Show Full Spec Comparison
| Fender Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar | Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose | |
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Brand: | Fender | Fender |
| Year: | 2025 | 2025 |
| Configuration: | HH | HSS |
| Strings: | 6 | 6 |
| Made in: | Mexico | United States |
| Series: | Artist Signature Gifts | Player II Modified |
| Colors: | Blue | White, Black, Red |
| Left-Handed Version: | No | No |
| Body | ||
| Type: | Solid Body | Solid Body |
| Body Material: | Alder | Alder |
| Bridge: | Gotoh GE1996T Series Double-Locking Tremolo (Recessed) with N/A | Floyd Rose Special Double-Locking Tremolo |
| Neck | ||
| Neck Joint: | Bolt-On | Bolt-On |
| Tuners: | Gotoh Cast/Sealed | Standard Cast/Sealed |
| Fretboard: | Rosewood | Rosewood |
| Neck Material: | Maple | Maple |
| Decoration: | White Pearloid Dot | White Dot |
| Scale Size: | 25.5" | 25.5" |
| Shape: | Custom Flat "C" | Modern "C" |
| Frets: | 22 Medium Jumbo Nickel Silver | 22 Medium Jumbo Nickel Silver |
| Fretboard Radius: | 15" | 12" |
| Nut: | Locking | Locking |
| Nut Width: | 41.3mm (1.625'') | 42.9mm (1.688'') |
| Electronics | ||
| Bridge Pickups: | EMG 85 (Humbucker / Active) | Player II Modified Humbucker (Humbucker / Passive) |
| Middle Pickup: | N/A (Humbucker / Active) | Player II Noiseless Strat (Single Coil / Passive) |
| Neck Pickup: | EMG H (Humbucker / Active) | Player II Noiseless Strat (Single Coil / Passive) |
| Switch: | 3 Way | 5 Way |
| Knobs: | Bell | Bell |
| Pickup Mods: | None | Coil Split |
| Volume Controls: | 2 | 1 |
| Tone Controls: | 1 | 2 |
| Hardware | ||
| Strap Lock: | Yes | No |
| Hardware Color: | Black | Nickel |
Show Diagrams Comparison
Reasons to Get
Fender Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar over Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose
Reasons to Get
Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose over Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar
Other Key Differences
Fender Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar vs Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose
Shared Features
Fender Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar vs Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose
Common Strengths
- Retainer Bar
- High-Quality Nut
- Top Pickup Brand
- Expensive Wood
Common Weaknesses
- Neck-Through Build
- Weight Relief
- Stays in Tune (Evertune)
- High-Quality Frets
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- Luminescent Sidedots
- 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- Active/Passive Preamp
Price History Comparison
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Hand Size Comfortability
And after taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that the Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose favors large hands more than the Fender Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar. But it's still more comfortable for people with small hands, as you can see in the score meter below.
Fender Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar:
Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose:
Beginner Friendliness
The Fender Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar meets 75 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose meets only 67. 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 Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar- Comfortable shape
- Tall frets
- Narrow nut
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Short scale
- Locking tuners
- Easy-to-use bridge
New Player Friendliness
Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose- Comfortable shape
- Tall frets
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
- Locking tuners
- Easy-to-use bridge
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.
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.
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.
Winner: Tie.
Pickup Configuration
The Fender Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar has an HH configuration while the Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose has HSS pickups.
Double Humbucker (HH) is the choice for people who want a fuller, more round sound with tons of mids and lows. Humbuckers also get rid of the hum noise that plague single-coil pickups. They can work out for almost any genre going from Djent to even Jazz.
On the other hand, 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.
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 Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar 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 Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar's and use them on any guitar:
The Fender Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar's pickups are Active while the Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose's are Passive.
Passive pickups are what most guitars use. These have a normal output that works well for most genres. However, Active pickups are the preferred choice of heavy metal players because they offer extra output thanks to their 9v battery, which results in a heavier, more distorted sound. Bear in mind that achieving a completely clean tone with them won't be easy. So if you want to also use clean tones, you might want to avoid Active pickups.
Winner: Fender Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar.
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
The Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose gives you 5 switch options while the Fender Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar gives you 3. This means that the Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose gives you more options to find the right pickup combination for the type of sound you want to achieve
Only the Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose comes with some kind of pickup modification: Coil Split.
Coil Split lets you disconnect one of the pickup coils. When used with humbuckers, it turns them into single-coil with lower output and cleaner tone.
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 Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose.
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 Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar compares to the Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose.
Country of Origin
The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. The Fender Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar is built in Mexico while the Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose is made in United States.
Mexico has been for a long time where Fender has built their semi-premium series. If you don't want to overpay for a wellp-built instrument, a guitar built in this country by a good brand always offers good value for the money.
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: Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose
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.
In this case, both have Locking nuts. 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.
Both models come with a retainer bar, which is helpful when changing the strings on a double-locking tremolo. Without it, the strings would change pitch once you lock down the nut, so you'd have to make more micro-adjustments at the bridge to tune it correctly
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.
Unfortunately, none of them come with stainless steel frets.
Winner: Tie.
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.
Both come with a similar bridge: 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.
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: Tie.
Tuners
Both come with regular tuners. The Fender Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar's are Gotoh Cast/Sealed while the Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose's are Standard Cast/Sealed
Winner: Tie.
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 Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar
- Expensive Wood
- Locking Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Tremolo
- Retainer Bar
- Strap Lock
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- Made in Mexico
- 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
Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose
- Made in United States
- Expensive Wood
- Locking Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Coil Split Pickups
- Tremolo
- Retainer Bar
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- No Neck-Through Build
- 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 Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose has the wider nut with 42.9mm (1.688'') vs 41.3mm (1.625''). This is a 1.6mm (0.063'') difference
This means that it will be more difficult to do bar chords on the Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose, 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.
Both the Fender Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar and the Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose have a C-shaped neck. This is what you'll find in most modern guitars. Most people feel like the thickness of a C neck is simply the less intrusive one for playing fast, while at the same time allowing you to grab the neck easily for resting if you want to.
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 Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose's fingerboard radius is smaller, which means it's more curved than the Fender Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar's. This extra arc will make playing chords easier in this model. You won't be as likely to mute the strings, especially if you have big hands. However, playing single notes and bending will be easier on the Fender Tom Morello's "Arm The Homeless" Guitar.
Still, both tend to favor soloing over chords, so if you're looking for a guitar for playing rhythm, you might want something else with a radius closer to a Stratocaster's 9.5''.
Fret Size
Both have a Medium Jumbo fret size. These are slightly shorter than full Jumbo frets, so you'll still feel the fretboard when pressing down the strings. However, they interfere less with your fretting hand than medium-size frets. This is a good size if you like easy-to-press frets, but would still like to feel a bit of the fretboard when playing.
