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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 2:18 pm
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Actually, for folks like me (who prefer custom pickups, don't use a tremolo bar and would want a jumbo fret custom job)...MiM...or even a Squire might be a better investment.

If I'm going to end up dumping between 4-500 dollars on a guitar to make it the way I like it, I don't see anything wrong at all with going for one of these guitars...


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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 3:28 pm
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I have 2 MIM Strats and an MIA Strat. The 2 MIMs are a Powerhouse strat bought in 03 and a Jimmy Vaughan Strat bought in 06. Love them both and wouldn't trade them for anything!!!! The only reason I like the MIA Strat more is because it was my first strat ever bought in 93. It's a MIA Standard Strat. So the other 2 don't sound the same but are great in their own terms. That's why we all have more than 1 strat. Would not hesitate on buying another MIM Strat at all!!!! It's all personal preference, but some MIM's are as good or better than MIA's.


Last edited by adamym on Thu Feb 21, 2008 3:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 3:28 pm
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Seems like I went through an education process about the MIA and the MIM around the time I bought my Highway One, and did some research. Since Leo, Strats are from 2-3 pieces of Alder or Ash. My Alder '06 (upgraded) Highway One is so finely meshed including the grain that through the wine transparent finish you cannot see any division, which is some sweet workmanship there. A picture was posted here showing the MIMs to be not 2-3 pieces of wood, but many small pieces glued together and then cut into a guitar body. I read somewhere that the shortage of big pieces of the required woods is causing all guitar manufacturers, not just Fender, to assemble small pieces. An immediate difference between my old Squier, which served me well for almost a decade and I still miss the quack in neck-mid from its noisy ceramic p'ups, is weight. My hum-cancelling Highway One, made from just 2-3 pieces, is 1/2 the weight of that Highway One. Since I often like to stand when playing Cocaine, You've Been An Angel, or You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now, weight is important. Another big difference is the sound with the amp off. The Highway One resonates and has a very musical tone without amplification, probably helped along by the thin paint.

A big difference I noticed between the Highway One and several MIM guitars I tried was the neck, where guitar players live. The Highway One has a smooth neck when playing and it's easy to move up and down the neck, probably due to the hand-rollled edges. MIM guitars I tried like the Deluxe Players had necks that were rougher feeling and would get in the way.

The Highway One doesn't get in the way. It transforms what you're thinking into music easily, smoothly and comfortably.


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Post subject: Correction
Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 3:32 pm
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"My hum-cancelling Highway One, made from just 2-3 pieces, is 1/2 the weight of that Highway One"

That makes no sense sorry. I meant to say the Highway One, from just 2 or 3 pieces of Alder, is 1/2 the weight of the noticeably thinner Squier, probably because the Squier is many pieces glued together. My guess is that whether MIMs are 2 or 3 pieces or made like the Squiers from several pieces may depend on the wood supply at the time. All Americans I believe, including the Highway One, are from 2-3 pieces of wood not the many glued together.


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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 4:30 pm
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Made in Mexico Guitars are not garbage guitars. I have played
American made strats that were not put together as well, or played
as well as there Mexican Made Counterparts. I think it is more of a prestige
thing more than anything else. If it plays great and is put together great
keep it. I personally like the way a Mexican strat sounds. ESP the HSS versions. :D


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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 4:49 pm
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strat58cat wrote:
A picture was posted here showing the MIMs to be not 2-3 pieces of wood, but many small pieces glued together and then cut into a guitar body. .


That picture would have been about 10 years old... they don't do that anymore. In the 90s, MIM bodies were made of as many as seven pieces of poplar.


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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:15 pm
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strat58cat wrote:
A picture was posted here showing the MIMs to be not 2-3 pieces of wood, but many small pieces glued together and then cut into a guitar body. .


strat58cat may be thinking about a picture shown at

http://www.guitarstop.com/tour/guitar.htm

which is from 2001. When did they stop this type of body construction?

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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 6:41 pm
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Gravity Jim wrote:
strat58cat wrote:
A picture was posted here showing the MIMs to be not 2-3 pieces of wood, but many small pieces glued together and then cut into a guitar body. .


That picture would have been about 10 years old... they don't do that anymore. In the 90s, MIM bodies were made of as many as seven pieces of poplar.


When I flash the top of my MIM strat, I can see that they used five planks to construct the body blank. It's a beautiful cobalt blue color with maple neck.


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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 7:06 pm
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What year is your MIM, Strataholic?

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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 7:12 pm
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I love the way the original person, 'brenda..whoever', who posted this question has no response or follow-up after almost 2 pages of replies...sad! :cry:

To answer the question anyway:

1) No
2) Yes

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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 7:16 pm
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orvilleowner wrote:
What year is your MIM, Strataholic?


1999... perhaps a 2000... somewhere in there.


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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 8:40 pm
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It seems they were still using multi-piece-veneered bodies in 2006:

http://picasaweb.google.com/meridianmusicguitars/FenderFactoryTour2006/photo#4994463533223313426

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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 9:48 pm
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I own a USA strat and a Mexican one. They're both great guitars.


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Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 6:21 am
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Who cares what they are made of?! They are both Fender Quality guitars!! It only matters what they sound like and what they feel like. As we have all seen, and felt with our own hands, some fenders are better than others no matter if they are MIM's or MIA's. Just play the guitar you have and love it that you can play!


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Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 7:29 am
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Is that comment directed at me for showing pictures of multi-piece MIM bodies? You'll notice I didn't say anything about sound. But it is a bit about quality: quality of the wood that goes into the MIM strats. In order to sell them for less, they have to be able to make them for less. And one way to cut production cost is to use a lower grade of wood: smaller, cheaper pieces get glued together and cost less than wider bigger pieces used in USA strats.

They do make okay guitars. And the veneer makes them look good too.

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