Fender Lincoln Brewster Stratocaster - Aztec Gold Review

Fantastic

Absolute home run, first this guitar is beautiful. It's like a vintage strat but new, the boost works great lacquer no poly, the neck is perfect. I have custom shop fenders and this one is right up there, if your thinking about it pull the trigger you will not be disappointed

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Finally...

The beauty of reviews is that they are simply opinions. What works for one, doesn't work for another. I honestly have struggled finding a Strat that I like. For some reason they all have felt wrong in my hands. The neck shape was just off. Most of them just didn't fill my hand right. Others didn't resonate well and I just couldn't "feel" the notes in my hand. (Is that abstract enough,… read more lol.) Most of the players I've admired over the years have been on Strats, but I found myself happily sticking with my old Gibson 225 as it just felt right. I've always admired Lincoln's playing and due to a chance encounter with him years ago decided that if a signature model was ever released that I would get it as my mid-life crisis guitar. Did that a couple months ago and am extremely happy that I did. I waited to write this review as I figured the "shine" would wear off and I would find myself not liking it in the long run. Well, that doesn't appear to be happening. The neck profile works for my hand. It's slightly thinner than my 225, but not uncomfortable. It resonates really well in the body and the neck. The frets aren't gigantic, but also not "fretless wonder" style...comfortable. Restringing it was interesting and took me a bit to figure out as getting the tuners to release the string was a bit different than I expected (I personally like them though, but also understand why some players want to rip them out if they like the more traditional locking methods). Now for the "fun" parts that most people key in on... The electronics. The mid boost on the volume pot. It works as advertised. I personally do not feel that it is as "flat" as people are indicating, but it sounds very musical. The 10db is pretty right on, but that boost is of course relative to the nob position. This is where people get confused. The middle tone nob is an ADDITIONAL mid boost that goes on top of the 10db boost. This is where you can really dial in the humbucker sound or just flavor the Fender single coil. Side note though... I have not found anything that sounds like a P90 on it though. You would think that something that can go from a single coil to a humbucker sound would have at least a little fo the P90 somewhere in there, but I just don't hear it. When the boost is active that middle tone control (mid boost) is usable. When the mid boost is not on that middle tone nob does nothing. Bottom tone control is connected to the bridge pickup and functions like a normal tone pot... nothing fancy there. Middle and neck pickup are wide open... no tone control which is different than you would have on a typical Strat. I have to confess that I am not huge on messing with the tone control on neck pickups, so it really doesn't bother me... in fact it seems to simplify things for me. The last thing that concerns most people I have talked with is the battery. The battery is located behind the back cover. They say it should last for a couple years, and I have had no issues with it so far. The biggest concern most people have is what would happen if the battery dies. If the battery dies, the only thing that would happen is that you would lose the 10db boost and the mid boost. The rest of the guitar would function like a very nice Strat without a neck and middle pickup tone pot. If there was anything that I would say negative about this guitar is surprisingly the finish. Although it looks stunning overall, Aztec gold is really difficult to apply. As such I have a slight wavy-ness on the back tummy contour. OH! And to properly compare the color, it looks almost identical to my 68' Les Paul Standard. So, what's left? Sweetwater... Fantastic as usual! Really love my rep Tim Holsinger for working with me on this! It is always good to have someone that you can develop a relationship with that will take the time to know you and your personality with gear and music.

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Just the best

I've been playing guitar for 35 years. Now I do other things but I was a pro for 10 years, releasing my own album and playing in lots of rock festival here in south korea. I was looking for a strat even though I already had 3 strats, a 1988 american standard, 1994 62 reissue, and mij ritchie blackmore signature. Those are great strats but I just wanted to something perfect. I was… read more thinking about getting a custom shop or even a masterbuilt, then I found LB sinature here in sweetwater. I couldn't play one before buying because I live in south korea and you won't find one here for some reason. But the description, specification and reviews were enogh for me to make up my mind to spend... without playing. I asked someone in states to buy one for me and he did it then sent it to me here. It was a few months ago and now? I just couldn't be happier with it. How come it sounds even more vintage than my 62 reissue, without hum, with locking tuners and compound fretboard? Some people say if you want ro get a real vintage tone, you need a real vintage guitar with every original part intact. Well, you will know they are completely wrong when you grab this beauty and play for 10 minutes with a proper amp. This is a winner.

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You will want two!

Out of the box, I did a string change, set up, and took it on the road, it is one of the best guitars I ever bought, staying in perfect tune with the amazing new vintage locking tuners I abused the tremolo all night and never had one hiccup. The neck just feels amazing it’s so comfortable playing chords and then soloing is just fun. The pickups with the mods, let me put it this… read more way, I am a humbucker guy but I never picked up my Les Paul my whole run, this guitar did everything from chicken pickin craziness to straight up 80s hot sauce, it does it all! Thanks to my Sales Engineer Aaron Smith for hooking me up with my favorite guitar! - Benjamin Castro Tobacco Rd Band

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Incredible Guitar!!! Worth the Wait!

I am a worship pastor and have been playing my '93 American Strat for a long time. The neck pickup was so warm, and played so well, I had a hard time ever wanting to upgrade to a newer strat. LB has been a musician I have followed and looked up to since his first album. The tone and style in which he leads, LOVE IT. I was about to MOD a guitar to mimic what he had done to his guitar,… read more then the dollars started adding up...When I saw the opportunity to grab his guitar, I jumped on it. Waited a few weeks for shipping. If you are in the market for a guitar that has every feature you could ever need, look no further. The neck on this thing is so smooth and quick! The color is absolutely stunning as well, not to mention the aged look for the maple neck. As far as feature, pickups really sound so unique from one another. On top of that, the pots have the ability to transform the sound, without ever changing channels on the pedal board. Similar to my '93, the neck pickup is incredible. The middle pot has the ability to boost mid range OR full range, which really adds the ability to adjust tone with your fingers so you can focus on singing (helpful for me). Even the volume pot has that extra something in it, roll off the volume without loosing tone. Guitar came with Fender strap locks as well, so that was nice. I have a hard time thinking I will ever need another guitar after playing this one.

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