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Post subject: American? Mexican? Japanese?
Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 9:35 pm
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:lol: Ya know what I was thinking, I always hear everyone sayin they LOVe American made Strats. Now I am guessing that a majority of these people are from the US, now ya think that peps in Mexico would rather mexican built strats? :) And the Japanese, ya think they would rather strats built in Japan? LOL. :P Just something I was thinking about after a few cocktails on this Friday night. Take care ladies and gents! :P

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Last edited by NawlinzVoodoo on Mon May 05, 2008 9:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 9:37 pm
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I like my MIJ better than the American or MIM Strats I have tried.


And I'm from the U.S.

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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 6:29 am
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My son has a Mexican fat strat and I have an American standard strat. Both are fine instruments, but the cost difference between the two is not as great as might be expected. The American strat came with a superb hard case, cable, and strap. We had to buy a hard case for the Mexican strat. So that brought the price of the Mexican strat up to about $570 after buying the hard case, cable, and strap. Using the same math I paid $910 with a 10% off coupon at Guitar Center for the American. Subtract $170 for case, cable, and strap that I would have bought anyway, and the cost of the guitar was $740. So there was only a $170 difference between the American and the Mexican after all was bought and paid for. Actually the hard case that came with the American is much better than the Roadrunner case we got for the Mexican, so had we bought the better case for the Mexican, the difference would be $140 instead of $170.

I believe that Fender is adding value with things like the case because of foreign competition. In my case, the value added was worth the extra cost. The cable that came with the American is better than the Monster cable that we bought for the Mexican, and the Fender strap is better than the one we bought for the Mexican.

As for sound, both the Mexican and the American are excellent instruments. The American clearly does sound better, is built better, and has some better internals. Most notably the American sounds better and supposedly has a better whammy system so that it stays in tune better than the Mexican version.

Either way, I don't think you can go wrong provided you handle and play the guitar before buying it.


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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 5:25 pm
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I have both an American and a Mexican Strat (HSS).

I love the Mexican Strat and have been playing it for about 4 years. It's action is great, and I just like the whole general feel of it.

I just recently bought an American Deluxe, and I have to say that it feels a lot better, and for whatever reason, just feels like it's more quality made. I also think the American sounds a lot better. But then.......The American has different pickups and also has the S-1 switching system, which gives it a whole different kind of sound.

I still love my Mexican Strat, and practice with it all the time. Rather than thinking about "which one is better", I play both. And since they have different sounds.......I just use the one for the sound that I want at the time.


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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 7:10 pm
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Post in white so I can read it. I have partial color blindness and can't see yellow!


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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 7:29 pm
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I will second posting in the default color. There are some of us on here that have trouble reading some of these other colors.

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.


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Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 4:19 pm
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People that can't afford MIA guitars like to say things like "the sound is in your fingers" or "Eric Clapton sounds the same no matter what guitars he plays."

They claim that a MIM is just as good.

Nope, that's basically a myth. The proof: A/B them side by side.

What you'll find is that the MIA both plays better on the average and also sounds better on the average.

Anyone who tells you otherwise has a tin ear.

Plus, the MIA holds its value better.

If they really were the same, then professionals would be playing MIM instruments. But they aren't (okay, maybe Avril Lavigne and her boyfriend, but get real, I said "professionals").

Maybe an analogy will make things clear. Yes, you can run a marathon in dress shoes or you can run them in nike running shoes. You'll finish either way, no? If someone were to look at you from the waist up theyd probably say, "his running style looks the same."

But the point is, why make your life harder and run in dress shoes when you can spend the extra money and run in running shoes?

Similarly, why take a horrible hit in your tone by buying an MIM, when you can start off with great tone using an MIA?

As for the MIJ vs MIA. I find that MIJ's on the average have better quality than the MIA, but sound different. More of a vintage vibe than a modern vibe.

I have nothing against MIJ instruments, except they don't hold their value well.

Anyway, that's my opinion.


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Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 5:02 pm
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guitarhacker wrote:
People that can't afford MIA guitars like to say things like "the sound is in your fingers" or "Eric Clapton sounds the same no matter what guitars he plays."

They claim that a MIM is just as good.

Nope, that's basically a myth. The proof: A/B them side by side.

What you'll find is that the MIA both plays better on the average and also sounds better on the average.

Anyone who tells you otherwise has a tin ear.

Plus, the MIA holds its value better.

If they really were the same, then professionals would be playing MIM instruments. But they aren't (okay, maybe Avril Lavigne and her boyfriend, but get real, I said "professionals").

Maybe an analogy will make things clear. Yes, you can run a marathon in dress shoes or you can run them in nike running shoes. You'll finish either way, no? If someone were to look at you from the waist up theyd probably say, "his running style looks the same."

But the point is, why make your life harder and run in dress shoes when you can spend the extra money and run in running shoes?

Similarly, why take a horrible hit in your tone by buying an MIM, when you can start off with great tone using an MIA?

As for the MIJ vs MIA. I find that MIJ's on the average have better quality than the MIA, but sound different. More of a vintage vibe than a modern vibe.

I have nothing against MIJ instruments, except they don't hold their value well.

Anyway, that's my opinion.


I have to agree for the most part. The MIM's are made with many more pieces of scrap wood, affecting resonance. The pups aren't anywhere near as good as American pups. They use musch cheaper pots, switches, bridge, saddles. The finish work isn't near as good. Don't get me wrong, the MIM is great begginers guitar and with a few mods a decent guitar. To my mind, why buy the cheaper guitar to mod up when you can get the American that doesn't need the mods?

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Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 5:07 pm
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I have a jpn but prefer a usa.


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Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 11:13 am
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CAFeathers wrote:
I like my MIJ better than the American or MIM Strats I have tried.


And I'm from the U.S.


I had a paisley tele in the early 90's that was from Japan, she was an awesome playing instrument.


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Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 4:10 pm
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There are probably thousands of posts about MIA vs MIM on just ultimate-guitar.com alone. There is a big difference, and there are countless websites that point all these out.

The bottom line: If you can appreciate the differences, and you're at a level of skill that you want those upgrades in the MIA, then there is no guessing as to which one you want. If you cannot tell the difference, or aren't at a level to appreciate them, the get the MIM - they're good too.

The MIJ guitars I've played have always been solid, great guitars. As good or better some some MIA's, although I've seen them come out somewhat inconsistent.

My order of preference would be MIA, MIJ, MIM. All of which are great however.


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Post subject: Re: American? Mexican? Japanese?
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 4:42 pm
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NawlinzVoodoo wrote:
:lol: Ya know what I was thinking, I always hear everyone sayin they LOVe American made Strats. Now I am guessing that a majority of these people are from the US, now ya think that peps in Mexico would rather mexican built strats? :) And the Japanese, ya think they would rather strats built in Japan? LOL. :P Just something I was thinking about after a few cocktails on this Friday night. Take care ladies and gents! :P


Here is a great informative tour of the factories (MIA Corona Cal. & MIM Ensenada Mexico)...Use the links at the top of the page for Amps, Guitars, and Paint. Let's not forget that the factories are only 140 miles apart from each other!


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


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 8:41 pm
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I have a MIM Strat that I bought in 2001 and an American Deluxe Strat that I bought in December of 2007. I'll be honest, I find myself picking up my Mexican Strat more often than I do the Deluxe.
Maybe it's because I've had the MIM one so much longer that I'm more comfortable with it or perhaps its the slightly darker sound that the noiseless pickups produce don't sound "strat-y" enough for my ears, but I would have to say at this point, I like my MIM better.
Although all that may have changed a year from now when I've put more time in with it.


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