I played two road worn strats today at GC. Man were they set up badly. Both fretted out when bending strings, and on one, the high E string just fell off the fretboard every time you touched it. Overall, I was very unimpressed that for $1000 you get a guitar that is almost not playable! The pickguard on one was lifted off the body by a good 1/8 of an inch. And neither one sound special in any respect. Maybe I just played some lemons, but I simply expect a better quality instrument for that kind of dough.

Ed

Maybe that's merely part of the, "Road Worn" shtick.

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You dig?

The single ply pick guards are warped as most are. My 50s road worn was set up perfect when I bought mine. And the Tex Mex pick ups sound great.

I have a single ply pickguard on my 50th anniversary and it is not warped at all. I have no doubt that the road worn can be better than what I played today, but these particular guitars didn't feel anything like a high end ($1000) guitar. I know, to some a $1000 guitar is not high end, but in terms of workmanship, the road worn didn't stack up particularly well.

I wasn't impressed either. The one's I tried had issues too. Not just setup. I picked up a $200 used Ibanez Artcore that played better. I already have a Strat, but was looking for a beater guitar. I found it, and saved 800 bucks to boot.
For a grand, I'll pass. Expect more and you'll get more.
A thousand buck axe should play and sound great not just okay. Just think of how long you need to work to buy it.

To be fair, with the exception of the ones from Indonesia, Ibanez guitars always seem to measure up quite favorably, even to guitars well above their price structure.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

I'm not sure I understand your point. If Ibanez can build a guitar for reasonable money that is a good value, why can't fender do the same? I bought an Ibanez AS103 a couple of years ago for $700 and the workmanship on it is way better than what I played today.

my point was that an Ibanez compares with ANY other guitar of that price range, and that the Artcore would stand up against any of the other fenders,or Gibsons for that matter, in that price range, not just the road worn.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Mine is only an AS73 and it a great guitar. I'm thinking about putting Gibson Burstbuckers in it. It sounds great now, but I think putting Gibson pups would make it incredible for very little money. The quality of workmanship on this guitar is unbelievable. Lately, I think Fender really needs to get on the QC stick. Customer service is disappointing too. I sent a GDec back for repair and it took 6 weeks for the dealer to get word from Fender that they were giving me credit for it. I upgraded to a GDec 30 and if this one goes south I'll get a Line 6 jam. All this after being a loyal Fender customer for 40 years.
To quote Dylan, "The Times They Are A Changin"

The ones I played were awesome. I couldn't put it down. But then, I like high action.

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Its the new corporate mentality.
I know some folks here in Arizona(wont name names) but the company is trying to move away from US made stuff except for custom shop and high-line FSR's. so you will see a lot more non-US material and lower QC. I hope as they see their margins rise they reinvest a little of it towards QC and maintain the brand. We shall see. I have a whole mess of details on what I have found out,and some of you others may already know but I am a lousy typist and tired. I will say this start buying used(or new) USA made fenders, as they start(if they can) to faze out the standind US lines. The used market on US stuff will be through the roof.

The Road Worn series is a great look and a great concept, I love the well worn-in look, I'm sure that people who buy them will love them, the price tag is what it is, and compared with the EVH strat it's a pure drop in the bucket. I paid 600.00 for my '57 RI strat in '87, 300.00 increase in 20 years? not bad

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Quit sittin' around and play!
"This one goes to 11."

Personally, I can't see spending a grand or better on a guitar/bass that looks like someone beat it to hell or used it for a baseball bat! I'll the "break it in" myself and create "my own mojo scars!"

I'd like to think that I'm paying primo dollars for an axe that has an "eye catching finish."

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[blue] [SIZE3]~ I Am My Music ~[/blue][/SIZE3]

remember that a 7.25" radius can feel pretty strange at first if you're used to 9.5". My first thoughts upon trying my CS time machine '66 in the store were "Man, what is with this E string?! I'm glad they left me alone to try this thing out, because this is just embarrassing" followed by "OK, this thing needs major setting up, I'm choking all over the place on these bends"... I kept at it for a bit because I didn't want to believe that such an expensive guitar could have such issues, and before I knew it I was in love with the 7.25" (um..OK, that sounds a bit dodgy, but you know what I mean, I hope, heh).

Seriously, I thought I was in for a bit of work when I got it home but once I'd changed the strings it was sweet. Better, in fact, than my other strat which had been professionally set up. Of course, the previous owner had probably addressed all that stuff -- I can't comment as to the Road Worn default setup -- I just wanted to point out that everything I thought was wrong with the guitar turned out to be due to my lack of familiarity with vintage-style neck radii. Possibly it's worth giving the Road Worn series another shot..?

I conducted an intense road worn evaluation when they were first released because I was in the market for a new Strat.
I couldnt get into the 50s strat becuase of the flimsy, warped pickgaurd that lifted the neck pup 1/4 inch on the fat side. Neck felt good, but a little too thin for my tastes. 60s seemed more solid. I actually liked the tele the best out of the lot. The series seems to get great professional reviews, but in the end I went with a MIA standard for $100 less.
They dont look to be selling well in my neck of the woods. 3 local venders carry them and 1 location sold 2 60s strats (one to an employee) and another sold a tele. Not exacly flying off the shelves compared to MIM and MIA standards.