It's a great guitar for the money. I replaced the stock pup with an EMG 85 and the tuners for Sperzel Trim-locs, and now have a good quality second guitar. One caveat: I had to route out some parts of the body to fit the EMG electronics, and had to open up the pickguard hole for the larger 85. It gets an 8 because several frets buzz right out of the box. Dressing the frets on this type of guitar takes only minutes at the factory -- I would pay another 20-30 bucks for Fender/Squier to handle this. ALSO -- I would meet a 500+ price point for this same configuration (no vibrato, single humbucker, etc.) if Fender would issue the guitar with a top quality pickup, stainless steel jumbo frets, option of maple fretboard, Sperzel locking machines, hard tail bridge that strings through the body, and a thicker basswood or alder body, that matches the dimensions of a US Strat. There are many guitarists out there that love the Strat, but hate the single coils and abhor the placement of the knobs. WHY does the volume knob have to be right on top of the bridge pickup on all your models? Many players prefer to use the heal of our hands to dampen the strings, and the location of this knob makes it awkward, if not impossible. Take a chance! Make this guitar!

Sound
Suprisingly good. Bright, but rings true through chords and solos well.

Features
I love the configuration: no vibrato, no single coils, just solo humbucker.… read more NOTE TO FENDER: see my comments in "overall" -- there is a market for this type of guitar.

Ease of Use
It's a guitar...

Quality
For the price, it's almost astonishing how well made it is.

Value
Very well put together instrument.

Manufacturer Support
Haven't needed it.

The Wow Factor
Basically a Stratocaster without the weenie single coils and 3 knobs. This guitar has a rather thin body though.

Musical Background:
Longtime (30 years) living room guitarist

Musical Style:
whatever strikes me while playing, mostly rock read less