The Fender Hwy 1 Stratocaster, what can I say about this instrument? It is reasonably low cost for a Stratocaster, and aimed at re-creating the vintage feel and sound of the early 1960's.......it is a great guitar, these will be sought after classics in their own time. The reason being: it comes with vintage chrome hardware, which looks and feels pretty cool, plus the satin lacquer finish and solid alder body with maple neck. It has fender's version of a "C" neck, a nice comfortable neck with rolled edges and a satin finish, not thick, sticky gloss polyurethane (it feels smooth). Nice neck radius (curvature of the finger board), which makes bending and solo work a breeze. The nitro cellulose lacquer is so superior to polyurethane, I don't have the time or space to expound upon it's wonders like: tonal enrichment with time and expanding with the wood, and aging with life along with the wood, and so much more. Comparing this to a Gibson SG is like comparing a golf club to a baseball bat or a tire tool.  The serious guitar pros state that poly or clear urethane coat seals up the wood of the guitar in plastic, thus constricting any resonance to the confines of that seal or finish. Nitro-cellulose is a natural finish, allowing the wood to breath and contract and expand, also allowing the body to resonate far beyond the finish, thus generating more full body tone from the guitar itself. All of the collector Fenders (or a good portion of them) from the past that are highly sought after with "unreal", beautiful tone are Nitro-Cellulose Lacquer finished guitars. It is coated with a transparent finish, allowing you to see the wood grain through the color. In my opinion this guitar was meant to be modified, the standard pickups are noisy, weak and the middle pickup is not wound reverse, thus no reverse polarity (hum canceling/noise dropout) in the second and fourth switch positions, like most all Stratocasters have. Install a set of Fender Hot Noiseless, or Texas Special pickups in this guitar and you have an American classic, an investment in a future Collector's Piece! You can click here: Fender Hwy 1 Strat , and scroll to the bottom of the page and see a Hwy 1 Strat I upgraded with Mark Knopfler Custom Shop Texas Special Bridge and Middle pickups and Texas Special Neck Pickup, plus added a nice Dark Pearloid Pickguard.

The Hwy1 Stratocaster is the best bet for your money for buying a new Fender Strat without paying a big $800 - $900 price, these are in the $640 range, and are American Fender Stratocasters. A great deal on an excellent sounding and playing guitar. Another in a long line of American Fender Stratocaster Classics.