Signature Nick Johnston HSS AG : Great value, very playable guitar!

I've been playing for over 20 years, had a number of approx £500 guitars, and one over £1000 (Ibanez AZ Premium) and this sits very, very closely in quality to the Ibanez.

I'm selling the Ibanez and keeping this!

Pros

Looks gorgeous, I chose Atomic Green. I love the brass circle inlays on the fretboard.

It was perfectly set up out of the box. Flawless finish (and I am super critical).

Sounds great and it's easy to emulate Nick's tone if you're a fan (I am!). The pickups are great, really articulate and defined. Great cleans and also respond well to gain, perfect for blues, rock and can be pushed to metal sounds quite easily.

Locking tuners are performing well.

The fretboard is flatter than I'm used to and along with the slim neck profile it makes for fast playing. It's the best playing guitar I've had.

I like the simplicity of the 1 volume 1 tone, and the added versatility of the push pull split coil.

Cons

There's really nothing to warrant less than 5 stars here, but..

I did have to clear a burr off the nut that was creating a pinging sound when bending the G string, but this only took a couple of minutes to sort out. Mine could be one in a thousand with this small issue.

The only other slight negative is the tone pot feels a bit loose under the fingers, but this should be tighten-able.

The inlays, while super cool, aren't as easy to see as the standard filled dots - fine if you know your way around the neck, but maybe something to consider if you're a beginner.

If you're looking for a modern take on a strat, for the money this is a great value, well built guitar. You can't go wrong. Enjoy!