I currently have a Jaguar HH and love it, the next guitar i pick up will more than likely be a strat. When i was looking through the catalog there seemed to be so many different choices and models. How did you figure out which was right for you? There are some things that are important to me... i would like a tremolo bar and really good pickups. after that how do you decide MIM or MIJ or MIA? what is considered better or worse? My jaguar is MIJ and i love it. But i have heard they are all held to high standards. I do not care for the road worn stuff so they are out but where from there... price? I do not want to just use price as the indicator of what is "good". what do you consider when looking? any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated. i am not in a hurry but i kinda need a direction when i am saving and drooling over my next guitar.

I have a Standard, made in mexico. It plays nicely and sounds great. My next will probably be either an american standard (mia, obviously) or a Deluxe player's strat (still made in mexico). If you're looking to keep price down, you can buy a mexican standard and upgrade all the bits and pieces and it will probably still be cheaper than buying a MIA, but don't hold me to that.

Consider your budget, that narrows it down a lot. Then you want something that feels and plays really well along with sounds that
will compliment the type of music that you'll be playing.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

I'd suggest that you play as many Strats as you can. The right one will present it's self. They all have they're own feel. To me sound is the easy part. The right feel most important.

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Fender 50th Anniversary Strat
Fender Road Worn '50s Strat
Fender Highway One (HSS) Strat (D standard tuning)
Fender '72 Tele Deluxe
Fender Hot Rod DeVille 212

Play every Stratocaster in your price range. Play several models as every guitar is just a little different from the next. This is becoming a moot point these days MIM, MIA, CIJ/MIJ is a matter of opinion. To be perfectly honest with you, my CIC Squier CV 60 is an awesome guitar so country of origin is becoming a blurred line.

It really depends on what your musical style is, but judging from your choice in getting a Jaguar HH you may like either the Highway 1, American Standard, or American Special HSS's. If you are going for more of a Strat sound, then the American Standard or American Special SSS.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

I agree that your budget is your first indicator of what you will have to choose from so that helps narrow it right away. As for where it is built the American models are supposed to be of the highest quality workmanship and components. That said the other models are not far behind and you will find many people who swear by their foreign made models as well. The differences that you will find between models is mostly in the necks and pickups. There are many different neck shapes available through the different models so you should play them if that is possible for you or at least find a store with some different styles and hold them to see the difference. As for pickups that is a personal thing. Get a sound in your head and play through an amp like yours or your very own amp if possible. I'm not sure what other info to give you but that's my two cents. The bottom line is to take some time to research and play a few. When I bought my Strat recently the store had 5 Strats in the color I wanted, a couple with maple necks, a couple with rosewood and some SSS and HSS models. I played them all and came away with one that felt better and sounded better to me than the rest but I had to play them to know.

Well everyone above me gave you the best advice there is.

thanks to everyone... i think i am going to just take my time and play every one i can find (starting with Fender American Special Stratocaster HSS Black...)

I bought a Jimmy Vaughn Strat this week and I love it,it has the vintage 6 screw vibrato and old style Kluson split post tuners it comes closer to the feel and sound of my old 65 Strat than any others I've tried and it was only $900.

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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.

+1

plus in the mean time it gives me an excuse to hang out in guitar shops and play strats over and over until my wife and the staff tells me to just buy one already

a plan so deviously simple it just MIGHT WORK ha ha ha ha (evil laugh)

Well, I'm just gonna toss my typical highly subjective $.02 worth in here.

First and foremost I completely agree with the idea of playing every Strat you can in your price range...what may be perfectly ideal for any one given person may be complete crap to the next. I too am of the opinion that "feel" is probably the single greatest thing I look for in an electric. Be it Strat or otherwise, changing the sound of an electric is usually pretty simple...just change the pickups. The feel however is more about the neck...I've played guitars that sounded great but just felt terrible to me (i.e. the Clapton sig series...they feel just terrible to me...I hate those v necks). When my wife bought my '96 MIM for me new in 1996, the sound was pretty "blah" (those old MIM pickups leave a great deal to be desired) and I wasn't really that crazy about the Lake Placid Blue either...really wanted a sunburst, but I just fell in love with the feel of that guitar...and although I've modded the crap out of her over the years to get her to sound the way I want, she's still my #1.

Personally I don't think that "location" really has much to do with the quality of a guitar any more. My '85 MIJ Squier Strat for example is as good, if not better than any new American out there...those mid 80's Strats from Japan are simply incredible instruments....the folks at the FujiGen factory really got it right. Also, my '08 CIC Squier Standard Special is really a great instrument for the price. Yes, some of the componants such as the bridge are lower quality than you would find on an MIM or an Am Std but the actual craftsmanship of the body and the neck are truly outstanding even for a guitar costing twice as much and the finish....drool, drool! LOL!!! For the $200 I payed for her new, she's just a truly beautiful guitar to say the least...I actually prefer the China cherry burst finish over the American!!!

On the whole "where it was made" debate, personally I don't think the American models are really worth the extra money. Is the quality better than something like an MIM or even a Squier CV? Yes...a little. Is it worth double the price or more? No. Not in my book at least. In fact back around the holidays I played a couple of MIM's and an Am Std at my local Guitar Center...I thought the feel was very comparable and in fact I thought the MIM's actually sounded better...had more of that "traditional Strat" sound IMHO. I also recently played one of those new American Specials...again, yea...it was a nice guitar (and I -love- the vintage 2 tone sunburst) but I still think the MIM's sound better and again the feel is quite comparable. I'm not saying that the American's are "bad" guitars by any means but I just don't think they are good enough to warrant the drastic price difference...$300 to $500 or more may be a drop in the bucket to some people but to me, that's a huge chunk of change.

Now to that I will add that I think some of it depends on what you're looking for personally. If you want something that just plays and sounds good out of the box, yea...the Americans are pretty well "balanced"....decent all around guitars. Personally though, I like to "tinker" and I prefer to personalize my instruments. Even if I had an Am Std, I would certainly still change the pickups on it, I'd probably still swap out the trem block and I'm sure there are other things I would dink around with as well...so from my stand point, if I'm going to do all of that anyways, I'd rather spend less money on the MIM, do my upgrades and still have money left over for something else (like a nice Squier! LOL!). For me I don't look at a guitar for what it is as much as what it could be.

Personally if I were looking for a new (or used) Strat and even if money weren't an object, I'd probably go for either a new MIM or a mid 80's MIJ and then spend the difference on a really sweet set of pickups (probably EMG's or Duncans) and go from there. That said, I've been playing for close to 30 years now and I -know- what I like in a guitar...and particularly a Strat (and I typically know how to get it). Because I already have 4 Strats, in fact my next one is going to be another mid-80's MIJ but this time I'm going for the "Contemporary" (in fact I'm in the process of building one). If I were buying my first Strat however, again I'd play everyone I could find in my price range and take home the one that "spoke to me". It's kind of like being with a woman...you know when it's right .

Again, just my $.02 worth...
Peace,
Jim