Superb to play, action is very low, now issues with fretting out or buzzing. Neck is very smooth, comfortable C type shape.
Amazing variety of sounds from clean to heavy and all points in between. Tone control and volume control respond very nicely and are easy to access while playing.
Tummy cut is becoming more of an asset as I age.
The new pickups are really nice. The rhythm pickup can go from very clean and bluesy sound to a nice smooth jazz tone. Also, if you use it with distortion, you can get a good approximation of the type of woman tone Clapton was famous for. I believe this is called a twisted tele pickup. For the bridge pickup, which is a no caster? there are a similar variety of sounds, but it is much brighter and more sparkly. Interestingly enough, it exhibits none of the ice pick sound that Stratocasters seem to give in that position, while still delivering a lot of output. You can easily get tones for Iron Maiden, Priest, Lizzy, etc. which is really what I like to play. Comes with a very nice SKB case, which looks to be quite robust. I will see how it stands up to children and cats. I posted a clip of me playing it in the Video Clips, nothing special with the playing itself, but the sound is what I wanted to capture. On that same sight is also a cleaner blues sound, if you want to hear that as well.
For some, the absence of a tremolo bar may be an issue, I don't really use it so I don't care about that. Single cutaway means that the access to upper frets is slightly more difficult than on a Stratocaster style guitar. Of course there is 60 cycle hum. All of these things however are more of the works as designed kind of issues, in that they are not flaws, rather they are how it is built. On a personal note, I have never liked tele headstocks, but I have decided to ignore that, and just soldier on playing it because everything else is so nice.
I am very happy with this guitar. It really has no flaws, either with finish or with playability, and I imagine it will serve me well for years to come. If you are looking for a guitar that can do everything from blues to jazz to classic rock to early 80s metal, this will serve you well. If you are looking for a heavier sound than that, you would likely need something with hum buckers. I have no idea how this compares to the previous year's model, that didn't have the Custom Shop pickups. The play is probably similar, it would be neat to A/B them.