Greetings everybody,
Been away for a while but It's good to be back.
Now to the question or gripe however you choose to look at it. I own several American Strats and one mim strat and although there's not that much of a variable in the weight beteween 8.2 to 8.6 lbs I weighed my mim strat and the Guit was like 6.9 almost 7 lbs. Now with everyone out there telling me and the world that the mim's are just as good as the American ones I can now honestly dispute that statement. Man if these Guits are going to hold any credibelity the weight has got to be at least in the Ball park range. And also on my mim strat the noisless pup in the neck position went out. Carried it to my tech. and lo and behold the actual wire had broken. Again! Within range,, Well that didn't hurt too much I hope. I still love the Strats but from here My taste will have to be restricted to American and MIJ now those have a very compairable weight feel very vintage vibe with lots of attatude.

Hi pkkemster glad you're back. All I can say is that MIM guitars do fill a niche, more affordable for the beguinner that I was three years ago. I didn't want to go used and beeing from a small town in a foreign Country, I took what was at hand then. Now my next guitar might well be an all American made axe. I liked your story. See ya.
Claude.

There are many variables that determine the weight of the guitar. Are all of the Strats that you compared the same body wood? Ash, Alder, Agathis? What models are each? It wouldn't be fair to compare a new "American Standard" or "Deluxe", to a "Mexican Standard". If you want a more fair comparison, compare an "American Standard" to a Mexican "Classic Player 50s". Between those two choices, to me, the Mexican is better as far as tone and tuning stability (locking tuners on the MIM)

Standing up, strap on each guitar and see which one your shoulder prefers. I prefer a lighter guitar myself, like a 62 reissue or a modified Mexican Standard. I agree with you that "just as good as" is definitely subjective, but I'd bet that the MIM was about half of the cost of the MIA. That is a huge factor for most.

If you are talking about a plain MIM Standard, it would definitely need some upgrades to hang with a MIA Standard. But, that is opinion, some people prefer a MIM.......?

Your logic is impeccible. So if I want a better guitar than a MIA Strat, I just need to buy a heavier guitar? Right.

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Bill

Maybe that's why Les Pauls are so highly esteemed.

For lead guitar.
Claude.

i love my MIM strat. all i've done is put a hot pickup in the bridge position for heavier stuff. it plays and sounds every bit as good as my MIA. they both get equal abuse.
it's all preference friend. i traded my les paul because of a shoulder problem which is why i have the new MIA. the lighter weight and superb sound from the strat was a good move for me.

My MIM Strat weighs 8.5 lbs. I always knew I got a good one ...

But seriously ... along that logic, older vintage Strats that commonly weigh less than 7 lbs suck? If so, there are bunch of collectors out there that need to be calibrated ...

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

So you happen to like heavy (8lb+) guitars and since your MIM (of which you don't specify which model, not all MIM's are created equal) weighs around 7 lbs, you write off ALL MIM guitars. You're logic is very strange. I suggest youh find an MIM that weighs 8lbs+ and you'll be happy. There are plenty of heavy MIM's out there. No two guitars even of the same model are going to weigh exactly the same thanks to the uniqueness of each tree and the cuts of wood the guitar is made from.

I know weight preference is VERY subjective, but don't you think there are more qualities of a guitar that should be looked over besides just weight? Pickups, hardware, fit & finish, straight neck, etc, etc.

Please keep buying up all of the heavy Strats, as 99.99% of other guitarists prefer light and resonant guitars with plenty of natural sustain and harmonics. Leave the under 8lb ones for us

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

Weight has very very little to do with the overall tone of the guitar,it's the resonant properties of the wood not the weight that matters.Some lighter woods give excellent tonal response conversely some heavy woods have no resonance whatever.Making a blanket statement that MIM Strats are inferior beginner guitars is a bit far fetched-Jimmie Vaughn and Jeff Healey would beg to differ so do I(45 yrs playing,42 gigging).My Jimmie Vaughn Strat is just a dream to play and hear,I took it to a jam on Saturday past and the rest of the guys were blown away by the tone that I got from the JV and my little Blues Jr.-also MIM.

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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 MIM Fender Standard's are a great intermediate guitars. Most people I know buy them to modify.

I will be honest, in 2008, I was looking for a MIM Standard to be a back-up guitar to my Highway 1. I played many MIM Standards and just could not drop the money on one. I played several different Squier guitars and I was blown away by the Vintage Modified and the Classic Vibe series. I ended up buying the Classic Vibe 60 Stratocaster in lieu of the MIM Fender Standard. IMHO it sounded and played better than any of the MIM Standards.

The only MIM Fender Stratocasters I thought were worth a darn are any model in the Deluxe series, the Floyd Rose equipped one (but all the pickups need to be replaced), and as much as I hate "Road Worn" guitars, I like the feel and sound of the Road Worns.

Of course these are just my opinions and are not shared by everyone.

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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

Well, I dont know about the weight issue, but I can say this..
I have a Clapton artist series (American) and a Classic 50s (Mexico)
Both guitars are very different from each other, but Im just as happy and satisfied playing both... I just don't see the big "quality" difference some folks are up in arms about... YMMV

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Hey, Boy Blue is back!

Guitars are all different...I have both MIA and MIMs. I will be honest I have been lucky because my MIMs are IMO fantastic...flawless. I have no issue gigging and recording with them. Some folks say that they are less than to the MIAs, I tend to disagree. I think that each guitar must be taken as an individual, not lump all of them into a whole. Again, JMO..
ABS

Leo Fender didn't care what wood he used to make them.
Whatever he could get his hands on for a good price he used.

Keith Richards said he didn't care what wood was used on his guitars. "I'm not gonna build a fire with them."

-T

I have two AmStd (SSS and HSS) and a MIM and I never thought to weigh them. They all have a sound I like and that's why I got them. True, the MIM's output was a bit low but that was mostly due to the pups and that someone had seriously messed up the wiring. Replaced with Lace Golds, the MIM sounds terrific.

I don't detect any more or less sustain between them but that's also a function of how you play. For that matter, when I play for "rock" style sustain, I tend to use my very light SG. But my rocker friends all head right for the Les Paul weight D'Armand M75. More sustain or do they just think so because they're mostly LP players and the "weight is right?"

In terms of price, the M75 is both the heaviest and least expensive guitar I own.

Add in playing style, the actual wood, the construction, and the pup and weight should be relatively minimal.