There are several levels which explains the cost between models. But I do not beleive there is anything shiped to Mexico for assembly from Fender Corona why would Fender do that? The cost of shipping would be a waste and eat any savings in labor. Freight now days especialy high, now suppliers I would agree ship to both locations but I think thats a myth that there is a made in America and assembly in Mexico. I do agree there are people who Mod anything but I would be willing to bet more Mod 500. MIM strats then do 1500. MIA strats If thats the case they would be better off buying a 500. body + 500. neck of top quality from Warmoth and spending 500. more on pickups and hardware that would be a smoking guitar. Sure it would not be a Fender in name but what is a modified Fender guitar its no longer the stock guitar made by Fender.

I won't even by a guitar that has been givin the Hot Rod treatment from somebody and it does efect the resale value of the guitar even though most would never plan on selling them. But some like me as attach as I am to them I have sold them in the past and bought others and when I sell them I return them to stock because its easier to sell.

_________________
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

Its a simple fact of economics that the wood is selected by masterbuilders for certain one off items, general customshop next then standard MIA guitars. Fender mexico has been cutting its own bodies for well over 10 years now, probably longer. If you look at the factory tour link orvilleowner posted its clearly apparent that bodies and necks for mexican guitars are cut in mexico. If current opinion on this thread is correct then every mercedes, rolls, bmw, CS, MIA owner must be up in arms. Just think you can buy BMW quality for chrysler money. Never mind all them people who just shelled out and waited months for a gilmour, when they could of bought a classic player with the same attention to detail and just picked it up off the shelf.

Theres nothing at all wrong with mexican guitars infact i love em. I gigged one for years and in that respect it beats my expensive MIA stuff hands down. I can beat and bash it and it always delivers. To say that a guitar in that price bracket and therefore geared for mass production, lower cost materials,7piece veneered bodies, bad pickup routing which is quite common on the baja tele, despite its customshop pickups and american tele bridge.

A needless and irrelevant mistake i'll gladly accept on a £350 tele. Would i accept it on a £1100 one? not a chance.

_________________
No no and no

First of all, this statement is addressed to nobody in particular, so I'd prefer that no offense were taken. That is not the same as caring, however: If you do take offense, the statement obviously applies to you.

Please read carefully:

WHOMEVER chooses to assert that race has anything to do with making a better, or worse guitar is straight-up stupid. Period.

Thank you. No on to my opinion on this topic.

I have owned many foriegn and domestic-made guitars in my lifetime, and have seen good and bad from lots of manufacturers. I have also worked for a music shop which afforded me the opportunity to play many more brands and models than I have, or could afford to own. I presently own two American Made Strats; an '89 Strat Plus and a 2008 American Deluxe HSS. This does not demonstrate prejudice towards the MIM, or MIJ lines, it demonstrates my preference derived from 33 years of playing guitars.

The point that Fender must cater to all budgets is certainly true. It affords people of all economic standings to be able to hold and play a guitar that says "Stratocaster", "Telecaster" or whatever else on the headstock. IS it a real Stratocaster? CERTAINLY! it was made by Fender. For the elitists who debate that statement, here is a clarification: All or none. Using the logic that only MIA strats are entitled to be held as the "Champagne of Strats" we should probably extrapolate that standard to only guitars made by Leo Fender's own hands. Doesn't sound so good now, eh?

Buy the guitar, play it, enjoy it. If you are happy with it, that's all that matters. There is a percieved "Upgrade path" to guitars of "higher quality"; in reality, the path leads to Fullerton and the roots of the instrument.

The made in ameria guitars are much ore expensive in the biggest part because of labor costs. Not much better quality

Double post

Partially true. Factors such as metallurgy, manufacturing process, cost of base materials such as ores and body blanks play a much higher role.



Totally wrong. All of Fender's products are built to specifications that can be reproduced anywhere on the planet, given the capability. Given that, why would Fender not want it's high-end lines coming from it's original home? IOW: The quality is by design intended for American-made guitars.

Bottom line: Enjoy it, or find one that makes you happy.

Fender control overall quality output within their lines by their pricerange, as proved by the baja tele routing. Why on gods good earth would they scrap a tele body because of something so insignificant when they can just sell it on a cheaper line and keep everyone happy. Its a simple fact that its more economicaly viable to have not as stringent QC on mexican instruments as there is on american. In the same way would you accept anything less than perfection from a masterbuilt guitar. I certainly wouldnt expect american standard quality on a yuri shishkov one off.

You cant buy a new rolls royce for £10k you cant buy an new american standard for £350. Lets all go out and buy squires and expect em to be american deluxes. By the same theory that MIM's are as good as AM STDs then surely squire's are to deluxes.

_________________
No no and no

There's a very good point here.

One may "like" guitar A "better" than guitar "B," but that doesn't mean that guitar A is a "better" guitar than guitar B.

So "Like Better" does not equal "Better."

_________________
Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

+1

_________________
"Life is like eating jalapenos. What you do today may burn your arse tomorrow"

I own and play 2 strats - one is an 07 MIM and the other is an 08 MIA strat,Both are built flawless but my MIA is hands down a far better sounding guitar.

But that's not saying it's better sounding than somebody else's MIM - Just mine..

AND they even moved the "Made In Mexico" sticker to the rear of the headstock in order to make it less noticeable (I LOVE that part). Even Fender KNOWS.

Sorry lads, i just had to do it.

_________________
"Life is like eating jalapenos. What you do today may burn your arse tomorrow"

What some of you guys are saying is that my Deluxe Player Strat with all American hardware, Switches andP/Us two piece ash body, and a vey nice setup does not play or sound as good as your MIA. I disagree. But I had a MIM Standard that I did not like. Couldn`t wait to get rid of it. Some guys love them. My Strat is flawless fit and finish. It is not of lesser quality than any American Strat I tried. Nor was the Standard I had. It was an 06. It was just not for me after playing it for a while. My Deluxe is a keeper,bone stock.

You'd have to ask fender, but you can't just look at it from whatever perspective you can come up with and make a decision as to whether or not it is true based on YOUR conclusions. After all, it's fender's business and they have thier reasons whatever they may be. But tell me this....do you honestly believe that fender would lie to me about this or is it that you think i am lying? Because if it's the latter then i will just leave it at this and be done.

by the way, take a look at those factory pics and tell me if you see any body blanks with 3 pieces like my 50's RI. So even if you were to prove the RI bodies and necks ARE made in mexico, it wouldn't even speak to the MIA V vs MIM RI debate in your favor because if they are both the same quality, IE: 3 pice/nicle grain/nicely matched, then what does it even matter where it's made? My whole point is they are the same regardless of whether what i say is true. My 50's neck and body, and this is not even a slight exaggeration, are both nicer than any MIA RI i have seen as far as grain, body matching, and how many pieces are use. I have yet to see a MIA neck with the flame mine has OR the finish, which may be poly but it's actually quite thin and an amber that looks amazing compared to any MIA RI i have yet seen. The body's grain is equally nice and is matched so well it's hard to tell where the lines are. so he||, if it WAS made in mexico i'd say make my MIA down there will ya ! Seriously, theres absolutely no was to look at my 50's w/o admitting it's as nice as any MIA RI and better than most as far as wood. It's just that good. My MIA deluxe was nice too, but for double the money the neck was pathetic by comparison and the thing sounded like a banjo as far as fullness. I would have paid that price for the MIM but i wouldn't have paid the MIM price for that deluxe. So believe what you want and pay double the money, it's your loss.

I suggest you call fender before you doubt what i said. That has been said since day one and confirmed by my call, so before you assume, look into it.

An absence of a certain picture proves nothing. There were also no pictures of clearly visible 2 piece bodies. That doesnt prove that my vintage hotrod or customshop weren't MIA.

Trust me for a production line of that scale it would cost more to haul the body from corona to mexico than any guitar body is worth.
You like yours, theres nothing wrong in that. I like my MIM, MIA and CS guitars. Please dont mug me off by saying i've been had.

_________________
No no and no

Ya hey niki I guess its like this some believe Ford builds there trucks in Michigan ands send the parts to Mexico to be put together Thats a wise way to do it and save money. Ya right! And a great 2 peice body tells me its got a nice book match vaneer on it. I would doubt Fender is paying for book matched body blanks for anthing but CS shop because Fender does not glue up and make ther own body blanks. How many people are going to say ya I have this and it's CRAP. Ya My Girlfriend is Ugly!

Plus back to vaneer it is very common that a good log is cut down into sheets of veneer to be used on funiture and other things.

_________________
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