Precision machined from solid brass, these saddles offer enhanced density and tonal qualities, delivering a sharper attack, extended sustain, and a warmer tone compared to stock thin pressed-steel or zinc block-style saddles.
Moreover, the roller mechanisms significantly minimize friction and binding, allowing the strings to effortlessly glide over the saddle surface. Not only does this advancement ensure a more precise string return during bends, but it also effectively minimizes the occurrence of string breakage on tremolo-equipped instruments.
The String Surfer kits come with brass roller saddles, height adjustment set screws, intonation screws, and intonation springs. Available now at AxLabsHardware.com and other online outlets!
Street price: $96 - $103
For more information, please visit axlabshardware.com.
You could WIN an all-new Player Series Stratocaster from Fender in Candy Apple Red in this new giveaway! Enter before August 13, 2023 for your chance to win.
PLAYER STRATOCASTER®
Fender designed the new Player Series to deliver "easy playability, maximum comfort, and sleek design," according to Justin Norvell, Fender's EVP of Product. Get your hands on a Player Series instrument and experience how these timeless classics have evolved to meet the needs of modern artists.
Real Deal Sound
The inspiring sound of a Stratocaster is one of the foundations of Fender. Featuring this classic sound—bell-like high end, punchy mids and robust low end, combined with crystal-clear articulation—the Player Stratocaster is packed with authentic Fender feel and style. It’s ready to serve your musical vision, it’s versatile enough to handle any style of music and it’s the perfect platform for creating your own sound.
Luxe looks and a sweet playing feel make this Squier an anniversary edition worth celebrating.
Slinky playability. Very nice construction quality. An attractive, celebratory mash-up of Fender style elements.
Neck feels slightly generic.
$599
Squier 40th Anniversary Stratocaster
fender.com
Premier Guitar doesn’t often review anniversary edition instruments—most of them being marketing exercises in disguise. But the Squier 40th Anniversary Stratocaster genuinely seems to embody much about where Squier has been and the reliable source for quality, affordable, and, yes, beautiful guitars they have become.
At $599, the 40th Anniversary Stratocaster lives on the higher side of the Squier pricing scheme. But there is much—in terms of both style and substance—that makes this Stratocaster feel special. The mash-up of 1950s design cues (gold anodized pickguard) and 1970s elements (block inlays) really works in spite of how easy it is to screw up a Stratocaster’s graceful lines. And the spots where Squier added flash, like those inlays and neck binding, reflect a genuine concern for craftsmanship and executing the little details.
In practical terms, the 40th Anniversary Strat specs out and feels quite like a Classic Vibe Stratocaster, which is a good thing. The body is nyatoh and the fretboard is laurel, but apart from the 9.5" radius fretboard, which always feels a bit flat on a Strat for me, neither result in major deviations from classic Strat weight or touch. Output from the alnico 5 pickups felt a little more contoured, less edgy, and less punchy on the treble side than the pickups in the Vintera ’60s Stratocaster and ’80s E Series Stratocasters I used for comparison. But apart from missing that micro-trace of extra spank that cuts through an intense spring reverb signal, there was little to upset the surfy state of very stylish bliss this Squier induced each time I plugged it in.