Fender Player Series Strat PF 3TS

I've had this one for about 2 weeks now, bought to rekindle my guitar passion as I'm a bit bored with just an acoustic. I could choose between MX Player or AM Pro so cost was not the deciding factor.

First guitar delivered was a B-stock, heavily used before (tsk tsk Thomann), so I sent it back and it was replaced with the current one.

Happily it was a new one but when I opened the box and took it out the bridge was totally loose dangling from one screw.
Im sure it was a handling issue along the way but bottom line is before using the Strat give it a good setup. I mean do the bridge properly, set the tremelo spring pull correctly, do the intonation, truss rod, action, lubrication incl nut and fret board etc.
Set it up properly and then play it in and you will not be disappointed. Once set up correctly it is as good as any AM Pro.

Weight, neck feel and overall finish (other than technical setup) is perfect and it oozes Fender quality. Frets are not well rounded on the edges, similar to the new AM pro's.
Pick up sound is very subjective and highly dependent on your abilities and amp but the pickups are great and gives ample of the usual Fender quack sound. I do have a bit of a buzz on high gain on the neck pickup but this is normal with most single coils. I will say the pickups will do the job for 98%, but some purists might want to splurge out for a simple upgrade.

Everything else meets or exceeds my expectations so far.
My humble opinion is that if you set it up well (just Google or have a pro do it) it performs just as well as any AM Pro and will keep you happy for many years to come while not using your kid's tuition money...
Cons - Set it up properly before playing and bitching about it. Also it does not say "Made in USA" if that's your kind of thing...

As mentioned previously I did not buy it because it was cheaper than X or Y. I bought it because of the value proposition. Its a darn good guitar for the price.

I bought this guitar after having long evaluated whether to buy an American made (Fender AM Perf Strat RW HB) which costs twice as much or this one made in Mexico. Since I am an intermediate player and I only play at home, I decided to opt for this cheaper model. I am totally satisfied with the purchase. The guitar plays great, it is by all means 100% made by Fender (it happens I’ve heard that Fender uses the same piece of wood to make two different guitars, one in USA and the other in Mexico), the pickups play very nice and clean (and you can always upgrade them). I guess a big difference is given by the amp you are using, but I would certainly recommend to buy this guitar if you are on a budget and/or if you are an intermediate player, but you still want a quality instrument. What makes it great in my view is the playability. The frets, the neck, they are just perfect and the guitar comes perfectly setup. The body then is so ergonomic and it is so easy to keep it when you play it. If I’d compare it with the Gibson Les Paul Studio that I also have (which is by the way also a great, great guitar, a bit different from the Strat for many things) this Strat is much lighter to hold and is more balanced. Again, I am not a pro, but I guess many of you aren't. This guitar has been a excellent choice for me.

This guitar arrived very well packaged from Thomann. The guitar was in the Fender cardboard box which was surrounded by bubblewrap in a larger Thomann box. The colour and finish on this guitar is excellent. I could not get the guitar to tune properly. I then noticed that the lower mounting screw for the bridge was jammed under the bridge. This meant that the bridge was higher at the Tremelo arm end. It was an easy adjustment. I loosened the two bridge mounting screws slightly and the bridge slid into place. I tuned the guitar and I am very happy with it. The pickups are very impressive, having a wide range of tones. Overall, a very satisfied customer.