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I expect to keep this strat... I have been thru multiple others, Fender and copies... but this one is a keeper. It's my friend already, and i just got it a few weeks ago.

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I found this guitar on the floor of a guitar box store and thought it was a used for sale. Picked it up, plugged it in and fell in love. I have played Gibson SG's, LEs Paul's, Ovation Breadwinners (try and find those now) and Fender Telecaster but when I played this road-worn strat, I fell in love. Get past the stupid "Gee look how Neil Young it looks" (It does look cool but that doesn't make a lick of difference) The neck is a snip deeper and thinner and the worn off lacquer gives the neck a warm lived in feel - like your hand just belongs there. There are grooves in the natural places a blues or rocker would be spending quality time and this works to produce a few harmonic post that simply scream - or if you want to exercise a little Knopflereque restraint, put it between phase at the neck and just hear that distinctive Dire Straits sound - sustain with that Tex kick. On the bridge PU, this axe will scream and just make you want to stay up at the 12th bending up two tones because descending is so much fun. A great guitar makes it difficult to call it a day and this one is like that. Your hands feel at home and it simply has a lived in feel. Now, yes..I know that's artificial but let me tell you, if the concept of the Roadworn was not widely known and you just picked one of these up (and it was a good one...keep that in mind) you wouldn't be able to determine the country of origin. It's just the snob who cares that it's made in the USA. ..well, I won't go into the politics because I want everything to come back to being made here but you get the point - the build quality is solid and you will not go wrong with this instrument.

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zZounds made it so incredibly easy for me to order and receive my strat. I have ordered from all of the major online retailers but zZounds have been hands down the best experience. Ordering was easy, they broke my order into equal payments and 2 days later I received my strat. I have called twice for quick questions and a representative has picked up immediately and knew who I was from my phone number. No being put on hold, no hundred questions to answer just to ask one important question. My 50s Road Worn Strat showed up just as advertised. Packaged well and ready to go!

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Outstanding Guitar at any price. Some people do not like the road worn finish or MIM thing, however its all about the sound. I could care less how it looks....It has to be comfortable and produce the sound you need. Mine was delivered to my door in two days...A+ service in my book...Double boxed with all the accessories. I plugged her in and fired it up and just smiled. I lowered the action a bit as they come a little high and put her through about 30 songs in various styles. I could not be happier and that's what counts for me. I almost bought the American Standard and I am glad I bought this guitar instead. 6 lbs on the button, nice broken in feel, and even with Tex- Mex pickups she just rips through anything. You do not see a lot of these for sale (Used) and probably with good reason. Get one and smile.

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I've never been a big fan of the Telecaster body style until I saw the road worn. I was missing that fat tube sound for layering my guitar tracks and mainly for solos. I definitely found it here! Amazing guitar! I can't put it down. Fret work is clean and the pots are killer! This guitar is an irreplaceable addition to my collection. I do wish it would have been offered with a hard case though.

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To get my final verdict out of the way, this is the right strat. Sounds, feels, and plays the way that you could ever reasonably expect a stratocaster to sound, feel, and play. You could pay thousands more for Custom Shop, Artist Series, and even just plain old American strats, and you really wouldn't be getting a better instrument. A flatter fretboard is truly the only argument you could make for spending much more on a particular strat. Yes, it's essentially only a Mexican Standard with Tex-Mex pickups thrown in and you could do the same and get a killer sounding strat, (The pickups are absolutely worth it) but the nitro finish just makes this thing The One for me. If you don't like the Road Worn thing, I get that; strip it and paint it up with a fresh new nitro color of your choosing, it's a very simple process. Playing this thing out of the box was literally a pain for me. I have been playing 9's on Gibson scale guitars for years and the 10's stretched tighter was painful for a couple of days. The tiny fretboard radius was entirely new to me and I choked out everything for a couple days. I hated playing this thing. And I still hold a belief that the G-string that Fender uses is abnormally big for 10's, though I'm not sure what gauge it actually is, but like the guy below me said the Fender strings makes a huge difference. After the first couple of days strengthening up my left hand I can't put this thing down. I've owned it for two months now and play it at least 20 hours a week, entirely too loudly of course, and my other guitars maybe 2 hours. This is as close to a proper strat as you will get out of the Fender factory these days. My singer literally can't play it, and yet I still sound much better than he does on his fancy D'angelico. You have to wring your hand around its neck, dig into the strings, and WANT to play guitar and it will absolutely sing for you. I love it.

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I read a lot of reviews and I think it's funny when someone went to a few stores and played a few and every one had bad action. Most of big name guitar stores don't set them up at all it's out of the box and right on to the wall. I've picked up $4,000LP'S where the strings were so high it was unplayable. Most guitars are gonna need to be set up but once you set this one up you'll never put it down.

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I was kinda unsure about this guitar untill it came and wow. went through to set up and it was a dream to set up. pickups are spot on. sound is very snapy and very good sounding thru my 65 reverb amp. I would say buy now but i got the very last one.

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I received my strat within just a few days after order. I loved the sound of it from the start, and have gotten it back from set-up and love how it plays. Far superior to a regular, which IS cool, but not this cool. The shape of the neck is far better for my playiing, and the paint adds a lot of depth to the sound. Glad I waited and got what I wanted. It is as good as my friends recommended, and a great guitar, at a less than unreasonable price.

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I love the look and sound of this guitar. My problem, at least with the one I have, is the neck / fret detail or lack there of. The ends of the frets all protrude from both sides of the neck, just enough to catch my fingers and palm. Also the fret ends have not been finished and are sharp enough to cut. I had to use a filing wheel on a drill to smooth them off.

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Played a few at a local shop ... all sucked. The tone of the Tex-Mex is decent, but definitely not "vintage" as the looks of the guitar suggest. The 'aging' done on the was obviously amaturish and rushed. The worst part was that EVERY one played like crap - buzzy with mile-high action. A standard Mexican is a better guitar! I can't believe they are charging so much for these hunks of crap!