Fender Lincoln Brewster Stratocaster - Aztec Gold Reviews

I don't need to say much, all of the other reviews are spot on. This thing is a tone monster that can go from the most traditional strat tones to full on distorted bliss with the boost, and everything in between with a few tweeks of the knobs. The neck is wonderful (and I really appreciate the extra fret) and the floating bridge setup stays in tune with the smoothest feel and puts some locking bridges to shame; really! Very pleased with this purchase and the Sweetwater support is exceptional (with a shoutout to my Sales Engineer Chris); I had this guitar in my hands less than 24 hours after the purchase. If you are on the fence, DO IT!! This is the king of modern Stratocasters and you will not regret it.

The Guitar, is everything Lincoln Brewster, says it is. He boasts it as the Strat, that has no business doing what this Strat can do. I am humbled to be one of the few who has one. If you have always wanted one, just go for it. Life is short. What this guitar will do for me now.... will change my life.

I have been playing guitar for 60 years. I have owned many different electrics. This is one of the best I have experienced.
I have owned this LB Strat for several years, and I continue to be impressed with how comfortable the neck is and how versatile the controls are
If you are looking for a premium Strat, with noiseless pickups and useful boost controls, this is a guitar you will love

I bought mine two years ago and it's a definite keeper. Great sound, love the boost, fits my hands and stays in tune better than any guitar I have ever owned. Outside of changing the battery, which is a pain, this guitar is perfect.

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

Wow, this guitar is so much more than expected and I had high expectations! The attention to detail to all the modifications are spot on for any guitarist; it is simply a joy to play! It is a very versatile instrument! Not your standard Strat!!! Of course, the service from Sweetwater is second to none! Thank you Clint B. for outstanding service and advice over the years! You never let me down.

This thing is just so perfect. It has been my dream guitar for so long and now that it's mine it continues to impress me. I've tried other Fenders in this price point but I think this is the only one that's worth it. It is by far my primary axe and I will take it to my grave

All the reviews here have summed it up pretty nicely. This Lincoln Brewster Strat is killer! Like gold, it's expensive but worth every single penny! Hands down, the finest Fender I've ever played! So thankful for Zac Terhune, my Sweetwater Sales Engineer! His coaching, knowledge, and support through the years have been a huge blessing and he was so right about this being the Strat for me!! I love this guitar!! If you're lucky enough to get your hands on one, you'll understand.

I agree with the positive reviews for this guitar. It is a solid Strat and worth the extra money. An absolute joy to play, and I can't put it down. Shout out to Jed Elliot, my sales engineer, who did an excellent job setting up the guitar to my specs and followed up with emails and calls to make sure I received the guitar in good condition. If you are on the fence getting a Strat, look no further.

I've had my Lincoln Strat about a year now and couldn't be happier with it. It's really the only guitar I play at church and covers a wide variety of tasty tones. I've replaced the battery once. I think anyone who purchased this axe would be extremely pleased with it. I got a chance to meet Lincoln in 2010 and I don't think you'll meet a more humble guy. Get it.

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, 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.

I'm 70. So many Stratocasters over the years. Really good ones for the most part. Many signature models (Beck, Clapton, SRV, Johnson - now Brewster).
This is just an astonishing instrument. First - it sounds so clear and present. Beautiful sound. Second - the Volume/Tone control are very different and an exceptional option. Lifting the volume knob provides a nice boost while the middle tone control adjusts the midrange (and seemingly more) only for that boost position. The second tone control is wired to the bridge. This configuration is perfect for a lead boost that's purely tone adjustable...quickly. There are no individual tone controls for the neck and center pickups...they're open. Three - the gold finish is outstanding and beautiful and the guitar build is impeccable. Four - it contains DiMarzio pickups that set it apart from the other fine Strats I've managed to hang on to. Overall I would call this one of the finest instruments I've ever owned. Hats off to Lincoln Brewster and Fender.

The Lincoln Brewster Strat is the best production Strat I've ever owned. For starters, it's got an ash body with a lacquer finish, which you usually don't see on most production Fenders. The DiMarzio pickups are an excellent choice for the guitar, with a nice vintage character and no hum. The mid-boost feature gives even more flexibility. Vintage style locking tuners are a nice touch, as is the compound radius fingerboard. The biggest surprise was the neck, a bit beefier than you'd normally expect, yet still quite comfortable. If you like a little extra meat on a Strat neck, you'll like this one.

The fit and finish are excellent. I'd have to say it doesn't equal the tone and resonance of my Custom Shop Strats, but it comes amazingly close, and it's half the price of a Custom Shop instrument. Lots of serious bang for the buck. I've been in the business over 40 years, and I would grab the Lincoln Brewster Strat for just about any gig that comes along. Very, very impressive!

Best strat on the market. I've had two of these now. I regretfully traded my first one off and had to have another. This one really feels at home.

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 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.

Reviews here were very helpful(trust them). I'm a LP, 335 player but I had to have this Strat. Can't put it down. It's everything people say about it. Gorgeous guitar. Sweetwater was great, Chris did a fantastic job. Only issue I had was the case but sweetwater is working on replacing it but honestly,it won't be going back on its case anytime soon. Fantastic. I have other strats, played mim and American. This thing feels so much better..

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 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

Had the Lincoln Brewster strat for a week now. Played it with our worship band on Sunday and actually did two of Lincoln Brewster’s Christmas songs. This guitar is extremely comfortable to play. The compound radius neck felt a little odd at first but after playing for a short time it felt great and I didn’t want to put it down. The action on the guitar is really low and very easy to play. The electronics are great. The Dimarzio area pickups sound great along with the boost and mid boost making them extremely versatile. The only negative I could find is the bent steel saddles on the tremolo. They sound great but I personally don’t like bent saddles. They tend to go out of tune easily because the string can move from side to side because of a lack of groove for the strings to sit in. Replacing these with a set of Highwood Contoured Vintage saddles will be the only upgrade this guitar will get. Everything else on the guitar is great. I would recommend this guitar to anyone looking for a strat style guitar. This guitar is by far the best strat I’ve ever played let alone owned. Lincoln and Fender have created a masterpiece here. Thanks to my sales engineer, Matt Fuller, for the great deal.

Im sure the new Fender Ultra Strat is a fine fine guitar but before you take the plunge I highly suggest you look hard at the Lincoln Brewster Strat...It is deceptively minimalistic but packed with real world features that in my opinion make this the nicest strat Fender makes outside the custom shop. It is a workhorse! Best sounding strat Ive ever played, it "quacks", it "spanks", it "barks", it "bites"....ha ha, it inspires! I had mine set up through Sweetwater, decked the bridge, lowered the action a tad, etc. plays smooth as butter. Im still figuring out the boost pull switch/mid tone knob settings but rest-assured this thing is ready to rock and give you all the stratty goodness tones you've ever dreamed of or heard in your head! ZERO gripes. Thanks to my sales guy Mark Magdich for making the purchase fun!

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, 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.

I've used three 57'Reissues for almost 15 years and this guitar is the epitome of modernization while maintaining classic Strat asthetic.
Custom shop will not even built a guitar to this spec because of the neck (let alone the boost circuit). When I approached the Custom shop a couple years ago about building me a 50s strat with a 9.5"-14" compound neck, they said that would classify as a Masterbuilt. The neck alone would be almost $2000!!
Get the boutique feel with a classic look at a FRACTION of the cost.

I've played many strats over the years including American Standards and American Deluxes and the Lincoln Brewster Signature is hands down the best strat I've played. It has a vintage look and feel to it while being modern at the same time. The neck feels super comfortable with the compound radius and soft V profile. Locking tuners keeps it dead in tune and the pop in arm is great compared to the screw in arm. Where this strat really shines is the gain and mid boosts. You really can get a humbucker sound by engaging the gain boost, dialing back the tone to about 7 and rolling the mid boost to about 8. It's crazy. Disengage the boost and your back to a standard strat minus the hum. These DiMarzio pickups are great - silent and very well rounded. Try one out, you'll love it.

This is the best Fender Strat I have ever owned! Modern features, super quiet pickups with that classic Fender tone. I love how he kept the classic 50's stylings while modernizing the electronics. Those DiMarzio pickups are perfect for this guitar. I love the push/pull dB boost on the volume knob. I am a huge fan of the MusicMan majesty and so this feature is same concept but with the classic Fender feel and tone. Highly recommend this to anyone looking for a quiet guitar especially in a church setting.

This Guitar Rocks its got Great tone and sustain. great price for this Guitar.

nice guitar I really like the master volume/tone on this. I use this on stage along with my other stratocaster. only thing is you need to change out batterys in back. they should make a easier way to change those out. but over all a great guitar.

Ive had this guitar for a few years now. Yes it is a really good guitar as everyone describes but there are three things that prevent it from being perfect and annoy me so much I dont play it very often anymore: 1. The neck is sticky. Why wouldn't they put a satin or unfinished neck on this guitar? It's noticeable when playing and Ive tried everything short of sanding the neck to make it less sticky with no success. Ruins the "V" vibe and feel. 2. The on board preamp boost is too hot and not as easy to dial in or use live as you might think. After the honeymoon period you are more than happy to go back to a boost pedal on your pedalboard. 3. Active pickups, dealing with batteries, especially on a Strat are more trouble than they are worth though it is a VERY good sounding guitar. YMMV but I wouldn't buy another Lincoln Brewster. I'd like to see an updated version with a smooth neck and classic pickups. It's a very good guitar that just misses being great.