JeffB
Let it B
That would be "some other dude's signature strat day". Though technically, I got it a few days ago 
I'm not into sig gear, but at the same time if something isnt so blatantly associated with a certain artist (like, say a striped EVH charvy/kramer, or some of the dimebag guitars for example) AND it has specs that meet my needs, and it sounds and plays tight, I dont really care.
So here it is. Kenny Wayne Shepherd sig strat. These are made in mexico but with some great upgrades- 12" radius, jumbo frets, thick C neck profile, custom designed pups with grey fibeboard bobbins and shielding to KWS spec, american reissue trem block/bridge and graphtec saddles. This is not your typical low to medium priced MIM strat.
The big neck and big frets are what I was going after. There is nothing similar in the USA lineup unless you pay another $700+. These sell for 9 bills.
It was 2 years old and never been out of the packaging materials/box. Threw some new strings on, and put a half turn onto the truss rod and voila: great setup and plays very easy with excellent pick/string response and sustain. Fret crown/level is money, with just a few sharpish fret ends I'll polish down later...they don't bother me playing. Board is dried up and needs some juice as you can see. It also has the absolute tightest neck to pocket fit I have seen in pretty much ANY fender, irregardless of custom shop, squier chinese manufacture or anywhere in between, price wise. When I adjusted the truss rod, I had to snap the neck out of the pocket it was in there so tight. The pocket was also sanded very well for great wood to wood contact and the poly is noticably thinner than typical MIMs I've checked/owned.
Neck profile is very strange- at the nut to the first few frets the neck is nearly the size of a modern fender C, and then tapers up very quickly to a big honkin baseball bat with lots of shoulder. Apparently modelled on KWS' original 61 neck. I was worried at first cause I like the neck to start out big and maintain similar thickness through the entire length like my Tele does , but I'm getting used to it quickly. Nice fast satin finish on the back, headstock is glossy.
Pickups- lack sparkle/complexity/3D depth compared to the custom handwounds in my tele, but that may also partly be a side effect of the graphtec saddles. They sound big, punchy, and handle gain very well in the 1/3/5 spots...notch positions sound much better with less gainy non marshall sounds like Vox , various classic fender amps, etc. I've never been much of a notch position fan, to me they are the most overused cliche strat tones there are, so its not a huge deal to me they are not handling gain well. The middle pup in particular REALLy sounds great, and the middle as we all know can sometimes be lacking in a strat set. Overall I do like them better than the TX specials or 57/62 set, but not as much as the 69s or Fat 50s. In fact, Id say they are probably what most people want or perhaps expect the TX Specials to sound like.
Overall, very impressive features..a real "players" strat, and IME this particular one is far better than the most American standards I've owned or others I have handled over the years (which means, from the late 80s through 2010-ish). It will get some new custom handwound pickups at some point, but you can hear what she sounds like stock, with me under the influence of a high temperature due to a flu bug, on my soundcloud page (first track) CLICKY
I'm not into sig gear, but at the same time if something isnt so blatantly associated with a certain artist (like, say a striped EVH charvy/kramer, or some of the dimebag guitars for example) AND it has specs that meet my needs, and it sounds and plays tight, I dont really care.
So here it is. Kenny Wayne Shepherd sig strat. These are made in mexico but with some great upgrades- 12" radius, jumbo frets, thick C neck profile, custom designed pups with grey fibeboard bobbins and shielding to KWS spec, american reissue trem block/bridge and graphtec saddles. This is not your typical low to medium priced MIM strat.
The big neck and big frets are what I was going after. There is nothing similar in the USA lineup unless you pay another $700+. These sell for 9 bills.
It was 2 years old and never been out of the packaging materials/box. Threw some new strings on, and put a half turn onto the truss rod and voila: great setup and plays very easy with excellent pick/string response and sustain. Fret crown/level is money, with just a few sharpish fret ends I'll polish down later...they don't bother me playing. Board is dried up and needs some juice as you can see. It also has the absolute tightest neck to pocket fit I have seen in pretty much ANY fender, irregardless of custom shop, squier chinese manufacture or anywhere in between, price wise. When I adjusted the truss rod, I had to snap the neck out of the pocket it was in there so tight. The pocket was also sanded very well for great wood to wood contact and the poly is noticably thinner than typical MIMs I've checked/owned.
Neck profile is very strange- at the nut to the first few frets the neck is nearly the size of a modern fender C, and then tapers up very quickly to a big honkin baseball bat with lots of shoulder. Apparently modelled on KWS' original 61 neck. I was worried at first cause I like the neck to start out big and maintain similar thickness through the entire length like my Tele does , but I'm getting used to it quickly. Nice fast satin finish on the back, headstock is glossy.
Pickups- lack sparkle/complexity/3D depth compared to the custom handwounds in my tele, but that may also partly be a side effect of the graphtec saddles. They sound big, punchy, and handle gain very well in the 1/3/5 spots...notch positions sound much better with less gainy non marshall sounds like Vox , various classic fender amps, etc. I've never been much of a notch position fan, to me they are the most overused cliche strat tones there are, so its not a huge deal to me they are not handling gain well. The middle pup in particular REALLy sounds great, and the middle as we all know can sometimes be lacking in a strat set. Overall I do like them better than the TX specials or 57/62 set, but not as much as the 69s or Fat 50s. In fact, Id say they are probably what most people want or perhaps expect the TX Specials to sound like.
Overall, very impressive features..a real "players" strat, and IME this particular one is far better than the most American standards I've owned or others I have handled over the years (which means, from the late 80s through 2010-ish). It will get some new custom handwound pickups at some point, but you can hear what she sounds like stock, with me under the influence of a high temperature due to a flu bug, on my soundcloud page (first track) CLICKY
