Fender Player II Strat HSS RW CRR

Fender Player II Strat HSS RW CRR review

The Fender Player II Strat HSS RW CRR is a red, full-scale electric guitar with a familiar Strat-style layout and a humbucker at the bridge. Its listed price is $755, and the model has been available since July 2024. Fender combines an alder body and maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard, then equips the guitar with one bridge humbucker and two single-coil pickups. That arrangement offers a broader pickup mix than a guitar fitted with three single coils, while keeping the middle and neck positions in the traditional single-coil format.

The specifications establish what the guitar is designed to offer, but the owner feedback supplied here is sharply divided on setup and finish. One player reports excellent setup, feel, tuning stability, and sound. Another describes significant setup problems and returned the instrument without playing it. Those accounts are useful warnings, but they do not establish that every example has the same issues. A buyer should treat the setup and fit of the individual guitar as something to inspect rather than assume.

Construction and neck specifications

The body is alder, with no separate top listed. The maple neck is bolt-on, and its Modern C profile is paired with a 241 mm (9.5-inch) fingerboard radius. The rosewood fingerboard has white dot inlays and 22 medium-jumbo frets. Scale length is 648 mm (25.5 inches), while the synthetic bone nut measures 42 mm (1.650 inches) across.

These dimensions describe a standard full-scale layout, with a neck profile and fingerboard radius commonly associated with comfortable general-purpose playing. The specifications alone cannot confirm how a particular neck feels in hand, how level its frets are, or whether its relief and action are correctly adjusted. One owner praised the neck's finish and playing feel, while another said the neck was convex and needed attention. That contrast makes an in-person inspection, or a clear return policy, especially relevant.

HSS pickups and controls

Fender fits a Player Series Alnico 2 humbucker at the bridge, plus Player Series Alnico 5 single coils in the middle and neck positions. A five-way switch selects the pickup combinations. The control layout consists of one master volume and two tone controls. The HSS configuration gives the bridge position a different pickup type from the two single-coil positions, so players can choose between those distinct pickup voices without changing instruments.

One owner liked the sound and feel of the pickup combination, while noting that the bridge humbucker came across as particularly prominent. Another buyer returned the guitar after about 15 minutes and said they had not been able to assess its sound. There is therefore not enough feedback here to make a firm judgment about its overall tone. The pickup specifications are clear, but the available listening impressions are limited and differ in how the bridge pickup balance is perceived.

Tremolo, hardware, and finish details

The guitar uses a two-point synchronized tremolo with bent steel saddles. Fender ClassicGear tuning machines and nickel/chrome hardware complete the listed hardware package. It ships with Fender USA 250L nickel-plated steel strings in.009 to.042 gauges. The three-ply parchment pickguard contrasts with the Coral Red finish. No bag or case is included, so buyers who need one should factor that into the total cost.

Feedback on the physical details is mixed. One owner reported a pickguard that sat noticeably above the body near the neck pickup, along with raised areas on the rear tremolo spring cover. The same owner described the plastics and tremolo as feeling inexpensive. Those are reports from an individual instrument, not confirmed defects across the model. Still, checking that the pickguard and rear cover sit evenly, and that the bridge hardware moves as expected, is a sensible part of evaluating a specific example.

Setup reports and buying advice

The most serious criticism concerns factory setup. One buyer reported a convex neck, first-string action of 3 mm at the 12th fret, uneven tremolo spring tension, intonation that needed correction, and dead spots on the low E string. They returned the guitar before testing its sound. In contrast, another owner described the factory setup as excellent, with accurate setup, good tuning stability, and a sound they enjoyed. The difference between these reports is substantial, so neither account should be treated as a guarantee of what a new unit will be like.

At $755, the Fender Player II Strat HSS RW CRR offers a clearly specified alder-and-maple build, a rosewood fingerboard, and a flexible HSS pickup layout. Its strongest case is the combination of familiar Strat-style controls with a bridge humbucker. The main qualification is quality control at the individual-instrument level, based on the conflicting setup and finish reports provided. Before keeping one, check neck relief, string action, intonation, tuning stability, fret response, and the fit of the pickguard and rear cover. A properly adjusted example may satisfy players who want this pickup configuration, but the reports make a quick setup check a practical part of the purchase.