(see rating details)

Verified Purchaser zZounds has verified that this reviewer purchased this specific product from us.

I have never had a strat sound or play this good right out of the box. From a sound standpoint... this guitar (in my opinion) beats the American pro 2, vintera, or us player series... never tried above that in price. Having said that... pricey for MIM. Almost returned for that alone. I should have done my research. I assumed based on price it was made in USA. Was about to return and order a pro 2... when I read a review on pro 2 saying they had electronic issues right out of the box. I bought 3 pro 2's when I got mine... and three in a row had serious issues (all bought at sweetwater). I get it... quality control isn't great these days.. so this playing so well out of the box... just lingered in my brain... like why return a perfectly playing instrument for a possible dud.So i played on.. and eventually decided to keep it. Never big into relic guitars, but i do like a nice worn feel on the neck. Bottom line... it's definitely more than a vintera or other MIM strat... but the electronics are fantastic. The feel is fantastic and the sound is perfect.

(see rating details)

Verified Purchaser zZounds has verified that this reviewer purchased this specific product from us.

The good: sounds great. I'd buy this loaded pickup set to drop into another strat in a heartbeat. Pickups sound amazing. Set up was great out of the box. No string buzz, no issues. The bad: MIM... should've done my research. For the price, I thought it was a USA guitar. Tried to cancel order when I realized, but it shipped too quick. The relic job looks (to me) like a sticker or veneer of sorts. It probably is, as these mccready guitars all look identical... so I can't imagine it's hand done againg. Up close, holding the guitar, it just looks cheap (the relic job). And the wood has weird cuts and rough spots due to to relic job. The neck feels good (not great to me), but there's a small chip there (probably from relic job) that catches my hand. Easily could sand that but I don't intend on keeping the guitar. Even the case feels cheap. I own some of these fender cases, and this looks and feels off. Like a copy. The fit and finish just doesn't match my other cases. Even the case that came with my $800 epiphone les paul is higher quality. If this guitar was priced around $1,300, I'd say it's a good buy for mccready fans that want great pickups in a guitar matching his. But at $1,800 it feels like a lot of extra cash for his signature. Considering the price, I'd say get a fender vintera 2 and save a lot of cash. Or grab a USA pro 2. This is just really overpriced for what you get.