Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? The best. It is the top of the heap for the Artist Series and it screams top-shelf in yor hands. I have a new love for Fender (and EJ) for making this guitar to such specs. I am a modAddict and I will not toouch a single thing on this guitar. My kids will have this in 50 years when I'm gone. They'll smile as much I do when they play it. Thank you Fender & EJ. Reliability How has it stood up over time? She is brand new for me but the be warned the lovely nitro finish is THIN. This is of course preferable to let the guitar resonate without a straight-jacket of poly. The body and neck finish are simply stunning General Your general opinion of this product. I have had literally dozens of strats. I have personally built more than 15 partscaster -- many with custom shop parts and premium wood. I can build a nice axe... but this EJ is special. From the minute I delicately opened the AMS box to see the beautiful G&G case to the initial wiff of the nitro upon unbuckling it -- I knew this was a special guitar. Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? I can't say enough. I have a couple of wonderful strats in house now and wondered that the heck I was doing getting another for this price. I went ahead and did it because I'd never had a "brand new Strat" and because the EJ is exactly how I would build a strat if I could blue sky it. It is far beyond expectations and my expectations were extremely high. Light, fast, comfy, and toneful. I passed up a used Custom Clasic last week to buy the EJ and I have zero regrets. The other reviewers here are correct -- this IS a Fender custom shop guitar. Honestly it killed the custom classic I played. Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? It does it all. The EJ pups can do what the Fralin special blues do, but they can't do what the EJ can do. The Custom shop 69's aren't as flexible. It may be the lack of tone control on the middle pup in the EJ, but the 2&4 positions are gorgeous. It can quack with the best of them, can sear, can be dark and smooth, and can cut like nobody's business. Best pups I'm played. Finish How did the stain or paint job look? So nice -- so very nice. The two-piece select alder body with deep cut finished in that thin nitro is the stuff that made Fender a legend. I truly felt as if I was transported to 1957 and was opening my new strat. It looks like the pics you see in the Fender history book -- maybe better as the frets are jumbo, the nec is modern and the pups are a gift from the gods. To be honest I am not a huge 2TS fan but didn't want black and couldn't wait for the RW EJ. The finish on this 2TS is the best sunburst I've ever seen. Action How was the action out of the box? I thought for sure my EJ would be with my tech immediately, but the action is actually perfect. For the price of an EJ most stores will definitely do a free setup so I had a small bit of buyers remorse going the AMS route. I was so happy to see the action set beautifully low but with out any buzzing. Kudos AMS and Fender!