Wood quality. MiM v MiA strat

sjo89

I understand that the tolerances, hardware and build quality on american strats are better than mexicans, but in terms of the actual woods used are there any significant differences between a £600 mexican and a £1000 american? thanks 

JDE

Assuming it’s the same species (ie - comparing a MIM Alder Strat to a US made Alder Strat), I doubt it. If the guitar is a solid colour the body may be made of more pieces if it’s a MIM but apart from that...
Plus unless you get a nitro finished guitar, theyre coated in plastic anyway

HAL9000

My (admittedly limited) experience is that the maple used for the necks and fretboard looks nicer - more attractive graining/figuring.

On the bodies, the Mexicans sometimes seem to be made from more pieces than their US equivalents.

sjo89

Only ask as I'm currently getting a strat modded (setup, new nut, bridge, fret dressing, pickups etc.) and its also getting a wee bit of neck profiling as I dont like how angular it is...but its getting pricey with parts and labour. I bought a reliced MiM strat a while back for £400. Got new frets fitted, gotoh bridge, custom nut, locking tuners, setup, changed it from SSS to HSS, pickguard and electrics. All in all, without realising I ended up spending around £800 on it, which is MiA territory. It's unique, feels and sounds great and has character, but I'm just concerned of costs spiralling again on my new Korean strat so I guess I just want to know that a modded MiM/MiK is equal to a cheap MiA. 

JDE

I would say labour costs and marketing account for the bulk of the pricing differences. I generally prefer the pickups and wiring in MIA guitars to MIM’s, but I’m not sure how much of an “upcharge” there is for those bits. 
Modding cheap guitars can always work out pricey. Not to mention the obvious Bermuda Triangle money pit - If you buy a £200 guitar and put in a set of, for example, Bareknuckles, you’ve spent the same on pickups as you have on the guitar. If you buy a £2000 guitar and do the same, you’ve only spent 10%. 

daveyh

sjo89 said:

I understand that the tolerances, hardware and build quality on american strats are better than mexicans, but in terms of the actual woods used are there any significant differences between a £600 mexican and a £1000 american? thanks 

Hardware yes, but tolerances and build quality, are they?

sjo89

I'm just going with the logic of the main differences between a £600 and £1200 strat being hardware and quality control, but that the 'meat and bones' of the instruments are very similar, meaning you can spec up a cheap guitar to be equal to a MiA one. Whether this is actually the case I don't know as I don't have much experience with expensive guitars and I suspect you pay a fair bit just for the 'Made in America' label. Plus as a gigging guitarist I don't want to have worry about beating up my guitar a bit, which I would with a £1000+ one.

sjo89

daveyh said:

sjo89 said:

I understand that the tolerances, hardware and build quality on american strats are better than mexicans, but in terms of the actual woods used are there any significant differences between a £600 mexican and a £1000 american? thanks 

Hardware yes, but tolerances and build quality, are they?

Well TBH I'm just quoting marketing and review spiel there and assuming that's one of the things you pay for.

Sassafras

Cheaper production costs for Mexican Fenders would account for the main price difference.

midlifecrisis

is it true that MIM fenders are assembled by mexicans in mexico and USA ones are assembled by mexicans in america?

merciful-evans

midlifecrisis said:

is it true that MIM fenders are assembled by mexicans in mexico and USA ones are assembled by mexicans in america?

Those Mexicans in Korea are some of the best guitar builders.

sjo89

The strat I picked up was a lite ash korean made. Limited run I think back in mid 2000's. I don't know if I picked up a bad one but the neck shaping was really weird. The 'V' was very sharp and pronounced and there were some pretty straight edges on it too, especially in the lower frets region. Felt nowhere near as comfy as my modern C neck, to the point whereby my thumb actually ached after a while due to the pressure being exerted on the joint. My local guitar repairer is currently working on it doing his best to tame the V and round it off a bit, but annoyingly he cant be as aggressive as I'd like as the truss rod is so close to back of neck. The neck itself is beautiful though, flamed maple. 

midlifecrisis

merciful-evans said:

midlifecrisis said:

is it true that MIM fenders are assembled by mexicans in mexico and USA ones are assembled by mexicans in america?

Those Mexicans in Korea are some of the best guitar builders.

ive got a modern player tele, its assembled by mexicans in china.

JDE

midlifecrisis said:

is it true that MIM fenders are assembled by mexicans in mexico and USA ones are assembled by mexicans in america?

Virtually everything assembled in America is assembled by Mexicans. You can, however, pay them less if they assemble it in Mexico. I love it when people think that MIM’s are lower quality because the labour force is less skilled or they are actually setting out to make a worse product. It’s turning screws on a production line. If you bolt a neck on in California you’re not a “luthier.” If the cheap labour market is so unskilled why would people lock themselves in a metal box and hurtle along at 80mph in it if the metal box was put together by cheap labour? Totally safe. But sharp fret ends? Good god, no!

Fwiw, I had a Lite Ash Tele which had a totally weird neck shape. D with sharp shoulders. Hated it.

thermionic

I have/had several MIM Classics and the ones where I could definitely tell were 3-piece bodies. My current 60s lacquer Strat is 2-piece, but sunbursts tend to be 2-piece anyway (and have had a slightly higher pricetag). I suppose a fairer comparison would be the MIM/USA Standard - or whatever they call them now. I think you have to go down another level (Squier) to see wood of an appreciably lower quality than USA guitars.

GoldenEraGuitars

Last year, I refinished a badly mismatched 4 piece fender CS body (stamped as a relic). I also refinished a 2 piece US standard from 2008. The 08 weighed more than the CS though. A Mexican strat i refinished last year was on par with the US one and the mismatch between its 3 pieces was worse than the CS.

In a nutshell? I don’t think fender give a shit about “wood quality”. They use anything and everything to make their guitars. Leo also used anything spare to make the originals... nothing went to waste.

skunkwerx

Nationality doesnt matter, a Mexican working for Fender in America, is probably an American citizen right? 

Its like paying a main dealership technician to service your car vs an independant. I've had a really shoddy experience with Renault lately, but a random bloke off the internet who drove his rental van round one night fixed the problem in 30 minutes, then a small alloy wheel set up in Thurrock advised and sorted things better than the dealer the wheels came from. 

Sometimes its a shit shoot and you'll get a lemon anywhere though. 


But, look at it this way, you've spent £800 with mods and fettling on a mexican and you like it no?

You could have bought an American for £1000 but theres no guarantees it wont need a set up or a bit of fretwork anyway. 

+ the Americans come with a hard case which I would imagine adds to their price too. 

NelsonP

I think it's less to do with the manufacturing location and more about the cost constraints for MiM vs MiA.I would guess that a MiM guitar has cheaper wood. 

But how much cheaper or whether it really makes a difference to the player is a different story.

JDE

skunkwerx said: a small alloy wheel set up in Thurrock advised and sorted things better than the dealer the wheels came from. 

On the estate with the trampoline place? If they’re the ones they’re ace!

Fuengi

I stripped a Mexican Strat last year - http://imgur.com/gallery/BFz6XHL - it was made of 7 parts with a veneer over the top to prevent paint lines. 

The routing is neater on American made instruments I believe. 

MattFGBI

The quality should be comparable between ranges but the materials in the US made product are generally a higher specification. The hardware is also mostly made in the US factory for US guitars, some of it on the same machines we’ve been using since the 50’s and 60’s.