My first good guitar was a '78 Natural Stratocaster.
But I managed to screw it up with the advent of Floyds and humbucker equipped strats.
I installed a Rockinger - because a Floyd was too expensive - and SD Invaders - the highest output humbuckers I could find.
And of course a custom paint job ith stripes and all
After playing several different superstrats from Charvel , Hamer, Jackson and finally Kramer - which I regarded to be the best by far - I got into hand build instruments.
I had Chris Larkin build me a guitar and after getting my hands on a Warmoth catalog, I ordered a Custom Strat.
It had the Floyd but with single coils.
I tried different combinations and settled on Kinmans.
But the Strat felt so comfortable - probably because I started of on one - that I decided I needed another one.
But I wasn't very confident about the Fender quality.
I had owned a '77 Strat which I sold because it was way to heavy and the quality just wasn't that good.
So I bought a G&L Legacy Special.
I still own it.
Very good but I wasn't so fond of the blade pups.
Later on I got another Warmoth.
I used to have a preference for maple necks but the last Warmoth has a unfinished rosewood neck with an ebony fretboard and plays like a dream.
The I got my hands on a 35th anniversary strat.
Mainly as an investment because, according to the Blue Book, these were going up in value.
But I'm never going to sell it.
Besides being a real looker with the quilted maple body and birdseye maple neck, it plays like a dream.
I just swapped the pups for a Kinman The Scoop set and it sounds just like Blackmore's.
So my faith in Fender was restored
I had, just to experiment with, some '90's American strats and they all were great.
My latest is a Mahogany Strat which I bought to put piëzo's in.
It has a HSS configuration but I really like how it plays and the locking tuners along with the roller nut keep it well in tune.
The 35th ann. strat also stays in tune very well with locking tuners and a graphite nut.
I really like the 2-post trems and with the little spring inserted in the whole for the trem bar, it stays wiggle free.
I can do some big dives and warbles and it works better than on the G&L trem.
I can't do any warbles with the G&L.
In a nutshell, besides the versatile superstrats with the Floyds, HSS or HSH configurations, the Sratt has a place of it's own with a very defined sound and feel.
For a good and affordable Strat, I would look at the 90's American Strats preferably a Plus or Deluxe model.