Nope, this isn't another "what's the difference/worth the extra money???" thread, just an observation I thought I'd share. I bought an MIM tele about four months back on the cheap (midnight wine, yum) from a local shop goin out of business. I'm just as in love with it now as I was the day I bought it so that might contribute to some of the bias in this post.
Anyhoo, on a run to my other two local shops in hopes of finding an SCXD, which are being snatched up like there's no tomorrow, I figured I'd play around on the American tele's since I don't own one. Now I had read plenty of stories of Mexican "gems", but out of the three Americans I played (small sample, I know), to me none of them even felt as nice in my hands as my own. On one my hand just kept getting stuck along the neck as I tried to slide. Like I said there may be some bias, but if I thought they felt like an improvement I'm sure I would have noticed. For those wondering, one of stores has a nice meter on the wall to let us know the guitars are sitting in a cozy 47% humidity. As for the other store..well guess we'll just have to trust them. Admittedly, once I plugged the guitars in my Mexican began to show its flaws, but that also has a lot to do with a blues jr. easily putting my crate practice amp to shame.
Obviously, and fortunately, my experience is the exception, not the expectation. But I'd much rather start off with a guitar that feels beautiful and pretty up its sound than to not even enjoy playing the heavenly sounding guitar in my hands...but that's just me.
Anyhoo, on a run to my other two local shops in hopes of finding an SCXD, which are being snatched up like there's no tomorrow, I figured I'd play around on the American tele's since I don't own one. Now I had read plenty of stories of Mexican "gems", but out of the three Americans I played (small sample, I know), to me none of them even felt as nice in my hands as my own. On one my hand just kept getting stuck along the neck as I tried to slide. Like I said there may be some bias, but if I thought they felt like an improvement I'm sure I would have noticed. For those wondering, one of stores has a nice meter on the wall to let us know the guitars are sitting in a cozy 47% humidity. As for the other store..well guess we'll just have to trust them. Admittedly, once I plugged the guitars in my Mexican began to show its flaws, but that also has a lot to do with a blues jr. easily putting my crate practice amp to shame.
Obviously, and fortunately, my experience is the exception, not the expectation. But I'd much rather start off with a guitar that feels beautiful and pretty up its sound than to not even enjoy playing the heavenly sounding guitar in my hands...but that's just me.
