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Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 8:51 pm
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Hi Kira and welcome to the forum,I have an 06 MIM Tele and I love everything about it,from what some others have been saying mine must have been an anomally as there is nothing at all wrong with it,the pots work perfectly and are quiet,the frets are finished and don't feel rough in spots and the overall set up and sound are great granted it may not have the build quality and output of my buddy's $1200 Tele but for $350 very slightly used I got an above average guitar.

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Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:14 pm
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Some American Fenders are made by American with a Mexican heritage, while some Mexican Fenders are made in America but are assembled in Mexico...like my 1992 Fender Telecaster!
I just have to laugh when I read other posts about how the "American" made Fender has "better" parts. :roll: :lol:


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Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 2:34 pm
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franchelB wrote:
I just have to laugh when I read other posts about how the "American" made Fender has "better" parts. :roll: :lol:


What do you mean by this statement? :roll:

Surely you don't believe that MIM guitars have the same hardware as the MIA models? :shock:

If you do actually believe that, you must know very little indeed about Fender guitars. :P


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Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 8:01 pm
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AjayTele wrote:
franchelB wrote:
I just have to laugh when I read other posts about how the "American" made Fender has "better" parts. :roll: :lol:


What do you mean by this statement? :roll:

Surely you don't believe that MIM guitars have the same hardware as the MIA models? :shock:

If you do actually believe that, you must know very little indeed about Fender guitars. :P


A darn shame that you live the land of Oz that you can't just come over for a visit, and see my 1991 Mexican Telecaster. Yes, the parts ARE American made...the guitar was assembled in Mexico.


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Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 11:22 pm
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franchelB wrote:
AjayTele wrote:
franchelB wrote:
I just have to laugh when I read other posts about how the "American" made Fender has "better" parts. :roll: :lol:


What do you mean by this statement? :roll:

Surely you don't believe that MIM guitars have the same hardware as the MIA models? :shock:

If you do actually believe that, you must know very little indeed about Fender guitars. :P


A darn shame that you live the land of Oz that you can't just come over for a visit, and see my 1991 Mexican Telecaster. Yes, the parts ARE American made...the guitar was assembled in Mexico.


Just so you know Ajay has hundreds of Teles, literally. He is a collector and his collection is worth millions.

CC

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Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 12:23 am
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franchelB wrote:
AjayTele wrote:
franchelB wrote:
A darn shame that you live the land of Oz that you can't just come over for a visit, and see my 1991 Mexican Telecaster. Yes, the parts ARE American made...the guitar was assembled in Mexico.


It's no problem - just post up some detailed photos of your MIM. You may actually find that the 1991 MIMs were not 100% American parts anyway (they certainly had some USA parts). Some of the info I have read indicated that they also had some japanese Fender parts used in the assembly. :shock:

BUT in the context of this general discussion, a 1991 MIM Tele is NOT a typical MIM Std Tele and it's absolutely incorrect to use it as an example of MIM guitars being "the same" as MIA guitars in recent years. :wink:


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Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 7:51 am
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Welcome to the forum
What I find most noticeable is the difference in the necks. The MIA`s feel better to me especially the fret wire itself. Their not so rough along the edges like the ones MIM.

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Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 3:59 am
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I'm a working bassist. I currently play 3 Fenders (2 Japanese 1 MIA) and a custom boutique Jazz. The quality and playability of my three Fender basses have been worth every dime I spent on them. I've tried the Mexi instruments and have found (out of the hundreds I've tried) a small handful that were playable. Bottom line, buy a cheap instrument you are going to get just that. Buy a cheap car, you are not going to get a Mercedes. Buy a cheap steak, you are going to get a lot of gristle, buy a cheap airline ticket, you are going to have your knees in your chin and stale peanuts.
I know what I am getting with my Fenders, I know they are not going to fail me on the road at 1am in a packed club. A warranty is worthless at that hour when everything is closed and you have a contract gig you need to play. Think about it.
The cheap mexi bass may sound good to YOU, but me the pro and everyone else who knows what they are about can hear the difference in your tone. May not mean much to you, but it does to the pro that's listening. Tone is everything. That's why so many older cats sound so good. We spend money on our sound.
Final test... How much will the cheap bass resell for? Instruments are an investment. Buy something of quality and it will not fight you or hurt when you play it. It also take care of you when you want to upgrade to another instrument.
Think of how much more fun learning to play would have been if you started on a real quality instrument. Avoid the cheap, it leads to sorrow. Save the money, shop around and get a FAR better MIA/MIJ used rig. Easier to play.


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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 2:01 pm
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TwinStar68 wrote:
The cheap mexi bass may sound good to YOU, but me the pro and everyone else who knows what they are about can hear the difference in your tone. May not mean much to you, but it does to the pro that's listening..


Let me ask you something,when you play a gig,do you play for the pro who's out there or for the audience?And how many pros are there in the crowd.How many are there who can actually hear the difference between a Mexican,Japanese,Korean or American Fender right there on the spot?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT-SFgkVlno
Guess what's Eric Clapton(he's a pro,right) playin' there?Yeah,a cheap maxi strat that he got as a christmass gift.He just added his signature neck,everything is stock,it's his "christmass strat"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-S4TDGoOqA
Hmmmm,that's alegendary Jimmie Vaughan playin' a mexican strat on Crossroads festival,with all them masterbuilds around.Damn,he's a pro too,how can he use some mexi cheap thing on a festival like that?And he used another one this year.
What I'm trying to say Mexican Fenders are decent guitars just about as any other Fender guitar.


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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 9:51 pm
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Hi Alexander welcome to the Forum,this thread was started in 07 so a lot of the comments are older.It's been pretty well established by now that anyone who dismisses MIM Fenders as inferior junk is full of it.I have an MIM Tele,a MIM lefty Strat and a new Jimmie Vaughn and they are all fabulous guitars,the J.V. is an especially exceptional guitar,I picked it as the best of the 9 or 10 Strats that I tried when I bought it.

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Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 6:38 am
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AjayTele wrote:
franchelB wrote:
AjayTele wrote:
franchelB wrote:
A darn shame that you live the land of Oz that you can't just come over for a visit, and see my 1991 Mexican Telecaster. Yes, the parts ARE American made...the guitar was assembled in Mexico.


It's no problem - just post up some detailed photos of your MIM. You may actually find that the 1991 MIMs were not 100% American parts anyway (they certainly had some USA parts). Some of the info I have read indicated that they also had some japanese Fender parts used in the assembly. :shock:

BUT in the context of this general discussion, a 1991 MIM Tele is NOT a typical MIM Std Tele and it's absolutely incorrect to use it as an example of MIM guitars being "the same" as MIA guitars in recent years. :wink:


Yes I think the newer mexican products from Fender are as high quality as the MIA. I think its because all parts are approved in the US, by the Corona plant, and sent to Mexico for assembly. But they do more in the Mexican plant especially on the bodies. The unfinished necks are made in the US and sent to Mexico for finishing. The quality is maintained thru Corona, and the labor intense stuff is done in Mexico. They do tend to use vintage (older) parts on the MIM and the newer parts on MIA's. But even that distinction is starting to blur, which is Fender's intention. I'm sure they don't want to have a debate about the quality of North American products.

To me its what you see and hear is what you get. The Classic Player line is a good example of this: MIM's with world-class sound and quality. This debate is pointless, because better construction does not always = better sound. I see that the more expensive MIA Fenders are thinly veiled attempts to get your money, when you could get a cheaper MIM product with nearly the same vintage parts. They are called Signature Models. I think the Custom Shop guitars might be a way to get higher quality non-mass produced guitars.

To me its all about the sound of the instrument, because if I'm out performing I don't think about a capacitor or cloth coated wires. I'm not thinking about how tight the neck pocket is, because I wouldn't have bought it if it was loose or ill-fitting. For me it is about the song, and whether it needs a single coil spank sound or a bigger fat humbucker sound. And after that it becomes how comfortable the neck+action is, and the weight of the guitar. I don't think about the location where the guitar is made until one of my friends asks me, and I say "Go out and play the models you're interested in, and debate between your wallet and reality."

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Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 6:45 am
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qblue wrote:
Yes I think the newer mexican products from Fender are as high quality as the MIA. I think its because all parts are approved in the US, by the Corona plant, and sent to Mexico for assembly. But they do more in the Mexican plant especially on the bodies. The unfinished necks are made in the US and sent to Mexico for finishing. The quality is maintained thru Corona, and the labor intense stuff is done in Mexico. They do tend to use vintage (older) parts on the MIM and the newer parts on MIA's. But even that distinction is starting to blur, which is Fender's intention. I'm sure they don't want to have a debate about the quality of North American products.

To me its what you see and hear is what you get. The Classic Player line is a good example of this: MIM's with world-class sound and quality. This debate is pointless, because better construction does not always = better sound. I see that the more expensive MIA Fenders are thinly veiled attempts to get your money, when you could get a cheaper MIM product with nearly the same vintage parts. They are called Signature Models. I think the Custom Shop guitars might be a way to get higher quality non-mass produced guitars.

To me its all about the sound of the instrument, because if I'm out performing I don't think about a capacitor or cloth coated wires. I'm not thinking about how tight the neck pocket is, because I wouldn't have bought it if it was loose or ill-fitting. For me it is about the song, and whether it needs a single coil spank sound or a bigger fat humbucker sound. And after that it becomes how comfortable the neck+action is, and the weight of the guitar. I don't think about the location where the guitar is made until one of my friends asks me, and I say "Go out and play the models you're interested in, and debate between your wallet and reality."


That is absolute nonsense. It is amazing that you appear to believe this is true. :shock:

I suggest you look up the mexican Fender factory tour video, to find out what they do. They are intensely proud that they make their own bodies and necks.... :wink:

Anyone who has a working knowledge of both MIA and MIM guitars KNOWS that there are very distinct differences in manufacture, quality and componentary. The differences are small, but all add up to the MIA product being better and costing more.

You clearly have not analyised recent MIA and MIM Standard Teles on an objective basis. :roll:

I have, and they are indeed different with MIA having the edge in overall quality and hardware. 8)


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Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 8:05 am
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to be honest i cant feel any difference between a MIA strat and my CP50's strat.

the only difference must be that the CP50s has far better looks.


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Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 7:48 pm
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Ruben Miranda - Fender wrote:
Franck wrote:
Pretty good question: I think most of the difference have been mentioned already especially higher quality woods and maybe better finish... but really in terms of sound I really recommend that you try both.

I'm convinced that overall quality has definitely improved in the Mexican factory and they do produce extremely good guitars now. I'm not a pro but I think that most of the cost difference now comes from 'the legend' itself: you pay more because it comes from the US, a great Fender has to come from the US somewhat, the origin of the brand.

Actually, I was looking for my first Telecaster US this summer. Since I got a new job with good income, I was ready to spend what it takes to get me a great one. Hours later well spent in music shops, playing and listening at many guitars (not only Fender by the way!!) I found it and guess what?
I went for a Mexican Telecaster 72'Thinline, a beauty with the sound I was simply dreaming to find. No comparison even with US Tele or Strat I tried.

So my only advice is to trust your ears, your fingers, your feelings. A Mexican Fender can sound better or as well as US one for less money. You just have to look around and take your time. Good luck and have fun!!

Franck

PS: message for all Fender's Mexican techs: God bless you Guys, I wish I can thank you all for that jewel that is the Tele 72'Thinline that I've just bought. Great job, the sound is just...my soul! For future productions, think about putting a Mexican flag sticker on the neck ;)



Franck, thanks a lot for your kind words towards Fender Mexico, i'll make sure your comments reach the very people that put together your guitar!. And yes, '72 Tele Thinlines are awesome!.


Ruben,
Please pass on my compliments as well. I have a MIM Tele and an MIM Strat and those two guitars will never leave my possession. I love the fit, finish feel and sound. I wish I could personally meet the fine craftsmen who made these fine instruments that were made for me! They are without a doubt two of the finest instruments I have ever played or owned!
Eric :D


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Post subject: Re: difference between USA and Mexico made Fender
Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 1:43 pm
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I am no expert but have two MIA strats, and an ash MIM tele. I can't imagine anyone not being happy with any Fender product. I can't take anything away from the MIM tele, it's plays a whole lot better than I do. The wood grain matches so well it looks like a solid plank, very, very nicely made. All three appear to be quality instruments, but I have no doubt the MIA are superior guitars and worth the price difference to those willing to pay.


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