Members Invader.CC Posted November 9, 2009 Members Share Posted November 9, 2009 I own 6 Strat"s... 3 MIA and 2 MIM plus a MIJ..This is real simple for me..All of my MIA Strat have been left completly Stock..They are good enough for me to grab and go into any studio in the world plug them in and play... The MIM's in my opinion are the best bang for your buck guitar on the market and for very liitle money can be made into as nice of a playing guitar and sounding guitar as the more exspensive MIA.. With that said for pro quality and this is for the standard models only ..(I have no experience with Mexi made custom shop guitars to give an opinion)..You must do somethings to them to get the most out of them..The pickups on a MIM although great for intermediate players will more than likely need to be replaced for your best tones..For the best action you may want to have the edges of your fretboard rolled..Although i prefer the vintage tremolo and hate the USA standard saddles and tremolo for best sustain you mat want to replace your tremolo block..At the same time replace the nut with a more precise fitted nut then the MIM guitar put out of the factory..But even after you do all this and you replace the pickups with a $200 quality pick up which will now be better than a MIA standards pick up's do all the work i have talked about and even some other work you have less than $800 in the guitar..Plus it is now set up the way you want it..So what does all this mean. If you are wanting the best guitar off the rack the U.S.A Standard is superior.Or in my case a Strat Ultra.. If you are talking best bang for your buck and for a custom build i will always start with the MIM..The quality of a MIM is very good and with a few custom touches can be turned into a guitar that can compete with its American Brother and may even out do it in many cases..All of this and still saving about $400 is hard to beat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mymindsok Posted November 9, 2009 Members Share Posted November 9, 2009 Go play both, pick the one you like the most. Personally, I don't see myself ever buying a MIM again. I've owned two and both were good guitars, but not compared to a MIA. MIA Strats feel better, sound better, use nicer woods and have better hardware. I agree 100%. I have both a USA Strat and an MIM within arms reach and the USA is better in every meaningfull respect. Maybe an argument could be made after swapping a MIA edge-rolled neck onto a MIM that thy're equivalent but nope.... Then you'd have to swap the bridge and it all runs downhill from there. USA, all the way. PS: If you like the MIM's narrow neck, find a good one and have the neck edges rolled, swap the pups, do the nut thing, add a Callaham trem, rework the electrics and except for the skinny frets and the multi piece body, youre 85 to 90% of the way there. I don't think its worth it though... Save your $$$ and start looking for a used EJ Strat. That model has everything that most guys are looking for in a strat. Chunky soft-V 1/4 grain neck, light weight, hand selected parts, great pups, nitro finish, custom vintage wiring, and unless youre super-duper picky, it'll never need an upgrade of any sort. Custom Shop quality at a production price really.... I bought one and I'm really spoiled but they arent cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bro Blue Posted November 9, 2009 Members Share Posted November 9, 2009 I like the MIM Deluxe Strats better then the MIA Strats. I even like the Standards better than the American Standard. They just feel better in my hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metallica_00 Posted November 9, 2009 Members Share Posted November 9, 2009 Americans are supposed to be better, in theory. Better parts, more features, better quality control.But in actuality, anything goes. Mexicans can be good too, and some people prefer them over the Americans. I know I love my Mexican Strat, and wouldn't trade it for the world. (Or for an American Strat either) On average, MIAs will be better than MIMs. Fender wouldn't let it be any other way. You may be able to cherrypick a prime MIM or a dud MIA, so do your shopping carefully. To me, it seems like there is considerably more detail put into the MIAs in the neck, and a far superior electronics and hardware package. MIA Strats are certainly not an end all but they are pretty good guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members darthyahya Posted November 9, 2009 Members Share Posted November 9, 2009 unofficially it usually goes like this MIA>MIJ>MIM. but as other posters suggested, you can pick up a cheap mim strat off craigslist and spend a few hundred in upgrades and have a hell of a guitar. i had a few mim but none never impressed me much. i had a MIJ that blew most MIA away. best thing to do is pick up a few different models and play em. tone is sunjective and reletive to the listener. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Orange Jackson Posted November 9, 2009 Members Share Posted November 9, 2009 i think you get what you pay for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yogi_Sizzle Posted November 9, 2009 Members Share Posted November 9, 2009 PS: If you like the MIM's narrow neck, find a good one and have the neck edges rolled, swap the pups, do the nut thing, add a Callaham trem, rework the electrics and except for the skinny frets and the multi piece body, youre 85 to 90% of the way there. I don't think its worth it though... Actually the MIMs don't have Skinny vintage frets anymore, they upgraded em to the same Medium Jumbo fret wire as the MIA standards a couple of years ago. They also upgraded to a full size zinc block, new tinted neck neck with much better fret work, and the MIA and MIMs have the same pots/electronics, the same tuners too. Also American Standards are not one piece bodies either, they are 2-3 pieces just like most of the MIMs these days. However, MIM Sunbursts are veneered where as MIAs aren't.Basically the only thing crappy about the new MIM standards are the pickups. Change out the pickups and maybe the trem and you'll have a killer axe. Yes there really is a difference between the american made Fenders and the mexicans. I own an MIA John Mayer stratocaster and it is a really nice instrument, but I can get usable sounds out of my Squiers and Epiphones too. I think if you want a nice, workhorse instrument that gets the job done, get the MIM and swap out the pickups. If you want a a really nice instrument that is a great as is, get the MIA. When it all comes down to it, the big noticeable difference is feel. Everything else can be swapped out to equal or better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrockbridge Posted November 9, 2009 Members Share Posted November 9, 2009 Apparently, there is no MIM Fender that's built to the same specifications as the Am Dlx. That particular MIA neck has such a fantastic feel! If that ever changes, somebody please let me know. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members notcool Posted November 9, 2009 Members Share Posted November 9, 2009 I've owned both. The American Standard body was made of nicer wood and its pickups were weaker and cleaner sounding. The MIM Standard Strats have hotter pickups and the bodies are made of laminated strips of alder. MIM Standard Strats made from about 2000 on back had poplar bodies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyzsard Posted November 10, 2009 Members Share Posted November 10, 2009 Honestly, if you're new to the instrument I'd suggest one of two options: 1: Get a new, higher end Squier, like a Classic Vibe. 2: Get on Craigslist and find a Mexi Fender (ideally 2007 or later). Then, take the guitar to a shop and drop the extra thirty bucks or so for a full setup. You'll have a nice, inexpensive guitar that will let you figure out whether you're really into playing guitar or not -- without putting a colossal dent in your bank account. CV's are sweet guitars. The necks are exceptionable and the stock pups are nice. The wood on these necks is stunning. Lot's of flame and figure. Used ones are tough to find because the line is only a couple of years old. I got lucky and found a 60's CV and a 50's CV in a shop priced at 200 each(used/mint). I traded a guitar even for them I paid 260 for, so I've only got 160 bucks in each. No strat in the shop for under 1200 bucks sounded better than these. I actually went in to check out American Standard, and these CV's held their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyzsard Posted November 10, 2009 Members Share Posted November 10, 2009 these CV demos are pretty convincing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTMx8UDPguA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.