Fender Jeff Beck Strat OW

I wanted a Jeff Beck strat for a long, long time. Does this make you sound like Jeff? As with all signature products, I see them more kind of like a tribute to. Tone is in your fingers and we all know Jeff was one of a kind and could make your tennisracket probably sing....but the most important advice I can give you for getting more into his tone and playing is very cheap (money saving actually): play with your fingers instead of a guitar pick ;-)....but on to the guitar....as I stated I wanted one for a long, long time and it did took a long time before I had one due to the fact that these guitars a very hard to get but it also took long because I wanted one that I liked in terms of weight. In general, the're weighty.....This is the 4th one and finally a keeper. This particular one weight 3635g and is fine for me. The others were around the 3950g mark and that's just to weighty for me. I want to perform with this one and a guitar of 4 kg. just isn't my thing....it's beautifull made, finish is all good, everything works (out of those 4, I actually have had one with a broken bridge pickup(!)) BUT: two things are not ok and took me some work that I'm able to pull of myself but is actually work that most will have performed by a luthier and in essence should have been done right at the factory. First thing is the hight of the nut: it's too high. This happens with more guitars but since this guitar sports an lsr roller nut, you can leave your nutfiles in the drawer. I took out the two shims that were underneath each side of the nut. This solved the issue on the lower string part but not on the higher one....now we're in trouble: I had to take out some very tiny bits of wood out of the nutslot (we're talking hundred's of mm's) in order to have the nut come down on that part of the neck. This is a very precise job and again, should be done properly by fender. The second problem was the 12th fret: is was seated too high. I had to take out a fretfile and take away a considerable amount of material in order to be able to bent the string on the 11th position without choking. I have to say in this regard that I play with a low action: 1.1-1.2 mm on the treble side at the 12th fret and 1.5mm on the bass side using an 11-49 string gauge. This is of no concern but the frets need to be levelled near perfection. And that is obvious not the case here. The reason I kept the guitar and accepted this type of additional work is purely due to the fact that this model is very hard to get and this particular one has a proper weight. If this was not the case, I had sent it back within a heartbeat....but since everything is solved now, I can enjoy this guitar and it is a joy to play and to hear!

I wanted Strat for its typical sound color in recording and I spent some time to choose this model. After one year of using it I have to say, I'm very satisfied. The guitar is very playable, comfortable neck, you hear the typical Strat sound even in acoustic and lower strings are purring nicely when trembling the sustain on. Tremolo can be treated boldly with no risk of detuning (roller nut helps) and with a bit heavier strings it's not so oversensitive then with lighter factory set.

Cons: Factory strings - in two minutes I had dirty fingers from playing them, Tweed case has very nice look, yet difficult to maintain that nice for traveling musician. And I can imagine better padding inside - bit cheap feeling of materials used doesn't fit to the level of the guitar. The strap is very "economy class", too.

However, neither one of cons can change my opinion this US Strat with lot of features is for 2K EUR an excellent buy.

I've always regretted selling my old Strat Plus. The only reason I did was that I didn't particularly like the pickups, otherwise it was a great guitar. I've since found it all but impossible to find the Plus's great features on any other guitar. Until now. I'd never really checked out the Beck before as I'm not a lover of so-called 'signature' guitars. To be honest most of them strike me as slightly embarrassing, over-priced rip offs but the Beck is simply a great tool. The roller nut not only keeps the guitar in perfect tune but it sings! Beautiful metallic sound. Always liked the locking tuners too, they just make string changes a breeze. Add strap locks, phenomenal pickups, tidier (shorter) whammy bar, quality three ply scratch plate and the mass of a top quality body slab and this is the best guitar I've ever owned...and I've owned them all (except other signature/relic rip-offs). This Strat will share pride of place with my SG Standard, Rici bass and Martin acoustic...completing the perfect tool kit for any job. Highly recommended.

I started playing electric guitar 45 years ago, at the time I was a teenager. At that age I couldn't afford anything good, so I would go to pawn shops for my guitars.
Now that I am retired and have the time and money, I decided to buy a quality guitar and I bought this Jeff Beck signature Strat, what a joy to be playing again.
Pros: Great sounding pickups, the guitars sounds great even unplugged, very comfortable neck, the tremolo feels very smooth.
Pros: Playability, great sound, looks great, love the tremolo bar
Cons: none