I know this may be an old topic and I have opinions on it and have expressed them, but it's something I've been thinking about again. Looking at the issue of standard strats/teles and american standard strats and teles and how they actually compare in real life.
And in this case, I'm specifically talking about post 2008 MIMs and similarly modern MIAs. Most of us gear heads have had a great deal of experiences through the years to call on as it pertains to Fender guitars, but I want to recalibrate the discussion to focus only on the most modern standard instruments, especially with the understanding that the MIMs, in particular, have really been souped up since 2008 and in my experience some of the older ones just don't compare to them. The American standards (the strat in particular) have also seen some modernizations in recent years.
Where I'm at right now is that I'm a person who, back in 2009, bought both a new standard tele and a new standard strat and have an extremely high opinion of both of them. I've never owned a modern american standard, though, and that's part of why I want to update the discussion.