ttosh
New member
Can anybody give me any input as to why spend more on an American made version? They seem to be spec'd the same for the most part. And the cost is quite a bit more for the American.
Mudder
Active member
The quality control is more consistent, the pickups are US instead of Tex Mex, the wood is a bit better.
That's not to say you can't find a great Mex Strat, you just have to look harder.
Cheaper yet and a great guitar are the Xavier strat copies from Guitar Fetish. I have one of the blems ($225) and can't find anything wrong with it. Great guitar.
That's not to say you can't find a great Mex Strat, you just have to look harder.
Cheaper yet and a great guitar are the Xavier strat copies from Guitar Fetish. I have one of the blems ($225) and can't find anything wrong with it. Great guitar.
lol
Active member
i read that mexican strats are a type of hit and miss thing. some mexi strats play like crap while others play very very well.
Code001
Well-known member
Don't forget, if you want American quality but without the price, look into the Japanese models.
dave_mc
New member
^ that's your answer to everything...
Mudder
Active member
I would compare the poplar in my guitar to sound very similar to a basswood body. It is real light, has a nice midrange, not so much "twang" or "spank", a real good rock music guitar.
The neck is 21 frets, I would guess about a 10" radius, it seems a bit flatter than a regular strat neck. Fretwork is very good and the neck is very close to a Japanese strat for thickness. I actually installed a Jap strat neck and found they play almost the same but the strat has a thicker heel in the pocket so you have to completely redo your setup. It's not a straight swap. I ended up going back to the factory neck because of 3 things, better frets, graphtec nut, wilkenson tuners.
The neck is 21 frets, I would guess about a 10" radius, it seems a bit flatter than a regular strat neck. Fretwork is very good and the neck is very close to a Japanese strat for thickness. I actually installed a Jap strat neck and found they play almost the same but the strat has a thicker heel in the pocket so you have to completely redo your setup. It's not a straight swap. I ended up going back to the factory neck because of 3 things, better frets, graphtec nut, wilkenson tuners.
B
bill
New member
I have a jap strat a american strat and a mex tele the american is way better than all of the rest the jap comes in a sorta close second and the mex comes in last. The other thing to consider is resale and collective value the american is higher and jap runs a second. For my money I would buy the american made and just bite the bullet so to speak.
A
Anonymous
Guest
I've played mex Fenders that were stellar sounding instruments, BUT, they are so few and far between.
The worst part to me about the mex Fenders seem to be the neck treatment and fret dressing which have been horrible lately on the ones I've seen.
The American Fenders are just more consistant day in, day out. You get better wood, pups, and hardware and it is easier to find a good American Fender.
I agree about the CIJ Fenders being the best deals. The only problem is that unless you have access to many of them in a place that you can try them out, you need to rely on whatever is sent to you from Japan. This is not to say that they are as hit and miss as the mex Fenders are, for surely they are not.
What I would like to see are Japanese guitar builders building American Fenders and Gibsons in American factories. I feel the Japanese have more pride in their work and would turn out stellar guitars more consistantly then American workers in American factories or the mex workers, which to me are only passable some of the time. There are some really fine mex guitar builders, but the not so great ones take away from the good work done on the same guitar by a really good worker.
The worst part to me about the mex Fenders seem to be the neck treatment and fret dressing which have been horrible lately on the ones I've seen.
The American Fenders are just more consistant day in, day out. You get better wood, pups, and hardware and it is easier to find a good American Fender.
I agree about the CIJ Fenders being the best deals. The only problem is that unless you have access to many of them in a place that you can try them out, you need to rely on whatever is sent to you from Japan. This is not to say that they are as hit and miss as the mex Fenders are, for surely they are not.
What I would like to see are Japanese guitar builders building American Fenders and Gibsons in American factories. I feel the Japanese have more pride in their work and would turn out stellar guitars more consistantly then American workers in American factories or the mex workers, which to me are only passable some of the time. There are some really fine mex guitar builders, but the not so great ones take away from the good work done on the same guitar by a really good worker.
Mudder
Active member
You could get that sort of craftsmanship if production were slowed down. Allow the builders to take the time needed to do the work properly, as opposed to "good enough", and you'd get a lot of great instruments.
B
bill
New member
In spite of all the issues the American made are still the best. I just bought my son one at college graduation time and he will keep it and it will be a fine guitar and grow in value over the years.
dave_mc
New member
one thing i've definitely noticed (and this isn't just fender) is that the japanese companies produce their best instruments in japan (e.g. ibanez, esp, etc.)- these are comparable to the best the american companies can put out of their american factories... but american companies with a japanese subsidiary (e.g. jackson) try to artificially cripple these compared to their american ones, so that they don't cannibalise their higher up models' sales.
it's not that the japanese can't make as good a guitar as an american company. In many cases they can make better, in my experience. Just those companies that have both a Japanese and American manufacturing facility don't make it a fair playing field, they handicap the Japanese versions generally (which stands to sense)... or even go so far as to only produce the japanese ones for the japanese market etc.
it's not that the japanese can't make as good a guitar as an american company. In many cases they can make better, in my experience. Just those companies that have both a Japanese and American manufacturing facility don't make it a fair playing field, they handicap the Japanese versions generally (which stands to sense)... or even go so far as to only produce the japanese ones for the japanese market etc.
S
satannica
New member
I bought a mexican strat and later sold it. Only now do I realise I had one of the illustrious good ones. Everyone one I've played since has been nowhere near the one I had
I still kick myself daily.
Though that said, I would personally look at the classic 60s strat before either the mim or the mia simply because they are good quality axes, the necks feel nice and you have the two point tremolo in there which is a retrofit for the wilkinsons VS100. The trouble with the mim strats is the 6-hole tremolo is shite and irreplacable without major mods which is attrocious.
Jon
I still kick myself daily.
Though that said, I would personally look at the classic 60s strat before either the mim or the mia simply because they are good quality axes, the necks feel nice and you have the two point tremolo in there which is a retrofit for the wilkinsons VS100. The trouble with the mim strats is the 6-hole tremolo is shite and irreplacable without major mods which is attrocious.
Jon
WakeTheDead
New member
I have been a strat freak since I was 9 or 10 years young.... (37+ yrs) and I recently bought a new black/maple MIM standard strat and a new black/maple American Deluxe HSS strat just to have a real one and a "throw away" so to speak...
The first thing I noticed about the USA model was the neck on the American Deluxe Strat... without a doubt by far the nicest neck I have ever played... the guitar is simply amazing. The only thing I didn't like about it was the S-1 switching knob gets stuck in the up position and won't go into the lower position unless I take off the knob and reposition it (design flaw) as the nippile that fits into the lower half of the plastic knob is too short so it pops out of the slot and your screwed for using the switch on the volume knob unless you take it apart and reposition it over and over.
The only additional complaint that I have about it is the shoddy design of the new "pop-in" tremolo arm which swings wildly at will and will not stay in any given place (irritating as hell) and wobbles in the hole when using it.... but it does stay in tune 10 times better than any other strat (aside from the floyd strats) that I have ever played (roller nut design helps immensely along with the lack of string guides on the headstock of this model). The new so-called "fender floyd"tremolo bridge is okay but I really wish it came with a real Floyd. I'm tempted to give it a 10 but I will have to give it a 9 due to the two items mentioned above.
As far as the MIM strat, the malpe neck was perfect when I bought it... low action, no buzzing and felt great and I was tempted to say that it was a bargain and a quality instrument which I was proud to own but I have since changed my mind due to the fact that the neck went to shit. I have since been battling to get rid of some unwanted buzzing and neck curvature. I have had to adjust the truss rod several times, reposition the string hight, constantly battling with the intonation and I have decided that this neck is a hopeless piece of mexican garbage which warps in diffent directions daily according to the temp and humidity. maybe they used a coathanger wire for a truss rod??
I haven't had any issues with my AMERICAN DELUXE strat at all. Bought them both the same day and do all the setups on my guitars myself (I have been doing this my entire life since 12 or so and I know what I am doing). I have changed the bridge over to full floating and back again and done several different setups on this guitar without any problems at all.
Unfortunately I changed the p-ups out on the Mex Strat for a new set of Fender Custom Shop 69 p-ups which I like alot... now I have to look for a nice Floyd neck and put an original Floyd Rose on it and maybe I'll fall in love with the Mexican Strat again.
Oh yea, here a pic of some of my gear that I currently own .........
The first thing I noticed about the USA model was the neck on the American Deluxe Strat... without a doubt by far the nicest neck I have ever played... the guitar is simply amazing. The only thing I didn't like about it was the S-1 switching knob gets stuck in the up position and won't go into the lower position unless I take off the knob and reposition it (design flaw) as the nippile that fits into the lower half of the plastic knob is too short so it pops out of the slot and your screwed for using the switch on the volume knob unless you take it apart and reposition it over and over.
The only additional complaint that I have about it is the shoddy design of the new "pop-in" tremolo arm which swings wildly at will and will not stay in any given place (irritating as hell) and wobbles in the hole when using it.... but it does stay in tune 10 times better than any other strat (aside from the floyd strats) that I have ever played (roller nut design helps immensely along with the lack of string guides on the headstock of this model). The new so-called "fender floyd"tremolo bridge is okay but I really wish it came with a real Floyd. I'm tempted to give it a 10 but I will have to give it a 9 due to the two items mentioned above.
As far as the MIM strat, the malpe neck was perfect when I bought it... low action, no buzzing and felt great and I was tempted to say that it was a bargain and a quality instrument which I was proud to own but I have since changed my mind due to the fact that the neck went to shit. I have since been battling to get rid of some unwanted buzzing and neck curvature. I have had to adjust the truss rod several times, reposition the string hight, constantly battling with the intonation and I have decided that this neck is a hopeless piece of mexican garbage which warps in diffent directions daily according to the temp and humidity. maybe they used a coathanger wire for a truss rod??
I haven't had any issues with my AMERICAN DELUXE strat at all. Bought them both the same day and do all the setups on my guitars myself (I have been doing this my entire life since 12 or so and I know what I am doing). I have changed the bridge over to full floating and back again and done several different setups on this guitar without any problems at all.
Unfortunately I changed the p-ups out on the Mex Strat for a new set of Fender Custom Shop 69 p-ups which I like alot... now I have to look for a nice Floyd neck and put an original Floyd Rose on it and maybe I'll fall in love with the Mexican Strat again.
Oh yea, here a pic of some of my gear that I currently own .........
Phishphood
New member
Specially the Dimarzio ones, nitro finish ftwCode001":1cd13 said::|::QBB:dave_mc":1cd13 said:^ that's your answer to everything...
I was actually being serious though. The Japanese are the best strats for the money, IMO.
I splurged and bought an ej, but if I was trying to save cash I would have bought an MIJ