Comparing Offerings
In relation to its south-of-the-border brethren,
the American Special Strat and Tele both have
some subtle yet apparent differences. There are
22 frets instead of the Standard’s 21, and the fret size is full jumbo, as opposed to the medium
jumbo on the Standard. Like the Standard,
the American Special features a standard truss
rod and no micro-tilt adjustment. The neck is
finished in a satin urethane and capped off with
a large ‘70s-era Fender headstock, but it has a
different feel compared to the satin urethane
neck of the Mexican Standard. Part of that
difference might be due to the extra 1 mm of
width at the nut—this might seem like a trivial
thing to note, but players used to the 42 mm
spacing of other Fenders might wonder why
the neck feels a little strange to them. In most
every aspect of the neck, the American Special
is closest to the Highway One line. Another
important detail to point out is that, like the
Highway One, the American Special offers only
a maple fingerboard on the single-coil Strat (the
American Special HSS Strat board is rosewood),
whereas the Standard and American Standard
models have a rosewood option.
Finish options for the American Specials are
minimal compared to those offered for both the
Standard and American Standard models, with
only two available for each model, compared
to the former’s five and the latter’s seven. The
American Specials we received for review do
indeed display high-quality gloss urethane finishes—
as good as any Fenders we’ve seen. Like
many players, this pair of reviewers leans toward
nitrocellulose finishes, when they’re available, for
the sonic qualities those guitars exhibit. In this
regard, we think the Highway One models might
have a leg up for many, but there’s no lack of
guitarists who’d rather have a glossy finish.
Stratocaster
The Standard Stratocaster is equipped with
a set of ceramic magnet-powered singlecoil
pickups, but the American Special Strat
ups the ante with Fender’s popular Texas
Special pickups, and it shares Fender’s unique
Greasebucket circuit with the Highway One
line. The Greasebucket wiring allows the player
to roll down the Tone control without adding
any bass to the sound, a problem that is the
bane of many a single-coil guitarist. It works as
described—though it’s more effective on the
Strat than the Tele, which does drift toward
muddiness as you roll the knob down.
Another major difference is the bridge: where
the American Standard model utilizes a 2-point
vibrato with bent steel saddles, the Special
comes fitted with a vintage-style bridge that is
similar to the one employed on the Standard.
Telecaster
Obviously, the Telecaster is a very different
beast from its Stratocaster cousin. The American
Special model has a major element in common
with its original ancestor, and that is the inclusion
of a string-through vintage-style bridge with
three brass saddles supporting the six strings.
We’re big fans, and we applaud Fender for the
decision. In comparison, the Standard Telecaster
has a modern style bridge with individual
saddles and a string-through body. While the
added coupling from the string-through design
helps with sustain, the brass saddles from the
American Special Tele help it fit more in line with
the vintage, bright and twangy sounds of yesteryear.
Like the American Special Stratocaster
(and the Highway One Tele), it features Fender’s
Greasebucket wiring, an additional 1 mm at the
nut, Jumbo frets, Texas Special pickups and an
additional 22nd fret.