I have played guitar for 45 yrs. During that time, I've owned and played many Fenders, Gibsons, Martins, and Gretsch guitars. When I decided to get another strat, the features of this one intrigued me, so I took the plunge and bought it from Musicians Friend. They mistakenly sent me one with the big nick out of the lower body. But it could not be seen without looking hard for it. I chose to keep it because it felt so good I was afraid any other would not feel as good. I got the blond with a maple neck. Mine took some time to set up. I needed to shim the neck pocket slightly and adjust the tension rod, bridge and pu heights. Once done correctly, it plays very well. It has outstanding features for a guitar at this price. I love the 12" radius C-shaped neck, the extra tones available from the push button, the vintage/noiseless pu's and most of all, the very light ash body. This guitar is so light, I can play it all night without shoulder or back strain. Much lighter than my American Deluxe Strat or my Tele. My few complaints are: the bridge pu is too weak. I replaced it with the Fender Hot Noiseless "Jeff Beck" pu. Much better now. The electronics are a cut below an American made guitar but mine still work fine. The need to shim the neck instead of Fender's cool micro adjustment that comes on their American models. That's about it. I love everything else about this guitar It has become my main ax over my 335 or my Tele.

I got this guitar in May of '09 and I now have a strange feeling come over me; you know when you go into a guitar store you just want to play and buy every guitar there? Well now that I have this I have no eurge to even think about other guitars. It plays like a dream and sounds like one to. Granted the noiseless pick-up in the bridge was a little whimpy for my tastes (nothing a quick upgrade to a Duncan SSL-5 couldn't cure) and the bridge took a little tinkering to get perfect, I couldn't ask for anything more in a guitar. You can the feel and sound of an American Standard in something that will cost you half as much. If you're looking for a Strat get this, you may have to invest a little time into getting it just the way you want it, but what's $50 for a pick-up and a little workmenship compared to and extra $1000 for an American Strat that wont sound or feel any better in the end.

The deluxe player's stratocaster is one solid guitar. For me, it was my first Fender. I like Ibanez's value a little better but you gotta have a strat right?

I changed out the pickups for dimarzio's noiseless area 58, 67, and 61 for neck, middle, and bridge respectively and I've never heard better strat tone in person. They are quieter than the stock (which once taken out proved to have two coils like a humbucker). It gets Jimi and Stevie tones without a problem and actually jangles, which the stock ones don't do at all. And the botton that activates the bridge pickup in the first two positions makes for 2 more incredibly usable tones! With all three pickups active you get a great clean tone you've never heard before. And neck and bridge together get a believable tele tone. I find the tuners, volume and tone to be a little less responsive than my Ibanez guitars (hollow and solid) but I hear that's the case in general with Fenders.

I got the Sapphire Blue with maple neck and the guy who changed the pickups for me said it looked like a guitar worth three times as much. It's gorgeous. If you play music that usually doesn't usually demand a Fender then this is perfect for the few times you do.

After buying the pickups and changing them out it sounds better than the more expensive ones and ended up costing less.

So i got this guitar about a month ago, and it's been great. I'm a good player, but this has been the first guitar that I've ever bought that I've been able to put my heart into. It plays like a dream, wonderful fast neck, great noiseless pickups (not super hot, but they were a lot hotter than I thought they were going to be), great electronics and switching options and of course it's drop dead gorgeous. When I was at the guitar store I was thinking to myself "is a guitar really worth this much money when I already have one thats fine?". I was worried all the way up until it came. Now, even with my savings account basically empty, every time I look at that guitar it was worth every penny. It has a few negatives though. First, I gave it 4.5 on quality because when mine arrived it still had some sawdust left on it and the frets were tarnished, not polished. I was a little irked but it wasn't anything major. Secondly, I come from a world of humbuckers, so the single coils area a little alien to me. Not bad, just different. Lastly, all of my guitars have had fixed bridges, and as much as i like dive bombing and just whammying in general, it can be a little annoying at times, raising pitch if you push too hard down on the saddles, E.T.C. Not really a negative, but it makes me want to hardtail it sometimes. To wrap it up, If you're thinking about getting a strat, ignore the standards and look at this instead. It's much better quality, good pickups and it has unique looks that no other strat has.

I got mine 6 months ago.

This guitar stands out from all the other fender strats because it has a wider and flat(12")radius neck for better bends and more room for cords at the first frets. The noiseless pickups sound great in the 1,3,&5 position,2&4 kind of choke because they are reverse wound.

The string highth adjustment screws are too long and tend to scratch if you rest your palm there.

Considering most players buying guitars in this price range usually like to tweek it to their liking this is a real good deal.This is so much easier to play than a regular strat, you should at least try playing one. Also they only have the sunburst with rosewood fretboard at stores.