Fender Artist Series John Mayer Stratocaster Electric Guitar  

As has been stated in several previous reviews, the neck and the pickups on this Strat are what sets it apart and that is correct. The fingerboard on mine is a beautiful, solid, unstreaked piece of rosewood that is so black that it looks like Ebony. 6105 Dunlop frets. Great choice to have the larger frets. The shape of the neck and the finish on the neck is phenomenal - it couldn't be improved upon, as is the case with the pickups. The INCASE gig bag is actually more of a hard case than a gig bag and, as others have noted, was a pleasant surprise. Vintage truss rod adjustment at base of neck. This is what causes me to give this a "9" in this category instead of a "10." Standard vintage tuners and trem unit with five springs.

My point of reference for evaluating this guitar is that I have owned a FENDER Eric Johnson Strat since 2006. I feel, and everyone else who has played that guitar feels, that it is the nicest Strat they've ever played. It is featherweight and has the absolute best neck and best pickups of any Strat I've ever heard.....until I purchased this John Mayer Strat. The Eric Johnson Strat sounds like what a Strat should sound like in your head but never seems to sound like in actuality. As difficult as it is to say that the John Mayer Strat is "better" than the Eric Johnson, I would have to say - and I am still pinching myself in disbelief - if I could only have one of them, I would have to pick the John Mayer model and, actually, there wouldn't be much hesitation. The neck and the pickups are just that good. What causes me to give this a "9" in this category is that the fret ends on the treble side of the neck are not smooth as they should be. I bought a Korean-made $1,200 FERNANDES Retrorocket Elite last year that had the most impeccable fretwork I've ever seen on any guitar.  So, there is no excuse for FENDER to turn out something of lesser quality.

Were it not for the fact that I think all guitars these days are overpriced, I might well give this a "10." However, I am so glad that I now own this that it kind of hurts to give it a "9." Except for the lack of smoothness of the fret ends, the finishing on this guitar is beautiful. As I said, the placement of the vintage truss rod adjustment access is, to me, inexcusable. The body seems to be every bit as light as my Eric Johnson. The tone of the guitar is fantastic. I have no problem, as others did, with bent notes above the twelfth fret sustaining. Not an issue. The factory set-up was off in that the action was set too low and there was a good deal of fret buzz. It really comes down to the neck and the pickups, and as someone has already asked, "do the neck and the pickups make it worth it?" The answer, to my mind, is, without a doubt, "YES." 

This is an absolutely great blues guitar. And, as you would expect, it nails the Mayer tone perfectly. Tremendous sweetness. The pickups must be vintage output because I had to boost the volume on my amps a bit when I started using it. As others have correctly stated, the pickups give you very creamy, clear, rounded trebles with no hum. And the bass response is good. I love the scooped mids. In short, the pickups are as close to perfect as I've heard. And, the neck simply could not be slicker, faster, or more playable.....it too is perfection, actually. As nicely done as the INCASE gig bag is, this guitar is of such high quality that it certainly deserves a hardshell case. It also deserves a modern truss rod configuration. Despite those detractors, I have to give this an overall rating of "10" because the big-picture evaluation overrides the few drawbacks. I will never get rid of this guitar. PLEASE NOTE: Should you purchase one of these, be aware that, for some reason, FENDER has instructions on the gig bag that the guitar must be left in the gig bag at normal room temperature for 24 hours before opening to avoid finish damage. I've never seen this before and, believe me, it is an incredibly frustrating directive.

best feature are the pick ups and the neck    amazing sound

its basically a american standard

i expected a bit more from a signature model

ugh

i think your paying mostly for these pick ups   because the guitar is pretty much just a standard american strat , how ever the pick ups are great and the neck is great , the case candy is cheap , but the case suprised me i was thinking the worse put its pretty nice

all in all its a better then average strat but not that much better , the guitar has that mayer sound and is great for blues

i think the guitar is a bit over priced.

i got a good deal on mine so im keeping it.