Re: Fender Elite Strats and Teles...
I owned one of the new Elite Teles for a few months. It was a great instrument; I only sold it because for the $, I thought I could get better value by modding MIM Teles.
Aside from the Elite Tele I owned, I have played a few Elite Teles in stores. They offered some variety in experience, but I'll chalk that up to the variation possible in stores when customers play/wear out display instruments.
The current Elites do have beautiful finishes. I had the mystic black Tele, which had a cool sparkle thing going on. The thinlines are especially pretty, though you have to be careful about neck dive - try before buying, or go for the heavier ones - because the locking tuners are relatively heavy.
The main factor that got me into trying the Elite Series was the promise of N4 pickups improving on the N3 ones. That promise was fulfilled, though the bar wasn't high - Fender's N3 noiseless pickups are pretty mediocre. To my ears, the N4 pickups offer better performance, meaning "feeling less dead and dull", but ultimately I still feel that DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan noiseless pickups are better. In the bridge position, my Teles currently have SD Vintage Stack, a DiMarzio Area Hot, and G&L MFD pickups, and all are better - more toneful and "alive" - than the N4 pickups.
The Elite series does offer the possibility of not having to mod anything, since the guitars come with most of the usual mods already installed - locking tuners, noiseless pickups, 6 saddle bridge. I did like the S-1 switching in the Tele. It only worked in middle position, and it switched that setting from parallel to series; in practice, it essentially acted as a boost, a useful feature.
The molded hardshell case that comes with the Elite series is high quality. I like the fact that's designed to be stackable. The Professional series, however, also comes with the same hardshell case and thus potentially offers more bang for the buck, especially if you can find one that comes with mods, like locking tuners or upgraded pickups. In the Elites, I also like the slightly sculpted heel that allows better upper fret access.
In sum, the Elite series guitars are very good. They're slightly spendy when bought new, though even at new prices, they are a much better value for the "top of the line" than, say, Gibson or PRS guitars. I'm kind of a traditionalist when it comes to guitars, and the Elites don't feel to me all that modern or foreign.
