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Old 03-14-2018, 03:47 PM
MIGAS79 MIGAS79 is offline
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Default Fender - import or domestic?

Curious about AGFers experiences with MIM vs American Fender guitars. I don’t gig, and can get either used so the value holding aspect likely isn’t an issue (unless you tell me one will stop functioning). What are the quality differences? Are the pickups very different? I mainly just desire to mix things up by adding a single coil guitar and this issue seems to have a lot of varying opinions. What say you?
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Old 03-14-2018, 03:56 PM
muscmp muscmp is offline
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i have no statistics but it seems that if you buy an american "standardish"(sorry, couldn't help myself), you leave it alone, whereas with the MIM and MIA, you change the pickups.

play music!
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Old 03-14-2018, 03:59 PM
BahPa BahPa is offline
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Default Fender-import or domestic?

I've owned both in the Tele area. I now have two MIM Teles. Look for a good used strat or tele with the pickup configuration you want and go for it. I don't see a several hundred dollar difference between them, but to each their own.

A nice MIM and you've got a couple of hundred to put towards a nice amp.
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Old 03-14-2018, 04:31 PM
Steel and wood Steel and wood is offline
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The cost of making a Stratocaster/Telecaster in Mexico is cheaper than making one in the USA which Fender passes on to the buyer.

The build/quality difference between US and Mexican guitars is mostly overstated. (I've found even their stock pickups to be pretty good).

My opinion of course.
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Old 03-14-2018, 06:25 PM
paulp1960 paulp1960 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by muscmp View Post
i have no statistics but it seems that if you buy an american "standardish"(sorry, couldn't help myself), you leave it alone, whereas with the MIM and MIA, you change the pickups.

play music!
If you read forums dedicated to, say, strat or tele guitars even folk who buy USA guitars seem to have the same urge to buy some more fancy pickups.
For some people it leads to a never ending journey of trying different pickups out and sometimes never finding the "right" ones.
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Old 03-14-2018, 07:09 PM
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In the realm of guitars, I've really tried to give MIM a chance and really tried to like them. I felt like the American-built thing was all hype. However, in every guitar purchasing situation, when the rubber hit the road, the feel and sound of the American examples have been so much better that I have ended up with American Standard examples. One factor has been the fact that the rounding of the shoulders on the American Standards was much more comfortable to me. Another has been that the Am. St. examples were basically ready to play in sound and the MIMs seemed to need more work.

Now in the realm of amps, I've got a little MIM '68 Custom Princeton Reverb that I am really happy with. So I'm not generalizing but just saying what I've experienced.

Bob
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Old 03-14-2018, 07:30 PM
Steel and wood Steel and wood is offline
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I've got a beautiful Stratocaster and Telecaster but if I had to buy another of each, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a MIM guitar.
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Old 03-14-2018, 08:02 PM
LouieAtienza LouieAtienza is offline
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One caveat with a MIM Strat - the string spacing is narrower at the bridge. So you have to play both and see if you like it. Never bothered me.
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Old 03-14-2018, 08:13 PM
mr. beaumont mr. beaumont is offline
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An American Standard is a far better guitar than a MIM standard.

Where it gets dicey is if you prefer vintage spec. The MIM reissues are great guitars.
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Old 03-14-2018, 08:23 PM
muscmp muscmp is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Womack View Post
In the realm of guitars, I've really tried to give MIM a chance and really tried to like them. I felt like the American-built thing was all hype. However, in every guitar purchasing situation, when the rubber hit the road, the feel and sound of the American examples have been so much better that I have ended up with American Standard examples. One factor has been the fact that the rounding of the shoulders on the American Standards was much more comfortable to me. Another has been that the Am. St. examples were basically ready to play in sound and the MIMs seemed to need more work.

Now in the realm of amps, I've got a little MIM '68 Custom Princeton Reverb that I am really happy with. So I'm not generalizing but just saying what I've experienced.

Bob
i agree completely about the am. std. fenders.

i made the huge assumption that the amp was made in china rather than mexico. correction on my part. thanks, bob!

play music!
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Old 03-14-2018, 09:01 PM
bsman bsman is offline
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I’ve played excellent and sub-par examples of both. I think if I may generalize, I prefer MIM teles and MIA strats. I don’t even know if that makes sense, but its my experience based on a small sample size (perhaps a dozen guitars).
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Old 03-14-2018, 09:21 PM
jseth jseth is offline
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Even though I've played some of the Mexican Fenders that felt and sounded really good, I believe they ALL took "quite a bit of doing" to get them to that point... on the other hand, nearly every American Standard I've played has felt great and "ready to go", the minute it hit my hands.

Now, if you are buying used and can somehow get ahold of one of the Made In Japan Fenders from the 80's. take a GOOD look at those! I've only seen a few Strats (and not one Tele to date?) and I haven't seen them often. However, they have each been exemplary instruments, and I was tempted to buy, even though I have a couple nice electrics and am not really an electric player.

Check 'em out! I'd also recommend you check out a few of the newer Michael Kelly electrics; I've held a dozen or so and have been impressed. Even the fret edges are smooth and even, the necks feel great, the electronics sound good (although different than a Fender or Gibson), and the look is lovely... most are in the $350-$700 range.
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Old 03-14-2018, 09:21 PM
ataylor ataylor is offline
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I really like the Mexican-made Classic series guitars. My Baja Tele is a fantastic guitar regardless of price or origin. And now I’m finding myself kinda interested in a 50s Stratocaster...
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  #14  
Old 03-14-2018, 10:38 PM
BT55 BT55 is offline
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Default Fender - import or domestic?

You really have to boil down the differences:

Am Strat 21 frets / MIM 20 frets
Am Strat 2-piece alder body / MIM 3-5 piece alder body (except special editions that have 2 piece bodies)
Am Strat pickups made in USA / MIM pickups made in Mexico
Controls, wiring and pickguard are identical
Am Strat bridge all steel made in USA / MIM made in Korea (using lower quality materials)
Am Strat bi-flex truss rod & micro tilt / MIM single flex truss rod

So is there a $500 difference between the two models? If you changed the pickups on a MIM Strat electronically you’d have an American Strat. The other differences are minimal.
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Old 03-15-2018, 03:58 AM
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Use a 2017 American Classic Telecaster and a mim Brad Paisley Telecaster. The American pickups are more musical, fuller, and punchier. The Paisley is light as a feather and sounds great too. If I had to choose, the USA model, though pickups are easy to change.
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