Here's the deal. I was at the guitar store this morning and was just looking at some of the Mexican made strats and found one that felt really nice and looked a lot like my MIA strat. Anyway I was just wondering what the pickups were like on those MIM guitars and what I should look out for if I decide to purchase one. I did not have time to plug it in to an amp. This is an all single coil lineup with Maple neck and Rosewood fingerboard. I have absolutely no experience with anything other than American Fenders so some input would be appreciated. Thanks. Oh they wanted $499.00 but I'm guessing that's negotiable. He also has an American 3tsb single coil strat still in the shipping box for $1,000 out the door.

I am picking my MIM Strat up this weekend and from what I hear the pups and electronics are not as of good quality as the MIA Strats but pretty good sound for the money and mine sounds pretty well,no scratchy sounds but I will probably install lace sensors and new gs electronics kit in mine that should do it but for now I am just gonna play it for a while to compare the sound clarity,hope this helps and good luck and may God bless You

Thanks Ruz, Yes I was reading up on it a bit and the electronics seem to be the giveaway versus the American Strats. I really did like the feel of the guitar very much and the build quality looked fine to me. Best of luck on your new purchase and take good care too.

I just picked this up yesterday. I favor and have American made guitars also, but this Strat is probably the best MIM I`ve had yet. It plays well and sounds pretty good. Pup upgrades can be done to suit your means but I`m happy with this one stock. Play one you might be surprised. Good luck with your decision.

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I wouldn't be so Quick to change out the pots. MIM standards use the same pots and switch as the USA guitars, just different, ceramic pickups. Those GFS pots and switches would be a Downgrade as they are Alpha pots and a Cheaper import switch.

To the OP remember what I Said applies only to the MIM standard model, which is the bottom of the totem MIM model. There are higher end MIMs as well with higher specs.

Yogi, I'm guessing that the strat I looked at in the shop was a standard strat. It was selling for $499.00 but had a list price of $799.00 or something like that. Is there something I need to look at to determine if this is a standard or something else?
If I purchesed this guitar are you saying that I could simply change out the picups and leave the pots and switch alone? Thanks for your input.

More than likely it was a standard, does it have a logo like the blue guitar pictured above?

The pickups may not even need changing, depends on how you like them. As for the pots and switch, they are the same as the American Guitars, CTS and CRL. I definitely wouldn't change them out for the GFS "Upgrade" kit which is mainly meant as an upgrade for Asian imports, not MIM or American guitars.

Thanks Yogi,

I'll have another look at when i go back this weekend. Like I said I loved the feel of the guitar but this time I'll give it a shot with the amp attached. I'm not looking for something very expensive just a guitar to mess around on and not have to worry about it getting scratched or anything like that. I'll let you know what I find. I thought that American Standard was going for a good price too seeing that it was still in the box and came of course with the hardshell case.

Remember to get a minimum of 10% + % of yor local sles tax off guitar. So a $1k priced guitar should be $830.00--ish at most out the door = total in your car driving away.

Makes sure neck doesn't have notes fretting out (no sound) when you bend notes a whole step up = could be costly repair - BEWARE!!

I don't know what is installed in the newer MIM Strats, but older MIM Strats use bar magnet pickups, lower quality switches, and smaller import pots. They can still sound good, but in my opinion not as good as a USA Strat.

Since 2006 MIMs have had the same CTS pots and CRL switch as American guitars. They still have ceramic pickups, but pickups are a matter of personal taste. They also have full size zinc trem blocks instead of the small zinc blocks.