The key difference between different price models (Mexican, Highway, American Standard and deluxe) is the quality of wood and hardware. The workmenship is similar, the frets are nicely done, the action set right, things like that. Some people have asked about highway 1 and when I was buying my first American Fender's, I did too. Basically, from what I have researched by reading internet groups and comparing at stores, the Highway series is just a low cost American guitar. The finish uses some kind of acrylic (not nitrocellouse!) lacquer made by sherwin williams specifically for this model. Some might argue that lacquer is better for tone, in my opinion, unless you have very sensitive ear, you probably wont tell the difference. The bad about the finish is that they are quite delicate. Do not place the guitar on a normal stand, the point where the plastic stand touches the body will soften and eventually wear off. The hardware is pretty much the same as a Mexican standard, PING tuner, standard pickup (I am unsure what, some said its ceramic some said its alnico) but either way its noisy as hell. Everything else including the bridge is pretty much same as a Mexican as well. Also when buying new it only includes a gig bag. You must be careful with cases, especially vinyl because vinyl will eat lacquer and cause it to soften.   however with more expensive guitars that actually do use nitrocellouse such as Gibsons, this applies as well!

The American Standard and Deluxe is a huge step up from highway 1 in terms of wood and hardware quality. The Standard uses 3 peice alder body, it uses 2 point tremolo bridge similar to Wilkinson's (in fact stewmac sells Wilkinson's that will fit on an American Standard/Deluxe), it uses Schaller tuner on standard, and locking on deluxe. Both have straplocks (very valuable when gigging to prevent your guitar from falling), the standard uses alnico magnet pickups while the deluxe uses SCN (Samaritian Cobalt Noiseless) pickups (as of 2004). Both guitars comes with hardshell case. The finish is polyurthane which some complain about because they said it makes your guitar sound bad. However the finish is pretty much inpenetrable. You can spill all kinds of nasty chemicals like acetone and stuff and it will not show any sign of damage. The only way to remove it on purpose is to soak the whole body in a product called "aircraft remover" for about 30 minutes. So in short, you can use any stand you like without worrying about damage. If it gets a bit dull because of oil and grits, just spray some guitar polish on it and whipe clean and it's good as new. The deluxe uses 2 peice alder or ash body, all of the 2004 models have the S1 switching which allows you to switch between in phase and out of phase and stuff like that to modify your tones. The heel of the body is rounded off to make higher frets more accessable, but it uses a special neck plate so if you want to swap body with a standard strat body, you must use different neck plate.

The Highway 1 costs around 600 or so dollars new, probably less on ebay. However for that price you can find a used American standard on ebay or if you shop around. The deluxe costs a bit more than standard but only like 1-200 or so more, unless its ash.