This guitar is amazing. I've been playing with a blues-rock band some and I wanted something other than my Jackson Dinky to use. This guitar is great. It has killer sound, great tone and sustain. I have the honey blonde with maple fretboard and the picture here doesn't do it justice. It looks great, has great action, stays in tune, and is light. I love the 70's headstock. Plus, it's made in the USA! You can't go wrong with this great guitar.

I just bought this over the Thanksgiving weekend. Wonderful guitar. I am glad that I bought a USA made instrument that is very nice to play. I got the Highway 1 Strat in the 3 tone sunburst color with rosewood fretboard. The matte finish on the body is unique to look at and makes this guitar stand out next to my other strats. It is 7 pounds 6 ounces, which is a huge difference from my other strats which are all well over 8 pounds. the weight makes a difference on your shoulders when you are playing for several hours, believe me. I have several other strats to compare it to, so I will review it with that in mind. The Highway 1 alnico 3 pickups are hotter than the pickups on my Made in Mexico standard Strat, but still capable of giving you that classic Fender single coil bell tone. Because these Hwy 1 pickups are hotter, they are also noisier. So they are not as quiet in position 1, 3, 5 as my other strats, but you still get the quiet in position 2 and 4. These pickups go nicely with my pedal effects for hard rock or even modern metal sounds. However, when compared with my Lonestar Strat's Texas Special pickups, they are raunchier but not as clear or present. I'm not saying that the lack of presence is a bad thing. I'm just saying that Texas Special pickups may be good for some songs while the Hwy 1 may be good for other songs. Although the Hwy 1 doesn't have the hand-rolled fretboard like my American Standard Strat, it does compare favorably. There are no rough fret edges on my Hwy 1 strat, it has jumbo frets which makes this easier to play, especially when bending blues type stuff. Someone mentioned that it is like dialing while drunk. It is true. Having played on medium/vintage frets for 10+ years, I have to say that the jumbo frets at first feels strange. but after spending a week now, I can safely say that it's very comfortable. I wish I had this guitar when I first started playing guitar. Anyway, I think it is well worth getting a USA strat at this price point. It is a great instrument for modding, which I will probably be doing soon, starting with the tuners ( I will put locking tuners on this guitar). I think the stock pickups will stay for now. I have no comments on the tremolo/bridge, because I always block all my tremolos per Clapton method. If this were ever stolen or lost, I would buy another Hwy 1 in a heartbeat.

I tour every summer up and down the west coast and am always reluctant to bring any high end guitars with me. Many clubs no matter how nice have thief stage techs. Not to mention regular playing on stage can lead to damage that doesn't look good. This guitar (with some cheap modifications) plays extremely well. It is well worth the money and best of all if somebody runs off with it your out 7 or 8 hundred depending on how much money you put into it.

Great buy.

I had the privilage and pleasure of playing one of these bad boys when they fist came out. I played one that was daphne blue. God help me i loved that color but they discontinued it all together as a production color, unless of course you buy a mustang.

Features: One to three pice Alder bodie (grate sustain) the vintage trem is cool (Just keep graphite in your nut) The Nitro finish in my mind is a definate plus. But it's picky about it's enviroment so take that into acount.

Electronics: This thing has SNC pickups bone stock, I love it. and the "grease bucket" tone circut kicks some serious ass.

Overall: in truth, Hell yes I would gig with this thing, I'd use it for recording. it's a well built, extramly well sounding versitile instrument. In truth you cant go wrong with this thing.

I'm getting her for christmas, I already have her named. She truely is amazing.

This guitar is a gift from the gods. Its overall quality is unique and attractive as its price. The sound and tone is truely outstanding and extremely versatile. The features of the Highway one is truly traditional and simplistic, which makes it even more sought after. This axe is made for the artistic virtuoso whose years of experience deserves a break in his wallet.