As others have said, keep the MIM and buy a MIA. I recently acquired a MIA strat for Christmas. I've been saving for a long while to get it too. Christmas money just helped.

I have to disagree with the comment that the MIM parts are the same quality as a MIA and just assembled in Mexico. A and Bing the two, you can definitely tell a difference in the hardware. Everything from the stamped saddles, to the pick guard, etc. The parts on a MIM are cheaply produced, which is why they're cheaper. Not just cause of labor. My MIM guitar must weigh about 3-5 lbs. more than my MIA. The MIA fretboard feels much nicer too. The quality between the two doesn't compare.

Having said that, I still love my Lonestar MIM. It has a completely different voice and feel. Some days I use the MIM, some days the MIA. Mostly the MIA as of now cause it's my new baby, but MIM's can be great guitars with a little extra work and upgrades.

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"If it ain't one thing, it's another."

Most of the parts on the USA guitars are MIM. Outside of the neck and bodies being cut in California, there isn't much made in the USA on that USA strat.The pickguards the tuners the pups. They are the same. The differences in the MIM and USa is the type of pups the bridge spacing the tremolo block 2 vs 6 screen bridge how many peices of wood the body is the tuner height.

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Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore, trust the physician and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility.-Khalil Gibran

Bring your mim into your favorite guitar store....where you plan to buy your guitar. Sit down at an amp you're comfortable with. Grab the guitar that you're considering buying. Play one guitar. Unplug, play the other guitar, repeat for all different pickup settings, volumes, gains, etc. Get a feel for each guitar. Look at each. Get a visual idea of what you like/don't like about each.

After you do this, look at the price tag. If the price of the new guitar is worth it to you to get the improvements you noted, buy it. If it doesn't.....don't.

I did this before buying an mim tele. I will admit that I liked the MIA one better. It felt better, it sounded better. But how much better? Not the difference in price to me. If I had an unlimited budget.....or if someone was going to give me one or the other for free, the decision would have been far easier and not in the direction I went in.

Now, if someone here would like to give me a free guitar, and I get to pick it, I'll be happy to point out what I want out of the MIA lineup. Heck....I'll point out one strat and one tele...

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2002 mim Telecaster
Jimmie Vaughan Stratocaster
Mexican HSS Stratocaster
6 non-fender guitars
2 kids (not for sale)
1 wife (uh....no comment)

I guess I got it the wrong way around then. The main point of my comment was the the near $300 dollar difference in price is basically due to you buying the "name" of an MIA versus an MIM, i just kinda made an $@! out of myself doing it

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