Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? Reliability How has it stood up over time? Had it for 3 years now with no problems. These things only get better with age. Overall Your general opinion of this product. An icon. Great playability, great strat sound. Wish the tremelo was the two point trem like on the American Standard. Other than that it's as good as the American strat IMO. Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? Finish How did the stain or paint job look? Action How was the action out of the box?

Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? Very well made. Overall Your general opinion of this product. I really wanted a USA made Strat, but I could not find one that had all the features that this one has for less than $2,500 (like an artist series). Mine is black...add the Texas Specials, tinted maple neck and tortoise pick guard, parchment knobs/P'ups and not only do you have a sweet looking axe, but sweet sounding too! Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? Awesome! Everything you would expect in a Strat. You know when you pick up a guitar and it feels like it was made just for you? That's how this one feels to me...very natural. Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? It sounds just like its namesake. Has that unmistakable SRV tone. Finish How did the stain or paint job look? Flawless! Love the tinted vintage looking maple neck. Action How was the action out of the box? Action was fine, however this axe has a fatter tone bar for greater sustain and I had to tighten the spring screws to add more tension to allow full whammy effect, otherwise the tone bar will "bottom out". I'd recommend approx. 2 full turns of each screw. Also, you will likely want to adjust the P'ups with feeler gauges so that you get 8/64" on the bass strings and 6/64" on the trebles strings with these Tx. Spc. P'ups. Once all that is done, intonation and you are good to go. I've tried all sorts of strings and I keep going back to the Fender Bullets (9's). They just work for my style of playing and feel great.