How many friggin "specialty" Strats are there?

[Radioboy950]

I'm shopping for a mid-priced ($500-700) Strat with HSS pickup configuration.
As long as it plays well, feels good and stays in tune, Mexico is fine.
I have no intention of tinkering with electronics or modifying the instrument. If if doesn't sound right out of the box, forget it.
It seems like the choices are endless...overwhelming for sure, with Fender releasing so many product ranges to satisfy every
price point in the marketplace.
When I found this Deluxe Lone Star it really began speaking to me, with two Texas Specials and a Pearly Gates humbucker. Looks pretty sharp too.
Any word on the quality/playability of this one?

[oldguy]

S'posed to be pretty good.......course, you'd need to try some out first.

Or be sure there's a solid return policy if you mail order.

The Highway One's are popular too, and can be had HSS.

[Katastrophe]

I imagine it's gonna be as good as any other MIM out there... I would play a few (if you can find one locally), and see if it's the one you want. Personally, I don't really see much difference in that guitar and an MIM Standard Strat HSS, besides the pickups. OTOH, if you bought a Standard and modded it with the same pickups, it would end up costing more than what you're looking at.

If it's anything like my Standard (also HSS), it's going to be a solid, versatile, workhorse guitar. I love my MIM, and hope to get another one in a different configuration one day. Hopefully, they wired it in the same way as the Standards, where the 'bucker splits in position 2 for that quack sound. If so, there are quite a few tones available.

And, to answer the question in your title, Fender has so many different models of Strat (and Tele) that it can make a person dizzy. I'm GASsing over the 50s Classic, the 70s Classic, and a couple of Teles at the moment.