I have recently been able to play a fake chinese 'USA Stratocaster' and have to say that I was amazed with the quality for the price. The neck is definitely maple and plays very much like a genuine strat. It is alot better than my 1995 Korean Squier but certainly not nearly as good as my 1989 American Fender. Still, for the price (around £150) of the Chinese copy, it is an excellent guitar. The machine heads and bridge are of an excellent quality, easily as good as the genuine US Fender. The pickups can be described as 'OK', nowhere near as good as the American strat but still considerably better than the squier (there is a slightly thinner quality to the tone). As a Fender strat fan its hard to be in love with a fake. As a guitar fan however, I love this guitar, its excellent and plays beautifully.
I can understand the appeal of a guitar like this as its a huge saving and you have something that seems like the genuine product, on the other hand be cautious. The quality control will be nothing close to Fender and guitars will vary massively.
My advise if you are looking for a close copy is to use a chinese guitar manufacturer that custom build you your guitar for a budget of around $200. This way you are not ripping off any large guitar manusfacturer and you will have something excellent for the price and to your own specifications.
