It takes a lot to impress me, Im a guitar snob, not for the high end guitars, but the middle class guitars, there just seems to be little value in a bout 80 percent of guitars out there...until now, Fender has put together an instrument of such a high quality, it rivals my beloved tokai strats....no joke, two of my grandsons each have one. These are works of art, to the point I think Fender may be lying about the country of origin, which is stated Indonesia or China ....but I doubt it, this surpasses the American standard standards in every way....and they wont be around for ever, so get one now. Nitro finish, awesome pickups and perfect balance.