I have the Elite Fender Stratocaster in lefty with rosewood. Funny how when I first ordered it I was sooo nervous thinking "did I do the right thing in ordering a guitar without trying it first" Heck, I just couldn't sleep for three weeks!!!! I never bought a guitar without trying it first in my entire life!! But being a lefty it's close to impossible to find a good guitar hanging in the guitar shops these days. So I went for broke and did it! Mind you, it took a couple years to put that kinda money together. I got the call that it had arrived. un packed it right then and there, and quickly when to the special jam room they have and played it for quite a long time, I remember coming out of the room with a huge smile, man sooooo glad I did get it!!!!!! Fantastic sound, and build. Love how it plays, the feel is awesome. Can't stop playing the damn thing!!!!!! Just thought I would share the experience...
Great choice, Glad everything went Well. The new noiseless sound fantastic. I am lefty too, painfull, but things are getting better with Manufacturers.
Thanks for sharing dude, I'm also a lefty session player and know the pain too... We are cursed! haha I'm torn between a Fender Elite (2018 elite models all come only in Ebony boards ^^) with ebony as the only option, and a Suhr Classic Pro HSS... I have tried a Suhr Classic Pro and contrary to what most people say I did not find it sound great to my ears for some reason. It was overly middy/woody sounding without that Fender bell-like tone to it. Maybe it's the pickup they use but overall I'm not gonna buy a Suhr for 3k and replace the PUs... But I also never tried Ebony boards on Fender Strats. So I'm a little bit confused now. Anyone tried Strats with Ebony?
I just bought one on reverb because a friend that owns an original 65' Strat recently got a 2017 Elite. He likes playing the elite more, says he's not exactly sure why or how, but Fender got it spot on with this one.
I dont think mark explained very well what the effect on the pickups are when the s1 switch is engaged and disengaged so this is what Fender says about it. Here is the configuration when the S-1 switch is off: Position one: bridge pickup only Position two: bridge and middle pickups wired in parallel Position three: middle pickup only Position four: middle and neck pickups wired in parallel Position five: neck pickup only When you engage the S-1 switch on the American Elite Strat, you have even more tone alternatives that you don't get to hear every day. Position one: all three pickups wired in series Position two: bridge and middle pickups wired in series Position three: middle and neck pickups wired in series Position four: bridge and neck pickups wired out of phase, with a special tone capacitor Position five: bridge and middle pickups wired in series and out of phase, in parallel with neck pickup
Got me one of these (same colour and neck) a couple of months ago and love it. So nice to play. Wasn't sure about maple neck as never really played one. With no more rosewood option and some Ebony boards being very much multiple colour, maple it was. So far, so good.
@@TheHumbuckerboy a have this same finish and the previous owner installed a pearloid pickguard, it's a bit gaudy. I'm switching it back to white with custom shop fat 50s pickups. I think of it like it looks like a shark.
I bought one just cause it was An american Elite.. im always buyin/selling/trading.. and it took me a while to come back around to it i play different genres and for the longest i kept playing my prs custom 24. And i pulled the Elite out and dang! This thing is awesome.. took me a bit to figure out its sweet spot with my amp but its smooth very smooth i cant believe i had it put away for that long.💀
I also love Marks Reviews! There are a couple other guys that do a good job here as well though. I remember a time when Mark joined the other two for a jam, that was quite a treat!
Good review especially regarding the S1 button which I had not really understood before. But no comment on what I understood to be a radius contoured neck; goes from a "C" shape and around 9 1/2" radius at nut to more of a "D" shape and 10" radius further up the neck. Or am I mistaken?
I'm playing one of these exact guitars as I write this, nice guitar, but to me the pickups don't have a lot of personality. I played a Mexican Strat yesterday that I liked the sound of much better, but this Elite is a well built guitar that plays nice.. Might be buying it from a friend, I'll change out the pickups right away, YUK!!
Gotta agree that the frets should be S/S, I really want to buy one of these but nickel frets for £1400.00! Also, it has a plastic nut so better to get a roller nut or something sorted as well, maybe I should put the extra down for a Suhr Classic.
Hello, Congratulations on the tests. I would have to choose between a new STATOCASTER VINTERA 50 MAPLE NECK and a STATOCASTER AMERICAN ELITE MAPLE NECK ex demo (with guarantees) at the same price. I'll proceed to the tests anyway. Which would you choose? Thanks. I always follow you
I love the sound... Would like to hear it clean with out effects thru the amp first off as you can always add them later... But is a nice sounding guitar
mhm...so so. I still don't see around a Stratocaster sounding as good as a Plus from the early 90'...And how about the color? looks like a kid spry painted it....considering how expensive is this guitar I would have expected a more interested finish. The bridge pick up has a nice vintage feeling but even with the s1 it's unbalanced with the richness of the neck pick up when s1 is engaged. mhm...not sure about this one.
quellidelnido those 90's guitars were great. I like the S1 system but am not a fan of the pickups. Any noiseless pickup that attempts to sound vintage fails. I prefer the Lace Pickups, they have their own sound but still sound like a strat. The SCN's were close but still prefer the Lace Golds. I also like the previous heal contour over the current one.
quellidelnido Yeah dude, this is not the guitar you want if you’re a traditionalist. It’s aimed at a different audience. It has noise-less pickups for example
quellidelnido And by the way, the colour in real life is awesome. It’s what most people like about it. This guy has a weird filter on his video for some bizarre reason, that makes it look much darker than it is. It’s kind of a sky/light blue
BubS7*7*7 T. -I paid 2.000, worth every penny, damn thing is mind blowing, sit down and play one for couple hours, you see what I mean lol. Your ears, fingers, and mind, will be in awwww :-)
A month ago I got the 2019 Elite for 1,699 but did see it a lot higher on some sites and it came with the Fender Hard Case, really nice. Love the guitar
Honestly whats the difference? my guess if there is one it would be so minuscule it really doesnt matter, like the difference between a rosewood and maple fingerboard.
+GamingRisen ok. The difference is very tight and maybe mostly psychologic. But stainless steel frets don't wear! So if you use nickel frets like fender use, you'll need a refret very often. Steve Morse had 17 refrets on his Musicman before switching for stainless! As well Eddie Van Halen who said that the best upgrade for his guitar was stainless frets, for the smooth bends and better resistance. For Fender it should only cost $50 to provide this option. But for us a refret cost more than $350!!! So when I buy a guitar, I don't want to have this budget in mind for keeping my instrument fine over the years.
+SonSauvage haha, no, STAINLESS steel don't chips with strings....!! Never seen that kind of thing with stainless frets on my guitars (suhr, charvel Guthrie, and Vigier!!!!) Sorry but I don't believe what you tell about your Parker.
Ian Bustorff -I totally agree my friend, but sure am happy with the 3 tone burst, really a gem!!!! I play it 3-4hours a day, record with it, and do live shows, it is impeccable, stays in tune forever, Quality made. Expensive, but so damn worth every penny!!!! :-)
prettdboy because the cutlass has stainless steel frets (last forever, no refret, no rust, stay polished perfectly, better sustain and bending without friction), compensated nut, vintage tint maple board, etc... for the same price. Fender don't want to put stainless steel frets on high end models only because it's to much work to install them and polish.
Stainless Steel why do you repeat the same comment you said months ago? We get it, you like Ernie Ball guitars...great. Go watch an Erie Ball review and talk about how awesome it is. Your comments would be much relevant there
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
I have the Elite Fender Stratocaster in lefty with rosewood. Funny how when I first ordered it I was sooo nervous thinking "did I do the right thing in ordering a guitar without trying it first" Heck, I just couldn't sleep for three weeks!!!! I never bought a guitar without trying it first in my entire life!! But being a lefty it's close to impossible to find a good guitar hanging in the guitar shops these days. So I went for broke and did it! Mind you, it took a couple years to put that kinda money together. I got the call that it had arrived. un packed it right then and there, and quickly when to the special jam room they have and played it for quite a long time, I remember coming out of the room with a huge smile, man sooooo glad I did get it!!!!!! Fantastic sound, and build. Love how it plays, the feel is awesome. Can't stop playing the damn thing!!!!!! Just thought I would share the experience...
i know the pain! hard as a lefty to get what you want!
Liam McCoart Dude, the elite costs 2000 bucks.
Great choice, Glad everything went Well. The new noiseless sound fantastic.
I am lefty too, painfull, but things are getting better with Manufacturers.
Thanks for sharing dude, I'm also a lefty session player and know the pain too... We are cursed! haha I'm torn between a Fender Elite (2018 elite models all come only in Ebony boards ^^) with ebony as the only option, and a Suhr Classic Pro HSS... I have tried a Suhr Classic Pro and contrary to what most people say I did not find it sound great to my ears for some reason. It was overly middy/woody sounding without that Fender bell-like tone to it. Maybe it's the pickup they use but overall I'm not gonna buy a Suhr for 3k and replace the PUs...
But I also never tried Ebony boards on Fender Strats. So I'm a little bit confused now. Anyone tried Strats with Ebony?
I’m thinking about getting one of these instead of a custom shop. They seem good value at $2000. Custom shop are maybe a waste of money I think
I just bought one on reverb because a friend that owns an original 65' Strat recently got a 2017 Elite. He likes playing the elite more, says he's not exactly sure why or how, but Fender got it spot on with this one.
I love mine.
I love mine as well it plays itself and it just records incredibly well. Honestly my les paul feels like a toy ever since I picked up that guitar.
I dont think mark explained very well what the effect on the pickups are when the s1 switch is engaged and disengaged so this is what Fender says about it.
Here is the configuration when the S-1 switch is off:
Position one: bridge pickup only
Position two: bridge and middle pickups wired in parallel
Position three: middle pickup only
Position four: middle and neck pickups wired in parallel
Position five: neck pickup only
When you engage the S-1 switch on the American Elite Strat, you have even more tone alternatives that you don't get to hear every day.
Position one: all three pickups wired in series
Position two: bridge and middle pickups wired in series
Position three: middle and neck pickups wired in series
Position four: bridge and neck pickups wired out of phase, with a special tone capacitor
Position five: bridge and middle pickups wired in series and out of phase, in parallel with neck pickup
Thank you very much, just saved my day!
Thank you for clarifying that for me!
Got me one of these (same colour and neck) a couple of months ago and love it. So nice to play.
Wasn't sure about maple neck as never really played one. With no more rosewood option and some Ebony boards being very much multiple colour, maple it was. So far, so good.
I got mine recently, Autumn Blaze. So beautiful!
Most beautiful Stratocaster I've ever seen. I normally find them boring, but damn..
It would look even better with a pearloid scratchplate IMO.
@@TheHumbuckerboy couldn't agree more!
@@TheHumbuckerboy a have this same finish and the previous owner installed a pearloid pickguard, it's a bit gaudy. I'm switching it back to white with custom shop fat 50s pickups. I think of it like it looks like a shark.
@@DrDizzleFrizzle I was thinking about a mirrored scratch-plate also ! That would look quite radical but icy cool IMO lol
These are major improvement in so many ways.
I bought one just cause it was An american Elite.. im always buyin/selling/trading.. and it took me a while to come back around to it i play different genres and for the longest i kept playing my prs custom 24. And i pulled the Elite out and dang! This thing is awesome.. took me a bit to figure out its sweet spot with my amp but its smooth very smooth i cant believe i had it put away for that long.💀
The fender tone is unmistakeably the best!!
Ahh love that colour and s1 switching !!!
Great tone Mark !!!
Mark you are an amazing guitarist! Hate to say I only watch when your doing the reviews.
Me Three
I dont even play guitar and i come here for Marks reviews.
I also love Marks Reviews! There are a couple other guys that do a good job here as well though. I remember a time when Mark joined the other two for a jam, that was quite a treat!
Gorgeous guitar! But of course Mark would make a shoe box, a piece of ply and some fishing line sounds amazing. simply love your run throughs, Mark.
This guy could make a stringless guitar sound great
Love that Color man!
Some wonderful playing on a cool guitar.....Thank You!
The beauty and the beast. A beautiful guitarra
How do you not know what the switch does and you’re demoing it?
Hi. This guitar has Rosewood or Maple Fingerboard?
Brontozaur Fingerboard 😂
Awesome guitar 🎸 I personally love it
Good review especially regarding the S1 button which I had not really understood before. But no comment on what I understood to be a radius contoured neck; goes from a "C" shape and around 9 1/2" radius at nut to more of a "D" shape and 10" radius further up the neck. Or am I mistaken?
How do I get a humbucker pickup sound or the bridge + neck P.U to sound together on an elite strat
I'm playing one of these exact guitars as I write this, nice guitar, but to me the pickups don't have a lot of personality. I played a Mexican Strat yesterday that I liked the sound of much better, but this Elite is a well built guitar that plays nice.. Might be buying it from a friend, I'll change out the pickups right away, YUK!!
Hi Laura. I feel the same. Did you change pickups? If so, what did you change them to?
@@cs3634 I sold it and purchased a Fender Edge Signature Strat, I find it to be a far superior guitar in every way.
This wonderful guitar player has been doing the same review for every guitar since before I went gray!
Why not offer a cool color like this for the basses of the elite series?
Gotta agree that the frets should be S/S, I really want to buy one of these but nickel frets for £1400.00! Also, it has a plastic nut so better to get a roller nut or something sorted as well, maybe I should put the extra down for a Suhr Classic.
It has a bone Nut not plastic... but I agree it should have SS frets considering Music man do it on their Cutlass at a similar price point
@@jamieryan6991 no, it has a *synthetic* bone nut
Great review!
You can get so much better tone out of this guitar then what he's showing
Maybe he wanted it to sound the way he set it to rather than the way your broke ass envisions?
Excellent review. What is your amp set-up? What effects are you using?
9:22 is a list of all gear used in this video..
N Stuff Music
Forget the pedal...Dude....You ARE the dude! I wanna play like you, man. Do you teach?
High output pickups? are they good with pedals?
not very high
Great Playing!!!!
Hello,
Congratulations on the tests.
I would have to choose between a new STATOCASTER VINTERA 50 MAPLE NECK and a STATOCASTER AMERICAN ELITE MAPLE NECK ex demo (with guarantees) at the same price.
I'll proceed to the tests anyway.
Which would you choose?
Thanks.
I always follow you
I love the sound... Would like to hear it clean with out effects thru the amp first off as you can always add them later... But is a nice sounding guitar
I'd take lessons from this guy!
Preciosa guitarra.
Did I miss the gain sounds with the S1 switch on?
what do you think between that and the previous deluxe series (ash body)??? which one did you like the most...?
What is the difference between the elite and the deluxe? Anyone?
Curious what loop pedal are you playing along with ?
That's the TC Electronic DITTO X2 Looper Pedal.
i can't see mark on nstuff guitar reviews recently....why???????????????? i really miss his playing
What's your personal favorite, the elite or the Suhr classic pro? Thanks!
Compare Suhr only with custom shop...
Super review
Поиграл на ней, приятный инструмент
i would have preferred a boost than a s1 and neck+bridge pickup together maybe in 2030 with sparkle aztec gold lol
yes
You've got a very Soft Touch? Reminds me al Duane Allman, strong compliment but you've got good technique.
mhm...so so. I still don't see around a Stratocaster sounding as good as a Plus from the early 90'...And how about the color? looks like a kid spry painted it....considering how expensive is this guitar I would have expected a more interested finish. The bridge pick up has a nice vintage feeling but even with the s1 it's unbalanced with the richness of the neck pick up when s1 is engaged. mhm...not sure about this one.
quellidelnido those 90's guitars were great. I like the S1 system but am not a fan of the pickups. Any noiseless pickup that attempts to sound vintage fails. I prefer the Lace Pickups, they have their own sound but still sound like a strat. The SCN's were close but still prefer the Lace Golds. I also like the previous heal contour over the current one.
quellidelnido Yeah dude, this is not the guitar you want if you’re a traditionalist. It’s aimed at a different audience. It has noise-less pickups for example
quellidelnido And by the way, the colour in real life is awesome. It’s what most people like about it. This guy has a weird filter on his video for some bizarre reason, that makes it look much darker than it is. It’s kind of a sky/light blue
Does the thinner nexk mean you can't use heavier gauge strings?
that blue looks hilariously better with the maple fretboard vs the rosewood...
Damn Mark can play
Mark - What is your ultimate favorite guitar? What's the one you would take with you on a deserted island (you'd have an amp there too. Lol)
+Jeff Dono a les paul of course, why you're asking?
+BigEdWo well I think he has one of the best sounds and feel out there. Curious from someone with that much soul what he prefers.
Music genre: CLAPTON - GILMOUR - KNOFLER.
This guitar would look evener cooler with a pearloid scratchplate
a little bit hotter than custom 69 so i don't know what to think about this guitar
nice nice
Somebody's making love to that American Elite Stratocaster...
It's a nice looking guitar 🎸!! But too buy it brand new from the music store costs around 👉$3300 - $4199 😨😰😰
BubS7*7*7 T. -I paid 2.000, worth every penny, damn thing is mind blowing, sit down and play one for couple hours, you see what I mean lol. Your ears, fingers, and mind, will be in awwww :-)
@@leftymadrid its 1899 now, maybe prices gradually went low ?
A month ago I got the 2019 Elite for 1,699 but did see it a lot higher on some sites and it came with the Fender Hard Case, really nice. Love the guitar
아 진짜 사고 싶다..
When I hear the new Fender guitar sound, I'm so happy I own a former version.
No STAINLESS STEEL FRETS, not for me. For this price, better take a MusicMan cutlass!
Honestly whats the difference? my guess if there is one it would be so minuscule it really doesnt matter, like the difference between a rosewood and maple fingerboard.
+GamingRisen ok.
The difference is very tight and maybe mostly psychologic. But stainless steel frets don't wear! So if you use nickel frets like fender use, you'll need a refret very often. Steve Morse had 17 refrets on his Musicman before switching for stainless! As well Eddie Van Halen who said that the best upgrade for his guitar was stainless frets, for the smooth bends and better resistance. For Fender it should only cost $50 to provide this option. But for us a refret cost more than $350!!!
So when I buy a guitar, I don't want to have this budget in mind for keeping my instrument fine over the years.
If you get burrs in stainless steel frets it's a real pain though. That happened to A parker nitefly i used to own
+SonSauvage haha, no, STAINLESS steel don't chips with strings....!!
Never seen that kind of thing with stainless frets on my guitars (suhr, charvel Guthrie, and Vigier!!!!)
Sorry but I don't believe what you tell about your Parker.
+Stainless Steel it took a tumble off of an amplifier and hit the ground strings first. it can happen
Why not offer a cool color like this for lefties?! That's so unfair :(
Ian Bustorff -I totally agree my friend, but sure am happy with the 3 tone burst, really a gem!!!! I play it 3-4hours a day, record with it, and do live shows, it is impeccable, stays in tune forever, Quality made. Expensive, but so damn worth every penny!!!! :-)
Pity it lacks stainless frets
...first volume knob......still in the way...
Sounds like telecaster
Good demo,you have no hair but it's not important.
LAMO! PLAY IT DON'T BE AFRAID OF IT.
It would help if you had a guy who could play. This guys just too robotic to get any tone
Useless comment. Obviously he knows how to play guitar. Where are your demo videos?
Ernie ball cutlass is far better for the same price....!
Stainless Steel Why?
prettdboy because the cutlass has stainless steel frets (last forever, no refret, no rust, stay polished perfectly, better sustain and bending without friction), compensated nut, vintage tint maple board, etc... for the same price.
Fender don't want to put stainless steel frets on high end models only because it's to much work to install them and polish.
Stainless Steel why do you repeat the same comment you said months ago? We get it, you like Ernie Ball guitars...great. Go watch an Erie Ball review and talk about how awesome it is. Your comments would be much relevant there
Don’t like having my pickups being powered by a 9volt battery...
god that sticker is ugly and unnecessary.
It's only for retail...you DO realize that right? It's a point of purchase item...not meant to stay on the guitar. Jeez.
one of the worst demos ever.