LIMITED EDITION HM STRAT

The best Fender Stratocaster for metal guitarists.

RRP: $2,499

Body: Basswood

Neck: Maple

Scale: 25.1 inches

Fingerboard: Rosewood

Frets: 24

Pickups: 2x Custom HM Single-Coils, 1x Custom HM humbucker

Controls: Master Volume, Tone 1 (Neck/Middle Pickups), Tone 2 (Bridge Pickup)

Hardware: Black

PROS

• Any shredder’s dream.

• Original ‘80s colours, features and logo.

CONS

• Aimed specifically at higher-gain players.

The short-lived ’88-’92 run of heavy metal-friendly Strats were very much tailored to an era of super-shredders. Famed for their extreme playability and bright colour schemes, the line was brought back to life at last year’s Winter NAMM. The new models offer a basswood body, Gotoh tuners, an HSS pickup configuration with a coil split switch for the bridge pickup, a Floyd Rose locking tremolo and 24 jumbo frets.

Of course, these latest versions wouldn’t be the same without a black headcap and that infamous ‘80s stylised Fender logo on the headstock. The new limited-edition models come in four finishes – Bright White, Ice Blue, Flash Pink and Frozen Yellow – with options for rosewood or maple fingerboards on the original 17-inch radius / 25.1-inch scale, narrow C-shaped neck that was highly praised for effortless performance.