Fender Player Series Strat vs. Fender American Performer Strat [No Talking]

[@swordartonline6719]

Lol I like that he kept playing clean instead of dirty and was consistently playing the same cords this was a great review because I could hear and make a real comparison!!!

[@mrbesserwisser7447]

Player sounds thinner clean, but better distorted. Performer has a fuller clean sound, but gets a bit muddy when distorted. If I had to choose, I'd go witn the Player, and adjust the amp settings to get a fuller clean sound. God, it was MUCH easier back in the days when you did not have so many options... :-)

[@miguelangelmillahueiquebas789]

😀👌

[@lglg64]

I have a player strat, and I'm considering buying a performer in the future. They both sound amazing and different.

[@vinnyvasilev2322]

Player - treble tones shake a little bit, Performer sounds have more definition. All this is a result of what Dennis Nashville stated below. Definitely would pick the Performer series!

[@lglg64]

Such a good comparsion! I finally got to hear the difference, it's so clear!

[@MadebyMiike]

Thanks mate!

[@ghcimax1032]

Great video, I just purchased a Performer, sounds richer on all fronts - thanks for confirming it was the right choice.

[@BardishCompetence]

I just bought a Player and was trying to decide if I wanted to upgrade down the road to either the American-made Performer or Professional. The Player and Performer sound almost identical to me in most of the samples; I can't justify the upgrade based on what I'm hearing.

[@MrAMF50]

Great comparison video thanks. The performer is a bit fuller which I like but maybe not worth the $ difference when I can simply do some tone tweaks.

[@l.g.5899]

Performer seems a little bit fuller, in my opinion, a more open sound, IMO

[@dennisnashville7114]

Sound is first... but then you have to consider fit and finish, tuning keys, pots and selectors, pickups, the factory fret job, nut material, bridge assembly, how well it stays in tune, playability, neck bow or twist, intonation and set up from the factory. The Player Series is a good value. But, the American made Fenders simply have superior quality workmanship, woods, finishes and components.

[@thatnorwegianguy1986]

Well the American performer is missing the bonenut and a few other details that other American fenders have so the difference is not that big from the player really.

[@jjthetrainman9430]

All the things you mentioned can be changed at little cost, while a preformer strat is $450 more

[@juanmaravilla2297]

Like the Player series! Incredible sound

[@Taurex]

It might be a bit vain but that 70's headstock is kind of a dealbreaker for me personally, wish it was the smaller one... :p

[@sunnys3325]

Thats why I purchased a Performer body from Stratosphere and installed a Fender Rosted Maple neck with 12" radius🙂🙂 Just what I wanted

[@adrianj.8165]

What?! The big headstock is so cool!

[@unknownentity2429]

I'm trying to talk myself out of a professional 2 and into a performer because of the 70s headstock

[@88clintonjc]

The headstock is fugly

[@derekjohnson5720]

I bought the American pro ii telecaster deluxe just so i could have the big headstock!!

[@debhart4302]

Performer sounds better all the way around. Love the big headstock too.

[@lucy5668]

Me too but they need to end the fender logo in grey it’s hideous

[@petebrown8145]

I've been looking for a new Strat for over a year now. Pretty much played everything that's been in stock locally. Started off looking at the Player's, Player's Plus, Performer, JV 60 and Pro II (I was seriously underwhelmed with the Ultra). I also looked at the PRS Sky Surfer for fun but at C$3500, it would have to be otherworldly. The first to go was the Plus. I didn't like the noiseless pickups (I like the concept of noiseless pups but didn't like those ones); ended up walking out of the shop with a Sire T7 but I digress. The next out was the Pro II, they didn't sound like a Strat to me which was too bad because the Sunburst with tortoiseshell guard was absolutely gorgeous, and I loved many of the features like the push-push S1 switch and the neck carve. The JV and PRS went next for the same reason. I mostly play Les Paul's and Teles and just can't get used to the feel of a 7.5" radius no matter how hard I try. Too bad, the JV is the nicest sounding of the bunch; the PRS was middle of the pack. So, that leaves the Player's and the Performer. I like the sound of the Player's a lot but didn't like the sharp edges along the fretboard and frets. However, I loved the sound of the Performer (it sounds like a Strat but with a warmth and some bite to it), liked how the S1 swich brought the neck pup into positions 1 and 2, the fretboard and fretwork was so much nicer, the resonance of the guitar was second to none, and I loved the Honeyburst finish (almost as much as the Pro II) on the one I'm going to buy.

[@antonradolovich8284]

Both cool, personally liked player in most cases but on bridge the performer sounds way better to my ears.

[@edsenam7774]

I was deciding whether to go for the Player 'cause the finish of the guitar is very good, but when comparing a "Limited Edition Player Series" against the same Blue Placid Performer of the video, the sound on clean channel was extremely different, Performer sounded better to me with a significant difference. Price of Player was something that I was considering as an important decision point, but at the end I picked up the Performer, because since I liked too much that sweetness and full sound on clean channel.

[@cletusmax77]

The performer sounds fuller. The best way to really compare the quality is to play both unplugged. Not watch them on KZbin but, actually hold them in your hands. The player series are nice. I really like them but, the American strats have better quality that you can feel.

[@rickyticky9221]

I have owned both and the American performer definitely feels like better quality. Very noticeable in the quality of the neck in every respect. Perfect frets, intonation out of the box was spot on. Better tuners that stay in tune. Much better attention to detail over all, especially in the neck/fret finish. Player Mexican had flaws. Performer American was perfect. Also comes with a nice Fender gig bag. To my ears, the pickups on the American sound better, more balanced. Not ice picky like the Mexican. Also the grease bucket electronics, and the push/pull tone knob on the bridge adds the neck pick up to any switch position. Was not satisfied with either of the 2 Mexicans that I had, but will not part with my honey burst American Performer!

[@rickyticky9221]

Agree completely

[@JT-gm4fk]

Cletusmax77, I had the Performer briefly, returned it and bought a player. I just didnt see a difference in build or in sound for the money. I love USA products but only when I feel the price justifies the product.

[@dreamguitar555]

Hey Mike!! Thanks a lot for this video!! Really helpful

[@Squall6575]

The performer is without the better guitar, but the Player is quite good itself. Im sure with the right mods, you can get the Player to sound and play as well as a performer of professional

[@hanibani95]

Hi Mike. Thanks for the nice vids. What song are you playing at 4:08?

[@ramonespinosa7540]

Manic Street Preachers, i think.

[@cyrusmauleon9710]

I was reading through the comments and didn't recognize you were switching guitars lmao

[@timelanguid4813]

I got the ltd edition player in Aztec Silver and put fender locking tuners on. Very happy with it.

[@oldschool1967]

I like the American performer

[@sssidney]

Been looking for a hss sea foam green everywhere but the best I can get from most shops is at least a three month wait !!

[@janellealmi3552]

Ill stick with the Player, Maybe change the pickup like seymour duncan/dimarzio or the tone capacitor to make it sound way better.

[@mrbesserwisser7447]

The Player pups sounds a tiny bit thinner, but apart from that... the Performer twice the price, but is it twice that good..?

[@aaron4757]

It is not twice the price

[@thenguyx1997]

Professional stratocaster is twice the price at $1,449 new. Player is $699 new and performer is $1,149 new so, a quarter more.

[@aaron4757]

@@thenguyx1997 the player is $749 now

[@jonnorris4204]

Player. Prefer the color (Between these two), Headstock, Tone, and price. (My main strat is 1995 MIM). Can't comment on neck and play-ability.

[@dr.lyleevans6915]

I had a 95’ MIM Strat as well. It was my first of several dozen more to come (with the exception of a crappy Squier that I never really played due to having a horrible setup) I had a MIA bridge installed in it towards the end of my ownership, but it was so ultra-icepicky that it was unusable (I was still very young, as well as a relative newbie at guitar, so I didn’t know that simple adjustments could have mitigated this to a large extent) They are cool guitars, but there was a huge quality difference between it and the MIA’s I had. That said, I’ve heard that the Mexican versions have improved in quality by a substantial margin

[@jonnorris4204]

@@dr.lyleevans6915 It’s my 1995 MIM Strat that has gotten me through Covid as I continue to home isolate. I can’t quantify the individual reasons why this guitar is my favorite. Maybe it’s subjective to me. When I need cheering-up, I just need to sit down and noodle away.

[@miguelmatias7677]

Player all the way

[@stephandelaney4097]

Love that color

[@Steve26052]

I own both of these guitars and although it doesn’t come across in the video the performer sounds miles better than the player. Playability is much better to. Worth the extra £ if you can afford it

[@edwinhernandez9276]

How does the performer sounds with a distortion pedal????

[@itsmorphed6416]

@@edwinhernandez9276 flipping good 👍

[@tbone2451]

What color is the players series? Some nice playing !

[@martgryfny]

I would say that on clean with no FX there is a slight difference. MIA has a bit more middle range, maybe more more punch on middle pickup, and MIM has a bit more highs and the overall sound is not so dynamic, more like compressed. But propably this is the matter of pickups, and these Yosemites on MIA are quite cheap, so if you sell stock player alnico v and buy Yosemites you would end like spending 30$ overall on that upgrade. Also people like these Player Alnico V as they have more output and sounds good overdriven. But that punch on Yosemites is also some nice crunchy feature. More difference would be on the neck I guess, MIA has rolled fingerboard edges and better finish on fret ends. And if you buy a MIM you need to be careful to pick the good one, as I've experienced some loose neck pockets on these. MIM's plastic nut is an "instant-replace" part, and you need to add some spacer under the string tree. But if you have some time and motivation, you can have good experience with MIM strats. People say that it's not worth to pay twice if it sounds sooo similiar, but off-the-shelf the actual user playing experience is quite different. It's that thing if you have a little less money and some time, MIM strat gives you that oportunity to make yourself a good guitar.

[@orangegoblin2162]

Fender Player has more clarity imo...

[@philnicol8072]

Exactly. The Fender Player is slightly the better guitar. I chose it over the Performer. Better clarity and fuller body to the sound with the Player.

[@ParaBellum2024]

This is interesting, because to me they sound virtually identical. A while ago, I compared a Player Strat against a Squier Classic Vibe 50s, and bought the Squier. Good sounds and playability, but a little noisy. With some aluminium foil screening, it's now as quiet as the Player. That said, a year or so later, I notice the frets wearing (despite no gigs due to lockdown), so I presume the fretwire is super-soft, and no doubt there are other cost-cutting features that make the cheaper guitar less of a bargain. I expect that's the same when comparing the Player and Performer. The long and short of it is, gigs and money permitting, I'm thinking of splashing out on a higher end Fender at some stage.

[@MrAMF50]

I was a huge fan of the CV's until I also had fret issues which included the frets un seating. I never had any fret issues on any MIM Fenders.

[@chrisallen5816]

The alnico 5 in the Player Series is a bit too hot for my liking. The American Performer has more control to me. Can’t wait to buy it next month!

[@kennethcarvalho3684]

Player sounds like my thing..

[@enricodirocco7975]

Was going to buy a performer, thanks for the vid, the player sounded better in the mix distorted also. Ill save 350😊

[@voiceofexperience]

Yep. The Player would definitely cut through better in a band setting, especially live.

[@voiceofexperience]

Yep. The Player would definitely cut through better in a band setting, especially live.

[@mullraerae299]

No disrespect but the player is way beyond most peoples ability , when you get to Jimis or Jeffs level then maybe a pickup change or getting a US strat maybe the way to go but for most a US strat is just a wall hang , get some decent paint instead .

[@robertwyatt4891]

I play about 90% clean. The fuller-sounding Yosemite pickups plus the ability to add the neck pu to any position make the Performer a clear winner, imo. If I played mostly overdriven tones, I'd likely choose the Player.

[@itsmorphed6416]

Interesting. I've had my performer for just 3 weeks. I love it so far but literally tonight drenched it in overdrive for the first time . Wow . The yosemites hold up excellently. Even got it to malmstern . Got the sss version. Great pickups .

[@robertwyatt4891]

@@itsmorphed6416 Thanks for the input. I'd already decided on the Performer but you just gave me the validation I wanted. LOL. I won't be getting it until late January but when I do, I'll post here again.

[@itsmorphed6416]

@@robertwyatt4891 noice 👌

[@robertwyatt4891]

@@itsmorphed6416 I've had my Performer Strat SSS for 5 days now. You were absolutely correct. this puppy handles od like a champ! Does the Gilmour/fuzz thing better than I could have dreamed. These clean tones tho... they are worth the price of admission by themselves. Best Strat I've ever played.

[@itsmorphed6416]

@Robert Wyatt nice one . Glad you like it. Good guitars full of character. I got the limited edition with Ash body . All black pickups and guard

[@romzen]

I like my am performer. It has so much twang and quack. That's what I was looking for which is why the professional series didn't work out for me as it has more compression due to hum canceling. The Mexican player Strats and Teles are great for the money though. I have a player Tele and it is absolutely fine. Would prefer a performer Tele with Yosemite pickups and the larger frets.

[@kimmontgomery6671]

I already have a player, so I will get the performer and have both!

[@wildizer]

Sorry I'm confused..my brain can't keep up. it would help a LOT if player and performer were different colours

[@risingstorm679]

Look at the headstock

[@FLdb-wj4wc]

They both sound good but I don't like the neck on the player. The neck on the performer is way better for me. Also the performer has jumbo frets and the headstock looks cool.

[@braulionovas8461]

Both guitars are excellent, but this time I go to the American now.

[@Gohan237]

Sample 4 sounds awesome. Anyone have a tab of it?

[@jojolapraline]

Good demo.Performer for me.

[@JanoMediaLLC]

For twice the twice you better be at least twice the quality. Not sold on the Performer man

[@JT-gm4fk]

Agree, I dont see the price justification here as far as difference

[@itsmorphed6416]

It's not the way it works . Andertons yt channel talk about this .

[@SingPsalms]

I didn’t hear a note worthy difference, nothing I’d pick out in a track. I’d saved my money and get the Player or something higher tiered.

[@domformula1]

Performer

[@peterd5901]

I preferred the Performer because it sounded fuller and had more bass, that was until I heard them in the mix. Performer sounded muddy and the Player was nice and clear.

[@paulmurphy2954]

The player

[@bikesfred]

fender player series for me,

[@handikaperkasa5709]

Cool

[@jimchiu8279]

Performer slightly win, actually, I'd prefer g&l legacy

[@joegarrison5911]

Performer=Twice the price but not twice as good

[@Cerusicus26]

the only rule is: go in a shop and try different guitars and buy the one with the best sound. There are many Mexican models that sounds better than the Jeff Beck signature model.

[@jettrohugoherrera3696]

$ vs $$$

[@ronbahia]

Cool. Buy a player series and put some texmex pickups in it. And you're done

[@voiceofexperience]

The Performer is certainly not worth the difference in pricing. The main difference is the headstock! (& I really prefer the Player there). - It's purely a "snob value" thing at this point. (OK, maybe a "patriotic" thing too, but I'm not American, so...)

[@louungerer4289]

less than 2 years later they are $849

[@tommaxwell429]

Shoot outs like this should drop the names and use A/B comparison. Too much snobbery in names and bias in place of origin. Any type of comparison needs to be a blind test to be valid. The biggest difference between the two is color availability. I really like the retro surf green color with a maple neck in an HSS configuration which is only available on the Performer series. Put either in a noisy, smokey, drunk, club setting and the audience won't be able to tell the difference. Equipment snobbery sucks! It's not the violin, it's the violinist!

[@chrissanderson5850]

I’m gonna spend double and go with the Performer. It has a fuller sound. The Player has a tin sound to it.

[@elenka.svaliva2]

Performer sounds better.

[@kamilbelzTV]

If you close your eyes you can’t tell the difference. :)

[@voiceofexperience]

I did this from the beginning of the video, then went back & watched it. Been playing strats at all price points for just on 25 years now, having only ever cared about tone & playability. You're right.

[@ryanequalizer]

American Performer is much better

[@luisralda]

Am Performer sounds better IMO

[@RoseUnseen]

the american performer is all you need , the American pro and player come with some extra electronic bs im not fond up

[@voiceofexperience]

I think you got the Performer & Player around the wrong way, but it's understandable. Stupid Fender names.

[@adamwest4664]

player cuts through the mix better...

[@litohv1414]

U dont even know what r u talking bout...

[@xasapx6882]

You’re right the player does cut through and just sounds better. Some are just mad they spent more money for a sound they can get for less

[@cookiemonster2949]

One must be deaf to be unable to hear the difference. Performer is much better.

[@747lch]

Everyone is just going say player is better because that's the one they cheaped out and bought. They can't stand that the expensive one may be way better...

[@ronnysuarez3257]

But it isnt

[@monodream5167]

Spot on

[@cletusmax77]

Or their ear for tone isn’t developed and maybe, they haven’t actually played the performer. That’s where you can really feel the difference in quality. The player’s not bad, though.

[@wwekane2468]

Exactly. If you said the American was the player and the player was the American they’d then switch which guitar they liked better

[@alexisquiliza2468]

Try to listen and close your eyes, you can't tell any difference

[@barryhambly7711]

Don't like either they don't sound like a normal strat must be the pickups I suppose, there is no singing or chime to them they just sound tinnie and cheap

[@oldschool1967]

barry hambly ,that sounds bad because he's coming out from the computer not from guitar amp ,sound artificial

[@nobuna2114]

I can assure you the AM Performer sounds amazing. Like a modern SSS Strat should sound. Of course not like a 50s or 60s Strat but if you want that then rather go towards the Vintera series. But I didn't like the Player Series when I tried it in person because they actually sound a bit thin but great value nonetheless, so swapping out the pickups solves that

[@1888gp]

anyone saying they would pick a Mexican made fender over an American is crazy,..ive got them both ,usa ones are miles better ,why pay 5-600 for a Mexican made guitar when u can get an American performer for under 1000