Fender Player Stratocaster Tidepool Blue 2021
Recently I picked up a 2021 Fender Player Stratocaster in Tidepool Blue for the Picking Power Reverb Shop. If you want to go directly to the listing you can click here.
Here’s a short video demo of the guitar. I run through the 5-way switch positions and play a little.
I’ve played and compared Fender Strats from every range from Squier to Custom Shop. I can say that the Fender Player Stratocaster holds its own.
The Player series maple fretboards have a gloss finish. The back of the neck is satin. As far as the frets go they are medium jumbo and the radius is 9.5.”
This particular example was very clean. I was able to find one small blemish on the upper bout. It’s hard to find even when you are looking for it.
It’s easy to see in the photo but in person it tends to blend right in.
Another little upgrade that was on this guitar was Dunlop Straplock buttons. So, if you already have the Dunlop locks on a strap this guitar would be ready to go.
These guitars really are a close match to their USA made counterparts. The differences are pretty minor. For example the nut width on the Player series is 1.65 and the width on US models is 1.685. Both the Professional and Performer series have the same fretboard radius. They differ in the fret wire used, however. The Professional has narrow tall frets and the Performer has Jumbo.
How much of a difference is there?
What I’ve found over the years, playing and recording dozens of guitars of varying cost and specs, is that a lot of the differences that are heard in the room that seem apparent become hard to notice in the mix. One recent test I did was with the Prince of Tone and the Duke of Tone. I bought a JHS Switchback pedal and toggled between them to get them to sound as close to the same as I could. Playing them in the room I could hear a slight, and I do mean slight (but noticeable), difference in the sound. But as far as when I switched back and forth between the two during the performance and played it back with drums and bass, it was almost completely imperceptible.
My conclusion is that what you get with a Player Series Stratocaster is the “essence” of the Stratocaster sound. And what people actually get when they get a different guitar is their preferences.
So my personal example is that I prefer satin finish on maple boards and jumbo frets. In this case, I lean towards the American Performer Strat because it has those two things that I prefer from a purely tactile perspective. As far as sound goes they both sound like a Strat and can be hard to tell which is which in a full mix. Additionally, if I wanted to close that gap even further I could get the Yosemite pickups and throw them in a Player Strat.
