2011 Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster - Tungsten with "V"-neck

What's a guy to do when you like features from 2 different guitars, but would like them in one?
Call the Custom Shop! ehmm yeah.. that's not going to happen unless a) You're Famous and/or b) You're loaded... So then what? What is a more 'budget-friendly' solution? Well grab a screw-driver and combine the two naturally! But let me start at the beginning:

As I previously mentioned I had been on a bit of a binge of wanting to acquire some new gear - I was getting really interested in the 2011 American Deluxe Stratocaster. Avoiding the local guitar-center obviously is key so back to online stores & E-Bay it was. I found a nice looking Black American Deluxe Stratocaster with the V-Necks I like (though this was a 'Soft-v') so I entered the bidding process.. It was a few days out and over the days naturally the price kept going up and up where it started to get into 'retail' price terrority (but not quite). The longer I was looking at the guitar though the more I was thinking that I REALLY am not a big fan of White pick-guards on dark colored guitars.. But still, if I could score one for a good deal I wasn't going to pass it up.

American Deluxe with 'V'-Shaped Neck

Meanwhile I also kept my eye on the American Deluxe 'Tungsten' model. This was virtually the same model, but a quick trip to the fender site showed that while they both had similar setups, pickups and even compound radius the 'V-Shape neck was only available in a Black, Red or Sunburst model, while the Tungsten model came with a 'C-Shape' neck contour.

Tungsten American Deluxe with 'C'-Shaped neck

The more I looked at the Tungsten color with the Black Pickguard the more I started to like it, even over the Black one. I started to thinking: well maybe I should just buy a Tungsten instead... As I was contemplating what to do a decision was literally made for me. I was unable to watch the end of the auction for the Black Strat, so someone outbid my max-bid by literally 10 dollars in the last few minutes.. Talk about frustrating! Or not perhaps??

As I started looking around I thought: why not look for the individual parts and combine a V-Neck with a Tungsten Body? "ReliableFender" aka 'The Stratosphere' has TONS of newly parted out Fender gear, so I started digging through the eBay listings to see what I could find. As luck would have it he had the following items listed as 'Buy It Now' items:

a) NEW 2011 American Deluxe V-Shape Neck with the nice Chrome Fender Logo

b) NEW 2011 American Deluxe Tungsten loaded body (3 single coils like i wanted)

c) American Deluxe Neck plate

d) Brand New SKB 2011 Fender Hardcase.

They had also just started a 3-day special giving 10% off all items so that meant I could get the exact guitar I wanted, basically in NEW condition, including a case just like ordering it straight from a big-box store, for LESS than the going market price. Yes it was more than the Black Strat that went at Auction, but this was EXACTLY what I wanted.

After a weeks wait or so for shipping etc the UPS guy finally delivered the parts. After a few minutes with a screwdriver the neck was put in place, and I strung it up with D'Addario .009's. Having mostly played with my telecasters lately I must say that playing a Strat again felt like a homecoming. The smooth contours really are nice and the sound has that distinct bell-like clarity..

I only had a few minutes to play with it so far, but I did notice that it seems like the V-Neck has a more 'vintage gloss' look to it (though the specs say 'Satin Urethane', while the C-Neck that normally comes with the Tungsten appears a lighter color. That doesn't bother me though since I like the vintage look. The V-Shape is definitely a LOT softer than the Allparts neck I have on my telecaster and I would almost say it gets 'softer' as you go up the neck. The Compound radius of the fretboard is very nice though and I may actually prefer this over the 7.25" or 9.5" radius of my other guitars. The N3 Pickups to me sound very good and the S1 Switching gives some great tone options.
 
I'm sure this will become one of my favorite guitars to play in the near future.