i believe this is the guitar to fit the bill joaquin..i play bluesy (freestyle even) and soft rock on it among other things. one of the coolest things i like about the guitar is if im just riffing freestyle and while riffing going from hard picking to soft picking. the guitar responds very well and has excellent sustain too. and i get compliments even from my hard metal friends on how nice it sounds handles tube distortion great too. the s-1 switch turned on in combo with mid and neck or mid/bridge pickup on gives like a full humbucker/gibson effect but using it with just 1 pickup at a time gives a nice fender twang too but like i said, i rarely use the s-1 cos the normal position (off) gives me all the fender sound i love. give one a try if you can. i believe its the guitar your looking for.

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2009 american deluxe ash stratocaster

2009 epiphone es-335 dot.
2009 65 drri amp
2009 fender vibro champ-xD amp.
2009 takamine g-4400 acoustic/electric guitar

1980 fender harvard reverb 1 amp

Sometimes It comes down to how much weight you want bearing down on you shoulder. I gave up my 77 les paul deluxe years ago in favor of my 62 sg tv because of the weight issue. I still have my leather contured slinger strap that I keep conditioned and with that combo I can play for hrs. w/out it bothering my shoulder. Does anyone know if anybody still makes a contoured strap. All I see is straight ones these days, dont ever remember hearing the word ergonomic back then.

Yeah, contoured straps can still be had, they're more commonly made for basses because basses are usually heavier than guitars. They still fit a guitar though http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Levy%20s-Ergonomic-Bass-Guitar-Strap-with-Contoured-Moveable-Pad?sku=360777

Just wanted to add there is a lot of backorders on Am. Deluxes (and Am. Standards I think) at Fender right now due to layoffs and their paint supplier went out of business, causing them to look for a new source, which adds the trouble of trying to get the new paint to be exactly like the old paint ^^ Just making sure you know, hopefully one will arrive at your local shop soon

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I traded my car in for a microphone.