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This is without a doubt the finest guitar I have ever owned. The sound is awesome. While it is true it lacks some of the grit of a straight single coil setup, the clarity of tone is amazing - this guitar was made for recording. The S1 switching system is NOT a gimmick - it takes full advantage of the capabilities of the three pickup setup that was always a bit short of its potential. The new tremolo takes a little getting used to because at first it feels loose compared to the old setup - but you quickly learn it's more sensitive and has a lot more give on pulling back. The snap-in arm will scare the piss out of you the first time you use it: it makes a LOUD snapping sound and you think you broke it. But that's just the sound it makes. Rotate the arm so it is pointing toward the rear of the body and push down to snap it in and out. Physically it is flawless. The finish is perfect (I got the Olympic Pearl and Ruby pick guard with maple fingerboard). The frets are perfectly dressed and the faces are polished like mirrors. The bridge setup is exact. I did not feel the need to raise the pickups as I usually do on a new guitar. The gloss finish on the fingerboard is a great touch. Small details like the rounded heel and locking tuners are really nice. The mirror-finish logo on the head stock is flush with the wood and under the gloss finish - it looks sharp. The supplied case is good - not great like the fitted case that came with my '99 ash standard, but good enough. Also came with a moderately good strap and a good cable, two Allen wrenches, and strap locks. If you are a Strat fan you will love this guitar - Fender is definitely making some of the best products in the company's history. If you are new to the Strat then there can be no better introduction than the new American Deluxe: it will spoil you for all other guitars.

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For $400 more over the American Standard Strat, this guitar is absolutely justified. The neck and fingerboard feel slinky smooth perfect, the locking tuners are AWESOME, the compound radius makes it just so much more playable. I love the additional access to the higher frets with the scooped shape of the body. The tones on this guitar are incredible, and that's before you even begin to mess around with the S-1 pickups routing system. The quality of this guitar is def higher than an American Standard Stat. The neck, body, finish...everything is a cut above. I've been through about half a dozen American Standard Strats in the last few years and ended up returning most all of them due to quality issues. This Deluxe had near perfect setup (to my taste), no fret buzz, intonation on point. I changed the strings to super bullets and the tones, even acoustically played are just beautiful. And the neck and fretboard are my all time favorite for the feel and playability. This guitar is worth the $1700 - you'll never need another guitar.

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Got the Sunset Metallic American Deluxe; wanted one forever can now die a happy camper!

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I've owned many brands and Fender seems to be the best built for the money of them all....I wanted a "touch tone " action and although close...I'll have to adjust it more thoroughly to achieve this. ..but even right now it plays just as good as my G and L that was set up professionally. ..great tone and great case candy as a perk...got to admit that I was a little skeptical about it staying in tune with the tremolo, but so far, no problems noted.. (I'm too old to play all that freak - out dive bomb and psycho modulation stuff - just use it a little compared to that )...Flawless finish and had me regretting not buying a blemished model for less dough...great guitar all in all.

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Over-all I was happy with the purchase...guitar sounds amazing; but the item was damaged a little more than I was expecting (esp. for this kind of money)! I had the chance to return it, and I didn't...honestly I fell in love with it, and the damage just made me not pamper it. OK, now to the damage description there was a large dent / small cracks in finish near where your right bicep touches the guitar (Right Handed model)...which I was like, I'm ok with that...then I saw a chunk missing by the back of the Tremelo hole...I was a little disturbed by this. Since there were 2 types of strings on the guitar, it looks like someone cut the strings and the Tremelo slammed down on the wood and took a big chunk out. But again I say, I didn't return it, so shame on me. But all ends well...she's my baby now; and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I just wanted to warn people that the "blemished" items could be worse than expected. Thanks for reading.

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Just got new bedell acoustic at very nice price. Has great full tone. I will be playing it on the road a lot!

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I've played Fenders for 40 plus years. I think our relationship has a chance......it just might work!!!!

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Great set up out of the case. Great Quality.

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This is my 4th guitar; the others are a Gibson 335s (rare solid-body) for blues & rock, a Gibson ES150 for jazz, and an old Gibson jazz acoustic. That pretty much covers my needs for different sounds and styles.