Fender USA Deluxe Strat vs Fender Eric Clapton Strat (non custom shop)

Wich one do you like better and why ? I'm looking for a new strat and I can't decide between these two. I've always been a huge EC fan, but just cause I like him doesn't mean I'll like his guitar. They both have noiseless pickups wich is a plus, but wich ones are better- The EC's Fender Vintage Noiseless, or the Deluxe's Fender N3's ? I know the EC strat has the active circuitry and that's cool, but I don't think I'd use it very often. The Deluxe has 7 pickup combinations wich is also cool. I guess they did that to give it a tele like style. (bridge with the neck, and bridge with the middle in series.) It's like a tele with a 4 way switch combined with a strat. We all know a strat can't be a tele, but when you have a gig where you only bring one guitar it would be nice to have the option. What are your thoughts ?

Rough call. I absolutely LOVE the V neck and electronics in the Clapton. I think if you have the active circuit, you'll use it. It's a very cool setup.

The Clapton however, has one serious, glaring, shortcoming. The vintage sized fretwire. Makes the guitar pretty much totally unuseable for me. I hate that fretwire. If you can get along with it, you'll love the guitar. For me, it's the only thing keeping me from owning a Clapton.

The other strat is great too. They are very well put together. A guy at my jam the other night brought one out. First time I heard the N3 pickups. Sounded great. I love the American Standard strats best of all models, so if between the two you've listed, I'd probably go with the deluxe. That's just me though.

I have an Olumpic Pearl US Deluxe Strat but I went to the shop specifically to try out the Clapton strat.

I found that the Deluxe with the S-1 switching gave me more tonal options than the clapton mid boost which I found rather under whelming!

I was also expecting the Clapton V neck to feel amazing having read so many great things about it, but I found the deluxe's neck to be far superior in my hands.

They're both top quality guitars, but I found the Deluxe to have more features that I found preferable. The locking tuners in particular are superb and keep the guitar in tune very very well. The sculpted heel on the neck join is also a nice touch.

I have an Olumpic Pearl US Deluxe Strat but I went to the shop specifically to try out the Clapton strat.

I found that the Deluxe with the S-1 switching gave me more tonal options than the clapton mid boost which I found rather under whelming!

I was also expecting the Clapton V neck to feel amazing having read so many great things about it, but I found the deluxe's neck to be far superior in my hands.

They're both top quality guitars, but I found the Deluxe to have more features that I found preferable. The locking tuners in particular are superb and keep the guitar in tune very very well. The sculpted heel on the neck join is also a nice touch.

I forgot about the locking tuners. That seems like a great feature, but they are both such great guitars. hmm, what to do ?

I played both this weekend. Liked the Deluxe features like locking tuners but really liked the Clapton neck. Luckily, Fender now offers the Deluxe with a V neck which was perfect for me, and I bought that. I don't like the Clapton fret wire either.