FENDER AMERICAN PRO II STRATOCASTER HSS

The do-it-all Strat?

- Rob Laing

1 FINISH

The roasting process darkens the pine, but other than that there’s just a clear coat after the sanding is sealed on this natural finish.

2 BRIDGE

The two-post bridge now boasts a chamfered cold-rolled steel vibrato block that, says Fender, “increases sustain, clarity and high-end sparkle”.

3 DOUBLE TAP HUMBUCKER

Fender’s patented Double Tap was introduced on its Performer series and aims to minimise the volume loss between humbucker and single-coil sounds.

How does a company evolve a design that they got so right at the start? With the Strat, Fender treads carefully but with its recent Ultra series, it proved that its carefully considered tweaks can amount to quite a lot. But it has to be a sensitive balance, retaining the very things that make the Strat experience so attractive. So where does that leave us with Fender’s new standard; the second iteration of the Professional II.

There’s no doubt some of the Ultra’s features have influenced the changes here, but the Pro II also brings its own distinct changes; namely a new tonewood option with roasted pine (the roasting improves its resonance). While the Sienna Sunburst finish also uses this new sustainable replacement for ash, here in clear-coated natural glory.

The pine looks more 70s retro than some of the bold new finishes in the Professional II line, and it will probably be one of the most divisive. But in the first reveal of the new line that TG attended, it was suggested these pine models would be on the lighter side of Strat weights, and at 7.5lbs ours is certainly on the lower side.