What fender should I be looking at?

maddnotez

Roadie
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101
I know nothing about Fender guitars but am gassing for one. I want a HSS Strat to play death metal on. Probably not the best guitar for it but hey why not?

I played an American Performer the other day and I liked it. Although there was a huge bubble on the side from maybe fret sprout or something it played nice even though the neck was rounder and fatter than I'm used to or like.

Im guessing all the necks are similar fashion?

For some reason with the little research I've done i thought an 85-87 contemporary would be the one for me. What else should I be looking at, used in that same mid price range?
 
For death metal? A Fender Esquire, of course. 🤓
For some reason with the little research I've done i thought an 85-87 contemporary would be the one for me. What else should I be looking at, used in that same mid price range?
Those old Contemporaries were pretty sweet for the time but the necks are chunky and the vibratos weren’t very long lasting. If you can find a one humbucker version you’d probably dig it though.
 
For high gain stuff look at the Jim Root Fenders. I like the tele, but he also has a strat and jazzmaster.

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Maybe a used american deluxe HSS? Mostly just because I like how those american deluxe necks feel for more metal-y/gymnastic type of stuff you might be doing in death metal
That sounds like the one thanks.

I'm noticing the 3rd series like 2010-2016 even has a compound radius, find that interesting and want to try to find one of those.
 
That sounds like the one thanks.

I'm noticing the 3rd series like 2010-2016 even has a compound radius, find that interesting and want to try to find one of those.


Yes that would be the year range I’m specifically taking about

Had a ‘14 am dlx tele and it was amazing. Compound radius is the shit
 
For deathmetal, I’d think a thin neck and a bridge humbucker are the only requirements (for me).

I play Necrophagist, dying fetus on a PRS SE and it’s fine.
 
USA HM's were made in 1990, often with Japanese components. They also made a USA HM Strat Ultra about then.
Not true there are no USA built or even assembled models. This is a popular myth. They were all built at Fuji gen gaki.
It started because the neck plate says Fender USA on ( note not “made in the”). This is a common practice to put the address of the patient company on a product if they want to obfuscate the third party manufacturer.
 
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Strats are like the chameleons of the guitar world. SSS, HSS, HSH and HH are all just a swap away. Deck the tremolo and you can treat it like a hardtail and drop tune to your heart’s content. If you’re ok with soldering a couple wires, a good strat with a few loaded pick guards to swap in and out can take you just about any place you want to go.
 
Not true there are no USA built or even assembled models. This is a popular myth. They were all built at Fuji gen gaki.
It started because the neck plate says Fender USA on ( note not “made in the”). This is a common practice to put the address of the patient company on a product if they want to obfuscate the third party manufacturer.
From https://www.fender.com/articles/instruments/a-cult-classic-reborn-inside-the-fender-hm-strat:

"Crafted at the Fujigen factory in Japan – with a U.S. version offered around 1990 – the HM (short for Heavy Metal) Strat was a radical departure from Fender’s classic designs."

Tell Fender.

It takes about the same amount of time and effort to use Google to check as it did to write your reply.
 
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