It is one of Fender's attempts to compete with the superstrat-style guitars produced by Ibanez, Jackson/Charvel, Carvin Corporation and Yamaha.

The Prodigy series featured two single coil pickups and one humbucker at the bridge position (sometimes referred to as a Fat Strat configuration).

The Prodigy II was introduced in 1992 which reprised the Kahler locking tremolo and nut system from the HM Strat; this model also featured Fender/Schaller tuners and black hardware.

Stratocasters also have a rout on the face of the guitar for a somewhat large, angled output jack; this is missing from the Prodigy.

Instead, it uses a third hole in the pickguard (which would be used for the second tone knob on a Stratocaster) as the mounting position for the output jack.