Fender American Professional II Strat WORTH IT? 

Oh, i love playing Stratocaster-guitars, and i love to choose guitars who are better than Fenders, especially better than Fender USA! My first Stratocaster was an end-80ies ,,Fender American Standard Stratocaster“, and it was my worst guitar ever, and i´ve had a second Fender Strat, a mexican-Version, called ,,Fender Standard Stratocaster“ and this guitar have had a Poplar-body and sounded like soft shit. And so I learned that either Fender is cheating us because they deliver poor quality and workmanship or overpriced guitars with wet, poorly stored and less vibrating woods, and trying to compensate for this with overloaded, or fat-sounding, pickups, and that is the reason for the myths of the real, old vintage Strats, because back then they tended to use woods that were stored and had better vibratability were used. Or, and this is certainly true, the production volume is so high that the company is no longer able to get wood of the same quality for the entire production, and then the really good, well-vibrating guitars come from the current production not to Germany - I am in Germany, a country that the USA keeps under military occupation to this day, so we Germans are like modern slaves of the USA Occupation Force, the USA controls Germany to this day and abuses us Germans as a source of money ! At the beginning of the 90s I got my hands on my first ESP-S-400 series Strat, now there are four, but this first one had 42 slanted annual rings and had such a great attack and cracky, bony, twangy and wiry-sound by dry-playing, and this guitar has beaten every Fender USA Custom Shop Strat by far in comparisons, let alone the production models from Fender and also a real, vintage Fender 1963 Strat. Around 2006, based on my good experiences with ESP, I bought an "ESP Vintage Plus" Strat, with the best, densest wood, superbly crafted and with a flattened neck-body transition (SSS variant), this Vintage Plus was once again on point Overtones and sustain are a step better, they easily beat the MusicMans and Suhrs and cost 1100 euros new at the time! Then in 2014 i came across a cheap used BLADE Texas Classic and was blown away. It was good, it could easily compete with the ESPs, yes it plays in the same league as ESP and cost 350 euros used. A short time later I tried a "BLADE Texas Standard Pro" with VMC midboost, similar to the "Fender Eric Clapton Signature USA-Strat", exactly the same again, it was better than any Clapton signature guitar from Fender, had better swingable woods, a flattened neck-body transition (like the BLADE Texas Classic) and therefore much better playability than Fender! So I use a lot of good Strats at home and all of them are better than what I could buy as a Fender in Germany at completely overpriced prices! That's why I prefer to play Strats, but the main thing is that it never says Fender on it, but rather ESP-S-400-Series, ESP Vintage Plus, BLADE Texas Classic or BLADE Texas Standard Pro! Well, I can prove not only purely subjectively, but very objectively in terms of sound, that there are much better things than Fender, in some cases also much cheaper and easier to play! Why should I even buy a Fender, a guitar that is worse in terms of sound and workmanship and less playable at a completely overpriced price???? Why, can someone explain this to me??????

How much better than a player series, It sounds a lot better, Just not sure I'm liking any of the available colours.

After more than 2 years of abstinence, I went to the Music Station again and played 3 Fender American Professional II Strats, and again I noticed that the woods had little vibrancy, the maple necks were not very dense and responsive, there was little twang, little crunch , wiry-glassy, few overtones, sustain, attack, everything you associate with Fender guitars, everything is less than on my ESP 400 Series Strats and less than on my BLADE Texas models. This can be tested objectively and I can only say that I am extremely disappointed with this price-performance ratio. No, I can no longer objectively understand this adulation regarding Fender Strats. My first Stratocaster was a Fender American Standard Stratocaster and that was my worst guitar of all, a Fender Mexico Standard followed after that, but after I played the ESPs and the BLADEs everything was clear to me, and that proves itself again, every time, when I compare, the same result always comes out - what else can I say, it is true! The ESP-400-Series Strats and the BLADEs have objectively, noticeably and audibly better tonewood, the BLADEs even have a flattened neck-body-joint and covered fret slots and therefore much better playability!!! So, I'm done with Fender, I'm playing something clever, and at a much cheaper price. I don't want to talk anyone out of their love of Fender, I have nothing against you buying the (usually) worse guitars for a far too exorbitant price, you're welcome to do that. Then there will be more BLADEs for me, very simple! Thanks for listening!

@ CFn Around 🤣 I totally agree with you, I'm in the same situation but I'm getting the 🇺🇲 professional 2 telecaster Miami Blue 👍❗️

Same here 😂

Yeah, I'm gigging everynight, all my audience is myself (and the neighbors), but F do I feel like a rockstar with all that rig in my bedroom?! 😂😂🤣🤣😂😂

I got mine the same one for 1299 at guitar center today. Great deal

Why is it lower spec than your American Standard 2013?

@@jeremyp7823 Because he's jealous :P

*Steel.

I have a Miami Blue Tele, but the color has always looked more aqua to me. On film, it looks very sky blue, like the one shown here. There must be some variation in the paint batches

Is there a benefit to this over other processes?

@@RA-yc9fb ya know ! I dont know hahahaha i mean every gear savey person will or may have their own opinion on that ! I just guy and play guitars man

Being good enough ain’t got nothing to do with it lol but I’d probably check out some Japanese fenders before I dropped two grand on that one. A few years ago they had an American player or something like that Tele and Strat at guitar center and they were around 1000 dollars and they were sweet I wanted one but I thought eh I’ll probably always be able to pick up an American Strat for around 1000 ha ha yeah right Getting up around 2000 dollars I might be able to stretch and save a little more to get a Shur or other boutique builder

@@brandonjackson5865 Yeah, I have been there with a lot of stuff the last few years. Everything just keeps getting more and more expensive.

Yeah I bought a DSL20cr in 2020 and I thought it’d be cool to have another for a little stereo rig and whoops the things are nearly 1000 dollars now, it’s ridiculous .

Just to have it said, $1700 is the list price for this guitar. I bought one brand new in 2021 just before the 2022 price increases took effect for $1100. I realize that ship may have sailed- but you have to talk to your dealer, no matter who it is. Most stores will sell for less than list, you just have to be willing to ask for a discount. I really don't think there are too many guitars out there with this level of fit and finish going for less than $1500. I really don't get how people can complain about Fender's American pricing. I own Squiers, Mexican, and Japanese Fenders- these American Pro II's are worth every bit of $1700 all things considered.

@@mcdingus5081 I did just that earlier today. I ordered from sweetwater but talk to the tech first and they sold it to me for 1500 even. Plus tax of course.

Congrats and enjoy! Thanks for watching 🍻

I'm a lefty as well, getting the dark night with the rosewood board. I really like the metallic color as us lefties don't normally get cool metallic finishes.

There's an Alnico V at the bridge.

@Jon Oz dunno if it is setup or what, i have ibanez with same scale length ... the fender feels just stiff. i use 11s on my ibanez but i really struggle with 9s on fender. fender has that heavenly sound though 😅😅😅

Higher output pickups don’t always get the best out of a Strat, to me there’s something about lower output which sounds more natural.

This is not accurate. First, "mild steel" only speaks to the percentage of carbon that the steel contains. Low carbon steel has less carbon... has nothing to do with the rolling process. Cold rolling of steel makes it harder. Typically, molten steel is "poured" into slabs/ castings from a large "ladle". These slabs are then reheated to approx 2200F and rolled (think rolling out cookie dough) to a thinner thicknesses. Cold rolling happens after hot rolling and is utilized to decrease thicknesses further and with more dimensional accuracy. This cold rolling process, however work hardens the steel. There are then other thermo processes that can be utilized to re-soften(annealing) the material so that it is more formable(think car body panels) or other processes to make the steel harder depending upon the requirements of a purchaser of the steel. But to clarify cold rolled steel is harder than hot rolled steel. What that had to do with tone in a guitar is outside my area of expertise... lol.

Yeah, I prefer the V-mod II's myself. They are far more dynamic in range- every setting is very distinct from the others.

locking tuners are superfluous, they make zero difference to tuning stability

I prefer the American Vintage line to the American Professional if you can afford the jump in price, they are really great instruments. The best selling is the Player series, simply due to price point. I'm sure they sell more American Professional II than Vintage, but again it comes down to price. If you put aside price I will tell you that if you're into vintage vibe - American Vintage is an excellent choice but a very strong contender is the Vintera II series - check out the 60s Vintera II Strat, amongst the best I've played lately at a fraction of the price. Thanks for watching!

It's a beautiful guitar, QC can vary from guitar to guitar sounds like that one was no good. If you try again try zZounds: www.zzounds.com/a--3979398/item--FEN0113900 Thanks for watching!

@@PlayandTradeGuitars QC should _not_ vary (significantly) from guitar to guitar. Otherwise, what's the point of QC?

That is not normal for these guitars. I can tell you I tried out a ton at my local dealer and they all were the smoothest and best finished fret ends I have ever felt on a Fender neck. And I know my dealer doesn't set them up until you've had it for a week or two so they set it up to your preferences. I suspect the guitar you tried went through a severe climate change and needs to get refinished. Did the fretboard look dry on it?

Old comment, but I agree. I can feel the fret ends on my American Pro ii and it almost hurts my fingers.I got it on sale for $1,300 at a GC from the box. I keep playing my gibsons while the strat stays in the case. I really WANT to like playing it but my guitar playing time is limited.

I have that one you gonna be so happy

Excellent choice! Is that the Surf Green in this series? I love that color: www.zzounds.com/a--3979398/item--FEN0113902

@@PlayandTradeGuitars not OP but I just reserved one today. That colour is incredible in person. This guitar is more than I deserve at my level of playing but I had to spoil myself. The only thing I would have like to have seen is locking tuners at this price range. Especially considering their are relatively inexpensive. Great video, it raises my confidence that I made a good choice.

If you were to replace the wiring to match the higher end fenders, you’re good to go. No need to get an expensive one tbh. After a certain point its just diminishing returns

Just make the same guitar, no improvements. Good thing Fender doesn't listen to idiots or they'd be bankrupt.

Noiseless is garbage. I’d get a used player over player plus. You can get them used for $499 and mod up.

Thanks for watching and for the kind words!

That thing would irritate the 💩 outta me!

Why? Locking tuners don't add anything (except maybe for string changing). There is zero evidence that they improve tuning stability.

As a luthier myself, I believe locking tuners are better for trem equipped guitars. Other than that, yes they are much better when it comes to changing strings.

Yep, I agree. I actually bought pro II HSS thinking I'll dial it in but I cant, it just sounds tame and diluted. Thinking of selling it now.

@@prolaznik2214 that was my experience with the AmPro. Just sounded like a sterile facsimile of a strat. Now, I do love the pickups in both my Player tele and strat, but given they are an inexpensive mod platform, I’m eyeing down the CuNiFe and Cobalt chrome pickup sets 😎

@inboxmeontele_gramplayandtrade Thanks for messaging me

@Stewart Cochrane A strat's a strat's a strat and that's that.

@Stewart Cochrane How about just sell a "stratocaster" that's always available and always what players want. No need to get fancy about it or change some little detail and call it a new model. They should sell a '57 model, a '62 model, a 70s model, and maybe an 80s model (HSS and a Floyd) and always have all of them available. Easy. Not confusing. Not pretending they're something they're not.

The rolled fretboard edges feel amazing.

Every year it's a new "Strat". So damn happy I got my 93 Amer deluxe plus in 96. Back when we had to go by what's in the magazine of the month" they said these were as close to Custom Shop as production line could get. I think of it as a Shelby in a line of Mustangs. All the performance pieces from the factory. In 26 yrs the only thing I've done to this guitar is add the Hipshot Tremsetter and did that in the 1st week of ownership. Cranked the Fender Floyd Rose bridge up to whammy up and down and just play. In all this time NEVER had a problem with this guitar once. Keep all them "NEW" models. I got a lifetime keeper. In butt ugly yellow.

BraveNewIdiot. Guess what I think of your opinion?

You're right, push push! Thanks for watching