Fender Deluxe Strat

Fender introduces the Deluxe Strat, featuring Vintage Noiseless pickups and custom switching for expanded tone options.

This guitar is part of Fender’s new Deluxe line of instruments, all of which come with upgraded features, offering an innovative contrast to the company’s many “vintage” spec guitars. These guitars are meant for those who want familiar looking instruments that can do more than their conventional counterparts.

The new Fender Deluxe Strat is just one of 10 new instruments from the Deluxe line, and it is the most familiar since it takes the shape of the iconic Stratocaster. While it does look like your average Strat, this guitar gives you a wide variety of interesting tones.

Fender VP for Electric Guitars and Basses Justin Norvell said, “We are thrilled to debut the new Deluxe Series under our well-respected umbrella of electrics. The Deluxe Series provides musicians a perfect companion on stage and in the studio at an attainable price point; it’s the ideal upgrade for players as they advance on their musical journey without compromising quality for price.”

Instead of the usual “relic” style finish, this guitar has a double cutaway ash body wrapped in durable gloss polyurethane finish. According to Fender, this finish will keep the finish looking like new for years to come, easily able to handle the stresses of regular playing.

There’s nothing really distinct about the Deluxe Strat’s look, so it can be easy to mistake it as just another Strat on the block. But the inside of the guitar body is where the distinctive features are hidden, only made obvious by the guitar’s super quiet operation and versatile tones.

This guitar is equipped with triple Vintage Noiseless Strat pickups, which provides the same clarity and articulation as a standard single-coil pickup, without unwanted noise and hum. While noiseless pickups are not entirely new, what makes the Deluxe Strat special is how these pickups are wired together. In addition to the traditional five positions that you get via the 5-way pickup selector, Fender added a small push/push mini-switch between the two tone knobs that expands the tonal options further. In position four and five, pressing the switch will activate the bridge pickup, which lets you do unconventional pickup combinations like having the bridge and neck pickup running together, or having all three pickups working at the same time. The extra pickup combinations will give guitarists more tones to play with.

Another nifty new feature of this guitar is its modern two-point synchronized tremolo bridge, which features bent steel saddles for old school aesthetics, while allowing for smoother and more reliable tremolo motions. The Deluxe Strat’s maple neck heel is better contoured for improved playability, and it joins the body via an asymmetrical neck plate with 4-bolts. The fingerboard radius is flatter at 12″ to make the guitar shred friendly, while the scale length and nut width remains standard at 25.5″ and 1.650″ respectively.

This guitar includes a set of locking short-post tuning machines with increased break angle at the nut. These are designed to help with tuning stability and allow for quicker string changes. All the hardware come in nickel/chrome finish, while the pickups are wrapped in aged white pickup covers. The control knobs and switch tip also feature the same shade of aged white for consistency, while the three-ply B/W/B pickguard completes the guitar’s old school appeal.

For more information on the new Fender Deluxe Strat, you can visit Fender.

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