At 70 years old, the Fender Strat is the same age as the transistor radio, the Miss America Pageant, and Elvis Presley’s debut single. Dare we say, it has aged better than any of them. Rather than building to original 1954 specs, Fender is offering the 70th Anniversary Strat as a special edition from the American Pro II line – pairing time-honored Stratocaster design elements with updates drawn from seven decades of mechanical improvements and evolving player preferences.

Unlocking the hardshell case, one is struck like the guys in Pulp Fiction opening the briefcase. Online images don’t do justice to the flame-maple top with Comet Burst finish burning softly from hot orange to burgundy to milk chocolate. Off-white controls and pickup covers play to the well-aged aesthetic and contrast nicely with the tortoiseshell pickguard. Hardware highlights include a commemorative 70th Anniversary neck plate, locking tuners (with short posts for a sharper break angle from the nut), and of course a vibrato bridge – one of Leo Fender’s proudest designs.

The secret strength of this guitar, though, is its neck; the deep-C profile, 9.5″ fretboard radius, and 1.685″ nut width – all considerably different from 1954’s model – contribute to its being one of the most-effortless necks you’ll find. Rounded edges on the fretboard add to its feeling especially ergonomic, and there’s notable resonance between the maple neck and alder body (another difference from the original ash).

Fender’s V-Mod (vintage-modern) pickups are familiar to American Pro owners, with opinions being a bit divided. We did not detect the brittle or harsh characteristics that some reported about the original V-Mods. To the contrary, these 70th Anniversary V-Mod IIs sound warm, balanced, and capable of classic Strat tones while plumping up the narrowness that puts some players off single-coils altogether. A new push-on control on the second Tone knob adds the neck pickup to the bridge in positions 1 and 2 – another experiment on the ever-evolving Fender Strat.

This article originally appeared in VG’s June 2024 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.