The SECOND SERIES: Prototyping and Testing

In 2008, after an eight-year run of the American Series, Fender brought back the American Standard Stratocaster name with a revised model.

Revamping the American Stratocaster wasn’t a straightforward task, especially since most players didn’t see the early- and mid-2000s models as needing any fixes. Still, in 2008, Vice President Justin Norvell and his team felt it was time—not just for a few tweaks, but for meaningful improvements.
After an in-depth conversation with Ritchie Fliegler, Vice President of Marketing, Justin asked his R&D team to make a series of prototypes for testing purposes. ​

The new 2008 American Standard advert pointed out the importance of the Stratocaster in the history of electric guitars

According to Fliegler, the sound of an electric guitar is not determined solely by the pickups, which function merely as microphones, but by the instrument’s overall mechanical construction. Every component matters: tonewoods, strings, hardware, finish, and construction details. 

“The reason each instrument sounds different is that each instrument is different. How the strings’ energy is transmitted to the body, what is lost or affected along the way, is also a big part.”

Ritchie Fliegler

Each test guitar they built was designed to highlight a specific detail. To ensure meaningful comparisons of these isolated aspects, the prototypes were made as identical as possible in every other respect: bodies of equal weight cut from the same batch of wood, finishes applied to exactly the same thickness, and so on. What followed were months of meticulous testing.

“It was time to pare it back down, to look at the entire set of ingredients all over again. […] What is the essence of the Stratocaster? Part of this journey was taking previous opinions and 60 years of folklore out of the equation, so we were doing double-blind tests with large groups of players. It resulted in the reintroduction of the American Standard in 2008, just tweaking the tiniest parts of the recipe.”

Justin Norvell

Key Features and Refinements

Many features from the American Series were retained—the American Strat single-coil pickups with Alnico V staggered pole pieces, the Delta Tone circuit, and the staggered tuning machines with the low E and A string posts taller than the other four to provide a better behind-the-nut string angle.
However, the new American Stratocasters feature a number of subtle yet meaningful refinements.
The three-piece alder body (ash for the Sienna Sunburst finish) featured the same HSH routing used in the American Series, replacing the older “swimming pool” route. This allowed for easy installation of humbuckers in the neck and bridge positions.
The undercoat in the body finish was made thinner to enhance “body resonance,” as claimed in a Fender advertisement.
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The neck featured a slightly richer tint in its finish, resulting in a less washed-out appearance compared to earlier models. As Justin Norvell said, “The all-satin, barely tinted old version is more a remnant from the first American Standard incarnation in 1986, which was when these instruments were in step with the contemporaries of their time (like Charvel, now also owned by FMIC).”
Maple fretboards and the headstock face were now coated with a gloss finish, while the back of the neck retained its satin finish. This change received mixed reactions: although the gloss finish gives the neck a fresh, modern appearance, it is noticeably thinner than the heavy finishes found on seventies-era Fenders.
Consistent with the American Series, the neck featured a modern “C” profile, and the fretboard edges were carefully rolled to enhance player comfort.  
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A major update involved the bridge. While the two-point top plate pivot system remained unchanged, the old cast-block saddles of previous models were replaced with new bent steel saddles. To enhance “modern playability,” the string spacing was narrowed from 55mm to 52.5mm. Since the neck width remained the same, the outer strings now sit a little further into the neck.
Fender declared that the height of the saddles was decreased “to reduce rough feel”, while the string slot on saddles was elongated “to reduce string friction or breakage”.
The powdered steel cast with resin inertia block used in the American Series Stratocaster was replaced with a copper-infused steel cast to achieve “increased mass and improved tone,” according to Fender.

“We used the old bridge block as a base platform for retrofit and consistency reasons. These blocks are chamfered for extra travel in the body cavity, and this way, we just use the same mold as before with a new alloy, copper-infused steel, which allows the costs to stay in check. We tone-tested these new blocks against machined blocks and were quite impressed, so you get improved mass and tone without the large increase in cost.”

Justin Norvell

The new American Standard Stratocaster was also available in the hot-rodded HSS and HH versions. The HSS model featured a Diamondback humbucker and two Tex-Mex single coils. The HH model came with a Black Cobra at the bridge and a Sidewinder at the neck.
The guitar was sold with a new Fender/SKB hardshell case. 
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Make History

Fender launched the “Make History” advertising campaign to promote the reintroduction of the American Standard Stratocaster. This campaign emphasized the guitar’s rich legacy and its role in shaping musical history. The print advertisements featured iconic imagery, such as the Stratocaster set against a backdrop of the American flag, underscoring its cultural significance.
The campaign highlighted the meticulous updates made to the American Standard Stratocaster aiming to enhance playability and tone while honoring its classic design. By focusing on both the instrument’s heritage and its modern enhancements, the Make History campaign resonated with musicians seeking a blend of tradition and innovation.

The print advertisements were complemented by the Fender NAMM 2008 Gala – “Make History” Celebration video, which highlighted Fender’s unveiling of the American Standard Stratocaster at the 2008 Winter NAMM Show. The event featured live performances by renowned artists including Jeff Beck, Billy Corgan, and John 5.

AMERICAN STANDARD THIRD SERIES

In March 2012, Fender introduced the third series of the American Standard Stratocaster, and a key feature was the replacement of the standard single-coil pickups with Custom Shop Fat ‘50s pickups. ​

2012, New American Standard Series Advert

According to Fender, these pickups were designed to deliver a 1950s sound with an enhanced bass response and a “hot-rodded” attitude. This change, along with the use of aged plastic parts, marked an upgrade in the American Standard Stratocaster line.
The “Still the One” Fender ad campaign, launched to promote the new American Standard Stratocaster, was a follow-up to the “Make History” campaign. It conveyed that Fender remains the top choice for musicians decades after its inception, celebrating both heritage and ongoing innovation.
In 2015, the HSS and HH models were also updated. The new American Standard Stratocaster HH was equipped with two Twin Head Vintage humbucking pickups, with a combination of alnico 2 and 5 magnets for the neck and bridge, respectively, along with a thick aluminum base plate to reduce magnetic interference.
At the same time, the American Standard Stratocaster HSS Shawbucker was fitted with Tim Shaw’s Shawbucker humbucking pickups.  ​

Before joining Fender, Tim Shaw had worked as an apprentice to the renowned pickup designer Bill Lawrence and later with Gibson’s R&D team. His Shawbucker was influenced by Seth Lover’s original PAF and, like the original PAF, wasn’t dipped in wax as most modern humbuckers are. It also featured a relatively low output, similar to vintage PAF pickups.
However, Shaw added a distinctive, non-historic feature: a stacked volume pot—an element that had a meaningful impact on the guitar’s tonal response.

Tim Shaw

The resistance level of a volume potentiometer plays a key role in shaping pickup tone: higher values tend to retain more treble, while lower ones can reduce high-end frequencies. Fender single-coil pickups have traditionally been paired with 250K pots for a balanced tone, whereas humbuckers—like those found on Gibson guitars—typically use 500K pots to maintain brightness.
In HSS Stratocaster setups, which combine single-coils with a humbucker, this posed a challenge. Using a 500K pot would make the single-coils sound too sharp, while a 250K pot would dull the humbucker. The solution was a dual-resistance, or stacked, volume pot—designed so that one section handled the single-coils and the other the humbucker—allowing each pickup type to deliver its intended sound.

Fender Am Std Stratocaster HSS Shawbucker Service Manual - Dual Pot

American Standard Stratocaster HSS Shawbucker Wiring