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Post subject: 1998 Made in Mexico Strat, solid body wood type ?
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 12:16 pm
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Hello,

I purchased a new Strat in 1998, on guitar center, Miami. The serial number from the head stock is MN8277447. I wanted to know what type of wood was used on the solid body, was it Poplar, Ash or Alder? Also I wanted to know how many pieces of the wood were glued together, or was it just one piece? This guitar has a poly finish were you cannot see the wood at all.


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Post subject: Re: 1998 Made in Mexico Strat, solid body wood type ?
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 7:04 pm
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'98 could be poplar or alder. Ash is uncommon on MIM Stds of any era and is pretty much reserved for translucent colors where the grain is visible. If you take the neck off there may be bare wood visible in the neck pocket and you might be able to tell if it's alder or poplar. They can look pretty similar though. Pale wood with greenish grain is definitely poplar, but sometimes it's darker with no hint of green. Alder tends to be darker/browner and never has greenish grain.

Poplar and alder are pretty similar woods. Alder is more traditional but poplar is just as good. (IMO -- some people argue about that.)

The body is made of 5~7 pieces glued side-to-side (not layered like plywood) with a thin veneer on the top and bottom. They used veneer even on opaque colors where you can't see the grain -- with lots of separate pieces, some of them may soak up more finish than others, so the veneer lets them get a smooth finish with fewer coats of paint.


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Post subject: Re: 1998 Made in Mexico Strat, solid body wood type ?
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 8:30 pm
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Thanks so much for the reply strayedstrater ! I really appreciate it !

Here is a picture of the middle part of the body where accidentally a little piece of the white finish was broken.

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos- ... 5078_n.jpg


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Post subject: Re: 1998 Made in Mexico Strat, solid body wood type ?
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 10:57 pm
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That looks like alder to me.


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Post subject: Re: 1998 Made in Mexico Strat, solid body wood type ?
Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 5:55 am
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you should be able to see faint joint lines if you hold the body at an angle and reflect light off the body. I would guess it is no more than a 3 piece body, if that, if indeed it is Alder than it should be a two piece, but a three piece is just as good.
Being a painted finish, two or three piece is irrelevant since it is more about using the stock.

How parallel the grain runs from piece to piece thru the mid sections of the body is important.
Since the bridge will straddle a two piece body. On a three piece the center piece is solid thus not an issue. The string vibrations will be least hampered the straighter ( parallel ) the grain runs from tail to neck. this will affect the time span of a strings vibration.

There is too much emphasis placed on this wood issue.
A perfect example is my 2001 MIM translucent red Strat. ( It was a power strat with the push/push button and vintage pups ) I found the guitar lifeless, I replaced the pups to SCN's, deleted the switch, replaced the tuners with Sperzel locking and a heavier trem block installed ( previous owner mod ).
It is a completely different Strat, twangy and with all the attributes that I look for in a Strat's playability....As for the vintage pups, I placed them in my Stratopartster Build I with 2 TBX tone pots. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=51950
Here they are excellent, great sustain and a very vintage natural distortion sound.
( I use an early 60's Magnatone amp, a Champ and will probably get a Blues Junior. Just sold my HRD )

Wether it is an MIM, MIJ, MIA all of Fender's Strats are made from hardwoods, thus they all have different attributes as far as density and thus affecting string vibration.
Keep in mind these are electric guitars, overall sound is 80% determined by the components in an electromagnetic sound amplification, not like an acoustic which is all a mechanical process..

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Post subject: Re: 1998 Made in Mexico Strat, solid body wood type ?
Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 7:12 am
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MIM standards are hardly ever 2-3 piece, especially not in the 90s. They were poplar with an Alder veneer. Now higher up MIM models like the classic series are non veneered and are 2-3 piece Alder or Ash


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Post subject: Re: 1998 Made in Mexico Strat, solid body wood type ?
Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 7:19 am
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This is what a 3 piece ash MIM body looks like.

Image


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Post subject: Re: 1998 Made in Mexico Strat, solid body wood type ?
Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:51 am
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I should have clarified that I was referring to clear finished MIM Strats in a two or three piece body. I took for granted that everyone would know what I was referring to.
From 1991 the MIM Standard has also been available in a sunburst color which demands a Two or Three piece body....

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Post subject: Re: 1998 Made in Mexico Strat, solid body wood type ?
Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:55 am
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The Sunbursts are veneered in the standards. Underneath the veneer is 4 or more pieces. If you look at the back of veneered subursts, the belly cut is completely black to hide the veneer seams. A non veneered sunburst had only black around the rim.

You can see here that this MIM Sunburst is clearly more than 2-3 pieces

Image


Last edited by Yogi on Wed Jun 20, 2012 9:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: 1998 Made in Mexico Strat, solid body wood type ?
Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:59 am
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91Stratplayer wrote:
This is what a 3 piece ash MIM body looks like.

Image


That is a MIA Deluxe Series... :?: I have not found an MIM in that clear with Ab/Pearl dots and an ebony neck...That is awfully too dark to be rosewood...
Nice guitar.....

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Post subject: Re: 1998 Made in Mexico Strat, solid body wood type ?
Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 12:31 pm
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53magnatone - That's a 60th anniversary MIM FSR body, fully paint shielded from factory. Mighty Mite Birdseye neck, Ebony Fretboard, Abalone dots. American electronics, pickups and pickguard. I put this together and it is my best sounding and playing Strat. My other two are MIA's.


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Post subject: Re: 1998 Made in Mexico Strat, solid body wood type ?
Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2018 7:49 am
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I have what I belive to be a 1998 mim strat with a Roland midi system with a Seymour jb junior in the bridge and I can honestly say I love it. The paint is disgusting and the bridge has rusted but I love it plays like an absolute dream and sounds great


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