I was in a nice local store that caters to higher end gear (i.e. boutique) and the salesman knew some of the Super Strat guitar makers (Tom Anderson, John Suhr, etc) and gave me a Suhr Classic Strat to play since he had one.
I initially thought he said to me "I've got a Custom Strat that will blow your mind" and I said "probably not, I've got a really nice Thorn" and he did a double take and said "have you played a Suhr before?" and I said "I thought you said Custom Shop Strat, like from Fender" and he said "No, I said Custom Suhr Classic" to which I said "Oh, old age, misheard you, well, that wouldn't surprise me with all the good things I've read about them, yeah, let me play it!"
We got to talking about Amps, and he had me play a local Carr that was a sweet-spot Princeton knock-off and I told him I had a Kemper and didn't pine for boutique amps anymore. He said their store just became a Kemper dealer last year and thought a lot of them. This took me back a bit because I was JUST in this shop 2 months ago and another salesman at the time said he'd never heard of the Kemper! But I see online that they have carried them since 2015.
Well, we got to talking and he said John Suhr had a Kemper.. I was like "he makes his own amps and still has a Kemper?" and he said "Yep". Not indicating one was better, etc, just that he had and liked it along side other amps he liked and built.
Thought it worth mentioning since I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere here. I wonder if he's profiled his own amps?
This shop (SoundPure in Durham) said they really liked MBritt's profiles as well as "Arnie Newman" rock profiles. I haven't tried those out, but was curious since I haven't read people mentioning it.
Anyways, Suhr Classic Strat is a thoroughly beautiful guitar. Can't say a bad thing about it. Super low action, stays in tune, bends like a dream, sounds just show stopping. A pefect strat. I had to come home and play my Thorn just to make sure IT was still all those things! (and it was) so I guess all these guys really know what they're doing (i.e. anderson, suhr, thorn, etc)
It's amazing I can just drive to these places within 30m. Carr amps are made in Pittsboro, NC. Swart in Wilmington. etc. Not to mention a bunch of local private luthiers that make guitars for some well known pros. You wouldn't think Raleigh, NC are has such a bunch of artisans and nice music shops.