Members Ancient Mariner Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 Can an old MIM strat actually even be OK? Bit more of the story from my strat buying mistakes, this time with pics. This is a '95 MIM Tex Mex strat - I'd say construction is slightly less good than the current chinese made Squier affinity strat. Owner/music shop stupidiy aside (that 'routing' was supposed to have been done by a music shop) construction is just so bad. The paint looks about 2mm thick where it's been chipped. The neck pocket is beyond sloppy, isn't even flat inside where the heel fits Original electronics look EXACTLY like the stuff you'd find in a really cheap copy, ditto the tuners. I've wondered if it really was an old copy with a MIM logo on the headstock, but unfortunately there's too much evidence to believe that. The one redeeming feature is that the guitar is quite light and tapping the body with a knuckle shows it to be resonant. Presumably the body is poplar - apparently 1 piece, as I have seen multi-piece mexican bodies (we've already got one MIM strat here) and you usually see the join lines in the paint. Can't decide whether to lash iit together and ebay it or try to make a real player from it. I just feel really miffed about it. Should have just walked away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xbryanx Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 nice afi sticker... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members silverfacechamp Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 I would really, really, really doubt that the routing was done at the factory. Every MIM Strat I've ever picked up (and there have been literally hundreds) has been on par or better than any other strat-type guitar in that price range. I've NEVER seen one that even remotely resembles the workmanship, or lack thereof, of your guitar. The logo looks very suspect to me as well. Did you buy the guitar new? Pending closer shots of the headstock, I'd say that's not a real Fender. Also, maybe it's the mid 90's ones, but I have a '98 model that doesn't have those inspection stickers anywhere on it, nor have any of the others I've had apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Burningleaves Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 Old Ibanez RoadstarII guitars from the 80's are your best bet for a WELL constructed strat style guitar for dirt cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members silverfacechamp Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 This is what the logo on a Tex-Mex should look like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Burningleaves Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 Originally posted by silverfacechamp I would really, really, really doubt that the routing was done at the factory. Every MIM Strat I've ever picked up (and there have been literally hundreds) has been on par or better than any other strat-type guitar in that price range. I've NEVER seen one that even remotely resembles the workmanship, or lack thereof, of your guitar. The logo looks very suspect to me as well. Did you buy the guitar new? Pending closer shots of the headstock, I'd say that's not a real Fender. Also, maybe it's the mid 90's ones, but I have a '98 model that doesn't have those inspection stickers anywhere on it, nor have any of the others I've had apart. The "hack job" in the pick-up cavity couldnt possibly have been done at the factory. I would imagine it's all CNC pre-paint routing then as well as now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members silverfacechamp Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 Originally posted by Burningleaves The "hack job" in the pick-up cavity couldnt possibly have been done at the factory. I would imagine it's all CNC pre-paint routing then as well as now. Exactly. Plus, (and I may be wrong here if Tex-Mex's are different than the standards), I think that guitar should have had a 'swimming pool' rout, not humbucker routed like that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members silverfacechamp Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 If it's an FSR Tex-Mex, the logo will be slightly different than the one I posted above. It would be the thick, outlined Fender logo with 'Stratocaster' and 'Made in Mexico' on the face. It should NOT have the solid black logo that is on yours. Also, the pickguard should be 3-ply. It looks as if yours is a single ply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bullhead Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 Originally posted by Burningleaves The "hack job" in the pick-up cavity couldnt possibly have been done at the factory. Originally posted by silverfacechamp I would really, really, really doubt that the routing was done at the factory. didn't he say, in the first line of text, that the rout was supposed to have been done in a music shop? :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Burningleaves Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 Originally posted by bullhead didn't he say, in the first line of text, that the rout was supposed to have been done in a music shop? :confused: Your right. Thanks for the correction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Marcin1988 Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 that fretboardis filthy, theres mushrooms growing on it practically. and how much did you pay for it?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bubkus_jones Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 Originally posted by Ancient Mariner Can an old MIM strat actually even be OK? Presumably the body is poplar - apparently 1 piece, as I have seen multi-piece mexican bodies (we've already got one MIM strat here) and you usually see the join lines in the paint. It's at least a 2 piece, as one join line is quite visible in the neck pocket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members _pete_ Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 I'd say that "quality" work was done by an idiot previous owner. The 93 MIM Strat I had was top notch in the QC department.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members geek_usa Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 I have a mexi Standard from 1993 and it probably has the most personality of any guitar I have ever played. It even has mood swings. Try that with a squier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members crispete Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 Looks like it was handcrafted in a pi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GilmourD Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 I've got a '94 MIM Standard that is leaps and bounds above that in quality. Maybe the finish is thick, but have you checked out the MIAs since they introduced polyeurethane? The logo looks wrong. And if that were a TexMex, it would have Tex Mex single coils, the ceramic bar pickups you show in those pictures. Looks like it's either a relabeled Squier or one of the short run of guitars that say Fender in black and say "Squier Series" really small on the headstock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RaVenCAD Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 I agree, I'm questioning the authenticity of that thing too. I had a 93-94 era mim and it was fantastic. Plus, a lot of things there don't add up. Look at the neck pocket? Look how rounded the norners are? A Fender neck pocket has corners that are much more square. If that is indeed a Fender neck, and it looks like it is, it should fit that pocket perfectly. See where the paint is rubbed off in the neck pocket? That SCREAMS retrofit to me. I realize the neck label has transferred ink to the body, but that can happen in a matter of months, so it doesn't mean much. The rout job, which you stated, is obviously something that some dumbass did to it and cannot be held against Fender. The fret and fretboard wear you are showing is normal for a guitar that is 10+ years old, again not something you can hold against Fender. So, in short, I think what you have is a parts-o-caster that someone rigged up with a Fender neck, a Squier pickguard/electronics and a 3rd party body, hence the mis-aligned neck. MIM's of that era were excellent guitars, just as they are today. Plus, the thin finish to most people would be a plus. Everyone bitches about how thick a MIM's candy coating is. Now you finally get an apparent MIM that shows up with a thin one, and the owner is moaning about it. They just can't win. You got hosed on a fake guitar. Don't take it out on the real deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ancient Mariner Posted June 18, 2006 Author Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 Headstock pics. It doesn't look like the logo has been added later, and the SN has the correct date according to Fender: http://www.fender.com/support/dating/mexican_dating.php - can't see why a faker would bother THAT hard. As for the fret wear and the chiselling - they were just to show how skanky it was (and how dumb I was - STILL can't figure why I bought it, other than sheer 'spur of the moment' stupidity). Re: rounded corners in the neck pocket - that is completely normal in a Mexican (and some MIA) Fenders - there was a thread on here last night about it. I do still wonder if I got hosed on a parts'o'caster, but I also wonder if this is one of the MIMs that gets the rest of the breed such a bum rap. We have another MIM strat here, and it's perfectly acceptable.. What is odd about this body is that the radiusing along the edges is sharper than on the other MIM and a LOT sharper than on my MIJ strat. The body outline is the same as the MIM (which dates around '98) but the headstock is not. This is certainly puzzling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members _pete_ Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 The Fender logo looks wrong. I've never seen an MIM logo that's all black like that. Every MIM I've ever seen looks like this pic of my old one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ancient Mariner Posted June 18, 2006 Author Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 Originally posted by silverfacechamp This is what the logo on a Tex-Mex should look like. That's a MIA Tex-Mex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members silverfacechamp Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 Originally posted by Ancient Mariner It doesn't look like the logo has been added later, and the SN has the correct date according to Fender: http://www.fender.com/support/dating/mexican_dating.php - can't see why a faker would bother THAT hard.As for the fret wear and the chiselling - they were just to show how skanky it was (and how dumb I was - STILL can't figure why I bought it, other than sheer 'spur of the moment' stupidity).Re: rounded corners in the neck pocket - that is completely normal in a Mexican (and some MIA) Fenders - there was a thread on here last night about it.I do still wonder if I got hosed on a parts'o'caster, but I also wonder if this is one of the MIMs that gets the rest of the breed such a bum rap. We have another MIM strat here, and it's perfectly acceptable.. What is odd about this body is that the radiusing along the edges is sharper than on the other MIM and a LOT sharper than on my MIJ strat. The body outline is the same as the MIM (which dates around '98) but the headstock is not.This is certainly puzzling. I still say that logo is wrong. It shouldn't be solid black. Also, the font for the word 'Stratocaster' seems a bit off. The tuners are also suspect. I don't think that's a Fender, especially if you say the body profile is different, simply because those are CNC'd, and Fender has had that setup for a quite a while. There wouldn't have been one guitar that made it out of that factory with differences like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ancient Mariner Posted June 18, 2006 Author Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 Originally posted by pete n. The Fender logo looks wrong. I've never seen an MIM logo that's all black like that. Every MIM I've ever seen looks like this pic of my old one. That looks just like the logo on our MIM here. I wonder if this could have been a budget 'special' for a shop somewhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members silverfacechamp Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 Originally posted by Ancient Mariner That's a MIA Tex-Mex. No it's not. It's a JV. It's MIM. There isn't a MIA Tex-Mex. No wonder this one gotcha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ancient Mariner Posted June 18, 2006 Author Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 Originally posted by silverfacechamp No it's not. It's a JV. It's MIM. There isn't a MIA Tex-Mex. No wonder this one gotcha! Sorry - my mistake. I thought Baja, California was in America http://namm.harmony-central.com/Newp/SNAMM96/Fender/tex-mex.html BTW that headstock appears to be genuine. http://www.angelfire.com/space2/garage_sale/music_gear/index.album?i=1 That particular strat also has sharper body contours like mine, but has a 3 ply scratchplate, although it IS from 97. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sarah_Smiles Posted June 18, 2006 Members Share Posted June 18, 2006 You got severly hosed if you paid any more than 125 for that! Its a Squier Series Made in Mexico Back in the 90s fender was doing that, basically they take a squier strat and slap that black logo on it. Im guessing if you look really close around the end of the head youll see where something was sanded or wiped off...it used to say Squier Series up there...this is a very common thing to do in the used market...both for selling and esp pawning guitars like these. All that is is a squier strat....it should have Fender stamped saddles also if its a real mim I can see it doesnt. Your lucky it aint plywood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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