After a couple of months of choosing and searching i have finally bought a strat.
The first strat that caught my eye was the Mexican Deluxe Players, but i could not find one anywhere to play. I played a Lone Star, Classic Player 50s & 60s, USA Special and a USA deluxe. My fave were the 50s and 60s strats, but i much prefer the look of the deluxe series.

Long story short, i decided that although i had not played the Deluxe Players, it has the same neck as the 60s strat and looks great too.

I purhased this one off ebay, for what i thought was a great deal-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWNX:IT

I haven't payed yet, as i have noticed it says "brand new" but the serial number is 2005-2006.

What do people think of this? I think i am still happy with the price for the age, but it still seems a bit odd. I've messaged the seller, so hopefully he will tell me it is unsold stock or similar and i can be playing it soon!

It's not anything personal against E-Bay BUT buying instruments online especially strats from a private seller can be troublesome. There is no way to ascertain the validity of photo's as well as the playability of the strat..

Because so many people are trying to pass off an imitation for the real McCoy, unless the strat is being sold by a reputable instrument store, I would not buy any instrument on E-Bay unless it came with solid verification and guarantee that full refund is clear in case of not receiving what was expected.

And anyway Instruments are like puppies and kittens they have to be seen as well as touched...

I've been playing Strats since 1968. My #1 Strat is a Deluxe Player. Coincidentally, when I bought mine, the S/N was that of a 2007 build which I bought in April 2008. The dealer swore up and down to me that he got the guitar in one week prior to me buying it and that the Deluxe Player was a slow moving model so if it has an older S/N, it came from the factory that way. He went on to say that the Deluxe Player wasn't a big seller as players usually went for the other models you referenced above first. I honestly didn't care about this guitar being made in 2007 yet I played up the NOS angle on general principle and the fact that it had fret sprout. The dealer knocked $100 off the price, throwing in strings, strap locks and even a W/B/W Fender pickguard for nothing. (I paid cash too so he knew had to do something for me.) As crazy as this sounds though, he wouldn't throw in the gig bag (which I knew was supposed to come with it). I didn't push the issue nor did I care as for $500 'out the door' with all the other stuff, I was a happy camper. Besides, I had a Fender hard shell case waiting out in the car for it and the fret sprout and horrid setup all took me less than an hour to correct.

IMO though, the Vintage Noiseless pickups are/were truly from hunger. To give a balanced presentation, others swear by them. Truth be told, if I didn't think I would have been able to unload them for a decent buck, I most likely would have flipped them right in the trash, believe it or not. As I did indeed manage to sell the set for exactly what it cost me to replace them with three Seymour Duncans, I remained an even happier camper.

Sidestepping the OEM pickups, I truly love this guitar. It takes about a half hour of solid playing to get used to the 12" radius neck and plumper frets but once you've put the time in, you're locked in. These two features really are great in the sense that the action can be brought much lower than most typical Strats where the strings won't cut out during bends and chording in general keeps your finger pressure balanced better.

FYI: Mine is the triple burst with a rosewood neck.

Lots of luck to you with your's.

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