Fender American Standard Stratocaster Electric Guitar (Rosewood, With Case)

Feature:
It's a strat, your going to get a lot. 5 way pickup selector which gives you a lot. Also, with strats you can get more than just 5 ways to use the pickups, i've expiremented and you can put the pickup selector i between any 2 postitions! For example, you can put the pickup selector i between 1&2, 2&3, 3&4, and 4&5! pretty cool which just gives you more features!

Quality:
ugh. you know what to expect from an American made Fender. The hand rolled edges just doubles the icing on the cake. I like how the neck and head is just one piece. Makes it a lot more sturdier compared to some Gibsons.

Value:
Great guitar, sounds like top of the line stuff. So if It was 1200 or 1300 bucks, I'd still buy it.

Desirability:
When you look at it in person it is just a preety piece of artwork. The head is clearcoted which makes it "Glisten" in the light. I got the olympic white so I could be like Jeff Beck and John Frusciente and it looks just amazing. Thats not the only reason i got that color, To me thats just the best color that goes with a rosewood fretboard.

Sound:
This guitar has the perfect sound if your looking for a bluesy or classic rock/rock sound. If you want metal or a hard crunch, put in a symour duncun Hot Rail in the bridge or anywhere else. Or even a Dimarzio Fast track 2. But for what you get it's amazing!. I've had the stock pickups for a while then put in Hot rails and now it sounds like a hybrid between Fender and Gibson!

Ease of Use:
Well, as I explained, you can get any sounds from this by setting it to your specifications like changing pickups and using then wisley. Also, you dont even need the whammy bar to get the whammy bar sound. Just push or pull on the tremolo and you will get it without accidently "Dive-Boming" it and putting it out of tune.

Overall:
This guitar sounds like a brand new guitar every time i pick it up, and if I had to buy it again, I definatly would.

Feature:
Again, it's a Strat so nothing fancy here... straight ahead Fender. The p/u's were a surprise, but you just read about that.

Quality:
OK... this one takes a hit. I had a great experience from zzounds "blemished" pieces, so when I saw this Strat in the Blowout section, plus the $100 rebate, I couldn't pass up on a new USA Strat for several hun off the normal great price zzounds offers. I'm an LP fanatic, but love a good Strat every now and then. I opened the case and it looked all good. You could tell this was a return though... case contents looked a bit disheveled, but that's OK. First thing I do is take a quick look at the set up. The strings had been lowered way too low and the saddle positions looked off a bit. Sure enough, a couple of bends on E and B around frets 15-21 got snuffed. No problem... raised the strings a bit to my normal height (keep in mind, this is all normal set up routine everyone should learn how to do with their guitars). Still got snuffed up high. Upon closer inspection, I notice the 22nd fret was about .5mm from sitting flush on the fingerboard. Wow... how did that pass inspection at the factory??? A couple careful taps to seat the fret, and we're in business. Changed the strings, set saddle spacing & intonation and I've got a great Strat. I'm almost certain that's why it was returned. But hey, your loss, my gain. Took me all of 30 minutes to find, fix, and set up. Shame on Fender for letting this one pass thru inspection like that.

Value:
Zzounds blemished pieces rock. I bought an LP Traditional this way and beyond the small issue with this Strat, it's been a great value. Highly recommended.

Desirability:
2nd place behind the Les Paul. A Strat is a sexy beast and definitely a must have in your stable.

Sound:
It's a Strat.... you know what you're geting with it if you've been around awhile. I'm an LP freak but I love a good Strat when I'm in the mood for it. I normally put a set of Custom Shop 69's in my newer Strats because I love the sound, but these p/u's in this particular Strat sound amazing... I think I may just keep this one stock. Can't exactly put my finger on it, but they sound overwound and jusy a bit off tolerance compared to a couple of my other Strat stock p/u's. Overall, very satisfied as is.

Ease of Use:
Very easy on teh fingers after a complete set up tomy tastes... got it dialed after I corrected the set up. This was a blemished piece (more on that in the Quality section) from zzounds and I'm completely satisfied.

Support:
never had to deal with Fender support, but I would have a bug to put in their ear about final inspections...

Overall:
Keep it up Zzounds! Very satisfied with my dealings with this company and will continue to give you my business. You treat people right and that goes a long way in my book. On the other hand, Fender could use a little wake up call with the USA quality control, but overall, I'm very satisfied with my purchase.