That was certainly the case with me. My AVRI '57 Strat made the CP 50's seem not so great. Also, both guitars had the same pickups (only difference being that the CP '50's middle was reverse wound) but the '57 RI sounded much better for whatever reason. Played through the same amps with the same settings, the CP '50's always sounded thinner. Never made much sense to me because the pickups are supposed to be the same but that's the difference that I noticed. I also had intonation issues with the low E and I HATED the custom switching but that's just me personally. I'm sure many people like it. Even so, it wasn't a bad guitar. I just had another Strat that was much better so when I needed to trade something in on my next amp purchase, I said goodbye to the CP '50's. I almost hate to post this experience in a public forum because I don't want to turn people away from buying this guitar. Most people seem really pleased with theirs. Mine just didn't turn out to be the one for me.