I treated myself to a new Fender Mex Player series Strat this week. It's the replacement for the Mex Standard series. No, it's a White one with Maple board, & not Fiesta Red, for a change. They do one with a Pau Ferro fingerboard called 'Sonic Red' which is quite near F. Red ,but not exactly; but hey, which F.Red is the real one anyway ?
There is a version of that notorious colour on the Custom shop relic '56' Strat which appears to be nearest to that which I remember from the '60s,& is described as Aged F.Red & is the Pinkish hue.
Anyway, the new Mex model is quite nice with some good upgrades included. I got it for £469 from Guitar Guitar store. It has a nice smooth matt poly lacquer on the back of the neck & a real old Spaghetti logo in Gold on the headstock.
The pickups are now Alnico V magnets, instead of the ceramic ones. They are slightly 'lower powered' than the ceramics, but that's fine for our '60s music.
The trem/bridge is similar to the American Standard version, with vintage saddles & a nice two shafted balance point.
The guitar also features a 9.5”-radius fingerboard with 22 medium-jumbo frets.
Tone 1 handles neck and middle, while tone 2 adjusts the bridge. This is a new very useful feature, as the guitar is plenty bright, so you can tame those ice-pick tones from the bridge.
All in all not a bad guitar at that price point. The whole series is very full, with lots of varied pickup versions & two neck versions. The Teles & the Jag/Jazz, & the basses are also very nice, & seem to offer good value at that lower-mid price point. These & the Squier Classic Vibes are getting very near the same price point now. Perhaps Fender is concerned that Squier are taking all their customers away. Who knows ?
Tony.