Mexican vs. Jap vs. US made strats.

[Hellion]

Re: Mexican vs. Jap vs. US made strats.

Japanese Strats are now considered quite well made. Truth to tell, though, the best instrument for the buck are the Mexicans. I've got several and I'll put them up against any Fender except for the older Americans.

[Seraphial]

Re: Mexican vs. Jap vs. US made strats.

I've got an American fat Strat and use to have a Mex Tele, and tho the tele played fine, the US feels better. More solid, better fit and finish, rolled edges. If I was in your position and could find a US axe that fitted what you wanted hardware & pickups wise, I'd bite the bullet and get it. To me, spending $800 on a US Fender is still better value than spending $2k on a US LP. However, if you're upgrading pickups, hardware, etc an MIM is a great base to start from. If you can get a CIJ for around US$4-500, that's an even better start.

[Pandemonium]

Re: Mexican vs. Jap vs. US made strats.

The Japanese strats I've played have all been outstanding.

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Mexican vs. Jap vs. US made strats.

I went through an MIA SRV, an MIA 62 ri (see avatar) and a 'vintage' 76 (which I still own) before I settled on a mid 90s MIJ 57 ri as my main guitar.

I put an antiquity texas hot in the bridge and alnico 2 pro flats in the other two slots and it sings.

Overall, The MIA fenders are the best, though several of the MIJ models are equivalent in terms of quality and finish. MIM standard tend to be a bit rough, but the MIM reissues are decent guitars let down only by a heavier finish and cheapo electronics.

I would add alnico 2 pros, antiquity texas hots, and fralin real 54s to GJ's list of pickups that work well for strats. I especially recommend the texas and alnico 2s for maple board strats. The earlier MIA reissues had good stock pickups.

Interestingly, I've noticed that the MIM and MIJ reissues are the best quality guitars I've seen from those sources. The standard strats from MIM and MIJ seem a bit crap in comparison. I wonder if that's because they have make more effort in production to stick to getting them as close as possible to the vintage instruments?

[nuntius]

Re: Mexican vs. Jap vs. US made strats.

fenders quality control is all over the shop from the guitars i've tried

i played 4 strats, 3 american and one mexican when i was looking into getting a new guitar.. the mexican played better than the three americans (these were all in the same shop) and acoustically it was much more alive. ok plugged in it didnt have the same quality of tone but the actuall chassis itself, so to speak, was imo better.

i have a friend who has a MIA strat which is awful, really not very resonant for a string through guitar. but hes also got a MIA Tele that is absolutely amazing.

doesnt say much for consistancy

[big_black]

Re: Mexican vs. Jap vs. US made strats.

Rolled fretboard edges feel a lot nicer than a normal MIM type neck.

I have played plenty of MIM and MIA strats (not many MIJ). The necks are the main reason why I would never buy a MIM strat. It is just something I can't get past. They feel like toy guitars to me. The action is better on MIA, as is the fret detail. Play many of both, and then decide for yourself.

[Number One]

Re: Mexican vs. Jap vs. US made strats.

If the price tag is bothering you, getting a Mexican Strat wouldn't be a bad idea. The Americans are better, but not so much as to increase the price tag by several hundred. I can't say if the American Strats sound better, because i always use aftermarket pups, but the neck feels better.

A better idea for you would be to get a Highway 1 Strat. That one's great for the price, except the crap-finish.

[Indie P Bass]

Re: Mexican vs. Jap vs. US made strats.

I can't tell you about strats, but, I know p-basses extensively.
Japanese P-basses that are imported to the US are made out of solid alder with a vintage style route. They have solid high-grade maple necks and depending on the model, a laminated rosewood fretboard. The edges of the board are rolled, so, it feels well played, the finish on the neck is a thick, vintage finish. The non-import japanese market p-basses have ash bodies in many instances. I'd assume it's the same for the strats. The pickups are also more desirable than the mexican ones and in my opinion, the american ones, too.

The mexican p-basses are made out of a mystery wood (I've felt 'em heavy and light... god knows what they are for real) and the necks are usually a low-grade maple neck that looks kind'a bleached. They have ugly grain on them, too. The pickup route is the new, tube route from the pickup to the output. The grain on the rosewood in the fretboard is loose and the finish on the neck is that dirty satin finish. Some fret-ends are un-even and tend to scrath you while playing and the action is kind'a goosy. (this all would apply to strats as well)

The american p-basses are glorified Mexican bass with a little more work put into some features, like fret edges, pickups and wood types. Personally, I'll suggest that you get a japanese strat, unless you can pick up a 70's or earlier american model for cheap.

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Mexican vs. Jap vs. US made strats.

I dunno, I've never picked up a MIM or MIJ that didn't feel like a $300 guitar.
I consider the American Std or Am Series to be the starting point for Fenders, moving upward from there. I like Fender Fat 50's, Fralin Vin Hots, or Duncan Ant. Surfers.
Anything else, I'd just yank out of ANY Fender.

[some_dude]

Re: Mexican vs. Jap vs. US made strats.

As far as I know, the only MIMs that were laminated were the 90's models with a transperant finish. Since they were poplar, and poplar tends to have a green tinge to it, they'd laminate an alder top and bottom on.

To tell if it's a laminate, look at the back. If the dark part of the burst is the same width all the way around, it's not a laminate. If the dark part of the burst widens to cover the whole belly groove, it's a laminate. They did that to cover up the fact that there was no laminate in the belly groove.

I have a '99 MIM that's routed for S/S/H, I heard they stopped the swimming pool route in the mid 90's sometime.

As for the difference between the MIA and MIM mades, when a load of wood comes in, the best wood goes on the MIAs, and the left over goes on the MIMs. Does that mean the MIMs get only crap wood? No. Most of them are made out of wood that's just fine. The MIAs get better quality hardware and more time is spent finishing them (cleaner fretword, better setups, ect). The MIM pickups suck, so if you get one plan on replacing them. Also, judging by the quality of the solder work in my MIM they hire monkeys to do it. The solder work on my MIA is top notch.

As far as playability goes, I like my MIA and MIM guitars equally, and they both get similar playtime.

From what I understand, Fender Japan is a separate company from Fender USA. So their production methods and materials may vary. Also, (again, from what I understand) MIM's are made in the US, just assembled in Mexico. The MIA's have better quality control than the MIMs.

[Tom M]

Re: Mexican vs. Jap vs. US made strats.

Rolled fretboard edges feel a lot nicer than a normal MIM type neck.

[Vincent]

Re: Mexican vs. Jap vs. US made strats.

Thanks for providing some insight into the world of Fender guitars.

I am aware that they are all pretty much mass-produced so I shouldn't expect top-notch quality (as in custom made).

I just wanted to know whether you guys out there identify a significant and discernible step down (or up) in quality between the three.

The US made strats command a price premium, but I really wonder if it is justified or if it is just because it is 'American made'.

The general concensus I gather with mexian made strats is that if you change the pickups, you should be fine. However others don't quite believe it is that simple. Any comments?

[Benjy_26]

Re: Mexican vs. Jap vs. US made strats.

I adore my '92 MIJ strat. It has the big wide C neck and SSS routing. It's the only Strat I've ever liked enough to buy. I compared it to a 40th anniversary american that they had at the local shop when I was looking and ended up buying my MIJ.

[DotNetTim]

Re: Mexican vs. Jap vs. US made strats.

The only thing I didn't like about my Mexican one was that it had a Swimming pool route. I hear that some of the older US one's did too and that none of the Jap one's do, but that's only what I hear.. I thought that this made the guitar sound like Sh87867898345..

Tim

[Maggot]

Re: Mexican vs. Jap vs. US made strats.

Some people swear by American Fenders only. I'm kind of in the opposite camp. I like the foreign made ones. I currently play a Mexican Standard Strat, and it's great. I put a couple of hundred bucks into it by replacing the pickups with Fender Fat 50s, and putting graph-tech saddles on, which brought the total cost up to about $550. The only thing about them that I don't like is that some of the colors scream "budget" - mine is a kind of golf shirt blue (but you can find them in black, white & sunburst).

I also had an 80s Japanese Esquire reissue which was really, really cool. My 79 (American) Tele and my 90s American Standard Tele were both good guitars, but they both had more idiosyncracies and production screw ups than the foreign made ones.

All Fenders are mass-produced to the core, and they should all be extremely playable. Try before you buy, because if you don't get a dud (which can happen with US-made as well), you should be able to get a great strat from anywhere.

By the way, the newer Mexican Strats are not laminated. Mine appears to have a solid 3-piece body (not classy, but perfectly functional - almost all of the American ones are 2 or 3 piece as well). I thionk the ones that are more likely to be laminated are 80s or 90s American or Mexican with natural or sunburst finishes. Also some of the fancy looking new Korean ones...but that should be obvious w/ the flame maple tops & such.