Stunning guitar. I hope to own a pewter or sage green with maple board soon! The Lace pickups are amazing especially in the mid to neck where the clarity is awesome.
I stumbled across a 1991 strat plus at a guitar center... bought that bad boy for 750$ yes American fender strat plus! It sounds so much better than any new strat ive owned. That's the honest truth! Its crazy how much of a difference in sound they have! I really knew nothing much about them, so i picked it up and immediately was like wow! So i bought it! And now its all i play on. Of course through my little fender bassbreaker amp, which also sounds amazing. I love that bluesy stevie ray Vaughn and Kenny Wayne shepherd sound and the plus helps bring that out! Such an awesome guitar! Its a shame they aren't made like this anymore just glad i got one!
I have a 1988 Strat plus delux tobacco sunburst with gold lase sensors still in the box I bought new in 1988 with the maple fretboard, It will be up for sale in 2038
I bought mine in 1989, brand new, I still have it in mint condition, I could only get a black one, I love it and would not part with it at any price. I did consider changing the lace pick ups, but I haven’t done so. I just added a PRS to my guitar collection.
I have two Strat Plus guitars, a '89 and a '91. I think that these Strat Plus guitars had the best neck profile Fender ever made, and the smooth heel transition is just great, compared to what they have done since.
I bought a Strat Plus Deluxe back in '97. Vintage blond with the mini Floyd Rose locking Blanda bridge. I've bought, sold, traded a lot of guitars but never let this one go. It just sounds, feels and plays amazing. These guitars didn't go up in value too much (not yet anyway), and that's kind of a good thing cause you can find them reasonably priced. Check out Xhefri's Guitars website. He's put together the most comprehensive document on Strat Plus'.
It's deffo a Strat Plus (not plus deluxe) with the second gen top nut. I have an early '88 (E4 serial) with the first "split" top nut. Lovely guitars.:)
I have a frost red '91 Strat Plus with the original Wilkinson roller nut and 3 gold Lace and its my fave Strat by far. It plays and sounds better than any other I've played (I've worked in music industry for over 13yrs including with Mr Trevor Wilkinson himself) so have had the pleasure of playing a LOT of strats including genuine 50's and 60's models. Why Fender stopped these is still a mystery as they really are so superior to those in the know. Ok they fell out with Lace and also a lot of people wanted the old retro look still with all original features but one thing my Plus does (ok apart from Floyd Rose c/w locking nut if you want to do dive bombs to hell) that other Strats fail at is, even with quite heavy handed whammy action, its stays in tune!
I have a 74 Strat with 3 Lace Sensor Golds. I want to start using the whammy bar a bit so ordered a replacement arm. With the stock six-screw bridge "blocked" will I have problems with gentle use of the whammy ( modest "down pushes" ) ? I realize it won't do "pull ups" set up that way.
Are you sure that is a 1988 Strat Plus? I bought one new in 1988, and there a couple of differences between the one I had and that one. First off, the case that is shown at the beginning was not the case they originally used when the guitar first came out. For the first couple of years they gave you a rectangular Fender case. Second, the color- I don't recall the pewter grey color being available until the Strat Plus Deluxe models came out. And finally, the roller nut- the roller nut on my Strat plus was slightly different. The earliest ones had a nut that was angled on the 3 wound strings (low E,A,D)- once again this looks like a model from a couple of years after 1988. I always thought that mine was a 1988 since that is the year I bought it, but it's possible it was a 1987 and one of the ones that used a CBS era neck.
Just seen this. pewter was not listed a s a colour but I bought my pewter Strat plus in the UK in1988 so they were definitely available. Still my main guitar.
i wanna buy an stratocaster, between this one of 1996 year and one Stratocaster american deluxe 60th aniversary 2006 sienna sunburst . What's better for you?
Not a Strat Plus, but an American Standard Delux. How do I know? I have a red one with a maple neck with exactly the same hardware and no locking nut. It's a real nice guitar serial E802497 bought in 1989.
Erm sorry but the guitar your thinking of , have is called the deluxe american standard. Its a standard with the lovely gold lase sensors.this one is, a strat plus.
I hard tailed mine. I do a lot of open string drones while bending and my plus was terrible for that even with 5 springs. I love it though. It's my main electric. Got it used for $350 back in the late 90s. Bargain.
