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I treated myself to a new Fender Mex Player series Strat this week. It's the replacement for the Mex Standard series. No, it's a White one with Maple board, & not Fiesta Red, for a change. They do one with a Pau Ferro fingerboard called 'Sonic Red' which is quite near F. Red ,but not exactly; but hey, which F.Red is the real one anyway ?
There is a version of that notorious colour on the Custom shop relic '56' Strat which appears to be nearest to that which I remember from the '60s,& is described as Aged F.Red & is the Pinkish hue.
Anyway, the new Mex model is quite nice with some good upgrades included. I got it for £469 from Guitar Guitar store. It has a nice smooth matt poly lacquer on the back of the neck & a real old Spaghetti logo in Gold on the headstock.
The pickups are now Alnico V magnets, instead of the ceramic ones. They are slightly 'lower powered' than the ceramics, but that's fine for our '60s music.
The trem/bridge is similar to the American Standard version, with vintage saddles & a nice two shafted balance point.
The guitar also features a 9.5”-radius fingerboard with 22 medium-jumbo frets.
Tone 1 handles neck and middle, while tone 2 adjusts the bridge. This is a new very useful feature, as the guitar is plenty bright, so you can tame those ice-pick tones from the bridge.
All in all not a bad guitar at that price point. The whole series is very full, with lots of varied pickup versions & two neck versions. The Teles & the Jag/Jazz, & the basses are also very nice, & seem to offer good value at that lower-mid price point. These & the Squier Classic Vibes are getting very near the same price point now. Perhaps Fender is concerned that Squier are taking all their customers away. Who knows ?

Tony.

I agree the Player series is a great improvement on the old Mexican standard strat.
having recently changed from an all Burns player I have returned to the Stratocaster and bought a player in 3 tone sunburst, the finish is great, the trem improvements are very welcome as is the change to Alnico Pickups as Tony says they are bright but can be tamed. Mine is a backup for a new Amercan pro which I have to say is an excellent instrument, but that is a different discussion.
My opinion is that the new Mex strat is a great improvement on the previous model and is a great looking very playable guitar

Take care

Yes as i was passing a Guitar Guitar store yesterday, had a look at this model.
Indeed £469 is a good price as my usual emporium was retailing at £519, and probably
unable to price match as a single shop outlet, and make a reasonable profit margin, on it.

Having spent this years allowance on instrument purchases, maybe next year!!!

Mike

Those are nice guitars but I must resist the temptation to buy one.

Yes, I was a very naughty boy, buying a guitar I didn't really need. In mitigation, I do suffer from a terrible affliction called G.A.S. which causes this awful behaviour. Anyway, no one will know except me & you lot.
Perhaps now with a White instrument I will be relegated to playing Fentones instrumentals, or even the Beach Boys.

Tony.

Or even some Vic Flick numbers!

Coincidentally, the other week, I just bought a nice little secondhand Squier Bullet Strat in cream with rosewood fingerboard...a similar looking Vic Flick or Jerry Wilcox model!

Plays nice and sounds great...but cost a lot less money than a Fender...I'm an OAP these days!

John, I have read many good reports on the Squier Bullet Strats, so, although obviously part of the budget range, their reputation is really up there. I understand they actually do, or did, a Fiesta Red model too.

Tony.

RUSSET wrote:John, I have read many good reports on the Squier Bullet Strats, so, although obviously part of the budget range, their reputation is really up there. I understand they actually do, or did, a Fiesta Red model too.

Tony.

Hi Tony,

yes- I actually had a Fiesta red one which I bought new some years ago...I sold it a friend of a friend who needed an electric guitar...regretted it since...until I found this cream one I've now got...I bought it mainly as a backup for gig use...I'm going to use it at my band's next gig this coming weekend...if it works well with the band, it may become my main gig guitar and enable my main guitar to have a rest and just be used as a backup(been gigging with it for 20 years now!)

I have used the new 'Player' series Strat now at several of our recent music club meetings. It performs well through my Katana 100 amp. I have just added a set of 10-46 strings to replace the 9-42s that guitars seem to be issued with these days, & to me it is an improvement, certainly in feel.
By the way, I can highly recommend those Fender rubber washers for keeping your strap in place & stopping it slipping off the strap button. OK, they are not cheap for what they are at £4.00 for a packet of four, but better than having your favorite guitar crash to the floor because the button hole in the strap has worn too big. The alternative is of course some form of 'Straplock' style buttons.

Tony.

Still resisting these as I’m on a thinning down exercise.
I just traded in my Eric Johnson Strat for a lovely Caribbean Blue Gibson Les Paul Signature model and fitted a Stetsbar and along with the coil taps on the ‘57 Humbuckers and the 15db boost switch, it is a great sounding and versatile guitar, but most of all a refreshing change . No money changed hands, straight swap so well pleased.