Fender Classic 50s Stratocaster (Maple, With Gig Bag)

Feature:
feature wise, the guitar gets a 9, but the fact that it comes with a gag bag, i mean gig bag, knocks it down to a 7. The vintage tuners work well if you know how to use them (mine are holding tune great!). The trem works just fine (of course i'm usually a hardtail kinda guy, so take that fwiw). the pickups sound good, and at least it includes some sort of protection (even if it is a gagbag).

Quality:
it's made pretty well. The finish on mine had a couple small dips, and the neck had some small scratching, but nothing major since i'll probably sand the neck down a little anyway. the biggest frustration on it, however, is the fact that a couple of frets are rough on the ends, but a quick file should take care of that as well. I'm not worrying about the guitar "lasting" any amount of time. I take care of my stuff and it lasts. I gig every weekend, and haven't lost one yet.

Value:
it's probably a little overpriced (especially considering the recent fender price increase), but what isn't anymore.

Desirability:
it's foam green (yeah baby), and it has a tinted maple neck. What's not to love there. The aged (read beige) pickup covers and knobs are really ugly in person though, and they will be among the first things to go from this guitar. Also it is begging me to buy it a pearloid pickguard and I think I must oblige. I do wish the metal on it was aged nickel, but hey, I can do that myself as I upgrade one component at a time. Also the neck needs to be slightly larger (but if you have female hands it might be perfect...my wife loves it)

Sound:
This guitar sounds like a strat is supposed to sound. everything resonates well, the sounds are bright and crisp. You can go from country twang all the way to creamy overdrive tones with a flip of the switch. the pickups hum a little, but i'll take that to have alnico pickups. It amazes me when people complain about pickup hum, because all of our favorite "classic" songs recorded by artists using single coils were recorded on pickups that hum. the hum is the vintage sound we long for. Also let me throw in that the pickups really work well together. They blend well, and if you are a person who likes to change pickups in the middle of a song for expression purposes, this guitar would sound great for that. My signal chain is as follows: strat - fulltone fulldrive 2 (older version with comp cut) - keeley bluesdriver - danelectro transparent overdrive (the best overdrive deal available) - danelectro cool cat chorus (9v) - Boss dd-5 - jim dunlop tvp-1 (trem/volume) - boss tuner - blackheart little giant with a weber blue dog 12" speaker mic'ed with a audix i-5. This setup allows me to push my amp, but not blow out the room when i play.

Ease of Use:
It's a guitar. It SHOULD take you some time to get the tones you want from it, but once you find the tones you like it is a harmonious symphony at your fingertips. I especially like positions 2 and 4 with the middle pickup tone rolled almost all the way off.

Support:
haven't needed it, but hopefully zzounds will be good, and fender will be great.

Overall:
This guitar is very good overall. It's not perfect, but no one expects perfection out of an $800 guitar. I do not plan on replacing it at this time, however I am planning several upgrades to it. That is why I bought it. I will probably, over time, end up changing all of the hardware on the guitar with aged pieces. It is highly likely that I will rewire it (i really want the tone controls to only affect the neck and bridge pickups, the middle one can stay wide open all the time). When I rewire it, I will probably change out the tone pots, and even put in a push/pull pot so I can have the neck/bridge combination. I may even go nuts someday and change the pickups (but right now I really dig them so maybe not), but I bought this guitar to last a long time, and I expect it to be my main guitar for quite some time. If it were lost or stolen I would definitely look for another one like this, but I would also compare it to the Classic Player 50s strat because that one has a larger v neck. I would compare the two and then make my decision, but barring any unforseen circumstances this one will last me many good years.

THIS IS REALLY A ALL AROUND AWESOME GUITAR. IT FEELS FULL WHEN YOU PLAY UNLIKE THE OTHER CHEAPER FENDERS. ITS A MUST HAVE.