We recently took this fantastic '59 Stratocaster reissue in on trade from a great friend of the shop and have to say, this is one of the coolest, most interestingly spec'd Custom Shop guitars we've had to date.

Speaking of which, the 60s oval C neck carve coupled with the 22 jumbo frets and compound radius neck (9 1/2-12") almost plays itself. We didn't really notice how flat the board got while going up past the 12th fret other than lead runs being especially easy to execute (which is the hole point, really).

Plugged in, this guitar sounds wonderful (we were playing through a Carr Super Bee 12" amp). As expected, the Duncan '78 EVH bridge pickup hit the front of the amp harder than a single coil which produced a great edge-of-breakup tone - the mids were very forward as well. It's the type of sound you'd hit a low gain overdrive pedal to achieve.

The single coils deliver classic, glassy Strat tones with ease. Being a humbucker-equipped guitar, the pickups aren't perfectly balanced from one extreme to the other (bridge to neck, for example) but that's not really why you get a HSS Strat, right? You want that extra push that only a humbucker can provide. All this said, the balance is musical and not overly exaggerated volume difference-wise, and spending a few minutes with a screwdriver adjusting the height of each pickup will yield a more even balance if desired.

To be clear, this isn't a bad thing at all in our book, just something to be aware of if you're a stickler for balance across the 3 pickups. What's most important is that this is a really, really fun, easy playing Strat that'll have you grinning ear to ear.