Fender Exclusive Ens Strat MN STN 2TS

Nice, comfortable, and good looking and sounding Strat.

The main reason I bought this versus a more "standard" model was the satin finish of the neck and the body and I'm glad that I did because both are quite well done. As far as the finish goes the only faults I could find is a tiny spot blemish at the very top of the neck, and I thought the varnish over the nut was unnecessary. Both are noticeable only upon close inspection and fixable if I ever get bothered enough to do it. It remains to be seen how well the overall finish can hold up to (ab)use through the years.

The guitar came with a playable set up but I did need to spend an hour getting it exactly to where I want. This was fun and quite easily done by following the (online) manual and a few basic tools. I do not consider a non-perfect setup out of the factory box to be a fault in any way. The nut was cut properly, there are no dead frets, intonation was close enough, and the rest is a matter of personal preference anyway. The guitar stays in tune surpisingly well, even after using the tremolo quite a bit.

Hardware is okay, but I did hope to get slightly more quality components for the price. Thankfully most of that is a relativley cheap upgrade to look forward to. Tuners in particular are not something to write home about. The knobs and the switch both look and feel quite cheap. The bridge and saddles are good. The plug cover seems quite thin. I was surprised to receive the tiny tremolo arm spring which, as far as I know, is usually exclusive to USA models.

As far as the sound goes it sounds very much like a Strat, which is unsurprising given the 60's pickups in it.

Overall I think this is a good choice for someone who wants a solidly made base guitar with the particular finish, are into 60's style single coils, and is expecting to do some further modding and upgrades to get it exactly to where they want to. Compared to other guitars in the price range I think there is a Fender sticker tax on this one of at least 150 euro though. So maybe look elsewhere if you expect to get a bit more quality components out of the box.

Bünde abzurichten ist für ein gutes Setup eigentlich immer der Standard. Herausforderung hier, Bundstäbe wurden mit Griffbrett zusammen überlackiert. Der Gitarrenbauer musste deswegen den Lack an den Bünden einritzen, da dieser sonst beim abrichten drohte, großflächig wegzuplatzen. An solchen Details wird klar, dass in der Produktion wenig sorgfältig und eher budgetorientiert gearbeitet wird.
Die Mechaniken sind unpräzise und kaum zu gebrauchen. Übersetzung zu direkt. Stimmstabilität ist damit nicht möglich. Daran könnten auch Profi-Setup von Sattel und Tremolo nichts ändern.

Der Rest des Instrumentes überrascht dafür positiv. Tonabnehmer sind gut für alle möglichen Spielarten, Elektronik tut seinen Dienstl, wie es sein soll. Der Hals ist mit 12 Zoll Radius und 43er Sattelbreite bequem. Kommt dem einer Paula nah, was ich sehr mag. Die Farbe und die leicht altweißen Kunststoffteile passen wunderbar zusammen. Optisch eine Augenweide! Nach dem Setup und mit Upgrade der Mechaniken ein feines Instrument, was dann doch nochmal etwas besser ist als die 40th Anniversary Edition von Squier. Wer mehr will, greift besser bei den AM Strats zu.