Are mexican strats total crap.....

[abuscus]

I found my lighter.

I could'nt be happier for you Track!

 

[mixmkr]

I found my lighter.

did Hendrix ever burn a tele??

 

[Track Rat]

Your Mamma didn't raise you right. That shit ain't funny.
Which reminds me, I was going through some old Guitar Player mags I have laying around from the late 70's and I have this one with Frank Zappa on the cover with the strat that Hendrix torched at Montery. He had a luthier make it playable but it was still all burnt to hell. It even had the melted plastic pickup covers put back on over new pickups.
Friends don't let friends fuck up guitars.

 

[philboyd studge]

I think I said this before in a long gone thread but to quote Don Randall at his house out here in PGA West at his annual Christmas party I used to play for them a few years back, I asked what he thought of the Mexican made Fenders, and he said, "Who do ya think made 'em in Fullerton?"

 

[Hard2Hear]

Where do I start

The bodies are currently both made from alder,

ok, your first wrong statement. Bodies vary woods depending on the model. Among others, the 70's Strat (MIM) is ash, the Deluxe Super Strat (MIM) is ash, the Deluxe powerhouse (MIM) is poplar, those are a few of the examples.


They're finished with polyester rather than polyurethane and finished to a much lower standard.

I commented on the completely different finishing processes between the guitars.

The necks are different shape, different frets, different trussrod, different machine heads and different finish grade. The rest of the hardware is ENTIRELY different.

not true for all of that. I know you love the "internet information" like mr gearhead, but I get my info from my personal Fender people, that's why I wanted to qualify my first post with the connection information to them. I hope you don't think that two identical parts can't have 2 different #'s in a catalog, cause they do...in more cases than Fender guitars.

Sorry but I trust my personal contacts who give me free stuff before I trust any website, even mr gearhead.


H2H

 

[KaBudokan]

Your Mamma didn't raise you right. That shit ain't funny.
Which reminds me, I was going through some old Guitar Player mags I have laying around from the late 70's and I have this one with Frank Zappa on the cover with the strat that Hendrix torched at Montery. He had a luthier make it playable but it was still all burnt to hell. It even had the melted plastic pickup covers put back on over new pickups.
Friends don't let friends fuck up guitars.

Dweezil owns that guitar now.

 

[jimistone]

I wonder if that burnt strat that Zappa had (and dweezil has now) is the same one that steve howe (guitar player for Yes) had/has. back in the late 70's guitar player mag had a pic of steve howe holding that strat and in the interview he said that it was one that hendrix burnt and was set back up to playing condition an he used it every once in a while. if i remember corectly though, the pickguard assembly was pretty much unburnt and intact...just the body was charred (you could still tell it was sunburst though)

 

[64Firebird]

I wonder if that burnt strat that Zappa had (and dweezil has now) is the same one that steve howe (guitar player for Yes) had/has. back in the late 70's guitar player mag had a pic of steve howe holding that strat and in the interview he said that it was one that hendrix burnt and was set back up to playing condition an he used it every once in a while. if i remember corectly though, the pickguard assembly was pretty much unburnt and intact...just the body was charred (you could still tell it was sunburst though)

At the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, Jimi played (and burned) a white (or yellow) Strat. I'm sure, however, that Jimi burned more than one Strat in his time.

 

[Pier Calacino]

Japanese Strats?

Hello everyone,

How do the Japanese Strats fit in with the MIM and MIA Strats?
I was told by a music store owner some time ago that the Japanese Strats were actually better than both other strats.

Does anyone have first hand knowledge of this ?

I am A Les Paul player myself and was concidering picking up a Strat, but now I'm not sure?

Thanks
Pier

 

[64Firebird]

Re: Japanese Strats?

Hello everyone,

How do the Japanese Strats fit in with the MIM and MIA Strats?
I was told by a music store owner some time ago that the Japanese Strats were actually better than both other strats.

Does anyone have first hand knowledge of this ?

I am A Les Paul player myself and was concidering picking up a Strat, but now I'm not sure?

Thanks
Pier

This has been covered already.

http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?s=&threadid=63534&highlight=MIJ

 

[twist]

Gentlemen, gentlemen...for the record, I never once said the mex strats were junk, only that the MIA I own felt more substantial than my friends MIM. They all sound pretty much the same. I have guys come in to record all the time with Squires for christ sake and they ALL SOUND THE SAME. You go to position 2 or 4 and they have that "strat" sound. If your happy, I'm happy. I had a guy just about a month ago (the Heep cover band) and the guitar player had a REAL 59 strat not a reissue and I thought it would've made a nifty canoe paddle. Big deal. Now I'm all upset and I'm gonna have to smoke another bowl to calm down. I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY NOW. Where did I put that lighter (and it's a Bic, not a Zippo).

Track,

I hope its an MIA BIC, those MIM BICs aren't worth a crap. The flames just aren't as warm!

Twist

 

[TheGuitarMan]

Track,

I hope its an MIA BIC, those MIM BICs aren't worth a crap. The flames just aren't as warm!

Twist

Pssh, the MIJ BIC's blow them both away.

 

[bongolation]

Where do I start

Well, by paying attention, suppose. As I have pointed out, I'm comparing the MIM Standard with the MIA American Series, the two corresponding mainline Stratocasters.

ok, your first wrong statement. Bodies vary woods depending on the model.

Not on the ones we were originally discussing. The MIM Standard is now alder - though it is not from the same alder blank used in the alder American Series.

The necks are different shape, different frets, different trussrod, different machine heads and different finish grade. The rest of the hardware is ENTIRELY different.

not true for all of that. I know you love the "internet information" like mr gearhead, but I get my info from my personal Fender people, that's why I wanted to qualify my first post with the connection information to them.
(...)
Sorry but I trust my personal contacts who give me free stuff before I trust any website, even mr gearhead.

I'm sure your "inside source" will tell you that MrGearHead.Com is Fender's own in-house documentation and customer support site.

I correspond regularly with at least a half-dozen Fender employees, including three VPs. They give me free stuff too (big friggin' deal). You know what? They're frequently wrong about Fender details and I frequently correct them about it.

If your guy says that any significant hardware is the same in a MIM Standard as in a MIA American Series, he's just stone, dead wrong. There's no other way of putting it. I mean, if all else fails, just LOOK at the two instruments yourself.

I hope you don't think that two identical parts can't have 2 different #'s in a catalog, cause they do.

Not in the case of Fender instruments they don't. Fender parts numbers reflect the actual parts. If it's the same part on different instruments, the part numbers are the same. Check it out. These are .PDFs of Fender's own parts lists and it's Fender's own site. How much more authoritative can you get?

It doesn't take a parts list to tell, either. The differences are nearly all glaringly obvious. Please, just tell me a part that's the same. Just one.

There are no significant parts shared by the MIA American Series and the MIM Standards. The parts on the MIMs are cheaper imported parts, made and finished to lower standards than the corresponding parts on the American Series.

They are totally different instruments.

Check HERE if you want to actually know something about Fender Stratocasters. This is the Stratocaster board on the Fender-supported discussion site, and there are at least a dozen Fender executives and Fender employees on the FDP every day. You want answers, they're here. If the FMIC people can't answer it, someone who is a major dealer or technician probably can. There are also forums to directly ask Fender specific technical questions and give feedback directly to Fender executives.

The FDP is the only authoritative discussion site for all things Fender.

 

[Hard2Hear]

bongolation-
I know all about the FDP, I have known about it for a long time... and I know about the VP's and such who post there regularly. I don't care for Chris's Nazi policies there, though. And I also know MrGearhead is run by Fender. You're not educating me here.
All the people I know in the industry I have not met on the internet, but in person...through my producers, management, or at trade shows. Most of them do not ever visit forums on the internet. In fact, this is pretty much the only internet site I visit now. I will always listen to guys who look me in the eye before reading internet information. But that's ok, keep "meeting" and "talking" to people on the internet. I only say I know someone if I have their home #'s or their family knows me by name.

I'm done.
H2H

 

[64Firebird]

I've heard the "cheap parts" argument for a long time. But, no one has ever said anything about how these cheap parts effect the tone. What differences does it make if a 5 way switch cost $5 or $500 as long as it does the job? The same goes for pickups.

Also, it wouldn't surprise me if Fender had more than one part number for the same part. This is done with car parts all the time. If you want a water pump for your Cadillac it will cost you more than the same pump for your Chevy.

 

[bongolation]

Here's a a 1999 document listing the differences between the MIM Standard and the then-current MIA American Standard, written by Mike Lewis of Fender for the benefit of Fender dealers. There are a few small differences since then, such as a change in inletting on the current American Series and the fact that Fender is at the moment not using poplar because it's temporarily more expensive than the grade of alder they use for the MIM body blanks, and there are other differences that are not listed, but the major substantive differences are the same. The list does not go into explaining the qualitative differences between the respective parts, nor does it address such issues as level of finish and detailling. It just lists the major differences for the benefit of dealers wishing to explain them to potential buyers.

Here is the Fender parts list for the MIM Standard Stratocaster and here's the parts list for the MIA American Series Stratocaster. Where the parts are the same, the part number is the same (as in the case of the switch and volume pots). Where the parts are different - which is virtually everything - the numbers are different.

All of this information is directly from Fender and authoritative.

All the bar talk and friends-told-me crap aside, these are the facts. Accept them and get over it.

Anyone tells you differently, give him these links.

We done here? I think so.

 

[jimistone]

so...the parts could be different. what does that prove. my mex strat plays very nicely....so, the "different" parts they are using (if they are different) must be pretty damn good.

I am in sales and it is human nature for someone that buys a high ticket item (like a guitar) to justify his purchase in his mind. getting others to make the same purchase helps him confirm to himself that he made the right decision.

in a nutshell: someone that dishes out the big bucks for an american strat is not about to admit that mex strats are good guitars...that would mean that they paid too much for their strat/ ain't no way they are gonna admit that.

i know the mex strats are good guitars cause i use one week in and week out...i also know that american strats are good guitars. i like both, but if i paid the american strat price i would be of the mind that mex strats are total crap..cause..if they wern't that would mean i got hosed on a strat purchace by about 500 bucks. i might even go to great lenths online to prove how much superior MIA strats are...to justify my purchase in my mind ya know.

oh yeah, and to feed my ego.

 

[64Firebird]

Okay, so they don't have the same parts. BFD. How does that effect the tone?

bongolation, all you've said is that your MIA Strat feel more "substantial." What does that mean? Does it weigh more than MIM Strats?

After reading your link, I like the MIM Strats better than the MIAs. I think that 22 frets is one to many for a strat because it moves the neck pickup back too far. With only 21 frets (the way Leo designed it) the neck pickup is at the 1/4 point between the nut and the bridge. That's the place where the strings vibrate the most. I like the old style 6 screw trim and I prefer only one string tree.

It seems to me that the MIMs are closer to the old Strats of the 50s and 60s than the MIA are.

 

[Gidge]

It seems G&L is doing it the way Leo wanted.....

 

[64Firebird]

It seems G&L is doing it the way Leo wanted.....

I haven't looked at G&L for a while. Are they still doing the swimming pool routing the way they did in the 90s?