Fender Vintera II 50s Strat MN OCT

The guitar left me with mixed impressions. Let’s start with the downsides:

The fret ends needed filing right away because they interfered with my hand. I understand that this is a "feature" of Mexican Fenders, but my Japanese Fender, which costs $250 more, doesn’t have this issue. The difference between these guitars is obviously not just about whether or not the fret ends are polished.

Next, the pickguard started to warp almost immediately. Not a great sign, which, again, seems to be typical for Mexican guitars according to the guitar tech who set up this guitar for me.

Otherwise, the guitar is decently built. Unexpectedly, I really liked the chunky retro neck, which feels more like a Gibson to me. But this won’t suit everyone, so I highly recommend trying this guitar out in a store first. After a year, the neck and the guitar overall are holding up well. After filing the frets, the strings can be set quite low, at least within the context of Fender guitars. :)

As for the sound, this is my first Strat. It sounds good, though I don’t have other Strats to compare it to. Positions 2 and 4 seem to sound the way they should. :) Overall, I really like the tone — it’s distinct from the Telecasters I’ve owned, which is exactly what I wanted for variety when I decided to get a Stratocaster.

All in all, my feelings are mixed. After all, this is a Mexican Fender, which is a bit of a gamble. I also own a Squier Classic Vibe, and it’s built just as well — in some ways even better. Sure, the pickups on the Squier are muddy, but that’s an easy fix. After upgrading the pickups, my Squier sounds just as good, and the playability is great too (AND THE FRETS DIDN’T STICK OUT). So, I’d suggest considering whether to go for this Fender or look into getting a CV with upgraded pickups instead. At the very least, I’d definitely take a Squier CV over the Player series. :) The Vintera is significantly better, but still...