I''ve decided to buy a MIM Strat Standard with some of my Tax refund money. I've had a lot of American Standard Strats in the past, but this will be my first MIM. What will I expect as far as tone, noise, quality, etc? Any help would be great!

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did you order it or are you going to go buy one at a store?
As for quality all 3 of my mim strats are high quality in fact my 02 60s mim rivals my 98 mia in quality. The tone on mim's is not bad at all my mia has a little more clarity and definition then my mim strats but they sound great. In my experience noise depends the wire harness I have seen "bird nests" for wiring in mia, mim, and mij strats, typically noise issues are not hard to remedy it's just a matter of being able to solder so you can rewire the guitar in a cleaner manner and adding shielding.

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I can't speak as to how a MIM compares to a MIA, the only American Strat I've ever even just held in my hands is my friend's Strat he got new in 1972, but I can tell you, the MIM Strat I got new a couple of months ago is a excellent instrument, and, as far as I can recollect, it compares quite favorably to that instrument at least. It is well constructed and finished, has the true Strat tone I was looking for, with not an inordinate amount of noise (for a Strat, that is,it comes shielded), plays and feels good. I personally think it was worth every penny I paid for it,($500) and then some.

Expect the Guitar to be as good structurally as an MIA Strat, neck and body being as good. The only exception may be wiring and pickups. I own two MIM strats and they are exceptional. When you consider that you can get an MIM for €300 to €400 cheaper than an MIA and then invest €150 to €180 on quality pickups, it's a no brainer. Prepare to be pleasantly surprised.

Not completely. Also consider that the MIA also comes with a real nice HSC where the MIM does not.

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Which you could buy seperately for about $90-$100. Not really a selling point. You could buy the case and a set of new pups for the MIM and still it would be about half the cost of an AmStad.

I have a 50's MIM strat I love that thing. I've had a lot of guitars in the past.. In fact I can have most anyone one I wan.. I love my two tone strat.. I think the 50's cost a bit more but you Tex specials pick ups and a nice neck 7.25..At first i hated that it came with only a gig bag. But I play out 3 times a week and rehearsals 2 or 3 times a week, it makes big difference lugging it around.. just my 2 cents. Mark

So you put 180 dollars to put in pickups and and another 100 bucks on a hardshell case , you have to wonder why you didnt just pay another 50 or so bucks and got a MIA with a nicer neck and better color options as well as better resale value.

Well, stranger things have happened. Somebody may actually be happy with a stock MIM Strat for €500. Stranger things have happened. I know when I buy a guitar, i'm not thinking about a hardshell case, i'm thinking about a great guitar in a global recession. Value for money.....hell yes!

Some people say that the pups on MIM Strats are substandard but as a rule they are not,maybe in the early days quality control wasn't up to scratch but I have an 00 and it is as clear as a bell and really chimes especially in the 2&4 pup positions.I'm sure that if you try one you'll be impressed.So don't fall for the hype about having to invest in new pups,it's getting to be an urban legend.

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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.

It seems that some are letting their passion get in the way of objectivity. There are differences and plenty of them. Not all bad.
You'll get
closer string spacing
A body made of up to 7 pieces, though I cant guarantee you wont get that with a MIA. The see through finish's have a laminated top and back.
Less attention to fretwork.

Non of those are deal closers, and I'm not biased against MIM guitars. Infact I'm baised for them. Of my 5 fenders 2mim's, 2mias, 1CS, my old MIM strat enjoys preferential treatment. Its my personal favourite. I attribute that to the fact that I've had it the longest. Anyone else would probably think its not as good as the others. You cant buy a Porsche for the cost of a Mini. You can however if your vigilant get a very good Mini that will give you years of great motoring enjoyment for the same price as a crap Mini that breaks down every 100 miles. See where this is going? The Mexico plant is told to let more through quality control than the American plant. Its their instructions, not poor standards. As long as your careful about your choice, you'll get a great guitar. My Baja tele (mim) needs no mods done to it at all. Aside from setup issues, it was great. Ok the setup issues took me over 6months to fully assess and correct, but I really took my time over it. And did a lot of experimentation.

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No no and no

You do not have to change the pick ups in the MIM. Watch this video. You can order the parts from mojotone. Very easy to do. On the mojotone website they have alnico 2 & alnico 3 slugs already magnetized. Wish I would have seen this before replacing my MIM pick ups.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmwpvDd8zU0

I think there is more value in an MIM. The funny thing is, a lot of people just want an MIA just for the sake of owning one. My experiences are, you cannot judge a guitar untill you play it and have had it in your hands- strumming chords, bending notes, and pulling a silly game face while doing so...

Guitars are a little like women...You dont choose a guitar. The guitar will choose you

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MIM guitars are good. I think the main difference is in the feel of the neck. Other than that I have no complaints with any of the ones I`ve owned.

The current production MIM's are very nice guitars. Expect them to look and sound like Strats. In my opinion the factory pickups are a bit weak, and sound thin but that is just my opinion.

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