Take a look at the Fender Mexico tour and tell your dealer you no better. They make guitars there. Not assemble U.S. parts that are made for them. In the past they even Made Fender Squier in Mexico so I don't think it has ever been just a place to put them together.
http://reviews.photoweborama.com/allthi ... index.html

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

wasnt there a time that the MIM necks were cut
in the usa and ship to mexico to be finished.
please correct me if i'm wrong

Neck blanks have been photographed being shipped to the Mexico. There was another photo tour from last year or two that showed pallets of rough cut neck blanks being received at the Mexico plant.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

At various times for various reasons though, fender USA has shipped parts abroad to be assembled, so it is possible.

For instance when CBS finally sold Fender, they didn't include the Fullerton facilities so US production halted in February 1985. The new ownership had stockpiled bodies and necks, all the guitars in the 85 catalog were made in japan, and the estimate is that around 75-80 % of all Fenders from the end of 84 til mid 86 were made in Japan.
When fender started production at Corona at the end of 85 the only made a handful (like 5 a day.)

People can call down these foreign guitars all they want, but without them fender wouldn't have survived the mid 80's.

I have always wondered if they are rough cut from the supplier or at the U.S. plant. For money reasons I would think they are being rough cut by their supply company then sent to Fender Mexico. Why buy it and have delivered somewhere to do rough work then have it preped then reshipped somewhere else to be finished. Thats just extra man hours and cost in shipping when suppliers sell rough blanks and assume that cost in the sale price. Would not be the first time Fender used outside prep work on things so they would just get rough blanks. Now in the past Fender Japan used Atlansia to supply many of the finished necks for there guitars for like 15 years on ther MIJ guitars and thats all Atlansia made for them where necks.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

One can find pictorial Fender Factory tours from 2001, 2003 and 2006.
Here's that most recent pictorial tour (covers both the Ensenada and Corona factories):

http://picasaweb.google.com/meridianmus ... ryTour2006

It shows necks in full production in Mexico.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

I always assumed they got them rough cut. hmm.. hopefully someone like Orvilleowner will chime in, he usually knows this stuff.

sorry guys i'm all for american

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(H)Kalem:P

Er, anyone noticed; the OP seems to have abruptly disappeared from the Forum. I'd just dug him up some juicy factoids on the subject of Japanese Fenders, in the hope of modifying his dismissal of them.

Ho-hum: another day will come...

Cheers - C

Depends on the Strat really - I have owned, and played, dozens of Strats over the years and the best (by far) is the 1985 MIJ Strat I bought in 1987. It is head and shoulders above any of the new US, MIJ or MIM Strats I've tried (in fact I sometimes like to play the new US Strats in my local music shop just to feel smug about how great my e-series Strat is!)
Having said that, the modern US Strats are better then the modern MIM and MIJ Strats, so its horses for courses.
I've said elsewhere on the forum that the e-series MIJ Strats are the best Fender ever made (I haven't tried a pre-CBS to be fair, so lets just say the best since then). Its only the snobbery of the fact they are not US-made that stops them being real collectors guitars.

Your strat was likely assembled in japan from US parts, when fender had no US facilities.

That's probably why it was so good! I'm not dissing the US-made stuff at all, just think the 80s e-series are wonderful guitars. I buy into the whole mystique of US-made stuff - I play country music, I love big old 50s US cars and I wouldn't own anything but a Fender, a Gibson or a Gretsch - but fact is the 80s MIJ's are things of wonder and beauty!
Maybe that is the perfect match - a US guitar built with Japanese quality control!

In those years the Japan models were made by FujiGen who made there own parts and many of the necks they used were made by Atlansia. These guitar factories such as FujiGen who made the Fenders at first and Tokia, Dyna Gakki had already been making there own Strats and at that time many were saying they were better then the U.S. guitars of the time.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson