Hi , Lets just started by saying i own a Fender HSS american Stratocaster , im very pleased by it . i grabbed it form my uncle for 575 $ ( it was a great deal + b-day gift price . Best guitar and neck is smooth .

Now im looking for another one . But i dont know if i should go mexican ( new or used ) or american .

My situation is that i play mainly Punk rock , heavy metal ( green day , nirvana , iron maiden , blink 182 ) . Ive never consider myself a "fender purist" and im not exactly looking for "that strat tone " . i couldnt care less if my strat truly capture the vintage sound of old strat of the 80s or sustain forever . Im playing strat cause the neck is smooth and confortable for my hand . I play only HSS strat , im not interest into single coil . my music is 90 % on full high gain distortion with powerchord and palmmuting .

The first thing i do when buying a strat is a new complete set up by a professionnal luthier because of the string gauge i use ( .46 instead of the factory .42 ) and im gonna switch the humbucker for a Seymour duncan Jeff beck .. so even if the mexican is not set up as good as the american out of the box , the luthier will correct that when installing the guitar and adjusting the truss rod and doing the full tune up .


so i was wondering if i should buy a mexican hss ( i could find them used for around 300 $ and switch the pickup ) or pay the top price for an american ( which im gonna have to bring to the luthier anyway for my string gauge set up ( and probably switch the humbucker also ) .


i heard the neck of americans vs mexicans is fairly the same .

So should i go with a mexican or an american ?? in your opinion . is it worth paying the american price for what im gonna do with it ??

I dont really care about the "resale value" either . i wont be selling it .


sorry for the true fender purist reading this thread im not looking for " that strat sound " . ive never played a pre-cbs or 80s strat so i cant compare how great they sounded back in the day. i just love strat cause they feel nice and play nice .

any thought ??

Don't believe all of what you hear!!!!

Why don't you just buy a Charvel????

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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

Just buy a dimarzio FS2 for the strat you have. I used one of them playing punk for years. Its particularly aggressive attack was great for punk. I had a jackson with SD JazzBlues and a Jazz in it, it was nowhere near as good and got consigned to backup. Its far too soft sounding a pickup.

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No no and no

As has been stated time and time again'buy whatever feels most comfortable to you.I guess the sound is secondary as you intend to change the pups so go by feel.It doesn't matter whether it's Mexican or American there are great guitars available from both sources.

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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.

The necks for MIA an MIM are not the same. The neck on a MIA is vastly better feeling in my hands. However, if I was gigging with this guitar in a club for hard rock and punk crowds, I would never even consider bringing a MIA. I would go for the cheaper guitar, to ease my mind of theft and damage potential. I just love my expensive guitars and amps too much to risk damaging or losing them. Gigging is hard on equipment. My gigging friends rarely bring their favorite gear to gigs. They prefer something that is realiable, powerful enough and won't overly upset them if something happens to them. In a loud and noisey crowd/club, the perfect tone gets lost anyway.

I also know professional musicians tend to use different equipment live too. Metallica for instance, will use a variety of vintage guitars and amps in the studio on occasion, but they bring their ESP's, Mesa's and Marshalls on tour. Not the rare irreplaceable stuff

Consider how it will be used as part of the equation. the best feeling neck in the world is useless if the guitar get stolen, or you are more worried about it getting stolen at a gig than you are uncomfortable with the neck...Which do you prefer?

With that said, you should have no problem finding a guitar that both feels good , sounds good and won't be the end of the world if its lost or damaged. You gigging

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Guitars:
1. mid 70's Ventura MIJ Gibson l6-s clone (Pre-lawsuit) in Black with Rosewood FB and EMG 81 BR/ 85 Neck
2. ESP KH2 Neck Thru
3. 2008 Am Std Strat in 3 tone sunburst

Buy a used american

i heard the neck of americans vs mexicans is fairly the same .

I`ve had an MIM and I still have my MIA Strat. Although there was nothing wrong with the MIM Strat there is definately a difference in the feel of the necks between the two. Play them both at your local music shop and see for yourself, thats the best way to tell.

I have a MIM 98 Strat and I am in love with it. However, for your situation, I'm going agree with a previous post, get a Charvel San Dimas or something similar. It'll serve you purpose to a "T" and you won't have to do too much in terms of swapping pick ups and so on. A good, professional set never hurts so I would always recommend that. I would also recommend the use of .10ga strings. ALL my guitars with humbuckers have .10ga strings....the sound is just massive, especially on the guitars with EMG 81 active pickups!!

Good luck!

-Mike

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2000 MIM Stratocaster
1998 MIM Stratocaster
Super Strat built by me
1974 Hohner Les Paul
Fender/Squire Partsocaster
ESP/LTD KH2
ESP/LTD Explorer
ESP/LTD Eclipse EC50
Epiphone Flying V
Jackson Firestorm DX10D
Hohner Les Paul
Schecter C1+
Yamaha Acoustic

todos saben que los Mejicanos somos mas chingones, but as far as guitars go....definitely a used American is better

My opinion is American is overrated. Its more about that extra fret and 30 miles. That's the real difference between American and Mexican. Yes there are other subtle differences such as string spacing on the nut and bridge, but really they are the same guitars. I have a Fender Deluxe Roadhouse and I've compared it to an American Standard and Highway one. The MIM Deluxe series has better quality then the American Series. Granted the American Deluxe series and Custom shop is tops, but there is a hugh jump in pricing that way. Buy a used Mexican with rosewood fretboard, make it a HH strat and you hard rockin', Metal playing, sonic screaming tones you're looking for... Just my opinion.

Honestly - they are like Mexican and American women... they're all freakin' beautiful!

After it's paid for, money really doesn't matter does it? Get what inspires you.

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-Kirk

GUITARS
'12 Sonoran Acoustic - black (dated 10/31/12)
'13 Standard Strat
AMP
Vox ac4c1-bl
PEDALS
Compressor
Big Muff
Vox Stomplab 1G
Carbon Copy Delay

I do not own a MIM but Eddie that works in my friend Mikes shop bought a beautiful olympic white with a Rosewood board that Mike put in EMGs and the guitar screams and feels great. My 80s MIJ teles have there pups swapped and one of them is one of the best guitars I own. Deffinetlt save all that extra money and get the MIM believe me you will be happy you did.

Let me first say i respect many peoples opinions on this forum and most of the ones i'm talking about are saying buy a MIA..

As much as i hate to say it i must disagree..I own 5 strats with one for sale so lets just say 4..3 are MIA's the 4 th is a MIM that i bought with the idea to Mod it as soon as i got it ...I also play H.S.S Strats more than Single coil strats...

So i bought this MIM new from GC for $320 new ..I got home and had the luthier who i'm lucky enough to be close friends with so therefor i get a major discount if not free work go to work on the guitar ..

He shielded it did some fret work with a certain type fret wire..Different nut.Different pots and selector switch with higher grade components...Mia locking tuners installed..Had the neck edge rolled ..The back of the neck was sanded down then sanded out to 2800 grit with talc applied to the sandpaper for some reason i don't understand then some kind of oil applied..To finish it off John Suhr V60'S were installed in the neck and mid with a reverse wound in the mid ...The Bridge humbucker position had a Duncan Pearly Gate installed...Needless to say this is one slick great sounding guitar..

To do this to a MIM is no big deal..To do it to a MIA ? First off it would be very costly..Second it would totally destroy the value of the guitar regardless of upgrades..The other thing is the components that were used were custom shop parts or serious high dollar aftermarket..So once again it would not be cost effective ..

There can be many arguments about this subject and really none are wrong but to me the MIA' Strats should be left alone and remain stock..Where i feel the MIM are good guitars stock they can be turned into excellent guitars with mods and you have a guitar that is done to your specs that still cost a few hundred less than what an MIA would start at new...

I´m sorry for my english. I have a MIM Standard, is a good guitar, but from me the "true" Fenders guitars are MIA. Go for a American Standard if you can.