are all MIM strats created equal?
which models are the better ones?
what years would you avoid if you were in the
market for a MIM strat?

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

The only MIM strats that I found that I truely like is the Jimmie Vaughan and the Classic Players 60 strats

The '05 MIM Buddy Guy Polka Dot in this harem is a darned nice guitar, quite "an individual" for a Strat.

The best one is the one you like best.

yes
the ones you like
I haven't avoided a Fender guitar

really is your call, wish I had a better answer, maybe try them all and have as much fun as possible while you're playing them.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Well as far as I know pre-2005 (or was it 2006?) MIM Strats have vintage frets, which may bother you. Newer ones have bigger frets. The color of the logo is also different, which the older ones being black and silver and the new ones being just black. I have a 2004 which I really, really like. The only that I don't like about it is the vintage frets since I like heavier strings and bending a lot. I plan on giving it a refret sometime very soon and once again playing it regularly.

I don't know of any years which were bad. There's only some upgrades here and there, but as far as overall quality goes you shouldn't worry at all. They're all built to last.

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I've built several vintage clones using the basic MIM '50s and '60s Classic platforms. They're very good value for the money. I couldn't specifiy a preferable year -- they've all worked well for me.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

thanks folks. i just heard that earlier yrs the bodies were press wood, and the necks werent finished (frets) like they should have been.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Press wood? What does that mean?

If you mean a composite timber then no, that's not right. That sort of wood has not been used at Ensenada.

My only observation about MIMs is that the QC out the factory seems to have got observably better year by year. Earlier in the decade I was sometimes seeing little issues with things like cosmetics and fret ends that bothered me in a mild way: but in the last couple of years most of those I've examined in shops are simply excellent quality.

I think you just have to look at US, Mexican and Far East models as presenting different features and go for the one you like the specs on. 21 frets, a six-screw bridge and a certain sort of pickup for example? Then you need a MIM Strat.

That's the way to look at these things.

Cheers - C

I've got an 09 CS 50s, Cant find anything to gripe about

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Hey, Boy Blue is back!

The QC in the 90s was somewhat inconsistant but that has been long since rectified.I have 3 MIM Fenders-an '00 L/H Strat,an '06 Tele and an '09 Jimmie Vaughn and they are all perfect and don't need the pickup swaps that some people quite mistakenly seem that they have to automatically insist on.The Jimmie Vaughn Strat has a real L series '60s tone and the quack associated with IMHO the best sounding era of Strats.Also the slight V neck is very comfortable-much moreso than the deeper V shaped necks.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

so were te 90's mim ssues easy to fix or was it something you just had to live with? things like bad fret jobs, fit and finish are what im hearing about mostly.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."