At 70 years previous, the Fender Strat is identical age because the transistor radio, the Miss America Pageant, and Elvis Presley’s debut single. Dare we are saying, it has aged higher than any of them. Moderately than constructing to unique 1954 specs, Fender is providing the seventieth Anniversary Strat as a particular version from the American Professional II line – pairing time-honored Stratocaster design components with updates drawn from seven a long time of mechanical enhancements and evolving participant preferences.

Unlocking the hardshell case, one is struck like the blokes in Pulp Fiction opening the briefcase. On-line photographs don’t do justice to the flame-maple prime with Comet Burst end burning softly from sizzling orange to burgundy to take advantage of chocolate. Off-white controls and pickup covers play to the well-aged aesthetic and distinction properly with the tortoiseshell pickguard. {Hardware} highlights embrace a commemorative seventieth Anniversary neck plate, locking tuners (with brief posts for a sharper break angle from the nut), and naturally a vibrato bridge – one among Leo Fender’s proudest designs.

The key power of this guitar, although, is its neck; the deep-C profile, 9.5″ fretboard radius, and 1.685″ nut width – all significantly totally different from 1954’s mannequin – contribute to its being one of many most-effortless necks you’ll discover. Rounded edges on the fretboard add to its feeling particularly ergonomic, and there’s notable resonance between the maple neck and alder physique (one other distinction from the unique ash).

Fender’s V-Mod (vintage-modern) pickups are acquainted to American Professional homeowners, with opinions being a bit divided. We didn’t detect the brittle or harsh traits that some reported concerning the unique V-Mods. On the contrary, these seventieth Anniversary V-Mod IIs sound heat, balanced, and able to basic Strat tones whereas plumping up the narrowness that places some gamers off single-coils altogether. A brand new push-on management on the second Tone knob provides the neck pickup to the bridge in positions 1 and a couple of – one other experiment on the ever-evolving Fender Strat.

This text initially appeared in VG’s June 2024 problem. All copyrights are by the writer and Classic Guitar journal. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.