Hello all. I am currently coming into some money in the next month or two and was thinking about purchasing a mexi made strat and having some mods done to it. (Im not very experienced in building or modding guitars so im probably going to have someone else do it) I was wondering if anyone had some good mods they wished to share with me. And perhaps some good luthiers or repaire shops in southern California or central Oregon.

Thanks in advance!

Upgraded pick ups are never a bad place to start !
Just put a set of Texas Specials in my old MIJ (read more here viewtopic.php?f=6&t=49564 ) an its like having a new guitar, its transformed it in to something else

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Dan...

Fender 1987 MIJ Stratocaster, Texas Special Loaded.
Fender 2007 MIA Jazz Deluxe.

Having someone else do the mods will negate any cost savings that you would get by starting with a MIM. You may as well buy a higher level guitar that is more to your liking. Doing mods yourself is all part of the fun of modding. Changing pickups, tuners, bridges, etc. is easy and something you should learn to do yourself. There are a lot of people in this and other forums who have modded their guitars (everyone of mine is modded and I have done them all myself) and will be happy to answer your questions or provide guidance.

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Bill

In my experience nothing will help the sound of the standard MIM guitar more than replacing the zinc alloy tremelo block/bar with a nice steel or brass one. Not even pickup changes.

You can get a steel block from Guitar Fetish for $20.00

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I remember when we were free!

mexi stray? never heard of

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Liandra "guitargurl"Smith

i picked up a mim strat a wee while ago , compared to my 89 mij it sounded terrible , one of the first things i done was change the bridge to one with a steel block , then i started to mess about with the hight of the pups , they sound not to bad but still not to my liking , they'll get changed once i finish my strat build . hth , cheers
Alan

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+1 on the upgrade trem block, it will make a difference on a MIM Strat.

Also, if you get a Classic Series strat (50s, 60s, 70s) it will have some great hardware and pickups as well as well as a great neck and body. Hence, you may not need to do any upgrades.

The MIM strats are pretty good stock. But 3 things that will make ALL the difference are :

1. Change the plastic nut to something "real".....Use Tusq or a good Graphtech nut.
2. Change the pickups to any name-brand US built pickup, almost anything you choose will be an improvement.
3. Buy a Pearloid or Tortoise Shell pickguard.
These 3 simple things will not only improve your guitar's sound, but it's looks as well! And all said and done, these 3 can be done for about $250+/-, especially if you can solder
Pay to have the nut replaced, unless you have experience with nut work.

i agree with the poster above about doing it yourself. dan erlewine has some killer books and dvd's on the subject too. look for them. there is a ton of money saved in labor if you can do it yourself bro.
there is a wealth of info on here from some serious modders and builders.
they like questions and teaching. ask away.
there are tons of mods out there that you can do, but the question is,
which ones do you really need? keep your needs list away from your wants list is my suggestion. Need, a better nut for staying in tune. Want, a new pickguard that looks better. Need, locking tuners if your a whammy bar freak. Want, strap locks.
you get the idea im sure. its all really about personal tastes really. you might want to save bucks and buy a MIA neck or something even. its all up to you bro.
best bet is to write things down first, then study on them. dont leap on anything.
take your time and think everything through, it will show good results in the end if you do.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

1. personalize it with a nice pick guard
2. locking tuners
3. strap locks
4. swap out the trem block for a nice steel one
5. consider swapping pickups (if you aren't happy with the stock ones)
6. learn to do it yourself. You'll save time and money. Who better to setup a guitar than the person that is going to be playing it ?

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"I like the way he puts Yngwie J. Malmsteen on his album covers. You know,....so you don't confuse him with all the other Yngwie Malmsteens in the business"


2008 Fender MIM Stratocaster
2010 Epiphone Masterbilt
2009 Fender Super Champ XD

spend 8 bucks (canadian) on a sheet of copper shielding and apply it to the back of your pickguard...if your feeling energetic line the pup route too. really helps cut down on the 60 cycle hum.

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Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancin'

Just took your advise and ordered a trem block from GFS. I ordered the brass one however as I wanted a slightly warmer tone for my blues.

UpDate: Also order a set of GFS Professional 59 Texas Overwound pups and 3 500k pots, copper shielding and am going to do it myself. Should be fun and really upgrade this mim.

Very good. Its the cheapest quickest way to improve. As to changing the nut and pickups, yes that too could help but your talking more money and close to more money than the guitar is worth if your having someone else do the service plus parts.


I have used steel and brass and well satisfyed with GFS stuff.

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I remember when we were free!

All of those are great advice
#6 is my favorite, theres only you thats knows how you want your guitar set up, how it should be, after all its all part of the fun of it !

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Dan...

Fender 1987 MIJ Stratocaster, Texas Special Loaded.
Fender 2007 MIA Jazz Deluxe.

Thank you all for your feedback and suggestions! Im definately going to take my time and think it out now and i will try to do everything myself depending on what i decide to do. Thank you again!