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Post subject: WHICH STRAT MODELS ARE USA MADE ?
Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 11:11 am
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Well I'm looking to buy a Strat and I'm not sure how one can determine from the Fender Catalog or even from some of the online retailers whether or not the models being represented are MIA or otherwise. Some say the unit is MIA but others don't say anything one way or the other.

I recently saw a Hiway 1 for sale and in the text it said it was American made. Does anyone know a definitive way to decide model origin while looking in the Fender online catalog? Thanks in advance for anyone's help !

Cheers,

GuitarZon


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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 12:30 pm
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Common USA models are Hyw-1, American Standard, American Deluxe, American Vintage.
After that you are into the signature, Artist and custom models, which may be Mexican made

the Fender Deluxe and Fender Standard are made in Mexico.

Check the serial # if it starts with MN or MZ it is made in Mexico.
Or call the store and ask them for the serial # of the one they would send you.

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Post subject: Re: WHICH STRAT MODELS ARE USA MADE ?
Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 1:16 pm
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GuitarZon wrote:
Does anyone know a definitive way to decide model origin while looking in the Fender online catalog?


GuitarZon, check out my earlier post:
http://www.fender.com/community/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5554&highlight=country

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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 1:23 pm
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Fender always says where the guitars are from but it's kind of coded. You can pretty much tell by price. Basically, Squiers are China or Indonesia or wherever's cheap, Fender "Standards" and "Deluxe" are Mexican. Don't worry about the Special Editions, because they are rare and we always want to buy on sale from a discounter like GC. I believe some at least of the Special Editions are from Korea, with Duncan pickups in some of them. The "classics" are Mexican. With the artists, only a couple of hte very low priced ones are Mexican. Like, the Jimmy Vaughn TexMex Strat is Mexican, but with American Tex Mex pickups to confuse everybody. The Buddy Guy Standard is MX. The Custom Shop Buddy Guy is American of course and costs a lot more.

The cheapest American made Fender Stratocaster is the Highway One, and it has Mexican pickups, which I swapped for Custom Shop Texas Specials.

Wow, that's confusing. Okay, here's how it's easy. Fender never brags about how the stuff from Mexico is made in Ensenada, but Fender does always say very boldly that all the American made stuff is made in America. So, Highway Ones, American Vintage, Hotrod American Vintage, the Standard Americans and the Deluxe American always say something about how they're made in the USA, even if like the Highways they've got Mexican pickups. The valued Cruz Masterbuilt guitars from the Custom Shop, are built in Corona by a Latino.

From what I've seen, the quality out of Baja CA is good. For example, my Highway One pickups work fine. The first set of Custom Shop pickups I ordered - Fat 50s - had a dead neck pickup. However, the second set of Custom Shop pickups - Texas Specials - are incredible. So, it's not that the Baja built products are not good quality, it's just that the Ferraris are built in Corona.


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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 4:52 pm
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Of course one dead give away if your Fender is American made or not is the headstock. If you look at the hole where the truss rod is, the American mades will have a walnut insert at the opening. The Mexican and Japanese don't.


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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:33 am
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Thanks peterp, the Hiway 1 had me wondering...now I know it's USA and I may consider it !

Orevilleowner, thank you for the very definitive info including the numbers breakdown ! That will help me a lot in the catalog.

Thank you strat58cat, that's very helpful info and it's not that I have a problem with the MIM's, I just want to know where the various Strat models are made before buying one. The pups are a concern too and thanks for clearing that up as regards the Ensenada units.

Holy moly bm cmillin, the walnut insert thang is something to look for and will tell at a glance if the Strat model is USA or not. Thank you !

Thanks everyone, I can now use my Fender Catalog in a much more informed way, plus I don't have to ask when in a store or looking at pics at auction/sale sites. I think I'm getting closer to buying my first Strat.

Cheers all !

GuitarZon


Last edited by GuitarZon on Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:39 am
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GuitarZon wrote:
Orvilleowner, thank you for the very definitive info including the numbers breakdown ! That will help me a lot in the catalog.

Thanks everyone, I can now use my Fender Catalog in a much more informed way, plus I don't have to ask when in a store or looking at pics at auction/sale sites. I think I'm getting closer to buying my first Strat.


You are welcome. If you find any further information (additions or corrections) to the first three model numbers/country of origin, please post them to the thread I linked above.

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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:12 am
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Ok orvilleowner, I'll do that. I'm looking through the '08 Fender Catalog and I'm finding numbers not in the list in the link and the other thread. I'll look at the online catalog and see what I can find and to make sure I'm not mistaken.

Oh, and I noticed that some models with '013' as the first three of the catalog number have what appears to be a dark colored insert at the headstock for the truss rod aperture. I wouldn't have any way of knowing if that insert I'm seeing is walnut or not though. Go figure ! Maybe something new, dunno.

GuitarZon


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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 2:32 pm
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I compared a MIM Deluxe Players Strat and an MIA Highway One Strat, and I bought the Deluxe Players.

It looked better, it sounded better, and it was $150 less.


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 6:11 pm
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GuitarZon wrote:
Ok orvilleowner, I'll do that. I'm looking through the '08 Fender Catalog and I'm finding numbers not in the list in the link and the other thread. I'll look at the online catalog and see what I can find and to make sure I'm not mistaken.


You didn't tell me the number, so I check the online price list pdf files (a nice compact listing of models and MSRPs). I see one three digit model number I didn't have: 014 (on the Classic Player models) which are made in Mexico. I'll revise my listings. Thanks.

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Post subject: Strat Cat #'s
Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 10:20 am
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Thanks again orvilleowner, I noticed you updated your earlier post with the '014'...I'll go through the Fender Cat again to make sure all the numbers are accounted for. If you don't hear back from me, you'll know you're caught up at least according to my '08 Fender Cat.

That's interesting pohatu, I'll have to check out the MIM Deluxe Player's Strat then, thanks !

Cheers,

GuitarZon


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 10:23 am
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MiM's are good instruments, I stared out with one.
But they don't hold their value when it comes time to sell or trade up like the MiA's do.

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