Fender American Professional Classic Stratocaster, Maple Fingerboard, Faded Firemist Gold, Ex-Display

Quick Product Summary

The Fender American Professional Classic Stratocaster in Faded Firemist Gold – Ex-Display combines unmistakable Stratocaster character with a carefully judged mix of vintage-inspired styling and contemporary playing comfort.

Its alder body is paired with a maple Modern “C” neck, 9.5-inch fingerboard radius and 22 medium-jumbo frets, creating a familiar, versatile platform for everything from clean rhythm work to expressive lead playing. Three Coastline™ '57 Single-Coil Stratocaster® pickups provide vintage-inspired Fender sparkle with additional warmth and punch, while the RWRP middle pickup gives the familiar five-way Strat layout plenty of usable tonal variety.

The Faded Firemist Gold finish, mint-green pickguard and aged-white plastics give this model a deliberately broken-in visual character without using a physically reliced finish. Add a traditional six-screw synchronized tremolo, staggered ClassicGear tuners and the Greasebucket tone circuit, and you have a Strat that bridges classic Fender personality and professional everyday usability exceptionally well.

At A Glance

Feature	Details
Brand	Fender
Series	American Professional Classic
Model	Stratocaster®
Model Number	0114942384
Finish	Faded Firemist Gold
Condition	Ex-Display
Body	Alder
Fingerboard	Maple
Neck Profile	Modern “C”
Pickups	3 x Coastline™ '57 Single-Coil Stratocaster®
Included	Deluxe Gig Bag
Main Appeal	Vintage-inspired Fender tone with modern playing comfort
Best For	Blues, rock, funk, indie, pop, country, soul and studio work

Ex-Display Condition Report

Condition: Ex-Display

This guitar has been used for display purposes rather than supplied as a completely untouched sealed-box example.

No specific cosmetic marks, faults, repairs or modifications have been supplied for this listing, so none have been assumed or added.

The guitar will be checked by our Fair Deal Music team before leaving the shop to ensure the important functional and playing areas are operating correctly.

For additional reassurance, ask our team about a video demo of the exact guitar before purchase.

What's Included?

• Fender American Professional Classic Stratocaster®, Maple Fingerboard, Faded Firemist Gold

• Fender Deluxe Gig Bag

• .050" saddle-height adjustment wrench

• 1/8" truss-rod adjustment wrench

✘ Hard Case Not Included

Condition Notes

This individual guitar is offered as Ex-Display.

No specific cosmetic blemishes or functional issues have been supplied for the listing. We have therefore deliberately avoided adding speculative wear or condition claims.

Fair Deal Quality Control Assessment

Before leaving Fair Deal Music, this Stratocaster will be checked across the areas that matter most to everyday ownership and performance, including:

• All three pickups

• Five-way pickup selector

• Volume and tone controls

• Greasebucket tone circuit operation

• Output socket

• Tuning machines

• Tremolo and bridge hardware

• Neck and fret condition

• General structural condition

• Playability and basic setup

Service / Setup Work

This Stratocaster will be checked and set up as required before dispatch.

As with any guitar, setup can shift slightly during transport due to changes in temperature and humidity. Minor adjustment after delivery may occasionally be beneficial depending on climate, string preference and individual playing style.

Why Choose The Fender American Professional Classic Stratocaster?

Coastline '57 Stratocaster Pickups

The three Coastline '57 single-coils take inspiration from Fender's Pure Vintage designs but are slightly overwound for additional warmth, chime and punch. They retain the clarity players expect from a traditional Strat while giving the guitar enough presence for contemporary stage and studio work.

Modern “C” Neck With 9.5-Inch Radius

Rather than adopting a strict 1950s neck specification, Fender uses its familiar Modern “C” shape with a 9.5-inch fingerboard radius and medium-jumbo frets. This makes bending, vibrato, chord work and faster lead playing immediately accessible to musicians accustomed to modern Fender guitars.

Greasebucket Bridge Tone Circuit

The second tone control uses Fender's Greasebucket™ circuit for the bridge pickup. Rolling the treble back avoids introducing excessive bass, making warmer bridge-pickup settings more useful while retaining definition.

Traditional Six-Screw Strat Tremolo

The American Professional Classic uses a six-screw vintage-style synchronized tremolo, maintaining the mechanical feel and appearance associated with classic Stratocasters rather than moving to a contemporary two-point bridge.

Faded Firemist Gold Styling

Fender developed the faded finishes in this series to evoke the visual character of older instruments without artificially adding physical wear. Faded Firemist Gold works particularly well with the maple fingerboard, mint-green pickguard and aged-white plastics for a distinctive vintage-inspired appearance.

Comparison Against Popular Alternatives

American Professional Classic Stratocaster vs Player II Stratocaster

The Player II Stratocaster shares several familiar playing specifications, including a Modern “C” neck, 9.5-inch radius and 22 medium-jumbo frets, making both guitars easy to approach for contemporary Fender players.

The American Professional Classic moves into a more premium vintage-modern direction with Coastline '57 pickups, Greasebucket bridge tone control, faded finish treatment, staggered ClassicGear tuners and a traditional six-screw tremolo. The Player II instead uses Player Series Alnico V pickups and a modern two-point tremolo.

Choose the Player II for a straightforward contemporary Strat. Choose the American Professional Classic when upgraded pickup character, vintage-style hardware and American Professional-series refinement are more important.

American Professional Classic vs American Professional II Stratocaster

The American Professional II Stratocaster takes the more modern professional route. It uses a fuller Deep “C” neck, 22 narrow-tall frets, V-Mod II pickups, additional neck-pickup switching and an upgraded two-point tremolo with a cold-rolled steel block.

The American Professional Classic is deliberately simpler and more traditional. Its Modern “C” neck, medium-jumbo frets, Coastline '57 pickups and six-screw tremolo make it better suited to the player who wants classic Strat DNA without moving into a strict vintage recreation.

American Professional Classic vs American Vintage II 1957 Stratocaster

The American Vintage II 1957 Stratocaster is for players seeking a considerably more period-focused experience, with a 1957-style “V” neck, 7.25-inch radius, Pure Vintage '57 pickups, nitrocellulose lacquer and vintage-focused hardware.

The American Professional Classic is more forgiving for modern playing. Its 9.5-inch radius, Modern “C” neck and medium-jumbo frets are immediately familiar, while the pickups and hardware retain enough vintage influence to give it genuine old-school Fender character.

Who Is The Fender American Professional Classic Stratocaster For?

This Stratocaster is particularly well suited to:

• Players wanting an American Fender with vintage-inspired character

• Guitarists who prefer a Modern “C” neck

• Players who want classic Strat sounds without a 7.25-inch vintage radius

• Blues and classic rock guitarists

• Funk and soul rhythm players

• Indie and alternative musicians

• Country and roots guitarists

• Pop and covers-band players

• Recording and session musicians

• Players upgrading from Player or Player II models

• Guitarists who find American Vintage models too traditionally specified

• Buyers looking for additional value from an Ex-Display instrument

Looking for advice on choosing between the Player II, American Professional Classic, American Professional II or American Vintage II Stratocaster? Our experienced team of musicians can help you compare necks, pickups, tremolo systems and playing feel by phone, online or in our Birmingham showroom.

Suitable Genres And Playing Styles

Blues

The Coastline '57 neck pickup delivers the rounded response and clarity that makes the Stratocaster such a natural blues instrument. Its dynamic single-coil character also responds particularly well to edge-of-breakup valve-style tones.

Rock

The slightly stronger Coastline pickup voicing provides plenty of definition through overdrive while retaining the note separation associated with a traditional Strat.

Funk & Soul

Positions two and four deliver the glassy combined-pickup sounds that work exceptionally well for clean chord work, rhythmic muting and more percussive playing.

Indie & Alternative

Clear single coils make an excellent foundation for chorus, phaser, fuzz, delay, reverb and other effects. The five-way pickup selector also makes it easy to change the way an effects chain responds without changing instruments.

Country & Roots

The bridge pickup provides plenty of attack for cleaner picking styles, while the bridge/middle combination introduces a smoother alternative when a slightly less direct sound is required.

Studio & Session Work

The traditional SSS layout remains one of the Stratocaster's greatest strengths in the studio. Five pickup settings provide meaningful tonal contrast for layered arrangements, clean passages and overdriven parts.

Coastline '57 Pickups: Vintage Strat Tone With A Little More Punch

The Coastline '57 Stratocaster pickups are based on Fender's Pure Vintage pickup designs but are deliberately wound for a little more warmth and output. The aim is not to transform the Strat into a high-output instrument, but to give classic-style single-coil sounds additional authority for modern stages, pedalboards and recording setups.

The middle pickup is reverse wound and reverse polarity, helping reduce noise in the bridge/middle and middle/neck combined positions. That makes the familiar Stratocaster positions two and four especially useful for clean rhythm work and effects-heavy rigs.

Story & Context

Fender introduced the Stratocaster in 1954, and its combination of three pickups, a contoured body and synchronized tremolo helped establish a template that remains central to electric guitar design today.

The American Professional Classic series, introduced in 2025, approaches that heritage from a different direction to Fender's strict vintage-reissue ranges. Instead of recreating one particular historical year, it combines recognisably vintage-inspired sounds, hardware and finishes with neck specifications designed for contemporary players.

The Coastline '57 pickups reference an important period in Stratocaster history, while the 9.5-inch radius, medium-jumbo frets and Modern “C” neck keep the guitar practical for musicians who do not necessarily want the compromises of an entirely period-correct design.

The Faded Firemist Gold finish follows the same philosophy. It is designed to suggest the softened appearance of an older Fender colour while remaining a new modern finish rather than a physically distressed relic treatment.

Technical Specifications

Specification	Details
Product Name	American Professional Classic Stratocaster®
Model Number	0114942384
Series	American Professional Classic
Orientation	Right-Handed
Colour	Faded Firemist Gold
Body Shape	Stratocaster®
Body Material	Alder
Body Finish	Gloss Urethane
Neck Material	Maple
Neck Finish	Satin Urethane
Neck Shape	Modern “C”
Fingerboard Material	Maple
Fingerboard Radius	9.5" / 241 mm
Scale Length	25.5" / 648 mm
Number Of Frets	22
Fret Size	Medium Jumbo
Position Inlays	Black Dot
Nut Material	Synthetic Bone
Nut Width	1.685" / 42.8 mm
Bridge Pickup	Coastline™ '57 Single-Coil Stratocaster®
Middle Pickup	Coastline™ '57 Single-Coil Stratocaster® RWRP
Neck Pickup	Coastline™ '57 Single-Coil Stratocaster®
Pickup Configuration	SSS
Controls	Master Volume, Tone 1 Neck/Middle, Tone 2 Greasebucket Bridge Tone
Switching	5-Position Blade
Bridge	6-Saddle Vintage-Style Synchronized Tremolo
Bridge Mounting	6-Screw Vintage-Style
Tuning Machines	Fender® ClassicGear™ Staggered
Hardware Finish	Nickel / Chrome
Pickguard	3-Ply Mint Green
Pickup Covers	Aged White
Control Knobs	Aged White Plastic
String Trees	Dual-Wing
Neck Plate	4-Bolt
Strings	Fender® USA 250L Nickel Plated Steel .009-.042
Case / Gig Bag	Deluxe Gig Bag
Condition	Ex-Display

Specification Note

Exact individual weight and serial number have not been supplied for this listing and have therefore not been estimated or added.

Power Requirements

The Fender American Professional Classic Stratocaster uses passive single-coil pickups, so no battery or external power supply is required.

Connect the guitar to a suitable guitar amplifier, modeller, audio interface or effects setup using a standard instrument cable.

Fair Deal Music Verdict 🎵

★★★★★ 5/5

The Fender American Professional Classic Stratocaster in Faded Firemist Gold gets the vintage-versus-modern balance particularly right.

Its six-screw tremolo, Coastline '57 pickups and aged-looking colour treatment provide plenty of traditional Fender character, but the Modern “C” neck, 9.5-inch radius and medium-jumbo frets mean you do not have to adapt to genuinely vintage playing geometry.

For players who find a Player II slightly too straightforward but do not necessarily need the extra switching and modern hardware of an American Professional II, this sits in a very appealing middle ground.

Best suited for: Players wanting classic Stratocaster sound and aesthetics with comfortable modern Fender playability.

Customers usually upgrade from: Fender Player, Player II and higher-spec Squier Stratocasters when looking for a professional-level American Fender with greater vintage influence.

Most commonly paired with: Clean or edge-of-breakup amplifiers, overdrive, fuzz, compression, chorus, delay and reverb.

Our tip: Make use of the Greasebucket bridge tone control. Being able to soften a Strat bridge pickup without making the sound excessively bass-heavy makes that position much more flexible than many players expect.

Showroom feedback: The Modern “C” neck and medium-jumbo frets make this immediately familiar to anyone coming from a contemporary Fender, while the Coastline pickups and six-screw tremolo give the guitar noticeably more vintage flavour than its playability initially suggests.

Why Buy From Fair Deal Music?

When you buy from Fair Deal Music, you're choosing one of the UK's most established, independent family run music retailers since 1987.

Our Birmingham showroom is backed by a knowledgeable musician-led team who understand guitars, amplifiers, effects and recording equipment and can help you choose the right equipment for your playing style and budget.

When you shop with Fair Deal Music, you can buy with confidence thanks to:

• Expert advice from knowledgeable musicians

• Carefully checked new, used, pre-owned and ex-display equipment

• Competitive prices on leading music brands

• Secure online ordering

• UK delivery available

• Friendly support before and after your purchase

• A large Birmingham music showroom

• Decades of experience with both new and pre-owned musical equipment

Whether you're choosing your first American Fender, upgrading from a Player-series Stratocaster or comparing different professional Fender ranges, our team is here to help.

Trade In. Trade Up. Save More.

Thinking about upgrading? Your next piece of gear could cost less than you think.

We're always happy to consider part exchanges and trade-ins on a wide range of musical instruments and equipment. Whether you're looking to upgrade your guitar, keyboard, amplifier, drum kit or studio gear, your existing equipment could help reduce the cost of your next purchase.

Simply get in touch with our team for a no-obligation valuation, and we'll be happy to discuss the options available.

It's an easy way to unlock the value of the gear you no longer use while making your next instrument even more affordable.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Ex-Display mean?

This particular guitar has been used for display purposes rather than supplied as a completely untouched sealed-box example. It will be checked by Fair Deal Music before leaving the shop.

How do Coastline '57 pickups differ from regular modern Strat pickups?

They are based around vintage-inspired Fender pickup designs but are slightly overwound to provide extra warmth and punch. They retain traditional single-coil clarity while giving the guitar a little more authority.

What is the benefit of an RWRP middle pickup?

RWRP means reverse wound, reverse polarity. When combined with the bridge or neck pickup, it helps reduce unwanted single-coil noise while retaining the characteristic Stratocaster combined-pickup sound.

Is the Modern “C” neck suitable for most playing styles?

Yes. It is a versatile Fender neck profile that works well for chord playing, rhythm work and lead guitar without feeling excessively thin or deliberately vintage-sized.

What does the Greasebucket tone circuit actually change?

The Greasebucket circuit allows you to reduce treble while avoiding the excessive bass increase that can accompany some traditional passive tone controls. This can make warmer bridge-pickup settings clearer and more useful.

Is the six-screw tremolo harder to use than a two-point Strat bridge?

Not necessarily. It has a more traditional Fender design and feel, while a two-point tremolo generally offers a slightly more modern mechanical approach. Correct setup is more important than simply the number of mounting points.

Would this be a good upgrade from a Player II Stratocaster?

Yes, particularly if you're looking for an American Fender with vintage-inspired pickups, a six-screw tremolo, distinctive faded styling and a more premium overall specification while retaining familiar Modern “C” playability.

Should I choose this or an American Professional II Stratocaster?

Choose the American Professional Classic if you want simpler vintage-inspired hardware, medium-jumbo frets and Coastline '57 pickup character. Choose the American Professional II if you prefer its fuller Deep “C” neck, narrow-tall frets, two-point tremolo and additional switching features.