Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS vs Eric Clapton Stratocaster
Reasons to Get
Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS over Eric Clapton Stratocaster
Reasons to Get
Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster over American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS
Other Key Differences
Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS vs Eric Clapton Stratocaster
Shared Features
Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS vs Eric Clapton Stratocaster
Common Strengths
- High-Quality Nut
- From a High-Quality-Standards Country
- Top Pickup Brand
Common Weaknesses
- Neck-Through Build
- Weight Relief
- Stays in Tune (Evertune)
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- Luminescent Sidedots
- Strap Lock
- 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- Active/Passive Preamp
Table of Contents
Price History Comparison
These are affiliate links. We may earn a fee if you purchase after clicking. These prices are prone to error. Make sure you're buying the right product after clicking on a link from our site. We are not liable if you buy the wrong product after following these links. As an Amazon Associate site we earn from qualifying purchases.
Which One is Better Overall?
After going through our comparison algorithm, the results show that the Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS is probably the better product overall with its final score of 79 compared to the Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster's 70 score, although not by a lot.
The Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS wins when it comes to sound, playability, build quality, value for the money. This means that it wins over the Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster in every aspect.
If you got small hands, you'll probably feel more comfortable playing the Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS.
Which One is Better for Beginners?
If you're looking for your first guitar to learn how to play, the Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS is the better choice.
The Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS meets 6 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster meets only 5. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players.
New Player Friendliness
Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS- Comfortable shape
- Locking tuners
- Comfortable fretboard
- Tall frets
- Narrow nut
- Comfortable neck
- Short scale
- Easy-to-use bridge
New Player Friendliness
Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster- Comfortable shape
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Comfortable fretboard
- Narrow nut
- Comfortable neck
- Tall frets
- Short scale
- Locking tuners
Nevertheless, when it comes to choosing an instrument, you should pick the one more compatible with your personal style. Still, below we'll try you to give you our results as objectively as it's possible to help you decide.
Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS Overview
- From Fender's 2021 American Ultra series
- Made in United States
- 6 strings
- 25.5"'' scale
- 10" to 14" Fretboard Radius
- Alder body
- Maple neck
- Rosewood fretboard
- Bridge pickup: Fender Ultra Double Tap Humbucking (Humbucker/Passive)
- Middle pickup: Fender Ultra Noiseless™ Hot Strat (Single Coil/Passive)
- Neck pickup: Fender Ultra Noiseless™ Hot Strat (Single Coil/Passive)
- 1 volume and 2 tone Bell knobs
- 5-way Switch
- Floyd Rose Original Double-Locking 2-Point Tremolo bridge
- Augmented “D” Bolt-On neck
- 22 Medium Jumbo Stainless Steel frets
- Deluxe Staggered Cast/Sealed Locking tuners
- Compare Specs >
Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster Overview
- From Fender's 2001 Artist series
- Eric Clapton Signature
- Made in United States
- 6 strings
- 25.5"'' scale
- 9.5" Fretboard Radius
- Alder body
- Maple neck
- Maple fretboard
- Bridge pickup: Fender Vintage Noiseless Single-Coil Strat (Single Coil/Passive)
- Middle pickup: Fender Vintage Noiseless Single-Coil Strat (Single Coil/Passive)
- Neck pickup: Fender Vintage Noiseless Single-Coil Strat (Single Coil/Passive)
- 1 volume and 2 tone Bell knobs
- 5-way Switch
- 6-Saddle American Vintage Synchronized Tremolo bridge
- Clapton Soft V Bolt-On neck
- 22 Vintage frets
- 6-in-Line American Vintage tuners
- Compare Specs >
Sound Quality Comparison
The wood used in an electric guitar or bass is not as important to determine the final tone. However, some people prefer specific wood types, so we'll take a look at those first. Then, we'll take a look at the electronics to determine the versatility and sound quality of each instrument.
Woods Used in Both
Maple is one of the most popular necks for good reasons. It is a strong wood that is relatively cheap to make and looks beautiful. The highest quality maple is the hardest that comes from North America. Find out more about Maple.
Alder is the most popular wood that Fender uses in most of their guitars nowadays. Even though they say it's because of its balanced tone with an emphasis in the upper midrange, it probably is because it isn't too expensive, and it's also pretty lightweight—more than Mahogany. Find out more about Alder.
Woods Used in the Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS
Rosewood is an almost purple-looking wood that is used mainly for fretboards since it's heavy, rare, and expensive. It's sometimes used on acoustic guitar bodies to create stronger warm tones. Find out more about Rosewood.
Winner: Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS.
Pickup Configuration
The Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS has an HSS configuration while the Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster has SSS pickups.
HSS provides a great balance if you like to play with a lot of distortion, but also love to use clean tones. You'll get a lot of output at the bridge position, but you'll be able to play bright clean tones at the other positions.
On the other hand, SSS is perfect for players who like to play clean. The definition you get between notes and the crispiness is unmatched by most other configurations. You can still use it for distortion, but you won't get the same kind of output and power compared to a humbucker, and the hum they produce also makes them less adequate for high gain.
Pickups Quality
Both come with very good pickups from at least one of the specialized brands in the market. With pickups like these, you probably won't need an upgrade anytime soon.
However, the Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster has a slight sound quality advantage when taking into account other factors like the type of pickups, magnet, position, etc.
You can purchase similar pickups to the Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS's and use them on any guitar:
We found the same or similar pickups to the Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster's online:
Both use Passive pickups. This is what's used for most music genres. They have a regular output and will serve you for both high-gain and clean tones. The alternative (Active pickups) offer a higher output that is mostly used for heavy music.
Winner: Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster.
Versatility Comparison
Some instruments offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both compare when it comes to versatility.
Switch Options
Both are equal when it comes to the pickup switching option.
Only the Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS comes with some kind of pickup modification: S-1 Switch.
An S-1 switch can do a lot of different pickup combinations. It can split them, connect them in series, parallel, add more pickups to each position, and more. Check out the diagram to know how it affects this model.
When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.
Winner: Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS.
Final Sound Quality Scores
Build Quality Comparison
When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS compares to the Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster.
Country of Origin
The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. Both in this comparison where made in United States.
The United States is considered one of the best electric guitar manufacturers in the world. A guitar made in this country is supposed to have world-class quality control. Nowadays, guitars made in other countries can beat some of the ones made in the US, but most of the time, this country offers the best you can get. Of course, that comes at a price.
Winner: Tie
Nut Material
If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.
The Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS has a Locking nut. Instead of a regular nut, this guitar has a locking system that will lock down the strings at the nut, preventing it from getting out of tune. It removes one of the disadvantages of tremolo bridges, tune stability.
On the other hand, the Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster comes with a Synthetic Bone nut. Bone is the best natural material for guitar nuts. However, its tonal properties can be inconsistent. That's the problem that synthetic bone fixes. This is much better than using a plastic nut because the nut is more slippery—which helps with tuning stability—, and it gives your open strings rich harmonics.
Winner: Tie.
Fret Material
Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.
In this comparison, the Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS is the only one that has stainless steel frets. These frets will basically last for the entire life of the guitar. They will never need polishing nor replacement. And not only that, but some people also notice that bending and vibratos are much easier to perform when they upgrade to stainless steel.
Winner: Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS.
Bridge
The perfect bridge for you will depend on your playstyle because they all have advantages and disadvantages. However, some bridges are more expensive—like Floyd Roses and Evertunes—and thus add more value to a guitar.
The Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS's brige is a Floyd Rose. This is a double-locking bridge system that allows you to perform techniques like dive bombs and pinch harmonics. The locking nut allows your guitar to stay in tune even after the most intense tremolo usage. The disadvantage is that it takes more work to change the strings and set up everything correctly.
On the other hand, the Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster's is a Tremolo. Tremolo bridges give you more versatility than fixed bridges. They let you perform the intense vibrato effects that would be impossible with a fixed bridge. However, since the bridge floats and there's less contact with the body, the strings lose sustain slightly faster. They can also be a bit harder to restring and set up correctly than fixed bridges.
Since we need to be objective, the most expensive type of bridge will be the winner of this section. In the end, this doesn't matter if you're not going to use the bridge for its original purpose, so choose the bridge that fits your playing style better.
Winner: Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS.
Tuners
The Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS has the best tuners of the two because they are locking tuners. They'll help to keep your guitar in tune because they allow you to tune it without wrapping the strings around the posts. This avoids variations in the tuning due to the strings changing position at the post after a bend. They come at the disadvantage of being slightly heavier than regular tuners. Also, it makes it a lot easier to restring.
Nevertheless, the Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS has a locking nut, so it should have even better tune stability and doesn't need locking tuners.
Winner: Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS.
Neck Joint
Contrary to popular belief, the difference in sustain and tone that some neck joints give to a guitar is simply unperceivable—if they're all well built. However, some of them do have advantages over the others.
Both have a Bolt-On neck joint. This neck is joined to the body by 4 bolts that you can simply unscrew. This allows you to replace the neck or take it off for travel. It's the most common and cheapest way to build a guitar.
Winner: Tie.
Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:
Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS
- Stainless Steel Frets
- Locking Tuners
- Made in United States
- Expensive Wood
- Locking Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- S-1 Switch Pickups
- Tremolo
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- Retainer Bar
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster
- Made in United States
- Synthetic Bone Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Tremolo
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- No Expensive Woods
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Final Build Quality Scores
Playability Comparison
Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.
Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.
Nut Width
The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, the Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS has the wider nut with 42.8mm (1.685'') vs 42mm (1.654''). This is a 0.8mm (0.031'') difference
This means that it will be more difficult to do bar chords on the Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS, especially closer to the nut. However, it's also easier to play without muting strings accidently. This favors people with big hands.
Scale Length
The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.
In this case, both have a scale length of 25.5".
This is the scale used in most Stratocasters. It's slightly longer than the typical 24.75'' size found in Les Pauls, and it's one of the main reasons why Stratocasters have such a bright sound in general. A longer scale also means that the strings will have higher tension. This will help you get lower action without suffering fret buzz, which will also be helpful when playing in lower tunings without having to increase your string gauge.
However, this also means that there will be more separation between frets, which can make it more difficult to play. Also, bending the strings will require more strengths due to the increased tension, but remember that a tremolo guitar will offset this difficulty.
Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.
Neck Profile
No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.
In this case, both have different neck shapes:
The Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS has a D type of neck. This is a thin and flat neck that is made for playing fast. If you prefer a neck that doesn't get in your way when soloing, this is the shape you should use. Guitarists that prefer to have a bit more grip won't like this type of neck.
The Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster, on the other hand, has a V neck. This neck shape was more common during Fender's early years. Some people like it because they use their thumb over the edge of the fretboard to press the lower strings. It's rather thicker than most modern necks, so it's not usually used for playing fast solos.
Fretboard Radius
Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.
In this case, the Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS is the only one with a compound radius. This is a huge win because it will give you the best of both worlds: a more curved radius in the first few frets for chords, and flatter as you come closer to the body for soloing.
Hand Size Comfortability
Everyone has a different hand size, and that's why it's recommended to try a guitar before buying, even if others tell you that it's comfortable to play. However, we can know whether a guitar favors small or large hands just by knowing its exact measurements.
And after taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that the Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster favors large hands more than the Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS.
Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS:
Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster:
Fret Size
The Fender American Ultra Luxe Stratocaster Floyd Rose HSS has Medium Jumbo frets, which should be taller than the Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster's Vintage frets.
Some people prefer taller frets because they result in more sustain since the strings get pressed cleanly without interference from the fretboard. However, if they're too tall—like Jumbo frets—, you might change the pitch of the strings accidentally if you press too hard because you won't be touching the fretboard with your fingers. This is also why some guitarists with a heavy grip prefer smaller frets. They like to feel the fingerboard to avoid pressing down too hard and getting out of pitch.
