I've had this guitar for a few weeks. I've taken it to a few band practices and played it intensly at home. The quacky, splatty tone on the neck pickup sold me. I didn't know it, but this was the strat tone I was looking for. I also love the humbucker in the bridge, I was looking for a fat strat style guitar or a hybrid type with a telecaster type pickup in the bridge.

The basics are there on this. Solid fretwork. Good but not perfect fret ends (none sharp, but not as perfect as my PRS SE guitars), but extremely level and properly-shaped frets leading to zero buzz. Mine has moderate action for easier bending, and all the strings ring clear on every fret. The nut is extremely tidy (tidier than my PRS SE guitars) and appears to be cut just fine. The medium jumbo frets are quite beefy and I like how easy they make bending techniques. The neck pocket is superbly tight and clean, far better than my old MIM telecaster, and as good as I have ever seen.

This guitar has great sustain for a strat-style guitar. The sustain however is less than that of my PRS SE Singlecut (incredible sustain) or my PRS SE Semihollow Soapbar (excellent sustain). The humbucker of course sustains better than the single coils, and actually the humbucker has great sustain intensity through the first 3-4 seconds.

The single coil pickups (to me) have the best traditional quacky strat sound around. They grab me everytime I play this guitar. Preferable to the American Standard Strat pickups and many other variations I have played. The sound of the pick attack is unmistakable and very endearing, but I find myself drawn to at least a bit of overdrive or compression when using them. The humbucker has a modern sound with a heavy midrange, but it has excellent strength and punch. I really like it. I find myself using the tone knob on the humbucker more than any other guitar I've owned.

I tightened the trem screws all the way down so I can do bluesy oblique bends without any trouble (a full step bend on the G string won't pull any others out of tune), but it's still there for a bit of wiggle when desired.

I really like the modern C-shape neck. Quite a bit heftier than a 60s style neck. The neck tint and satin finish on the back of the neck is great, and I've always prefered rosewood fretboards for their smooth and dry feel. I have the brownburst version, which is nice cause you can see the wood grain. My band loved how this guitar sounded when I brought it to practice, and so did I.

I have owned a american lonestar since 03 and if this guitar is as good as the american lonestar it will be a great buy. The only complaint I have is the 5 way switch buzzing when on top setting.

ive played crappy budget guitars most of my life and i figured as im becoming more of an active musician i should upgrade, so i tried out many guitars, 25 to be exact, and after all that i kept coming back to this one, make no mistake it is a pain to keep in tune at times and the sustain could be better but other than that im huge fan of this guitar

I bought this guitar awhile back. I can now review it. First the cosmetics. I ordered the black finish. It is good. The rosewood fretboard is ok. The finish was not the quality of other rosewood necks. I prefer maple necks if I can get that option. If Fender made this deluxe model with a maple neck it would be perfect. Only my opinion. The Texas special pickups in the middle and neck position is the perfect pairing with the Seymour Duncan humbucker in the neck for that gritty,punchy tone. For the type of music I play, I mainly set the selector switch in the fourth and fifth positions. Sometimes the second position as well. The free gigbag it came with was a good quality bag. I gave the rating scales all around a 4.5 mainly because of the rosewood neck. But the guitar plays well and worth the price.

I own the American made version of the Lonestar & if this model is anywhere near mine, you wont be disappointed. I really like the pearly gates pickup in the bridge. It provides great tone with minimal EQ from my effects. I don't know if its typical of this model or not, but I found that the single coils in the center & neck positions lacked the output of the bridge pickup, nor was I crazy about their overall tone, even after experimenting with my EQ, manipulating the pickup positions & playing it thru 2 different amps. I ended up replacing them to get the tone I desired. I love the playability & scale of the neck. My lone star is a light blue with a pearl white pickguard, so it's very eyecatching. I like the black version of the guitar as well. I also prefer this model to the Highway 1 strat. You won't go wrong with this model!