Best stratocaster for the money

I have owned and played many "strats"
The best I have played and currently play is an ESP vintage plus, these are reissues of the famous Esp 400 series.
they can often be found on ebay in the 600-700 range and will outplay any american made fender currently produced they are more comparable to the custom shop level fenders. Even a new esp vintage plus will give you custom shop quality at an american standard price.

You know, sometimes you can find that certain guitar that just sounds incredible. I have tried a whole bunch of strats in a store, and then suddenly one of them stands out, sounding way better than all the rest, although they were all the same model.

I bought a 2nd hand 1987 Stratocaster Plus for about 1k. The guitar was as good as the custom shop models in the 80s. Fitted with Lace Sensors, the guitar sounds absolutely no hum. It is the best strat i've ever heard in my 30 years of playing.

I am in the market for a Strat and have been reading lots of opinions. Mostly the Highway One gets great reports and gets compared to much more expensive Strats. I recently played a Deluxe alongside a post-2006 upgrade Hwy1 HSS in a store. The Highway One definitely had more body resonance and warmth than the Deluxe, which felt cold and dead as a doornail. The Highway One is HALF the price of the Deluxe. Admittedly, both Strats did not appear properly set up. But I'd get the Highway One over the dead strat corpse any day. Was it the Hyw1's nitro finish? The vintage tremolo? Dunno, maybe both.

My number one is a 98' Squire Standard Mexican Strat. I agree with what Chris said, the wood. I just happen to know mine is alder, and the neck is maple. The neck has never been unbolted from the body. I just changed out everything, from the cheapo tremolo block, to the machine heads, and all points between. I believe it's as good as, if not better than even the custom shop strats, because I used the best components. It's very comfortable to play. Sounds great, and no 60 cycle hum. After all, that's what counts right? Doesn't matter how much you paid for your axe, or other gear for that matter. Only the head stock heros, and boutique boyz care 'bout that. Play on!

if you want to buy a "good" strat then I suppose you mean that every part on it is high quality, then it will surley cost you your shirt, but really, what it's all come down to is the wood in the body and neck, if that is of poor quality, you can never! get a good sounding strat, so if you are on the hunt for a good strat, or a strat that can be made good, look for guitars that ar made in alder or swamp ash with a maple neck, this is the woods fender originally used and it has a special tone to it, then you have a good base, and can switch out things like electronics, cables switches, and pickups in the future, or when you can afford it then you will have a great guitar for a fraction of the prise of a real fender, it really doesnt matter what brand, if only the woods are good it has potential

I think the Mexican fender strato not have the same quality as before, so I started looking Squier Vibe, especially strato or Tele

I was lucky enough to find a used Fender Jimmie Vaughan model. It was made in Mexico. I love it, and everyone that I have let play it wants to buy it from me.
You are correct to recommend that you should play them all before you choose one.

im looking for help learning hankjr songs,ive downloaded alot of tabs but cant quit get it.i havent paid for any online lessons yet mainly cause my computer is unreliable,and i dont want to get screwed,some sites have so many ads my cpu freezes,i would pay for dvds

My Mexican Fender strat is fantastic, I actually prefer it to most of the USA models I've tried. I also really like Tokai strat copies, which are great quality and excellent value.