Fender Strat S-1 Switching System

Hey all,

I'm in the market for a new guitar. As I stated in another post I went out and played a few guitars I was interested in this past weekend. Some PRS Single Cut Trems and a Custom 24 and 22. I also Played 2 Brian Moores. I have considered several Custom Luther built guitars and strongly considered a Zachary( you can check them out here http://www.zacharyguitars.com/Currently_for_Sale.htm ). I can go into NYC to try one from one of his customers but can't try the one I buy till I own it.

I wanted something versatile in sound. Get that fat Humbucker sound and the strat quack. I also want something with a pretty wide neck for my fat fingers. The PRS was nice but it's not head over heals better than my 79 Vantage LP Copy and no strat quack. Neck wasn't very wide either. The Moores are out completely. Blues is my style and the Strat is looking better and better to me. I am trying to find a place local who has American Deluxe Strats in stock so I can play them. Does anyone have one of these? They have this S-1 Switching System which sounds interesting. Anyone familiar with this and can give me any feedback on it? Info on the Deluxe http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0101200723 . Anyone with info or feedback on the different Strat models I'm all ears.

Thanks

fender Strats - never seen a bad one

Hey Nick, I have an American Deluxe HSS with the S-1 Switching system. I am not a very good or experienced player by any means, (1 year) ...but can offer some input anyway. :)

The quality & finish are fantastic. The neck, imo, is nice and smooth, almost as nice as my JS1200 Ibanez, but way smoother/faster than my LP or ESP's.
The Samarium Cobalt Noiseless pickups are sweet. The S-1 system offers an awesome selection of tones, especially for a Jazz person, although, throw in some gain/distortion and the stock humbuker can crank!! (but personally I will probably change mine) The trem is nice, dive bombs nice and stays in "almost" perfect tune. Overall I think this Strat is an extremely versatile guitar, but I also think its slightly on the pricey side at around $1200./USD.

Here are a couple pics:

Pic 1
Pic 1


Hope that helped a bit

I believe the S-1 switch puts the middle pickup "on" in positions it is not. So you get an extra two pickup combinations.

Though I have not played one, Mark Knopfler of the Dire Straits was rumoured to have this type of pickup combo very early in his days. I beleive he used a switch that would turn on all pickups at once. Listen to some of his very early stuff and see what you think.

Have you tried a Line 6 Variax ?

I have a 700 series and it rocks.

It sits next to a PRS CE24, a Gibson 1960 RI Les Paul, a couple of strats and a Jackson.

I A/Bed the Variax against the Strat and the LP and very few people here and at home recording .com could tell the difference. In the context of a mix the variax is even harder to distinguish from the real thing.

It is not as playable as the pRS but more comfortable than the LP.

Maybe worth a look

You can find my review of the Variax below
http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17944

and the A/B threads in the Recording forum (I dont know if the audio files are still up).

http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18306

http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?p=159364#post159364

The conclusion is below:

http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18321

I briefly owned a new Strat with the S-1 system and a humbucker in the bridge. Firstly, I am kinda spoilt when it comes to pickups. I've owned some of the best pickups around--very expensive ones--so I wasn't impressed at all with the noiseless pickups that came stock in the Strat. They'd been a major pain to replace as well, if you wanted to keep the switching system. I found the different sounds OK, but nothing to go crazy over. Sure, it's versatile, but the sounds aren't all that different from each other and I didn't actually like many of the newer sounds afforded by the S-1 system. They were no real improvement on what you could get out of a standard 5-way, IMO.

For me the S-1 system more of a gimmick than something I'd really explore. And I'd much prefer a Strat I could put better pickups in more easily. Just IMHO.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Dr. Simon I will check out the Variax 700 too. I have the Pod XT Live so it's a perfect match Equipment wise. Just need to see how it feels to play it.

Originally Posted by: Tele MasterI believe the S-1 switch puts the middle pickup "on" in positions it is not. So you get an extra two pickup combinations.....

You actually get more than that Tele. It also changes the way they are wired, series or parallel, plus it splits the humbucker too, there are actually 9 total positions.

Here is the wiring diagram: S-1 PDF

I agree with Mark that the sounds are not "that" different, but where they really shine imo is when using an Acoustic simulator pedal or processor, then you can notice the difference more. ...and yes Mark, your right about the pickups, I mean, they are sweet for stock pickups, (iv'e heard much, much worse ones) but yeah....there are not Seymore's, Emg's or D'marzio's :)