After a very long time, I'm ready to make my dream come true; I'm going to purchase my standard (MIM) white stratocaster with maple fretboard, but I can't find specs for body wood in the MIM standard, deluxe or classic series-which is not the case with MIA standardards (alder)-why is fender hiding this?

From everything i have ever researched, and the fact I have owned a couple MIM's, the standards are always made from Alder. Now I can not say if it is the same quality Alder as the MIA..I imagine Fender would say the MIA uses a more choice cut since..well face it, they charge quite a bit more for the MIA.

Personally, I think other factors have to do with the quality when compaing an MIM to an MIA other then the Alder being different..for all I know it may be all the same wood.

As far as Fender keeping it any kind of secret, I would have to disagree, perhaps you are not looking in the right places. For example it took me less then 10 seconds to go a bestbuy.com and look up standard Strat and this is what the specs state...

Product Features

* Alder body, polyester finish
* Modern C-shaped maple neck with satin urethane finish features a bolt-on neck joint and a 1.65" nut width
* Maple fingerboard with 21 medium-jumbo frets and a 9-1/2" fingerboard radius
* Vintage-style synchronized tremolo
* 3 standard single-coil Strat® pickups with 5-position blade pickup switching
* Controls include master volume, a tone for neck pickup and a tone for middle pickup
* Fender®/Ping® standard cast/sealed tuning machines for accurate tuning
* White 3-ply pickguard
* Fender® Super Bullets® 3250L nickel-plated steel strings; individual string gauges 0.009 - 0.042

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Both MIA and MIM use alder for the body except for the sienna sunburst which uses ash.

Hi ebaysux
I know dealers say MIM strat bodies are made from alder ( I checked GC and Mf too) but it's weird fender don't say it in their website ( they specify body wood only from Highway ones up. And I can swear they did some months ago. As I said, I`ve been always a Fender fan and want to purchase one, but if I'm going to get an Agathis body, I'd better keep my squier and save some money!

Some of the MIM Strats use Ash. The Deluxe Players and I think that some of the Classic Series guitars use Ash. Sometimes only certain finishes use Ash, and the other finishes will use Alder in the same model. But, a MIM Std will have at least an Alder body. I don't think that they use Agathis normally until you get into the Squiers, and some Squiers use Alder.

The MIMs that use ash would only be due to the finish or if a special edition. Translucent colors may, as well as special editions..but since the OP is discussing a solid color, and a standard, it is going to be alder.

You won't find any new MIM's made of agathis (and the OP is discussing a new guitar), AND as far as I know, there are no more Squires made in Mexico.

The affinity series Strats are agathis, but the affinity teles are solid alder. A great deal at 179.99 retail, but if you want a decent ax, expect to change the tuners, pickups and electronics. As well, the affinity Tele uses a hardtail bridge, but not through the body stringing. However, not too long ago a friend and I were guitar shopping and ended up in the Hollywood guitar center. They were giving us custom shop banged up relics and multi thousand dollar relics to try out. I grabbed an affinity off the wall and the playability and sound were good enough at $179.99 to tell them to take those beat up fake relics away and wrap up the affinity to go. I can beat up my own ax, i don't need to pay Fender a few grand to do that for me.

Now if we are going to discuss what has been used in the past..that is anyones guess. I don't even think Fender themselves could..or would give a straight answer as to what every model of strat made where ever has been made of what kind of wood..trust me, they don't always know themselves. But to date, they are not hiding what the MIM standards are made of, and CERTAINLY would let the public know if any of the editions are using ash instead as it is more expensive.

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Actually the newer affinity squier strats are alder, I think only the starcaster is agathis actually and older affinities that were made in Indonisa/China. Squiers use the Indonesian variety because compared to Alder,Poplar and Basswood, its grown locally and cheap but sound wise it is still a tone wood, just a softer variety. If Alder was grown locally there then they would have been made of that.

But still it is not easy to generalize anything with Fenders. I have owned a handful of squiers and it seems each one was made of different wood..from agathis to alder to basswood to laminate (which some call plywood). They all sounded decent however and in the right hands with a few mods would all be good enough. Of course the best sounding guitar I ever owned was an early 70's USA ash body hardtail bridge...but good luck finding one of those anymore and if so...could afford it for a second mortgage ..

But rest assured, the Mexican standards are Alder unless a special edition and Fender will not hide what it is made from. An older Mexican (10 years or so) can be made of poplar (like some japs), but that was most likely because poplar was cheaper at the time.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

So did Fender ever come out and say why they don't specify body wood on the website?! I'm about to get a STD MIM but I need to know it's alder! otherwise I'm just upgrading my chinese strat copy!

Ask them.

http://www.fender.com/support/articles/contact-consumer-relations

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Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

This is a good topic and I would like to add a bit about Agathis ( Araucariaceae ). It's also called New Zealand Kauri ( A.robusta, A. palmerstonil, A. microstachya), East Indian kauri ( A. dammara) Fijian Kauri ( A. vitiensis )..

If you detect a pattern here it is that this species is located in a region of the Pacific.
It seems to be getting a bit of negative flak as it is unwarranted.....
However this wood is used for Joinery, Cabinetwork, Boatbuilding, Patternmaking, Blind, Domestic Flooring, as well as Decorative Veneers.

This is what an instrument ( solid body electric guitars only, acoustic guitars require different properties ) builder requires of a suitable wood material....
(1) Easy to work with either hand or machine tools, mill, cut, shape.
(2) a high stiffness and at least a medium bending and crushing strength.
(3) low dulling effect on cutting edges
(4) easy to carve and stains well, which is a very important factor.

Some woods although they are beautiful to look at, such as Bubinga, Bloodwood are difficult to work with, will destroy cutting edges rapidly, are prone to chipping, does not take staining or clearcoating easily, due to a very high oily content.
Which is not to say that they are not used, for furniture and cabinetry yes.. but not typically for musical instrument..
Which brings up another requirement of a solid body material.....It must resonate well or more specifically transmit vibrations from end to end following grain direction which is also why the more consistent the grain direction, the longer the decay of vibration...Or resonance or Tone as everyone likes to call it.

Poplar is also used and it is actually a very nice wood, easy to work with hand and machine tools, excellent in staining or paint adhesion. But it varies as far as coloring sort of a greenish tint and mottled colors...I have a 6 ft board stored which if you looked at it you would swear it is figured Maple..It's not it is Poplar. I built cabinetry, doors and face frame and vanity from poplar so it is a good selection.

Where does this leave Adler and Ash...
Due to extreme demand, the choice supply of Ash and Adler has decreased which raises the material cost so that highly figured Ash and Adler becomes very expensive in large numbers such as the number of guitars Fender builds each year, thus no longer cost effective except for specific models in small quantities....

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just did...

NO REPLY!!!

Does anyone know?!?!?! is the Std. MIM strat made of Alder or what?!?!?!

From what I have heard the Standard MIM is made of Alder but done cheaper by using 5 pieces for one body whereas the Americans use 3. That can affect tone of course. However the tonal difference between Alder and Agathis is not really much. I could not tell the difference by ear all else being equal. Agathis is used because it is more plentiful and cheaper but this does not mean Alder is some kind of magical tone wood. Granted I have heard stories that the neck joint is weaker with Agathis and since it is softer the screws can strip out easier. Just what I heard however, have not seen this for myself.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

Also to add I do not know why Fender does not mention it on the site but you can go to a site that sells it for example http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Fender%26%2 ... &cp=1&lp=2

and it does clearly state it is made of Alder with a poly finish. Maybe Fender does not mention it because to get a new Strat for 500 bucks or less who cares? Now if buying an American for top dollar yes I could see being more picky.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

The body being made of either Alder, Ash, or Agathis has no bearing on the tapped threads which are in the neck heel which is made of Maple...
The screws directly engage in the neck, the holes in the body are never threaded, which is also why all Fender's use a neck plate.

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