USA Strat vs. Mexico Strat

[phillippe]

One more opinion to add to the mix.

Forget what kind of guitar it is, where it is made, and how much it is...
And...play it!
How does it feel, how does it sound! Your new guitar should feel great and sound great even before you plug it in.
If $$$ are a big factor, then play every Squire you can until you find one you love...you can always upgrade the pups later.

Good luck

[dacop]

Originally Posted by Yogi

The newer Mexican Standards are on par if not better than highway one, which is hodge podge of MExican/American Origin anyway. MIMs have come a long way. Pop a set of CS pickups in a mexi and you are ready to go

I own both. New HW1 and a new MIM and here is my opinion:

Stock Pups - HW1's are hotter and brighter then the MIM and offer great tone. The MIMs are good, but not as good as the HW1. The HW1 pups are keepers.

Neck - Better finish on the HW1 and has an overall better feel. Not a high gloss but more satin then the MIM. Larger frets then the MIM but that's the specs on them.

Body - Different body finishes as noted in the specs.

Tuners - No problems with either staying in tune. I will swap them both for locking just to save time in string changing.

Overall: To me the HW1 is no "hodge podge" guitar. The quality and sound is much better then the MIM. I can put a MIA and MIM in my hands and never tell the difference. There is a huge different feel to the HW1. Excellent Strat tone offered on the HW1, but the MIM guitars are good, just not great. All I plan to do with the MIM is swap the pups and it too will be a fine axe.

[nanobug]

Personally, my views (and seeing as this is my first post, some of you may not care too much) are that Fender and Squier quality control is all over the map. I've played guitars in all price ranges and come to the conclusion that after a certain point financially ($400 give or take), what makes a Stratocaster good comes down to a combination of personal preference and luck of the draw. Personal preferences for features, pickups, neck and body contours, choice in materials used. Luck in regards to the quality of woods used, whether the electronics stay within tolerances, whether the guitar was finished by someone just starting/in the middle of/about to finish their shift, and how skilled the person tasked with the fretwork was. The necks and bodies are all cut from CNC machines, and the machinists running those machines are simply placing blanks into a fixture and pressing a green button. As a machinist I can assure you that Stratocasters of any kind are incredibly simple and that the country of origin, skill level of the machinist and age of the machine are of little consequence, most people in the trade that I know including noobs can work to tolerances of .0001in and Strats are nowhere near that. G-Code doesn't get translated or localized, and the machine is going to follow the directions given to it to the same standard whether that machine is located in California, Mexico, Japan, China, Indonesia, or anywhere else for that matter.

It really is just a matter of luck. These are not hand crafted instruments, Leo designed them for mass production and in mass production you will have perfect and utterly worthless products coming off the same production lines, sometimes within minutes of one another. I've played MIA strats with 250k pots that tested to 400k and MIC Squiers with necks that could have been put on instruments costing triple the price or more if they were only given a more popular headstock shape and a different decal. I've got a 1996 MIM Stratocaster in CAR w/ a one piece maple neck that just got relegated to case duty by a Squier Standard Stratocaster in Sunburst finish w/ a rosewood neck that I picked up for $100 in a pawn shop (w/ gig bag and cable, and in new condition, I might add). Don't get me wrong, the MIM Strat is a fine instrument, much finer than the Squier Affinity it replaced, but it also compares about as favorably to the Squier Standard as the Affinity did to it when I upgraded. I got the Standard for $100 for the same reasons that several people in here have suggested getting a MIM or better - ignorance. This is a buyers market, and pawn shops around here are buying more guitars than they have room to display and setting their sale prices based upon the brand name instead of the quality of the guitar. All of you who insist that "Fender" = "Better quality control" are making me and my friends very happy because we're getting a lot of great gear for not a lot of money. On behalf of all of us I sincerely thank you.

[JRSIV]

Wow! Nanobug pretty much said it all concerning the quality control of the entire FMIC Universe. Whether it's MIA, MIM, MIJ, MIC, BMF, FUK....chances are there will be lemons and there will be cherries no matter where the guitar is made. I know from the experience of over 20 years hanging around guitar shops that most makers, not just Fenders, have quality tolerances that waver quite a bit. Martin may be the exception, but I'm sure someone has played a D-28 that's a dog, at least in their opinion.

That's why it's so important to actually try as many guitars as possible when making a purchase. But we all know that with the internet sales boom and the lack of a Guitar Center in every city, that it's impossible to cherrypick a winner every time. That's where 100% Guarantees and No Questions Asked returns are a necessity and why sites like this one are so important. Word of mouth and education helps a great deal in the grand scheme of things.

I'm an optimist though, and because of the demand for cheap, high quality guitars and the advent of better production technologies like next gen CNC machines, I think things are only going to get better. If the rest of Fender's factories could do what the Chinese have done with the Squier Classic Vibe series then we will be living in the golden age of excellent quality, affordable guitars.

[AllroyPA]

Welcome nano, I think alot will concur with what you say. Most strat players know that there's good and less good in the mix. I think you'll have more agree than disagree actually. The recommendations usually come to peeps who want to know, and may not have the knowledge or insights already. PA rocks~! Enjoy.
(my'96-'97 MIM neck is one of my best w/rosewood)

[hendrixfan]

the cp 60,s gets my vote,its such a good guitar to play sounds great,and at around 3-400 less than a usa standard,i,d buy a cp 60,s over a usa standard everytime,not saying its better but it suits my style of playing perfectly from neck radius to pups and trem,this thing kicks A***

[Boris Bubbanov]

Originally Posted by nanobug

It really is just a matter of luck.

Welcome!

Yes, it is a matter of luck when we take down the very first Strat we come to.

I think most of us here do have enough skill, that:

Given enough quality time in these ghostly quiet stores nowadays, we can determine which guitars to consider buying and which individual ones to avoid.

Certain models are just flat detested by the people that make them, so they are NEVER gonna be all that good, except in a tiny percentage of instances. Maybe the assemblers even know this model attracts posers.

Other, better admired models will be very rich in "good ones" and this is where the vast number of the truly sweet ones will be found. The assemblers are just sure this fine guitar will soon belong to ____________ (fill in your favorite player).

When you order long distance, yikes, the chances of a problem are high. And yet (fingers crossed, 2 on the way) I have had almost no long distance stinkers when bought new in the box.

Model choice? Or did I scare the guy sending the guitar into making sure I got nice ones?

Yes they do vary. Sometimes you can fix the problem by switching necks between Guitar A and Guitar B. I just need to always remember to send it back if I am not super happy. There'll always be another opportunity.

[chuckdup]

Originally Posted by peskypesky

I totally agree. For beginner and intermediate players, I recommend a Squier, a professional set-up, and a decent amp. That way you get the most bang for your buck.

And for people who get hung up on quality, believe me, today's Squiers are excellent guitars for the price. Here's the analogy I use: The existence of the $85,000 BMW 750i doesn't mean the $21,000 Honda Accord is not a good car.

I was going to agree with you at the beginning of your post. But. But that last that's just crazy talk.. ..............laters,,,,chuck

[shambolic]

I went to my local fender dealer in the UK - tried all the mia and mim fenders on the wall ( a lot of guitars) and bought a MIM standard. It sounded the same as the Mia's but played 100 times better. The neck was beautiful and it just had a feel that was inspiring. This is a 2009 MIM by the way