with the Tremolo. So I do not have an opinion of how it stays in tune when using Tremolo. When holding the guitar on the lap it tends to slide on the leg. Strats are best played while standing up, moving around and playing with your whole body involved. The light weight of the guitar allows a freedom to move. The neck is a good shape and easy onthe hand. The body has a great finish and the wood grain comes through the lacquer. This makes for a very attractive instrument that will look good on stage or in front of your friends in the living room. Disclaimer: If you are a good guitar player you will get a great sound. If you are not a good guitar player you will get a sound like someone killing cats no matter how expensive the guitar is. That is what makes this guitar such a great guitar. For a starter guitar, you won't spend a lot on it. If you give it up then you haven't wasted a lot of money. If you get better and make the guitar sound great, you will want to keep it even when you buy a more expensive guitar. Why, because this is a great guitar with great sound, great feel and great look at a great price!!!chuckamania35mm

Overall great beginner or budget guitar, sounds great with both the single coils and humbucker, quality wise there were a few issues I found with the fret work on my particular guitar but nothing a little filing can’t fix. Superb service from PMT as always, arrived exactly when they said it would and packaged great.George F.

I had been looking for a first guitar for a while. After lots of research I decided to go for the Squier, knowing the build had a relation to Fender. I'm happy with the guitar. You can see where they have cut corners to save money, things like the volume and tone knobs are quite plasticy, but for a first guitar I'm very happy. I went for the hard tail option as I didn't feel I needed a tremolo. Overall very happy.Jack H.

I have twenty Fenders, including seven telecasters, and this is better than all of them. The neck feels like its been played for years, and the shape is perfect. Heavy rolled edges make it a pleasure to play with my thumb over the neck. First guitar I have bought that I had to raise the action slightly on the top two strings. Set up for fast playing or chords straight out of the case. The colour is sparkly brownish, but looks black in most light. Very well made guitar. The pickups are noiseless and are silent even with pedals. They sound like standard pickups, no loss of signal because of the extra windings for the noise cancellation. Sound fine. I must say, the pro 1 series pickups sound better. All in all a lovely instrument, well worth the extra few quid.STEVEN T.

Overall: I have an Ultra Strat in Cobra Blue, an Ultra Jazz Bass in Texas Tea, a Les Paul Standard Gold Top and other guitars. This has the most beautiful finish (Sunburst). Way better than the picture or videos. The tone is amazing. Light weight at 6.2 pounds. Officially my favorite guitar. Add to that they shipped it to me in 25 hours after promising 5 days. Ordered Monday noon and here it is. They had it in a warehouse near Reno and I got it next day. zZounds you ROCK.William

The Fender Ultra Telecaster Texas Tea is an amazing guitar, at first I noticed the D-Shape neck and quickly adapted to it. The neck feels silky smooth, hand glides over frets and is easy to play. The sound from pickups are brutally brilliant, and wit the S1 switch built into the tone knob, sends a slightly different signal, bit more gain with full richness depending on the selector position of course. I went initially seeking for the Jimmy Page Dragon Guitar and walk out of the shop with this Ultra instead, and for the few hundred dollars more, this guitar is totally worth it. The look of it is killer, and so classy – if there is an ultra guitar series in your guitar shop locally, don't hesitate to pick it up and test it out. This guitar is HOT! It's difficult to see in these photos but the colour under certain light angles are different and has small sparkling metallic substances mixed in with the colour. It's a black oily dark grey/brown. The neck has a vintage tone colour and the rosewood neck and skunk stripe just makes this guitar special.Jim T.

First of all, this is a gorgeous guitar. It looks just great. It has a big, rich sound even moreso than other larger bodied guitars I've seen. The tuner works great. I love playing it. A few minor issues. First, I find the action high, & the bridge is not adjustable. 2nd, the complaints others have offered about the fret edges being VERY rough are entirely true: you can practically leave your hand bloody, I'm sure, if you play long enough, just from being roughed up by the fret edges. I'll try filing them down & refinishing them, as some have suggested. Finally, you'll want to get rid of the strings & go with a lighter gauge, partly to alleviate the high action issue. I'd get this guitar again. I think it is a $500 – $600 guitar lurking for only a little more than half that price. But before recommending it to a friend, I'd point out these couple issues.DET

Poor quality control! Neck is a mess with all of the fret ends protruding and sharp. One fret is noticeably higher causing all kinds of issues. Inside edge of the sound hole is poorly finished and some of the ribs look rough, like they weren't sanded smooth. This one's going back!Bill

The guitar arrived with no tool kit or case candy, labels, etc. There was a piece of thread where a label should have been, but no label. I restrung it and tried for two days to get the tuning and intonation right, to no avail. (I have been playing a lot of years…not a beginner). Worst of all looking around the guitar there was a patch of, what appeared to be, dried blood. My conclusion was that this guitar had been sent out to someone else. They had possibly pricked a finger whilst stringing it, then realising it was badly made had returned it. When I ordered, PMT just sent the returned guitar out to me hence no label or tool kit. Like my review title says…very disapointed.Hugh C.

Incredible guitar in all respects. Plays very nicely. Plenty of volume, and killer tone. Built like a truck! Finish, and look are stellar! Light weight, and balanced. Great for rock, blues, and jazz! Neck is really nice! A simply super quality guitar thats worth every penny. Way above a starter guitar. Used for pro recording, and concerts. Fender has this one done right. If you want more tones, go the the 399 model, but this one is great, and versatile enough for me. Gets many comps from the crowd, and other musicians! Very original cool design!Jack

Overall: Wow, I love this bass……From the moment I received this bass, it has been my go to axe. The pickups are excellent and very aggressive, yet keep that P bass type tone. Both pickups have proven to be very articulated in the mids and not to boomy in the lows. Just perfect for my taste. The highs are very clear but not too disjointed from the mids and lows. I use Rotosound 77 flatwounds. I did change the crappy bridge to a Hipshot Kickass bridge.Now, lets talk about the neck. I do agree that the neck is a little heavy but if you are sitting down, that should not be a problem. If you are standing up then you should be using a 3" wide strap. That rule goes for most Fender style basses. The neck is wide because it projects a P style tone that can only be accomplished by this thick neck type. If you pick up a 50's type P bass you will notice very quickly how thick the neck is, yet some bass players won't play anything else.Tone, sustain and playability. That is what you get with this bass. It's definitely not a bass for everyone but this bass is a kickass bass if you are comfortable with it.The frets were perfectly dressed and the fretboard had a nice finish. If you look at the shape of this Jaguar bass you will notice a lot of real estate in the slab of the body. This, along with this neck makes a perfect combination for sustain and presence which you can feel through your chess as you play it. The designers at Fender really know what they are doing.There is a reason why the Fender MIM basses are so popular.Sotero

Overall: Wonderful instrument, the best I've owned. Setting the intonation was the hardest for me of the guitars I've owned, but once it is setup it is wonderful. The quality is amazing. I have never owned a Fender before and it is the best I have had. The vibrato arm sends it out of tune if you try dive bombing lulz Not really a complaint, just a fact. I am not too impressed with the pickups (they produce what seems to be a lot of telecaster sound) but that is not a problem either because I always swap the stock pickups out anyways. I love the 24 inch scale, I feel like the 22nd fret in not necessary though on this short scale, the additional fret pushes the frets closer together and would makes some chords harder to pull off that need lots of fingers on the same fret. Luckily for me i have small hands and fingers so not an issue. I still love this guitar and plan to keep it forever.Justin

If it wasn't so beautiful looking and if it didn't sound so good I wouldn't have played it so much. Now I can't return it without significant restock fees and shipping. My opinion is that the guitar I received has a major problem. I haven't completely sorted it out but here it is: significant static pops come through the amp when I touch or rub a a place on the pickguard near the selector switch. My guess is there is either a bad solder joint or two wires pinched together. So I have to pack the thing off to a Fender repair shop for warranty work. I've owned many guitars both new and old and this is a first. Yes it is the lowest cost offset one can buy with the name Fender on the headstock. But I've several less expensive Squiers that were perfect. The quality of the components and the fit and finish of this guitar seem great. Now to get the static fixed. I had heard that MExican Fenders were very well made, not the electronics on this one.vinny71

So I have had this guitar for two years now, and while it is a fantastic guitar for the rock/ hard rock/ metal thing, it is not very useful for anything else. The craftsmanship is great, it is American, not Mexican, mine in particular is lightweight. If you try to keep you guitars pristine then do not get this guitar. The finish is very thin, and is prone to chipping fairly easily, which doesn't bother me, but if things like that bother you then look elsewhere. The EMG's are EMG's that's the tone that you'll get. The ebony fretboard is smooth and consistently black, and the action can be set quite low. Overall it is a very solid guitar, but if you want versatility look for a different guitar, but if you want a guitar with all these specs, just some different pickups then get some different pickups. The neck is not a thin as maybe people think, just a modern C so its thin enough for comfort and speed, but thick enough so it feels like their something there. But worth the cash.Kyle

Really awesome guitar, simplicity at it's finest. 2 Great pickups, EMG 81 bridge, 60 neck ups, 3 position switch, one volume knob and hard tail bridge. Cleans up nicely and gets all the tones.Will

1 month review with guitar being setup professionally: Great pickups and tone and overall good sounding guitar after a proper setup, gorgeous nitro finish and paintjob. Relic effects are beautiful. The nitro finish feels thin enough for you to eventually make your own marks from repeated playing – a perfect way to tell a story and give the guitar character. Worn in neck feels amazing to play and not sticky to touch. Worth noting that the Pure Vintage 59 pickups on these don't have a reverse-wound middle pick, so there will be hum including positions 2 and 4. If you are easily annoyed with single coil hum, these pickups might not be for you. Also worth noting that these pickups do sound a bit warmer than a stock Fender Player pickups. These respond so MUCH better to high gain type of playing, all while still sounding amazing on low-gain and clean playing. Despite the pros, there are still some areas are lacking and needs improvement. The guitar had razor sharp frets along the binding that could easily cut you, meanwhile I have a $700 MIM fender player didn't have this problem straight out of the box. It's crazy to think that $700 guitar went through better QA than a $1200 guitar, but whatever, the frets are bound to be polished and worked on anyway with your initial setup regardless. CME's shipping page policies say "Every guitar gets a full inspection, as well as basic setup." Guitar came with an inspection card that had overall playability specs checked but some of it was questionable. The guitar was not playable at all out of the box despite letting it acclimate for over a day before opening BUT that is a given considering it spent time in a delivery truck trunk in freezing winter. However, it was a bit bogus how they even checked off volume output when the pickups were NOWEHERE near the appropriate height out of the box and there was BARELY any audible output on the treble side of the guitar. I highly doubt weather and temperature fluctuation will make the pickup screws spin by themselves to the degree at which the pickups came out of the box. Secondly, the tremolo springs at the back also weren't ******* in the appropriate depth for a either a floating or flushed trem setup – it was just sort of in the middle of the cavity. Weather fluctuation from their shop and may have affected string tension, but I also don't think it would make the claw springs in the back unscrew themselves to the degree the guitar came. Makes me wonder how thorough the inspection was. These might not matter as much to some especially those who will get their new guitars setup anyway, but it's good to note that you may still need to budget for a setup if you aren't doing it yourself. Although there could've been improvements on Fender and CME's part that I don't think could be blamed on external factors such as weather and climate fluctuations, overall, I would still 100% recommend this guitar, and it's a gem. The guitar played well after a proper setup, so I'm happy with it now. The price may be too expensive for some considering it's not made in USA, but it must be considered that this is the cheapest proper nitro-finish guitar you will currently find. The next best thing are Fender custom shop, so this guitar is perfect for those looking to enjoy vintage style paint/nitro body finish, and vintage specs without paying custom shop prices. The appearances are just a plus, since they sound and play amazing after a proper set up.Carlos T.

I've been playing for a little while, I rehearse with my band once/twice a week so my guitars definitely get played quite a bit, I've preferred Stratocasters from an early age. The shape is legendary and the tone is versatile. I own Chinese, Japanese, U.S. and Mexican Strats. This one is very comparable to my American Professional Stratocaster, the neck profile, the weight and intonation. Electronics are great, single coils produce a sweet twangy clean tone and the humbucker roars really nice with the right amount of gain/distortion. Makes it a very comfortable instrument that plays as easy as mantequilla on a hot tortilla. Only issue, (hence the 'almost comparable to MIA strats comment in the headline) are the frets… They are a little bit on the sharp side, I'm guessing it comes down to a player's preference? A competent luthier can dress the fret ends and make this one a real player/main axe. Other than the sharp frets, everything else is pretty solid and straight, the vatos down in Ensenada MX do great work producing these!Benjamin

So my story goes like this, I flew into Portland Oregon for work and immediately drove from the airport to Guitar Center. Upon walking in, someone was shredding on a guitar and it went on for a good 10 minutes. The guitar he was playing was the Candy Red Burst Fender Stratocaster Player Series. After he was done, I grabbed it and saw why he played it so long. It felt just solid in the hands. The strings, fret board and neck were silky smooth; Super easy to glide up and down with no fret buzz. The pickups are all Fender Player Stratocaster series which I have had no issue with and perform great out of the box. Also, just holding the guitar is a treat in the hands. It's a beautiful guitar. The Candy Red Burst has a very high functioning coat that gives a deep black fade anyway you turn it. It also fit my bill for something to remember Oregon by since the guitar is a deep Rose Red and Portland is know as the City of Roses.The Pau Ferro fingerboard is also eye candy as it has black veins that run through the grain matching the black hardware of the guitar. Other then that, I have had this guitar for 5 months as of this review and absolutely love it. The guitar holds its tune very well I enjoy playing it every time. Wait, you still reading this? Go get one already!Allan

I like the Tele style. Not a huge fan of the all black (the other color was orange and that's fine but it doesn't really match anything else I have). Plays great, no issues so far. Slight buzzing but I expected to need to have it set up to my liking anyway and I can only hear it a bit on clean settings. I like the dual humbuckers a lot (as compared to another Tele I returned that was slightly nicer but semi hollow and had single coil or p90s).Tyler

Ok I bought this guitar (black/black affinity HH) AND a butterscotch Squier bullet telecaster (the HH was on sale) on the same day. They both arrived on the same day. Also, my daughter has the standard affinity tele with maple neck. Couple of things I noticed: the rosewood fretboard top was dry as a bone. It also had some nicks here and there. The back of the neck was never treated. "Satin" finish? I don't think so. Raw wood finish more like. I got the lemon oil out and got to work. Much better now. The BIG flaw, however, is the paint flaw on the back of the body. As you may know, these bodies are made of of three pieces of wood. Unfortunately, it is VERY obvious when looking at the back of my guitar where one of these joints meet. A clean line down the back of my guitar when looked at in certain light. Kind of disappointing. I really do have a theory that solid paint guitars get the crappier pieces of wood. I mean, the mfg can just sand it and paint it and you will never know (most of the time). But on natural stains and sunbursts, the real grains of the wood show thru. Anyhow, it does have decent fret work, the action seems fine. The matching headstock does look nice. The black tuners are GARBAGE. The chrome tuners on the Bullet and maple neck Affinity I own are much better. These will be the first thing I swap out. I'm going to keep it because the major flaw is on the back and doesn't seem to affect tone. Still, you all are crazy if you think this is a 5-star guitar.Daxmo

It's amazing how good the overseas factories have gotten. There was almost nothing to nitpick on – the frets might have felt just a tiny bit "gritty" but after a couple hours going up and down the neck picking notes and doing bends, it sorted itself out without any other intervention needed. I have another "typical" telecaster with single coils and I wanted to see what a tele + humbucker would sound like and I was not disappointed. NO NOISE and NO HUM even when I cranked it up well into overdrive. Tuned to drop D and was just AMAZED at the overall tone and sustain. I just kept shaking my head and grinning. It holds up very well to parts that are easily 2 and 3 x the price I paid. Fender MIM, Ibanez RG, etc These may be the best electric guitar value for the money anywhere on MF. Excellent upgrade chassis for when you inevitably swap the pickups out and maybe get locking tuners and a TUSQ nut and at that point you could tour with it. No kidding. It's that good.EVH wannabee

I'm not employed by Fender, have many terrific guitars from Gibson, Fender, Martin – most US, some Fender made in Mexico which are nice playing, quality instruments. They all need their tweaks here and there to get to your personal level of playability and satisfaction. As for Telecasters, currently have 3 including this new one in Miami Blue (we'll get to that in a moment) and this is hands down, the absolute best Telecaster I've ever played or owned. It is SO comfortable – out of the case (which is a new style and impressive on its own merit) was flawless. Put a strap on, tuned and felt something odd – nice lightweight alder, it felt different, smaller, more comfortable . . . it's the same size of course but the edges of the body are more rounded than the typical hard flat Tele body I've been familiar with for so long. The neck heel is contoured, the fretboard edges are rolled and fret wire are like butter! Pickups and push button which activates both pickups in series make the tone range so wide. Very impressed to say the least. Now, the Miami blue shown in stock photos here and elsewhere looks much lighter and brighter than in person. The actual color is darker with a greenish tint to it. Either way, the guitar is not going anywhere but would like you to be aware and search for pics on Google until you see or have a grasp of what the range of photos capture. It's not a traditional Fender color but looks fantastic – I know you will not be disappointed.PJ

In my previous review I stated that four saddles kill tone… but I meant six saddles. Four have way better sustain, brightness, and punch… but less adjustable for intonation. Six saddles on the American professional II killed the tone. For that reason the performer sounds way better, plus the push push option just sounds muddy… not worth the added cost except sounds decent for gain on the middle position. The neck on both the professional II and performer are both great it just comes down to personal taste on thickness. I have the performer, a Classic Vibe, and just bought the professional II. Returning the professional II and keeping my others that I think sound quite a bit better for clean playing. But the professional II is very well but and sounds good… just not as good… again probably because of the six saddles…or wimpy sounding pickups… I'm not sure why. But still a very well made guitar… just try them all before buying…Thad

There's no such thing as a perfect guitar and because of that I don't like to give 5 stars in any review but this Telecaster is exceptional. I own 20+ guitars including high end Strats, Les Paul customs, a Lucille and an outstanding USA made vintage Gretsch. I love all those instruments but this Telecaster is something special. It's the most versatile guitar I own. This Telecaster can play as sweet or as nasty twangy as you want. It can do any genre with style. This telecaster is the only instrument I've ever owned that didn't need any adjustment after purchase. It came out of the box in absolutely perfect intonation. There were No sharp fret ends like on cheaper models and the action was perfect. I couldn't find any imperfections anywhere. The neck is smooth as butter, slick and fast, very nice. The V-Mod pickups are outstanding, with all the punch you would ever need. I also like the angle molded heel cut where the neck meets the body. All I did was put on a new set of Fender Bullet 9-42s and she was ready to go. I can't recommend this guitar highly enough if you need or want an exceptional Telecaster. I've played virtually all the other models and brands of the Tele and while some of those were excellent guitars, some were cheaper, some more expensive but none were as good as this version of the Telecaster in my opinion. It's just an outstanding guitar. I'm thinking about buying another one for my son because he won't leave mine alone. You need to play it through a good tube amp to get the most out of it but it still sounds great out of lesser amps like say a Fender Champion 100. I use a tube screamer pedal and a vintage tube Fender Reverb and vintage Gibson tube Dual medalist amps mostly. This Tele still sounds very good even when using some of my digital practice amps. I can't find anything wrong with this guitar. I just wish that I had found it sooner.Dennie