Fender American Professional Series Stratocaster

About the Fender American Professional Series Stratocaster

Launched in January 2017, the American Professional Stratocaster replaced the American Standard Series after nearly thirty years, marking Fender's first major overhaul of its regular-production USA flagship since 1987. The alder body and Modern Deep C maple neck carried a rosewood fingerboard with a 9.5-inch radius and 22 narrow tall frets, while the three V-Mod single-coil pickups - the first pickup design credited to Fender's in-house pickup engineer Tim Shaw - used differing Alnico 2, 3, and 5 magnet blends calibrated per position, all wound with 42-gauge Formvar wire. The middle pickup was wired reverse-wound/reverse-polarity, making the classic quacky positions 2 and 4 genuinely hum-cancelling rather than just conventionally wired. A treble-bleed circuit on the master volume - a resistor-capacitor network - preserved high-end clarity as the volume was rolled back, paired with a 2-point synchronized vibrato using bent steel saddles. At 7.6lbs, the guitar was notably documented by weight, unlike its American Professional II successor. This first generation established the template - V-Mod pickups, treble-bleed wiring, an Elite molded case with TSA-approved latches - that the American Professional II expanded on from 2020 with the position-refined V-Mod II set, rolled fingerboard edges, and push-push switching.

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Sound character of the Fender American Professional Series Stratocaster

Across all five switch positions, the V-Mod pickups are described as ringing and chiming with a snappy, crisp attack and pleasing sustain - vintage-approved tonality with a bit more treble openness than a purely traditional single-coil set. The reverse-wound/reverse-polarity middle pickup keeps positions 2 and 4 genuinely hum-cancelling, and testers specifically noted a 'zingy resonance' that carried through both clean and driven tones.

What owners of the Fender American Professional Series Stratocaster say

Owners and reviewers alike frequently point to the factory setup as a standout - precise intonation and low, buzz-free action straight out of the case were unusually consistent for a regular-production instrument at this price point. The V-Mod pickups earned praise for adding treble openness to a fundamentally vintage-rooted voice without tipping into harshness, and the general consensus treats this generation as a genuine improvement over the American Standard it replaced rather than a lateral rebrand.

Playability & handling of the Fender American Professional Series Stratocaster

The Modern Deep C neck profile is described as sleek at the edges while retaining substantial palm-filling mass, and fretwork drew particular praise as perfectly installed with smoothly rounded ends for a fast, effortless feel. Factory setup arrived close to perfect in testing - precise intonation, low action without buzz, and a bridge that rocked evenly under vibrato use.

Recommended accessories & strings for the Fender American Professional Series Stratocaster

Standard 25.5-inch scale takes .009-.042 or .010-.046 sets equally well. The treble-bleed circuit rewards players who use the volume knob as an active performance tool - rolling back volume keeps articulation and top end rather than dulling the tone, useful for switching between rhythm and cleaner lead textures without touching the amp.

Technical data for the Fender American Professional Series Stratocaster

Price history for the Fender American Professional Series Stratocaster

Cheapest seen: 1.420 EUR  ·  Most expensive seen: 1.420 EUR

The history of the Fender American Professional Series Stratocaster

This Stratocaster ended the American Standard Series' run at the top of Fender's regular USA production, a position that series had held since 1987. Its arrival in January 2017 represented the first ground-up rework of Fender's flagship line in three decades, built around Tim Shaw's newly designed V-Mod pickups and a fresh approach to neck carving and electronics that Fender hadn't significantly revisited during the American Standard era. The series had a comparatively short three-year run before Fender replaced it with the American Professional II in 2020, but reviewers at the time treated it as a substantial, well-executed step forward rather than a stopgap - the foundation the second generation built on rather than a design Fender needed to walk back.

About Fender as a manufacturer

Built at Fender's Corona, California plant as the company's regular-production USA flagship from 2017 to 2020, positioned above the Mexican-made lines and below the Custom Shop, with an Elite molded hardshell case and TSA-approved latches included as standard.

Notable players & recordings featuring the Fender American Professional Series Stratocaster

No verified professional endorsement ties a specific touring artist to this exact model. Fender marketed the American Professional tier on aggregate build quality and popularity rather than individual signature association, the same positioning later carried forward by the American Professional II.