Overall:So this guitar is the best sounding guitar I've ever had at first. Everyone compliments the tone. After waiting since October for the order I picked the black color so zZounds would ship it since it was in stock. Came in janurary. Guitar plays better and sounds better than my McCarty 594 and is super comfortable to play. Qith that being said though What is terrible is quality control and support for 2 reasons. 1. zZounds didn't bother to check everything was there and the whammy bar was actually the entirely wrong type. The rep on the phone admitted the person who checked it before sending probably looked over the guitar but did not check the pocket in the case. 2nd issue. This is a new guitar. 3 days ago I hear an overtly loud overtone on the g string ... MoreOverall:So this guitar is the best sounding guitar I've ever had at first. Everyone compliments the tone. After waiting since October for the order I picked the black color so zZounds would ship it since it was in stock. Came in janurary. Guitar plays better and sounds better than my McCarty 594 and is super comfortable to play. Qith that being said though What is terrible is quality control and support for 2 reasons. 1. zZounds didn't bother to check everything was there and the whammy bar was actually the entirely wrong type. The rep on the phone admitted the person who checked it before sending probably looked over the guitar but did not check the pocket in the case. 2nd issue. This is a new guitar. 3 days ago I hear an overtly loud overtone on the g string ringing over everything. I take it to a Luthier to look at and he tells me there was a filling put in the nut because whether the manufacturer or the company that sold noticed an issue in the cut of the nut they filled it and the filing came out. Needless to say in order to fix this the nut had to have work done and the g string is raised ever so slightly higher than the other strings now to stop the overtone. Although it sounds great again i need to adjust now to the string being higher and Frankly im pretty upset. I have spent well over 4 grand with zZounds in the last year alone. Long time customer. Got no support from them with the whammy bar and instead told me to speak to fender about sending one. Also this issue with the nut and a bad filling being put in is unacceptable regardless of if it was fender or zZounds who did this, im disappointed and feel wronged either way, because even if fender is suddenly losing its quality in craftsmanship zZounds should have noticed this issue instead of sending this out with clearly no inspection actually being done. May start using a different company for instruments at this post as I have found the customer service on the last couple of calls with them to be incredibly unhelpful

I chose it mostly for that incredible, push-push Tele sounding, "Jimmy Page" jangly tone. Its similar to the Performer tone but much better for sure with a little more clarity, far more smoother neck and body than the performer. Best neck I've played. Sounds way more "Stratty" than the Ultra (The Ultra's Noiseless pickups are basically like "vertically stacked mini-humbuckers" that are more mellow and not as Stratty sounding). I ordered the gold pickguard to slap on to give the black more of a not-so-bland look too! Will be reviewing it soon on my channel, "guitarandotherthings" on youtube! Very happy, like it more than my 96 American Standard so that's saying somethi ng! I wanted the Commemorative Annv 75th but its never in stock and also doesnt have that awesome ... MoreI chose it mostly for that incredible, push-push Tele sounding, "Jimmy Page" jangly tone. Its similar to the Performer tone but much better for sure with a little more clarity, far more smoother neck and body than the performer. Best neck I've played. Sounds way more "Stratty" than the Ultra (The Ultra's Noiseless pickups are basically like "vertically stacked mini-humbuckers" that are more mellow and not as Stratty sounding). I ordered the gold pickguard to slap on to give the black more of a not-so-bland look too! Will be reviewing it soon on my channel, "guitarandotherthings" on youtube! Very happy, like it more than my 96 American Standard so that's saying somethi ng! I wanted the Commemorative Annv 75th but its never in stock and also doesnt have that awesome push-push. This has same case as Commemorative (but with grey inner lining instead of blue) and I am very impressed! Clicks nicely, huge compartment, TSA lock for if it gets flagged at airport they can use their master key to open and not damage your lock. If you already have a hardshell you could sell this one for the difference of the Performer price which makes the American Professional ii practically the same price as the Performer! The wammy is an awesome pop in, I may upgrade to locking tuners because nose-dives arent the most forgiving, but it's a cheap price for the Fender locking set, so no biggie there! I rarely use it anyway, so if you dont use the wammy the stock tuners are fine. So for the better tone, better wammy, much smoother neck and body, pay the extra to upgrade from the performer and sell the case to make up for it if thats too much of a difference. It sounds better than Ultra anyways so that's a great deal. Hope you love it!

I'm pleased to say that Musicians Friend and Fender got it mostly right. I got the American Pro 2 in Dark Knight w/maple fretboard early December and have now used it on 5 or more gigs and the only change I had to make was the string tree on the headstock. Before I put the roller type tree if you touched the whammy bar it would go out of tune bad. String tree fixed it. Does it stay in tune as good as my PRS whammy? No but it's acceptable and usable. Does it play as good as a Custom shop Strat? No but it's pretty good considering the price point. I'm reluctant to buy a guitar without playing it first but I think Fender did a decent job on quality control and Musicians friend delivered as promised. The new pickup controlconfiguration is the best improvement on Strats ... MoreI'm pleased to say that Musicians Friend and Fender got it mostly right. I got the American Pro 2 in Dark Knight w/maple fretboard early December and have now used it on 5 or more gigs and the only change I had to make was the string tree on the headstock. Before I put the roller type tree if you touched the whammy bar it would go out of tune bad. String tree fixed it. Does it stay in tune as good as my PRS whammy? No but it's acceptable and usable. Does it play as good as a Custom shop Strat? No but it's pretty good considering the price point. I'm reluctant to buy a guitar without playing it first but I think Fender did a decent job on quality control and Musicians friend delivered as promised. The new pickup controlconfiguration is the best improvement on Strats ever in my opinion