You guitar was made where ?

[SirJackdeFuzz]

For some people it matters (depending who you ask) where their pride and joy was manufactured.

Some will ONLY buy if it is hand made by a small Co. in Germany, or Texas.

Some will only buy if it was by hand made, or mass produced by machines, in the Stated or Europe.

Some say Made in Japan is OK.

Some say they do not care - it is a tool. If it works, it works.



Now, here is my question :



What would you rather buy ?

A mid 80's str@t, made in Japan, or a current production Made in Mexico str@t ?




GO !

 

[DarkMatter]

Re: You guitar was made where ?

I'd have 67,497 criteria for selection but the country of origin would not be one of them.

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: You guitar was made where ?

I'd buy which ever one played and sounded the best to my ears.

 

[Archer250]

Re: You guitar was made where ?

Can I ask you the price of both guitars, the number of frets, the type of hardware and pickups? Also, the neck profile, if possible.

 

[koshikas]

Re: You guitar was made where ?

it is a tool. If it works, it works.

i would buy mid 80's strat if it is alder bodied and not basswood. nothin against basswood, just that i prefer my strats to be alder

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: You guitar was made where ?

OK, so let me slightly rephrase my question :


Which model, MIM vs. MIJ do you think will have the 'better' build quality ?

 

[Archer250]

Re: You guitar was made where ?

OK, so let me slightly rephrase my question :


Which model, MIM vs. MIJ do you think will have the 'better' build quality ?

Considering I've heard the 80s MIJ Fenders were made in the same factory as Tokais, I'd go with that one.

 

[Christopher Caruana]

Re: You guitar was made where ?

I couldn't pick just for the sake of picking one. Id have to see and play them both. MIM, MIJ......both companies have their good and bad days. One could be a lemon, they both could be lemons.
BUT....if you put a gun to my head and told me to pick, id say the current MIM

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: You guitar was made where ?

Too vauge... Some stuff that was MIJ was spectacular some not so much... Some stuff that is MIM is spectacular some not so much... without saying THIS exact guitar vs THIS exact guitar i cant tell you which i would pick.

 

[gottalovethe80s]

Re: You guitar was made where ?

should've added a poll, man
I used to have a huge prejudice for MIC guitars but considering how good my friend's epiphone played and sounded with new pickups plus I hear good things about newer MICs all the time, I don't think it matters that much where a guitar is made anymore. so I guess to me it depends more on looks and the price, that's why I love MIJs because they're so cheap and abundant where I live.

 

[mamm]

Re: You guitar was made where ?

I have 3 guitars made in the US, 1 in Brazil, 2 in Indonesia, 1 in Korea and 1 in China. They are all very good (after I modified them to suit my needs), so apparently I don't care all that much for country of origin.

Duds and gems come from everywhere.

 

[superpete]

Re: You guitar was made where ?

conventional wisdom is the MIJ would be "better". if they were the same price id go MIJ, if only because i already have 2 MIM strats. It'd come down to which neck i preferred, i'd probably change pickups in it anyway.

 

[CTN]

Re: You guitar was made where ?

What would you rather buy ?

A mid 80's str@t, made in Japan, or a current production Made in Mexico str@t ?

Easy. Japanese strat hands down. A lot of those japanese instruments from the 80's and 90's are literally on par with USA production in terms of quality of construction as well as wood selection and appropriately spec'd parts.

The MIM stuff is certainly not bad at all but often times there mojo missing from the equation. And the wood selection seems a bit off. Less resonant pieces and what not.

 

[dominus]

Re: You guitar was made where ?

If they were both the same price, I'd grab the MIJ.

Then sell it and buy 4 Squiers.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: You guitar was made where ?

Which model, MIM vs. MIJ, do you think will have the 'better' build quality?

Past experience would lead me to expect a better instrument from Fender Japan than Fender Mexico but this is no guarantee of anything. The only true test is to A/B specific instruments against one another.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: You guitar was made where ?

If it works, it works.

I would buy the mid-1980's Japanese Strat. It's a better quality guitar than any MIM of any year. And on top of it, it will always hold value or increase in value.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: You guitar was made where ?

What was that story I heard (on this forum, actually) where one year where there was a fire in the Mexico plant so they quickly restocked it with all American bodies, necks and parts so for a while all the MIMs were American Strats just assembled there? Or something like that. Anyone remember?

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: You guitar was made where ?

I'd go with the MIJ 80's ones too, though for probably the dumb reason; more chance on getting a weird one. The MIM ones are all pretty much a standard, top to bottom.

I'd say this; I'd rather get one of a few different varieties of Squier than a MIA standard.

My preferred country of origin right now is Canada, eh.

 

[CTN]

Re: You guitar was made where ?

What was that story I heard (on this forum, actually) where one year where there was a fire in the Mexico plant so they quickly restocked it with all American bodies, necks and parts so for a while all the MIMs were American Strats just assembled there? Or something like that. Anyone remember?

There was a fire yup but they temporarily moved Mexican production to the States and slapped on hybrid Mexican/US serial numbers, or something to that effect.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: You guitar was made where ?

I think sometimes we like that a guitar was built someplace where the people are cooler than we are.