New 2006 Mim Strats... Verdict

[Pott]

It was one of the new Electron blue models. The finish was actually very nice. The guitar's resonance didn't impress me, but it wasn't bad either. Where it really shined was the playing comfort. This wasn't a Squier folks... The neck felt GREAT. No sharp frets, no glue on the fret slots like I had seen very often in MIMs before. The rosewood was very dark and had a nice grain to it, the maple very light and it too looked beautiful.

I played her through a Fender Hot Rod DeVille and the bridge pickup was VERY bright, but not harsh as they can be. The neck pickup and especially position 4 sounded amazing for sweeps and leads, and that was with a CLEAN tone!! Distorted, the pickups had a little more output than on the old one I THINK (don't take my word for it) but not by a whole lot.

The nut was set WAY too high as usual. But the guitar felt VERY comfortable to play, with a decent action which allowed acrobatics. Fingerpicking wasn't hard either. The neck has a sweet feel to it. It was thin ish, but Strat like.

THIS ladies and gents, to me, felt like THE perfect blend of old and new for a Strat. She sounded like a strat, played like a super strat, and is the same price as the old ones.

I'm truly amazed and I mean this. It doesn't happen very often.

Ah also, in positions 1 3 and 5 the noise level is kept fairly low for single coils. The shielding works well it seems!

I can't comment too much on the frets as it had been a loooong time since I played the old style Strats though, sorry guys. But I'm sure some of you will know that. They're medium jumbo now and felt reasonably modern and big. I liked them. I just can't compare.

Another thing: Sustain was decent, but not impressive. If it were me, I'd lower the nut myself, use .10s or .11s and give her a more thorough setup. But even as it was, it was 100% playable, and well.