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I never knew about this Strat


gardo

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I was gonna say that it must have something to do with the fire in Ensenada and then read the ad confirming it. I love those 90's Fender Squier Series guitars as they were all basically made from US stock and only finished in Mexico back then. So I doubt that one has much over on the Mexican variety (which can be found cheaper) but from a collector's standpoint it could be worth something some day I suppose.

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I dunno. Locally (St. Louis), Mexi Strats are going for $275 and up. There's one MIJ Strat for $375 and USA Strats start at $650. Granted I'm cheap but $300 for a Squier seems like a lot no matter where it was made.

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I would definitely prefer a mexi strat over a US Squier. The US Squiers are popular because of relative rarity, that and certain confused people on the net have convinced lots of other people that those Squiers are just as good as the US Standards of the time. But they really are just Squiers. Nothing wrong with that, but not worth more than $125 tops imo.

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I would definitely prefer a mexi strat over a US Squier. The US Squiers are popular because of relative rarity' date=' that and certain confused people on the net have convinced lots of other people that those Squiers are just as good as the US Standards of the time. But they really are just Squiers. Nothing wrong with that, but not worth more than $125 tops imo.[/quote']

 

In terms of collectiblity, it's probably worth $300, especially if the MIJs are going for even more than that!

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http://davel.hubpages.com/hub/The-Fender-Squier-Series-Stratocaster-Not-A-Typical-Squier

 

If you jump down to the section entitled "Standard Strat body meets far eastern parts" you read this: At the time Fender used its overstocked American cut necks and bodies to construct the "Squier Series." Apparently, these parts were shipped down to Mexico where they were put together with the cheaper components.

Today's Fender MIM Standards have between five and seven piece bodies. The MIM Fender Squier Series guitars are typically 2-3 piece bodies, with necks that dial right in with no fret sprout which is why I feel they are better mod platforms. I have two that after mods are the equal of my 89 American Standard in the important areas (tone, playabilty). Price is market dictated, but from a player's perspective, the MIM Fender Squier Series are professional instruments that really come alive with a few mods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I suppose it depends on what you deem to be professional grade, as it were.

 

If professional means, you could gig it at the local bar, then most MIMs will fit that bill quite nicely.

If it means Mark Knopfler wouldn't take it on a 60-date tour around the world, well, yeah...

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I suppose it depends on what you deem to be professional grade, as it were.

 

If professional means, you could gig it at the local bar, then most MIMs will fit that bill quite nicely.

If it means Mark Knopfler wouldn't take it on a 60-date tour around the world, well, yeah...

 

Fender MIMs, especially within recent years, are fantastic and you can find many that are flawless. Squier MIM was not.

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I suppose it depends on what you deem to be professional grade, as it were.

 

If professional means, you could gig it at the local bar, then most MIMs will fit that bill quite nicely.

If it means Mark Knopfler wouldn't take it on a 60-date tour around the world, well, yeah...

 

 

This is excellent perspective regardless of the instrument being discussed. philthumb

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Fender MIMs, especially within recent years, are fantastic and you can find many that are flawless. Squier MIM was not.

 

I beg to differ, I had a recent one with a seven piece body and traded it straight across for a 90's Squier branded MIM that sounded 100% better to my ears before mods, but to each his own. That's what makes the world go round.

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I stand by my original comments. US squiers are just Squiers - that's all they are. Nice enough guitars, but not the same as a US standard of the time despite what some people convince themselves of.

 

And the made from US parts MIM Squiers is BS and rumors. The ones I have seen have not been in the same league as a US Strat of the time, not talking hardware either. People buy into these stories because they so want to believe it's true. But that doesnt make it true.

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And I stand by my original comment. I'd rather have a two piece body than one made like a butcher board with random pieces of wood. I've had that guitar and I couldn't get it to sound right regardless what mods I did. My 93 MIM Fender Squier Series just ate it for lunch. So I traded it straight across for a 98 MIM Squier that sounded and played better before mods. Crazy right? Well only if you hear with your eyes. Oh and I have that American Standard that seems to be the benchmark for this conversation. Yeah it's worth a whole lot more but my modded MIM Squiers sound and play just as good. Truth is I prefer playin my Fender Squier series Strats a tad cause I prefer the vintage frets and the six point trems.

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I stand by my original comments. US squiers are just Squiers - that's all they are. Nice enough guitars, but not the same as a US standard of the time despite what some people convince themselves of.

 

And the made from US parts MIM Squiers is BS and rumors. The ones I have seen have not been in the same league as a US Strat of the time, not talking hardware either. People buy into these stories because they so want to believe it's true. But that doesnt make it true.

 

They aren't in the same league as USA Fenders, but the MIM Squiers were definitely made with better materials than any of the overseas models from the 90's.

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And the made from US parts MIM Squiers is BS and rumors. The ones I have seen have not been in the same league as a US Strat of the time, not talking hardware either. People buy into these stories because they so want to believe it's true. But that doesnt make it true.

 

http://www.talkbass.com/threads/squier-series-mim-fenders-what-the-are-these-frankensteins.738867/

 

"90’s Fender Mexico w/ Black Decal: A Mystery Uncovered You might have heard of mexican made Fender guitars with a black headstock decal, sometimes associated with some mystery Squier Series made in Mexico. It’s true that there actually was a “Squier Series” that was made by Fender in Mexico and featured a black decal on the headstock, but not all mexican made Fender guitars with such a black label were part of that very “Squier Series”. Since there appears to be a lot of confusion and half-knowledge about these guitars out there, I decided to do some research on my own.

 

The black label was used by Fender Mexico for a limited time only between 1993 and 1998. It can be found exclusively on the rather short lived mexican “Traditional” and “Squier” series for the Telecaster, Stratocaster and Precision Bass. Usually, Squier is to Fender what Epiphone is to Gibson. In this very case, the use of the name “Squier” had nothing to do with the actual Squier brand, as the series was named “Squier Series”, but it was by all means a Fender series, not a Squier series. The keyword is “series”, not “Squier”. The regular mexican “Standard” series was available too at the time, but it already featured the same silver-ish logo that is still used for it today. However, between 1993 and 1998, both labels (the black AND the silver-ish one) were used for mexican made Fender guitars, but for (slightly) different guitars.

 

The guitars with the black label consisted mostly of overstock american made Fender necks and bodies. The parts were shipped to Mexico for assembly with mexican made pickups and far eastern hardware and electronics. The overall quality of these guitars turned out to be below the Squiers made in Japan and Korea, whose production came to an end around the time the mexican made guitars with the black label surfaced, yet above Squiers made in China and Indonesia, whose production had not yet begun at the time. The guitars ended up on the american and european market for just about as much as a guitar from the regular “Standard” series would cost at the time.

 

Some (not all!) of the guitars were sold for a few bucks less as they came with 1-ply pickguards and hardware of slightly lesser quality. Those guitars (and those only!) had an additional smaller “Squier Series” label on front of the headstock, right were the artist models have the artist’s signature. Though some owners probably sanded off their “Squier Series” label, it is not true that all guitars with a black label had a “Squier Series” label in the first place. Most guitars with the black label featured tuners and bridges of decent quality as well as 3-ply pickguards. These guitars did not have the additional “Squier Series” label and were called the “Traditional Series”, which was stated nowhere on the headstock but the guitars were listed, advertised and sold as such.

 

The “Traditional Series” can be considered the slightly better but the “Squier Series” sure is the more obscure. At the end of the day, there really is not that much difference between the two. The most significant difference can be found on the Telecaster. The Telecaster from the “Traditional Series” had the traditional through-body stringing, while the Telecasters from the “Squier Series” were Top Loaders with different bridges, saddles and no string holes in the back.

 

The guitars from that very “Squier Series” are official and genuine Fender guitars like any mexican made Fender guitar regardless, and if you have a mexican made Fender Telecaster, Stratocaster or Precision Bass with a black label and a serial number beginning with MN3, MN4, MN5, MN6, MN7 or MN8, you have a genuine Fender guitar – with or without a small “Squier Series” label." (end quote)

 

 

If it's just a rumor, it's a pretty prevalent one.

 

And I've never said that these guitars were the equivalent of the American line or even the MIM Standards of the period, only that they were excellent mod platforms. It's true that the pickups could be a little harsh sounding. The mods I did to mine were nut, shim, shield pickguard, pickups and trem block. The bridge plate saddles and screws are excellent quality. I can say this because I've experienced the opposite with a Dillion S-100 Strat copy I owned where the screws stripped and the saddles were of lesser quality. The tuners look cheap but in fact hold tune essentially as well as the Fender stamped variety. When you lift the hood on these things (MIM Squier) you really see the attention to detail with very tidy wiring harness, and very well soldered connections - even a checklist for an inspector. Also the bodies are extremely well routed, the equivalent of a US Strat (actually my 89 American has a swimming pool route). You might not appreciate this until you pop the hood on a cheap Asian copy. I had Pignose Strat (internet hype) for a week and shielded the pickguard before I sent it back - the insides of that thing looked like somebody had gotten in there with a pocket knife (I did better whittling as a young boy), not to mention the uneven frets or the sprout.

 

You can pay a little or you can pay a lot. I admit that I have a bit of a bias towards older is better. But how can you justify fret sprout on some of the newer MIMs (even the $900 Roadworn series) or the butcherblock bodies on the MIM Standards? My buddy has a beautiful American Standard that I helped him pick out back in about 2007 as I recall. At the time I tried to talk him into getting the Eric Johnson Sig model that was much better set up and only three or four hundred dollars more at the time. But he wanted to save $ - he insisted on American made but didn't want to pay any extra. What he walked out with was an American Standard in Sunburst that is a beautiful guitar but not very well set up. He and I worked on it, but it just won't dial in right - you fight the action, and now the truss doesn't want to budge. At one point in the set-up process he popped the neck off to reveal a big divot in the body's neck pocket. I tried to convince him to take it back at the time but he didn't want to.

 

I always say if you come across one of these for less than two bills don't hesitate. I once paid over $100 for a neck alone on Ebay that turned out to be blackface Fender Squier Series (small Squier sanded off). Excellent neck though.

 

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