Mexican Standard worth upgrading?

SonOfIAm · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2009 2:19 pm **Posts:** 80

Thanks BigJay.

I don't have any intention of going anywhere. I don't have a problem with people disagreeing with me, I have two kids, 17 and 21 (I guess they're not really kids anymore huh

). My motivation is simply to help others through my experience and will offer any advice or suggestions that I feel would be helpful.

I knew that there is a rift between the MIM and MIA crowd, I just didn't know that it was this bad. I would expect it more if I were on another manufacturer's forum lauding my Fender.

budglo · **Joined:** Fri Jan 02, 2009 3:17 pm **Posts:** 1986

01GT eibach wrote:

SonOfIAm wrote:

... as far as cost goes, here was my experience:
Fret Level and complete setup $175
Custom Shop 54 pickups $150
Hardshell Case - An inexpensive one $50
Ping Tuners - Originals lacked tuning stability $40
Pots and Switch - Kept originals in old pickguard $30
Pickguard - Didn't care for color $20

All for a total of $1015. BTW, that's doing all the electronic work myself, so if you need someone else to do it, factor that in as well.

A couple of things here on the cost:
1a) "Setup": MIAs don't seem to come any better setup out of the box than a MIM. So, if you are buying from the Internet or store that won't tweak your setup, this cost is applicable for both MIM and MIA.
1b) "Fret Leveling": I would not even buy a new guitar that required fret leveling. I would have returned it at that point. There should be no need to spend any money on a new git for this.
2) "Ping Tuners": The tuners that come on the MIMs are good quality. They definitely do not demand a change out.
3) "Pots and Switch ": Here is another one where the components of the MIM are perfectly good. They can also easily be moved to the new pickguard with no muss, no fuss.
4) "Pickguard": The difference between MIA and MIMs here is not that great. This is applicable equally to MIM and MIA. You can't fairly count this as purely a MIM-upgrade item.

Result:
Custom Shop 54 pickups $150
Hardshell Case - An inexpensive one $50

HOWEVER:
The other thing to keep in mind is that many MIA owners swap out their pickups, too. This then results in the only applicable charges to the"MIM upgrade" ais the $50 case...

Actually very few MIA owners swap their pickups out and the ones that do do it to obtain a specific sound , not because they are inferior.Also my experiences with Fenders out of the box is ( i just recently tried everything from a standard to a 62 reissue) that the MIA are consistently better than the MIM. I have bought a 03 MIA , a 06 srv and a 08 MIA standard .I tried a mim standard , a cp 60s, a roadhouse (mim), a road worn 60s an American Standard.The MIMs were set up poorly, there was fret buzz at the lower strings and the intonation was lacking on the MIM and the roadhouse.The road worn sasnt set up bad and did sound nice, but had fret sprout really bad.I ended up orderind my MIA online because i got a good deal and it was set up so good that i contemplated keeping the 9s on it, but i put 10s on it and adjusted the action and checked the intonation .It was still spot on.I believe the MIM is a incredible guitar for the money, but set up wise and tonewise it is heads above the others.The CP 60s was a good guitar , but for 50 dollar difference , the MIA was better.I havent regretted my choice.

Miami Mike · **Posted:** Wed Apr 08, 2009 11:34 am

CAFeathers wrote:

If you like the guitar and want to upgrade it, then do it. The only person it should matter to is you.

I concur!

01GT eibach · **Posted:** Wed Apr 08, 2009 3:03 pm

budglo wrote:

Actually very few MIA owners swap their pickups out and the ones that do do it to obtain a specific sound , not because they are inferior.

+1 - Yes, you are 100% wholly correct. Sometimes on this forum, we forget there is the "greater Fender ownership" outside of this forum. And -- for the most part -- they don't mod nearly as much the ones in here do.

The other side is if someone buys a MIM with the intention of changing out pups, tuners and pots, then ... yeah ... get the MIA (maybe even the MIA deluxe) and call it a day. No doubt...

Synkronized · **Posted:** Wed Apr 08, 2009 3:33 pm

CAFeathers wrote:

If you like the guitar and want to upgrade it, then do it. The only person it should matter to is you.

+1

ccdsurf · **Posted:** Fri Apr 17, 2009 3:02 pm

SonOfIAm wrote:

Quote:

At the risk of redundancy, I honestly feel that MIMs are the perfect platform for building one's own signature guitar upon. This is what I do and I've never come close to the threshold of what an American one costs. Remember too, just because some American Strats have all the, "bells and whistles", it doesn't necessarily follow that all that stuff is required (or even necessary) for our total, personal satisfaction of a given guitar. Unless of course, "snob appeal" is truly an issue.

MIMs are a great platform as long as you like the way they play. In an attempt to be fair and informative as far as cost goes, here was my experience:

MIM Deluxe Super Strat (now Player's Strat) $550
Fret Level and complete setup $175
Custom Shop 54 pickups $150
Hardshell Case - An inexpensive one $50
Ping Tuners - Originals lacked tuning stability $40
Pots and Switch - Kept originals in old pickguard $30
Pickguard - Didn't care for color $20

All for a total of $1015. BTW, that's doing all the electronic work myself, so if you need someone else to do it, factor that in as well.

Add in the many pickups I tried before and ended up swapping out and selling, I had a net loss of about $100 bring the total to $1115.

Wow that is a money sink, isn't it? I think more and more just buying a better Strat is abetter option, save the MIM for the son to play someday, maybe a practice project to see if I can indeed do electronics myself.

ccdsurf · **Posted:** Fri Apr 17, 2009 3:11 pm

I guess what impresses me most of all (after starting this debate) is that how much I still LOVE to play my MIM Strat. Kudos to Fender. It just isn't perfect... or my personal definition of perfect. Strats are just my favorite after some experimentation. Having my MIM at such a budget price allowed to to find out what liked and did not like, and I will be much more confident (and slow to buy) as I hunt for a MIA. I am not getting that vibe from my Tele, which I love but it isn't a Strat :wink:

I guess what I was asking most of all is for you guitar vets to clue me in to the intangible differences, if indeed any exist. Are there finishes, woods, necks, etc. I should be mindful of (wary of)? Or is a MIA just a MIM but just more lovingly made?

Thanks!!!

SonOfIAm · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2009 2:19 pm **Posts:** 80

The materials for the most part are the same. The MIMs will more than likely have 3-piece bodies, the MIAs will be 2-piece. Can't speak to the neck materials as I don't know Fender's process in selecting the wood for them. The pickups and hardware are different and the detail work is better on the MIAs. I noticed a bit of a difference in playability from my MIM to an MIA Standard I had. The biggest difference came when comparing my MIM to my MIA Deluxe. The difference was huge and it wasn't about the materials, it was the way it felt. It was the only guitar that I enjoyed playing as much as a PRS I had at the time. Sorry to go off on a tangent from your original post, just wanted to give you the other side of the coin. Good luck in your search for your "perfect" Strat, I believe I've found mine!

ccdsurf · **Posted:** Fri Apr 17, 2009 3:54 pm

SonOfIAm wrote:

The materials for the most part are the same. The MIMs will more than likely have 3-piece bodies, the MIAs will be 2-piece. Can't speak to the neck materials as I don't know Fender's process in selecting the wood for them. The pickups and hardware are different and the detail work is better on the MIAs. I noticed a bit of a difference in playability from my MIM to an MIA Standard I had. The biggest difference came when comparing my MIM to my MIA Deluxe. The difference was huge and it wasn't about the materials, it was the way it felt. It was the only guitar that I enjoyed playing as much as a PRS I had at the time. Sorry to go off on a tangent from your original post, just wanted to give you the other side of the coin. Good luck in your search for your "perfect" Strat, I believe I've found mine!

No that is quite helpful! I am glad someone else can't put a feeling into words... LOL. I like the Deluxes I have seen, but I never like the finishes. I play surf and post punk mostly, so I'd like a less blues/western look. Surf Green? Apparently you have to jump to Custom to get the pretty ones.

KevinCurtis · **Posted:** Fri Apr 17, 2009 3:57 pm

63supro wrote:

CAFeathers wrote:

If you like the guitar and want to upgrade it, then do it. The only person it should matter to is you.

Exactly! You play it. If you like it upgrade it. It'll be fun too.

Totally.

You get to work on your soldering chops too. Makes future upgrades much more fun to look forward to.

Toliver-Lyons · **Posted:** Sat Apr 18, 2009 10:35 am

Hey BigJay...I could not have said it better myself....."After about 200 posts I figured out who is worth talking to and who isnt." My problem is I have not figured out who that is yet......

Toliver-Lyons · **Posted:** Sat Apr 18, 2009 11:13 am

Makes sense to me!
Thanks

	Page 3 of 3	[ 45 posts ]	Go to page Previous 1, 2, 3
Go to page Previous 1, 2, 3

	Page 3 of 3	[ 45 posts ]	Go to page Previous 1, 2, 3
Go to page Previous 1, 2, 3

Andorra	EN	ES	FR
Belgium	EN	DE	FR
Croatia	EN
Czech Republic	EN
Estonia	EN
France	EN	FR
Germany	EN	DE
Italy	EN	IT
Latvia	EN
Lithuania	EN
Malta	EN
Netherlands	EN
Poland	EN
Romania	EN
Slovakia	EN
Sweden	EN
United Kingdom	EN

Austria	EN	DE
Bulgaria	EN
Cyprus	EN
Denmark	EN
Finland	EN
Greece	EN
Hungary	EN
Ireland	EN
Liechtenstein	EN	DE
Luxembourg	EN	DE	FR
Monaco	EN	FR
Norway	EN
Portugal	EN
Slovenia	EN
Spain	EN	ES
Switzerland	EN	DE	FR	IT

Mod Shop

Custom Shop

Mexican Standard worth upgrading?

Who is online