Hi everyone,

what are the differences between a 92 MIM strat and a modern MIM strat?

I read that 92' was the year that MIM first started mass production - is it good or bad?

What wood and pickups were used on th 92s comapred to the modern strats?

Thanks

Todays MIM Standards are vastly superior guitars IMO. The early MIMs were made of poplar with an alder veneer, had a small "pot-metal" brdige block, had mini pots ( Some years not all) and ceramic pickups, had small vintage frets and radius.

The Newer MIMs have bigger, full size zinc trem blocks, are made of alder, have bigger medium jumbo frets, tinted maple necks, Full size CTS pots and better switch, and all around better craftsmanship.

Upgrading to the MIA gets you a nicer trem block, newer 2-point trem design, a case, thinner polyurethane finish, Rolled fretboard edges, nicer Alnico pickups, and just more attention to detail.

The Newer MIMs are great instruments but the MIA standard is just a bit more refined in my opinion. YMMV though

I have relatively small hands, so maybe a smaller radius is a good thing...

Well the radius has nothing to do with the girth of the neck. A smaller radius means there is more curvature to the surface of the fretboard and a higher radius means the fretboard is flatter. Generally 7.25" radii are good for chording but are hard to do bends on for leads, and flatter radii like the modern 9.5" are better for doing bends without fretting out. Now thats not to say that a properly setup 7.25 radius isn't good for lead work, because I get along fine on mine.

The MIM Standards of today are much better than the 92 in terms of upgrades and quality. I wouldn't even consider an MIM Std from before 2006 when they got their first round of upgrades.

Other MIM models like the Classic Series and various Deluxes have been pretty good throughout the years though.

And when considering MIA, there are cheaper options that didn't exist in 1992. Now you got Highway 1 and American Special as well as the American Standard. Then there is the MIM Classic Player Strat which blurs the lines between MIM and MIA. All superior to the MIM Stds in my opinion. But try them all, each guitar is different.

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

DONT THEY USE SAME PICK UPS, BRIDGES AND STOCK, ALDER BODY, MAPLE NECK AND FRET BOARDs?


how may plants are there in mexico> WHICK ONES HAVE THE BETTER REPUTATIONS HOW DO i fIND OUT WHICH PLANT MINE WAS MANUFACTURED IN?

ray820[/i]

I have a 2010 MIM and have to say that the build quality on it is excellent. Just superb.

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2010 Fender Standard Stratocaster (Brown Burst)
Marshall Class 5

Ray theres only one plant in Mexico, the Ensenada plant.

Both Yogi and Metropolis74 make very valid points. To reiterate, modern MIM's are fantastic guitars. The parts are not the same as the US guitars. Aside from the odd model that will use customshop pickups or something.

They really seem to be punching above their weight these days. I tend to favour my MIM tele over everything else these days.

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No no and no

I have 2 MIM Strats- '00 and '10 and both are exceptional guitars and the necks are very comfortable in my small nerve and muscle damaged hands.

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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.

Thanks for the info everyone.

Is there a way so know if a MIM strat is a fake or not, except looking at the serial number?
I saw an offer for a second-hand MIM 2009 guitar, but I'm worried that the shop had changed the electronics, pickups, etc...

The electronics, pickups, etc. being switched would not indicate that it was a fake, merely that it had been modded (which countless people do to both MIA and MIM guitars).

And be careful where you check the serial number. The Guitar Dater Project is not to be trusted (both Gibson and Ibanez warn about this on their websites). The best thing to do is to email Fender customer service. They will get back to you within 48 hours with all kinds of details about the guitar.

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2010 Fender Standard Stratocaster (Brown Burst)
Marshall Class 5