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Fender American Fat Strat Texas Special
Mike Cox
March 26, 2001
When you think of Fender, you may think of some of the most well known amplifiers in rock and roll history like the Fender Bassman, or Twin Reverb. Or, you may think of the unmistakable Telecaster guitar or the Fender Precision Bass series. But if you're like most people, the first thing that will come to mind will be one of the most recognizable guitars ever, the Fender Stratocaster. Now, some unknowing souls may think that "a Strat is Strat," but that just isn't the case. Although the classic body style is always recognizable, Fender has several series of Stratocasters available that offer a wide variety of hardware and electronics differences to cater to all types of playing styles. Recently, we here at Music Gear Review were fortunate enough to have our friends at Fender send us one of these great guitars for review. The model is the American Fat Strat Texas Special.
Right off the bat I was floored by the gorgeous, figured, ash body, and Sienna Sunburst finish on our test model. Honestly, I'm usually not that big on bursts, but the Red to Orange color scheme, with just the right amount of wood grain coming through was stunning. And the colors were beautifully complimented by a reflective, pearloid pick guard and all chrome hardware. Visually, the whole package really did it for me.
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Now it was time to play, and I quickly realized that just like the name says, this Strat was "special." Equipped with 2 Texas Special single-coil pickups (one at the neck and one at the middle position) and a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates Plus humbucker at the bridge, versatility quickly became the word of the day. The controls are traditional and include a 5-way pickup position switch, a master volume knob, and 2 tone knobs (one controls the neck and middle pickups, while the second controls the bridge pickup.) Playing clean, first through our PA rig, then through my Fender Princeton Chorus amp, I mainly focused on using the neck and middle pickup positions in search of those classic Strat tones. Needless to say, I found just what I was looking for. As I ran through many of my favorite chord progressions and blues scales, the tones were great, and the smooth maple neck allowed me to flow effortlessly across the 22 medium jumbo frets. (* Note that although our test model came with the maple neck, and is the only option with the Sienna Sunburst finish, a rosewood fingerboard is available on some Fat Strat Texas Specials.) At this point, I was finding real pleasure in playing this Strat clean, but thought it was about time to see how this beauty could rock. Using a rack processor unit and our PA rig, I unleashed some back-breaking distortion, and switched down to the Seymour Duncan at the bridge. Having never played a Strat with humbuckers before, I was eager to see what this set up had to offer. I was Impressed! (With a capital "I" you'll notice.) The Pearly Gates Plus packed a real punch and allowed me to kick out both heavy, crunching rhythms, while still giving me the range I needed to wail away on screaming leads all over the fretboard.
It's easy to stereotype the Fender Stratocaster sonically, but with the variety of tonal characteristics available with this model you get the best of both worlds. If you're looking for one axe that can cover all of your bases - this is the one.
Bottom Line:
I've played a few Stratocasters over the years and have always liked playing them, but the Fat Strat Texas Special, is one that I loved playing. The Texas Special we received was superbly constructed, flawless in appearance, and had a great feel. Most importantly, it sounded incredible! In my opinion, The Texas Special is truly one of the most versatile Strats I've seen. With the pickup combination of 2 Texas Specials and a Seymour Duncan humbucker, what you get is a tremendous variety of sounds and tones, whether being played clean, with effects, or distorted. This guitar is capable of supporting many styles of play and can cry the blues, melt steel, or do just about anything in between if put in the right hands. The MSRP on this model is $1299 (w/hard shell case) + extra for the Ash body, but shop around and you'll be sure to find it for less. Hats off to the legends... once again!
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