I was asked what I think about the Fender American Special series. So I thought I would share my thoughts and show my tele. Here are some other cool products from a dealer I trust and buy from online imp.i114863.ne...
I've got to agree. I've got a lot of Strats, and love them all, but the one I always gravitate to is my American Special, Sunburst, maple fretboard. There is just something magical about that guitar to me. And it is by far the least expensive Strat I own...
@Noartist since it just in the case... you can give it to me tho...hahahah... just kidding... But seriously, I really want to own an american fender..but, you know in asia...it is really pricey... just need to be happy with my chinese made AXL guitar right now...haha
@@psbii And I think I know why. I'm pretty certain that the saddles on the American special are softer than other American strats. It gives it a warm sound with lots of meat and musicality.
One thing about the Special, every part, screw, or spring at some moment in time was on a standard. Even the pick ups came on the standard for a minute. I love my Special, the neck is really sick.
Hi Phillip. After watching one of your awesome videos I had to watch all of them. Thank you for the insight you are providing to someone like me that wants to gain knowledge on these great instruments. You have a wonderful way to pass it on and I needed to let you know how much I enjoyed spending my day watching you on the tube. Thanks.
Wow I knew you looked familiar. I used to live near your store on Dobson and Chandler blvd. I purchased a coffin guitar case from you back in like 2005/2006. I've been watching your videos for a couple weeks now and it finally just hit me "wait, I know this guy!". I probably visited your store at least half a dozen times. I still have the coffin case too, it's held up very well over the years.
I also love the American Special - price, sound and pups, neck (satin) and I love my sonic blue! I have a standard tele, and an Am special strat- and - well, the strat gets more play for the sound and feel. The black logo- well, yeah- why that if it is an American product? But - with vanity set aside, I think my Sonic Blue strat looks, feels and sounds gorgeous. Thanks Phil!
I had one of the very first Highway Ones from 2003, which came with a small headstock and a thin nitro finish. Amazing guitar soundwise. I also had an American Special Tele from 2010 which was alright, but didn't inspire me much so I sold it again after a couple of months. At the moment I have an Am Standard and a Mexican Strat which I love both the same.
Although I have never played an American special. I have played a lot of guitars and I can say this. I strongly prefer satin over gloss. That is just a preference though. I have friends who prefer gloss.
Great video. I have a Special tele. Like you I love the neck, and I preferred the pickups and bridge over the Am Standard. I also dig the black scratchplate over the sunburst, so for me it was a no-brainer.
I bought a strat special in 2013 and LOVE it. I highly recommend. Phillip makes a good point about the jumbo frets. I also own a 1985 custom shop gibson flying V that I also love BUT I will admit the "playability" of the fender is better due to the jumbo frets.
For decades I loved the 70's logo and hated the spaghetti logo, until I bought a 1987 MIJ '62 Custom Tele with the spaghetti logo, now I love it especially since the lacquer has aged and yellowed.
I keep my 2013 american telecaster standard laid out on the spare bed in my computer room. The face of the headstock gets several hours of sun on it through the window. The finish has yellowed nicely over the years.
Thank you for sharing the difference between the special and standard. I makes sense that you would have to try both to decide which finish/neck you prefer.
I have an Am Special tele. I wet-sanded and polished the fretboard to gloss and sanded the back of the neck smooth with 600 grit sandpaper. I also got steel saddles and a bone nut. Its probably the best American Fender I have had so far. I have had 2 Am Std strats from the early/mid 2000s and I got rid of them both.
Thanks Philip, I'm trying out an American Special Strat tomorrow so this has been very useful. Pretty much everything you've mentioned in terms of the main differences is the reason I'm interested in the Special, as you say a lot of that is purely down to personal preference so hopefully it'll be both a good fit and an upgrade from my MIM. Cheers.
Ive got a high way one, which is basically the early special if I’m not mistaken, in the HSS config. Soon I’ll upgrade the humbucker to a Seymour Duncan Jazz. And the jumbo frets have made me sour towards standard strats now because they make playing so buttery smoooooth
I'm glad to run across this! I didn't know what the tiny hole was without tearing the neckoff,the micro tilt hole that is! I found a fender I had been unsure about because of it,The two screw tremolo was also a bit questionable. Thanks! It's a strat, stamped USA,found the serial online as well but was just puzzled by the micro tilt whole! Got it at a pawn shop,with case looked unplayed inthe fieta redcolor ?Cheap the more I'm learnin it's a true fender strat! got a LES Paul,cherry burst but likeing this as well!
I have a newer Tele brown burst mim body with a USA rosewood fret neck with Fender locking tuners with perloid buttons and Seymour Duncan hot rails for tele set and a black pick guard. Awesome looking. sounding and playing guitar. I love it.
Only possible explanation is where the bridge is made. On the special Stratocaster the bridge is made by Ping in Taiwan so they save money there. I would imagine on the Telecaster the bridge is made in Taiwan as well. Also the special neck is slightly cheaper because you can't adjust it at two places like on the standards and professionals. And on Sunburst models, I think they choose fancy or looking wood for the higher priced models. I've noticed more wood grain. Other than that they are just as good or better. I replace my bridges with callaham anyway, and always use custom wound pickups, so they are ideal for me. I just picked up a special Telecaster as well. Both are the best neck Fender makes.
The neck is a huge thing for me coming from a metal guitar background, jumbo frets are awesome. Besides, Evertune sells a modded American Special version which has their amazing bridge so really it's just down to the neck. The rest of it is just pickups which can be changed very easily. Thanks for the info Philip
I love the color choices with the American Special Strat, especially the surf green. I bought one about 6 months ago. Phil's right in that the American Standards and Specials have different feels. The Special felt better and sounded better to me. The quality build is identical.
Very Interesting. I'm trying to replicate a roughly 2016 - 18 Special Strat, in Olympic? White / Rosewood, that I saw & heard briefly at a friends place. She bought it for her sons B'day & for doing great in high school exams. He was already in a band. Great player & song writer by the way! Unfortunately, he's not with us any more. I've bought a few Squiers but none seem to match. I've just added them to my ever growing collection. I didn't want to gift her an Affinity, mainly because they have shot up in price here, in Australia. Saw the Perfect match yesterday online. I'll be picking it up on Friday, if he still has it. It's a 2022, 40th ann'? Squier STD Strat w' 2 point trem, HSS, & the 70s? Big headstock. Soon there'll be a 2nd anniversary fund-raiser "Jam for Sam" at a little pub near Newcastle NSW Australia. Last year was great! All local bands that play for Free. $20 on entry. I hope she'll be impressed! I've only told & shown her pics of the 1st I bought. Gone better quality with each 1. Bought her a Sansamp "Blonde" pedal & a nice old "Squier 15" amp too. She may faint ❤
This video was interesting. I still have a Highway One, and it sounds great. The only thing I did was change out the volume pot for an audio taper. I wore in the satin finish through use and now it feels like a gloss neck with glossy spots on the body. The frets have worn spots, so I have the action high in spots to compensate.
I have wanted another strat for quite a while and I have been looking for years for just the right one. stratocasters have 5 different neck designs, and five different fret shapes, the pickups I haven't counted but I finally found something close to what I want ( modern C neck, HSS texas specials, ) with jumbo frets I am not so happy with jumbo frets but I will try to live with them for now, ( I find they go sharp if you don't play with the exactly the right amount of pressure on the strings. the humbucker sounds "BAD" supposed to be a JB copy "they missed the mark by a mile, the single coil pickups are an old design for a different neck radius that makes the D&G poles so high that my pick catches on them, at the same time thew B&E strings loose sound because they are too low. took it back to a fender service tech and he said it's a design issue - and it's with in specs so nothing he could do, I called Fender and the reply I got was "it is what it is" and we aren't going to authorize any repairs or replacement of parts. the only option the tech gave me was to spend another $500 -$700 in mods that I would have to pay for!!! NOT HAPPY WITH FENDER !!AFTER SALES SERVICE - SUX!!
I have MIM Strats, but, if I ever get a MIA Strat it would be the American Special because I like : Big frets, 6 screw trem and a satin board if it is maple. Piss on the Micro Tilt, the only feature I would miss is the dual truss rod. They are nice and do they really cost much more. I got a $99 Strat knock off from Rondo that had a dual truss rod. I actually have a few asian guitars with dual truss rods.
debating buying a used (barely) American Special for a good price and flipping my 96 Tele Made in Mexico... the black logo on the special does look a little less classy.. more of a stamped look to it. And now the serial number says Corona, CA instead of Made in USA .... minor differences but something to consider for resale value.
I have the Amercan special too in vintage blonde like yours..Changed the bridge to a modern gotoh type as well as put locking tuners ! That neck is awesome like you said , almost feels flatter than an american strat standard neck..Am i imagining that ? not sure...if that neck had rolled edges which i prefer, it would my neck of choice for sure.
Hey I realize this is 7 years old but I recently played a Special and I LOVE the neck. I have an older strat with medium jumbo frets which I don't like. But all the new fenders come with narrow tall frets now and I wonder if you think these play more like the Special. What do you think?
Great vid Phil. I have a 2008-usa-tele, ash vint-blonde with 51/nocaster--pups and a 2012-usa-tele-special alder stock ,also vint-blonde. Both great guitars. I must say that I prefer the logo on the special-series over the other though ;)
I am thinking that the pre-2006 Highway One series instruments had the "spaghetti" logo. Then, in 2006 they revamped the look with the 70's style logos and wide headstocks for the Strats. My 2003 Highway One Precision Bass had the "spaghetti" logo.
I own an Am. Special Strat since 2013, I really love that guitar... (it's a great value with greasebucket circuits, vintage trem with solid steel, CBS-like headstock, plus the same pickups as SRV and Knopfler, for one grand) Until I realised one day four years later that frets were completly worn out! What a crapy metal alloy they used. I was so upset to spend another 270€ in, that I really hate Fender from that day! But still love the guitar ;-) Put a bone nut, vintage springs, locking tuners and remove the finish off the back of the neck then just oil it and you're good to go! Fhank You Fender, now I got a machine gun ;-) @Phillip McKnight I really enjoy your channel, thanks a lot
Great videos! You mentioned the highway ones in this video, can you speak a bit more to the highway ones in the future? My main player is a 2011 highway one pbass that i bought used, and the information out there on these seems to be whatever someone thinks it is. Are they really american instruments? Is the greasebucket circuit garbage? (I typically leave my tone knob full on, so i think that it doesn't affect my tone, but i'm curious.) Is the finish as booty as people say it is? (I prefer the highway one to my 2011 anniversary edition pbass, my 13 american deluxe jazz, and my 83 elite II, as do two separate producers i've recorded with) P.S. please do more bass stuff!!! Thanks, Tom
July 10th 2018, I bought the American Professional telecaster guitar (Ash body with rosewood fretboard) for fifteen hundred dollars, and it sounds just like a Stratocaster with no Country Twang. So, what's up with that? I see videos that say I need reverb, delay, and a little distortion to get the Twang. I was hoping the guitar had that Country Twang sound, but it does not, even with reverb. Oh well, my Fender Stratocaster sounds better????
Great video, lots of info. I have just one qeustion: do the american special teles have the custom shop texas special pu? I've read that they do since 2013 but I would like to be sure. Thanks for your video!
That sounds very similar to the fender black top series. The pickups are humbuckers on the black tops but they have the glossy necks. Maybe just the necks are similar because the black tops have the 6 saddle bridges and the gold lettering on the headstock. I think they both have the same tuning keys. You made me think of it when you mentioned yours was an FSR. Because my main guitar right now is a 2011 FSR MF Black top Telecaster. It's a fantastic guitar. They basically made this to be like a custom "hotrod" guitar. It has all nickel chrome hardware, pickup covers etc, hot wound alnico2 humbuckers, reversed knobs/switch with fender amplifier knobs for the volume and tone knobs. A gold anodized aluminum pick guard and a sweet almost candy apple finish(not paint as you can see the wood grain). All that for less than $700 and I think the regular black tops sold for $399. I'd really love it if you could get your hands on a black top for a review I don't think you'd regret it. Peace out, N8knox
Long time acoustic player looking to buy first electric - What is the difference between the American special and the American performer series? Enjoy your channel just subscribed. Thanks
I recently bought a sunburst fender american special and we have the same neck plate. Do you think that came out originally with the guitar or was that put in there as a replacement? Thanks!
Phil, I have a question that's killing me. Hopefully you can help me out. I have an American Special Strat. About 4 months ago I moved from the center of the country to the west coast and noticed that the neck responded with a lot of relief. I took it in to have professionally setup and they sent it back to me with the action still way too high. So I brought it back again and they sent it back to me with the action low, but with fret buzz. For the last 2 months I've been trying to make little adjustments every day and I can never get it back to where it used to be. (low action, no fret buzz). I currently have it setup so that the measurements match Fender's specs exactly, but I'm still getting fretbuzz from 5th to 9th frets. If I straighten the neck, fret buzz moves to 1-4th frets. But no matter what I do, if I have the action where Fender says it should be, I get fretbuzz. Any thoughts?
Hey super cool review Phillip, I am planning to buy the Telecaster Special or the Fender Classic Player Baja Tele. I haven't played either and I plan to but in your experience which is the overall "better" guitar for playing classic rock? I play stuff like the Beatles, Stones, 38 Special, Greenday, Zeppelin, Sabbath and I am getting into the country twang stuff. I like that nice clean tone sound. Can I please get your thoughts on this.
You got to tell me the logic on reviewing an American Special playing a completely different guitar. It's like me reviewing a Lamborghini sitting in my Fiat.
I think you need to mention the word "special" in your vid title. It will get more hits if is special vs std. And speaking as someone who has a Tele special I think the Texas special pickups are better than what comes in the standard unless you are a country player. But vintage bridge is a bit of a pain.
Thanks, very informative .....how much difference did the new A special neck make to the guitars sound ? .....I have a deluxe ash tele, the neck is sticky gloss and I find the fret board a bit narrow . Now I'm thinking of putting an AS neck on it . I borrowed an American special, for a show ( from my girlfriend ) and I loved the neck, the light weight, and sound ...its, overall better than the deluxe .
Atomic guitars is basically the best guitar shop on planet earth. Second I have a american special tele and that guitar is also the best guitar on planet earth. Who cares about a logo. That's funny to me.
Could someone pls tell me what that riff he was playing in the start of the video is? I could swear i ve heard this somewhere before... Thanks in advance!
Have you been collecting guitars since you were in your mother's womb...?...:D How many guitars and amplifiers do you have, man? I'm just curious, no offense...:)
Yes and they play GREAT! I absolutely adore American Special Strat. I have an American Sunburst from 1999 and I like my 2015 American Special a lot better. I have Texas Specials in both.
they took away the Nitro I don't like poly finishes the Nitro was a selling point for me I could get a lower line guitar with the nitro finish all they did was take the high dollar nitro finish and throw it away from polyurethane I want no one
This video totally confusing, you've changed so many things on that tele, you talk about an American Special guitar and tell us you've changed this and that till i have no idea of what you have an American special will have and or if it will sound and play like the one you have or what. Sorry Phil, Very frustrating video>
I have wanted another strat for quite a while and I have been looking for years for just the right one. stratocasters have 5 different neck designs, and five different fret shapes, the pickups I haven't counted but I finally found something close to what I want ( modern C neck, HSS texas specials, ) with jumbo frets I am not so happy with jumbo frets but I will try to live with them for now, ( I find they go sharp if you don't play with the exactly the right amount of pressure on the strings. the humbucker sounds "BAD" supposed to be a JB copy "they missed the mark by a mile, the single coil pickups are an old design for a different neck radius that makes the D&G poles so high that my pick catches on them, at the same time thew B&E strings loose sound because they are too low. took it back to a fender service tech and he said it's a design issue - and it's with in specs so nothing he could do, I called Fender and the reply I got was "it is what it is" and we aren't going to authorize any repairs or replacement of parts. the only option the tech gave me was to spend another $500 -$700 in mods that I would have to pay for!!! NOT HAPPY WITH FENDER !!AFTER SALES SERVICE - SUX!!
