Fender Player Stratocaster Plus

T
here’s no rosewood or
ebony here, pau ferro is
still the order of the day
and that won’t be
changing for the
foreseeable. Anyone
looking for classic Fender nishes will
nd 3-colour Sunburst and Tobacco
Burst, alongside Butterscotch Blonde,
Silverburst across the models that
encompass the Nashville Tele and HSS
Strat. But elsewhere, as has been the
case with new releases in recent years,
the Player Plus is making oers fresh
nishes to complement the
contemporary spec. We’ve chosen to
home in on one here alongside a twist
on an old favourite; Tequila Sunrise is
certainly a conversation starter, but
our Aged Candy Apple Red Tele is
more of a dramatic departure than
its name suggests; a classy metallic
copper/red aair.
Like the Ultra model, and unlike
the standard Player series, the Tele
features a rib-cage contour; an
evolution we’re very much fans of,
especially for seated playing comfort.
The standard Players feature a 9.5
radius, but the transition to a atter,
modern 12-inch enables lower action
- possibly too low for some - and
rolled ngerboard edges (also new
to a Player model) with satin nish
on both models. While it may seem
a small detail, the rolled edges really
do make these necks feel more
played-in under the thumb.
The Modern ‘C’ prole feels slim
and the combination makes these
both fantastically playable out of their
gig bags, but if you’re used to vintage
Fender radius it’ll take some time to
evaluate if it’s for you. It certainly
feels better for expressive bends to
us, and, for Gibson owners, it could be
a denite selling point. The nut here is
slightly wider than the standard Player
series, for subtly wider string spacing.
Another group both these models
could appeal to is modders; take o
the scratchplate and you’ll nd the
Tele body is nicely routed for a middle
single coil (à la Nashville Tele) and a
neck humbucker, while the Strat
can accommodate any number of
congurations – new scratchplate
permitting - with its HSH routing.
Despite the routing both come in
at what we feel are pretty standard
weights at 7.8lbs for the Tele, and
8 for the Strat.
As it stands, there’s plenty of tones
to be found here from both models;
the Strat’s push-pull second tone
control activates what’s known as the
‘7 mod’ extra sounds in addition to the
familiar ve-way selector; adding the
neck pickup in positions one and two.
The Tele’s push-pull tone control
runs both pickups in series.
SOUNDS
We all have a preconception of the
Tele and Strat sound. Fender’s art
has often been gently evolving and
exploring the tonal hallmarks that
have had such an impact on guitar
music for decades. The Noiseless
pickups here get the balance right
for us; no hum to be found - these
are technically humbuckers - and for
the Tele twang and muscle that feels
like it can condently handle a very
wide territory of guitar playing.
And it can; that low action enhances
the percussive steely spank and
hollow poke for ris on the bridge
and neck pickup respectively. We
loved playing shimmering chords in
the middle position with some light
tremolo but there’s so much character
here, you don’t need to layer on
eects to spends hours exploring it.
The volume’s sensitive treble-bleed
circuit, that features on both guitars,
enables eective gain control without
descending into murky EQ. The
onboard controls can be your gateway
to tone-shaping but pull the tone pot
and the pickups are activated in series
for some low end beef / vegetarian
alternative. Think of it as a boost,
but you can’t just ip the selector to
change voices as all positions activate
it, which needs to be accounted for;
it has to be pushed back rst.
While the Tele’s grip-friendly
knurled knobs make this easy, the
Strat’s aged white plastic push-pull
knob is more dicult to engage
mid-song – in contrast to the easy
grip Soft Touch knobs Fender t to
the Ultra model. A cost compromise
we can’t accept here. We often found
ourselves struggling to get purchase
and having to pull up from the
bottom. It’s the only retrot we’d
make here; the Soft Touch knobs
are available to buy on the Fender
store in packs of three. But we
shouldn’t have to.
Nevertheless, it unlocks wonderful
things; the neck and bridge
combination for position one
especially comes into its own when
driven and if you’ve dismissed Strats
in the past, the added low end counts
for a lot with the bridge tone control in
play to explore further. These pickups
are certainly not hot for a Strat
compared to past experiences but
there’s a broad palette to be enjoyed.
And the clarity of the neck here
remains a huge selling point for the
Strat, as it proves on the Tele too.
The volume rolls o the Strat’s
treble sensitively for rounding out
the bridge highs and oering
a progressively thicker tone. With
overdrive the combination with the
tone controls is hugely eective for
dialling in gain and EQ without
touching a pedal. But add the extra
ingredients and Stevie, Jimi, Nile,
Frusciante, Knoper, Mayer, Edge,
Gilmour... Their tones are all here
waiting for you.
Both guitars are so playable,
without the side distraction of cycle
hum, they allow us freedom and focus
on their sonic potential. On that note,
the tuning stability we encounter is
top notch – and for the Strat with its
2-point vibrato that’s exactly what we
want to hear. While the sculpted neck
heel of the Ultra and Pro II is absent
here, it’s not a problem we’ve ever
lingered on with traditional models
that oer good access as they are.
STEVIE, JIMI, NILE, FRUSCIANTE, KNOPFLER, MAYER, EDGE,
GILMOUR... THEIR TONES ARE ALL HERE WAITING FOR YOU
TOTAL GUITAR DECEMBER 2021
88
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The Fender Player
Plus Stratocaster
features a 2-point
tremolo and
noiseless pickups
TGR352.gear_test.indd 88TGR352.gear_test.indd 88 04/11/2021 11:1004/11/2021 11:10