Well I just got back from GC today and I have to say I was absolutely floored by this guitar. Felt nothing like any MIM I have ever played. And the neck is to die for.

But I walked away from it.

Here's why.

I figured if the MIM was this good then the Gilmour Strat (which is what I really want) will be even better. So against my better judgement and impulse GAS at the time, I walked away and decided to keep saving for the Gilmour.

I know I will be happy in the long run. The really really long run....

I KNOW you will be

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"Another day in paradise!"

Got that right Doc!!

Thanks guys. It was real hard to walk away from that Strat yesterday.

Eyes on the prize!

I went to GC yesterday and it's still there....

I wonder if it's going to go on sale in the big January Clearance sale?

Well I held out as long as could, but the 4th of July Sale at GC finally did it for me. I couldn't believe they would put a Fender on sale (Fender always "declines" to participate in their promos) but it went on sale, I was weak, and as a result....



It still plays as well as it did the first time I saw it. New strings and a setup later and I am good to go.

I feel the need to upgrade the electronics soon and I might go with a Callaham bridge setup but for now I'm happy.

I figure I can always move this one when I get enough money for a Gilmour Strat down the road.

Congratulations! Had mine for a year now and wouldn't trade it for anything. Even if I get a gilmour someday, I would hang on to this one as my everyday axe.

I picked one up during the GC 4th of July sale too. I have to agree on the pups. I was anticipating doing a pup upgrade when I initially played it. After playing it for a couple weeks, I think I'll stick with the stock pups. IMO they do sound better than stock MIM pups.

I'm so so on the pups myself. The neck pup is surprisingly good. The bridge pup is a little harsh. Perhaps a height adjustment might tame it a tad.

I'm so tempted to just swap it out for the Gilmour setup (SSL5, 60s, Fat 50s), but I want to pace myself on modding the guitar.

I tend to get a little carried away with modding sometimes too. Even though I haven't changed the pups, I did make a couple of changes. One is cosmetic. I changed to a white pickguard. I didn't buy the guitar to have a Gilmour model. The black doesn't look bad, I just like white better. The neck on this guitar just felt so darn good I couldn't resist. The other change was removing the tone control from the middle pup and putting it on the bridge. It made a big difference and will take away some of the harshness.