Review: Fender 50th ANNIVERSARY Deluxe Stratocaster

Sorry for shouting anniversary at you, but I wanted to make sure you knew that that was the guitar I'm reviewing, not the regular Deluxe which is a different animal, so to speak...

Anyway, the 50th Anniversary Deluxe is a joy to play and clearly a lot of good work and attention to detail has gone into it. The neck is so comfortable, the frets and fretboard edges are very nicely done. There is also a nice little slice taken out of the part of the body where the neck joins it, rounded off to allow easier access to the higher frets (which I believe is standard on all Deluxe's, not just the 50th anniversary ones). I've had one friend tell me its the nicest electric guitar he's ever played, and he's seen a few over the years! I've actually had comments from a couple of people who told me that they don’t even particularly like Fender's, but that mine was a particularly nice one!

It sounds sweet as anything, especially clean. This is quality single-coil tone in just about any of the 5 pickup switch positions. But it can do really mean, stinging hard rock very effectively too (Deep Purple, Blackmore's Rainbow, Led Zeppelin etc). I find with the bridge/middle "quack" combination I can get awesome blues sounds that would make Clapton or SRV proud. If you want SRV, just dig in hard with the pick, turn up a little gain on your amp (but not so much its distorting, just crunching a bit when you pick hard) and you'll get the tone! I mentioned Led Zeppelin, yeah believe it or not "Whole Lotta Love" sounds great when I play it with the bridge pickup, with plenty of distortion of course. I've played Ted Nugent's "Cat Scratch Fever" and GN'R's "Its So Easy" without any particular compromise in the tone or power department. I'm not saying it sounded like a Les Paul, just a very ballsy Strat! Yes, these single coils sing like sweet little angels if that’s what you want, but they can also growl like devils! These excellent noiseless Bill Lawrence pickups have plenty of power behind them too.

The S-1 Switch, discretely located in the middle of the volume control, is a great addition which adds to the already broad versatility of this instrument. I seldom need it myself, but I'm sure others can put it to good use. Hey, it’s better to have it than not to have it, right? This guitar also features locking machine heads...

Oh yeah, looks-wise this axe is simply beautiful. The 2-tone sunburst looks great on what is clearly a lovely piece of alder. This is no lump of plywood; this is quality mate! The gold-plated hardware compliments the guitar nicely and the maple fretboard looks great with stylish abalone fret markers.

In conclusion, I'll never part with this guitar because I know I'll never find a Strat that combines such high-quality tone, versatility, comfort, looks, workmanship, materials and sturdiness that this Strat has. Sure, I'll probably buy others but this will always be a special one. I consider myself lucky to have gotten this axe on ebay for such a reasonable price. I don’t know if it will appreciate in value very much, but if people knew how good it is then it probably will.