American Standard Stratocaster (1986 – 2000)

Model info: In 1985 Fender-CBS became Fender-FMIC. The new company found itself without a manufacturing facility. In fact, all that had really been sold was the name and trademark rights and a small amount of leftover parts and inventory. In 1986, the new Fender began manufacture of the American Standard, a revised edition of the 1982 Standard (“Dan Smith”) Stratocaster. The American Standard would prove to be Fender’s flagship instrument for over a decade. Its features included 22 frets, 4-bolt neckplate 2 pivot point vibrato with updated bridge, 5-way pickup selector blade, and 3 single coil pickups with exposed polepieces. The Delta Tone system with its high output bridge pickup and ‘no-load’ tone control electronics were incorporated into the model in 1998.

Notes: The importance of the American Standard to the then new Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) cannot be overstated. For more information about this model and its birth, see: The Fender American Standard Stratocaster: An Excerpt from The Stratocaster Chronicles by Tom Wheeler.