I am agonizing over the purchase of my first Strat. I know 1 thing. I want an American Made. Have spend hours reading the discussions about pros and cons of Deluxe vs. Std, maple vs. rosewood fretboards, alder vs ash bodies and Std single coil vs. SCN vs N3 pups. I have gone and tried out several Strats but there are 2 challenges there. The major one is that I am a novice and my playing really doesn' do the guitar justice and 2, the shop only has a limited number of guitars that meet my criteria.

I have just seen a custom shop Strat Deluxe advertised on ebay. has the following pups and was wondering what anyone's thoughts are.

Pickups: 1 Custom '69 Single-Coil Strat pickup with grey bobbin (neck), 1 reverse wound/reverse polarity Custom '69 Single-Coil Strat Pickup with Grey Bobbin (Middle),1 Texas Special Single-Coil Strat Pickup (Bridge)

Obviously my playing now is the limiting factor, but I still am striving for the "perfect" instrument. Don't know if it is worth my spending extra $$$ or just going with a stock Std and then seeing what I want.

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'10 CS Deluxe Strat
'10 Gibson LP Studio Faded
Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

Your playing will grow into the guitar. Get the best you can afford

If you can afford the custom shop deluxe I say "go for it!"

I really want one of those. The pickup configuration is ideal.

But a Am. Standard will do just fine as well and leave you some cash for a nice amp.

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Support your local guitar shop.

It's totally down to you, and whether you think that some day you will get the best out of the guitar. Also how good it sounds to you is important.

I really like the 69 pickups, and will be installing them when I get my deluxe soon, pretty similair to what your after, and I really do think that if you think that you will stick at playing guitar it's worth spending the extra cash.