 Moreover, the 1988 price list describes the line as merely "H.M. Series Stratocaster", while the 1989 price list mentions, "U.S. H.M. Series Stratocaster" from which one might garner that the earliest models were the Japan/US collaboration, followed by a straight USA-made model.HM Strat Ultra - 
Later on (in around 1990), Fender introduced the USA HM Strat Ultra that is considered by many to be superior to the previous HM versions.Fender HM Strat ultra differs in that it has 4 Lace Sensor pickups in HSS configuration (these pickups are considered less noisy/aggressive and sometimes less preferred for HM Strat than those found in the Fender HM Strat), a smaller 'digitalized' Strat logo (considered to be more discreet) and an ebony fingerboard with split-triangle inlays.