Fender Stratocaster Highway One | USA | 2009

We are happy to bring you a Fender Stratocaster Highway One in Blonde finish (creamed out)
 
Originally conceived as an affordable players' Fender Stratocaster, the Highway One upgrade concentrates on sound: "It's function over looks: performance," says Justin Norvell, Fender Electrics marketing manager.
 
Arguably at the top of the upgrades is the finish. It remains satin to the touch just like a vintage model, instead of the thin acrylic of the original models, this one is in nitro-cellulose, offering a much more palpable vintage vibe leaving the wood breathable! This finish is now also being used on some custom shop models. 
 
It's a thin coating and there's no getting away from the fact that you'll be leaving your mark on it much more readily than a thick layer of high-gloss poly.
 
Another notable change is with the overall livery, which has changed from a fifties-style to an unashamedly seventies feel. So, this equates to a big headstock for the Strat (also providing more mass) with black outlined gold Fender logos, parchment pickguards and 22 enormo-frets for both.
 
Electronically Fender has gone back to the drawing board too with the power of the guitar's pickups being increased. Replacing the vintage-style single-coils are what Fender describes as Hot Strat single-coils that are all based around an Alnico III magnet foundation, a mid-strength magnet that should provide a slightly enhanced, hotter performance when compared to an Alnico II.
 
Additionally, the guitar offers Fender's increasingly popular Greasebucket tone circuit that was developed in the Custom Shop as a way of rolling off the high-end without the usual low-end woomph of a standard passive tone control circuit.
Didn't this have something to do with a certain Billy Gibbons? "We designed with him in mind," states Fender's Mike Eldred, "and he was the testing guy. I actually named it myself after the can of used bacon grease that used to sit on our stove at home when I was a kid." So now you know!
 
The Strat's middle pickup is also reverse-wound with reverse polarity, so positions two and four on the five-way pickup selector should avoid you all the unnecessary hum.
The vibrato block has been changed from zinc to more vintage-accurate steel and the string spacing at the bridge is slightly narrower - with the bigger frets and smoother playability, it's clear Fender didn't want us slipping off the edges on this one.
 
Elsewhere everything remains within the ballparks that made the 1950s originals of these designs so compelling. The cast and sealed tuners are made by the far eastern Ping hardware factory.
 
Aside from purely aesthetic changes like the logo font, most of these Highway One upgrades are all about sound and performance, even the bigger Strat head is designed to add more mass.
 
Construction concerns aside, the big frets, thin nitro finish and no-nonsense approach make this guitar extremely alluring.