These are both Mexi Strats That I have modified, still paid less than an American Strat, and have had others say they like mine better than some americans they have played.
These are both Mexi Strats That I have modified, still paid less than an American Strat, and have had others say they like mine better than some americans they have played.
I just learned something very interesting in the differences between MIM and MIA from friends that just came back from factory tours in both facilites. ALL of the hardware and pickups are......identical...from the same place. The CNC machines are the same and set up...THE SAME.
Key differences may be in solid bodies that are 2 piece in MIA and up to 5 piece in MIM.
After hearing that, I did a blind test between 10 guitars mixed from MIM and MIA. Considering they are all set up a little different, and not the way I would have them, they all felt pretty damn close to each other.
One of the things these guys also told me was the myth that Fender in Mexico sticks wood in the front of the machine and out comes a guitar is exactly that, a myth.
As most have said before, if it feels good, play it. The most you may have to do is change pickups, or not.
They also said that Fender is doing just fine and actually really cares about making guitars. That was refreshing.
mark
Actually, the pickups are not the same.Originally Posted by wleeds
The MIA Strats have Alnico 'magnetic poles' and the MIM Strats are ceramic.
Other than that, I really haven't seen any differences worth mentioning.
BTW. The 'Squier' Strats that are MIM do have different hardware than their MIM 'Stratocaster' counterparts, even tho they are both made in the same factory.
For some unfathomably reason, Fender decided to put tuners on the Squiers that have 'reverse' screw holes, which makes it impossible to find American or Mexican alternatives that will fit and still cover the old holes.
I have a Squier that was MIM in 1998 that plays and sounds great,(especially with the new GFS vintage pickups) but I had to keep the original tuners if I didn't want the holes showing.
Luckily, the guitar stays in tune and isn't an issue, but it's still frustrating that I can't change the tuners without the holes showing.
I've mentioned this before but................I bought a MIM 60s classic rather than the more expensice USA highway as the electronics were the same and the MIM had a better feel (mojo?)
With the factories only 30 miles apart and the news we get in the UK that the USA/Mex border is a free run it would be intersting to know how many of the USA factory workers are Mexican.
The hardware on the Mexican Strat is certainly not the same as on the USA.
Does anyone know what pups are in the Mexican 50s Strat? Are they the same as in the HW1?
If you're talking about the MIM Standards, you are right.The hardware on the Mexican Strat is certainly not the same as on the USA.
However, I believe that the US Hwy1 and the MIM Classic series have the same made in U.S.A. hardware, the difference being where it's assembled.
My MIM Vintage Player strat has all USA Hardware and Texas Special pickups.
"If you're cool, you don't know nothin' about it. It just is...or you ain't." - Keith Richards
I think someone recently observed that if you buy a MIM, you get a guitar put together by Mexicans in Mexico. OTOH, if you buya MIA Strat, you get a guitar put together by Mexicans 30 miles or so further north...
Such cynicism. But I'm sure there are lots of good reasons to pay the extra $$$ for the MIA label on the headstock anyway...
In any case, I'd be very pleased to shake the hands of the skilled craftsmen, whoever they are, that built _my_ MIM Strat. Great piece of quality work, imho.
-Mark
Last edited by Plugger; 06-18-2006 at 04:17 AM.
That is SOOOO funny! I don't don't know if its true, but it is really funny.
Your right. better pickups, Microtilt necks (if you like that sort of thing), 2 point bridge, No load bridge pot, Bi-flex truss rod, oh and I noticed that the edges of the body are much more rounded on the MIA guitars. there is quite a difference there.Such cynicism. But I'm sure there are lots of good reasons to pay the extra $$$ for the MIA label on the headstock anyway...
Well, I can't help you with that, but here is the link to my photo tour of the Mexico factory, in case you have not seen it before.
Photo's Fender Mexico Pictorial
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OTOH, if you buya MIA Strat, you get a guitar put together by Mexicans 30 miles or so further north...
It's actually a couple of hours drive. 30 miles south of the Corona factory only gets you as far as Lake Elsinore.
I live in the Corona area.
VM
If aliens listened to our current top 40, they'd think that the entire planet was populated by sexually ambivalent robots with ethnic insecurity.
I here there is great bass fishing there....
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Hardly a "free run", and there are employment requirements that I'm fairly sure Fender follows.
Just a comment, my wife was born and raised in Mexico, but she does not like being referred to as "mexican", she's lived and worked here a long time as has most of her brothers and sisters.
I have both the HW1 and Classic 50s Strats, the hardware is inferior quality to that of the USA made Strat (bridge and tuners, ping as opposed to Schaller), can't speak of the Vintage player.
The Hwy1 Strats have the same pickups the 70's Classic MIM Strats do.
The HWY1 Teles have the same pickups the 50's Classic MIM Teles have.
The HWY1 does have the same tuners as the MIM STd and same bridge made by ping.
All MIM Strats have ping hardware with the exception of the Jimmie Vaughan Strat and the Vintage Player Strats with have the same gotoh hardware the USA Vintage and CS models use.
You would be real lucky to get an MIA Fender with a 2 piece body the ones with 2 piece are clearly listed in the specs and its usually the CS models.
The MIM STD Strat has ceramic maget pickups all the rest are alnico.
With the specs on the new standard, all you have to do is change the pickups.
I used to shield them and change the pickups. Now I only have to do one thing on them. Oh, and cosmetic stuff... If I want to..
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The differences in a new MIM STD compared to a new American STD are very small since the upgraded 2006 MIM STD was introduced.
Do the MIM and the Am Std both have the same trem block now? In particular, does the MIM have a trem that will take a tensioning spring, so it doesn't flop around?
-Mark
Yes the MIM now has the full sized big trem block.
Yes, I know it's bigger, but they've lost that straight through hole for the trem arm (which meant you couldn't put a spring in it... it would fall straight through)?
BTW, bigger is not necessarilly better... I upgraded my MIM block to a bigger Wilkinson block, but it was still zinc, not the steel one. No difference in tone that I could notice; perhaps the merest scintilla of extra sustain, but nothing to get excited about.
It seems the material the trem block is made of is much more important with respect to tonal difference than the mass in itself, fwiw.
-Mark
You still have to be careful with those trem springs. if you overtightened them, it is common to strip the threads. I've not had it happen yet, but that's why Callaham gets so much of their block upgrade business...
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I thought Callaham still used a thread on their trem arms. No?
And does anyone know for sure whether the new bigger block MIM Std Strat blocks take a spring for the trem arm, or have a through hole?
-Mark
The rythmn guitarist in our lead guitarist's son's band (that's a mouthful) always plays my MIM VP strat instead of his MIA 50th Anniv when he comes over cause my MIM blows his MIA away and he knows it...
The MIM's have never used a spring in the trem block. The new Callaham blocks use a pop in arm or a threaded arm they are really nice.
The Wilkinson vintage bridge is the one with the full sized steel block. If you got the one with the non vintage specs thats why it had a zinc block and it probably didnt make much improvment in sound just like you said.
I've done it before... but what the hell, it looks like may be helpful again!
New 06 MIM Block
"Fool me once, shame on..... shame on me... fool me twice... shame on ... shame on... IF YOU GET FOOLED ONCE YOU CAN'T GET FOOLED AGAIN".-Our Good bud George W.
Read this...
http://www.allthingsguitar.com/mimvsmia/strattable.htm
I also learned that all necks are made in USA and shipped to other plants for finishing and assembly.
and this is the old block...
Want pics of new vs. old frets too? I got time...
"Fool me once, shame on..... shame on me... fool me twice... shame on ... shame on... IF YOU GET FOOLED ONCE YOU CAN'T GET FOOLED AGAIN".-Our Good bud George W.
http://www.callahamguitars.com/blocks.htm
Lots of good info and pics of cross sections of trem blocks
Does anyone know what site it is that you can take a tour of the Mexico factory? All types of pics and such. I've seen it before, but I can't remember where it is.
"Fool me once, shame on..... shame on me... fool me twice... shame on ... shame on... IF YOU GET FOOLED ONCE YOU CAN'T GET FOOLED AGAIN".-Our Good bud George W.
http://www.guitarstop.com/tour/indexT.htm
THats one place you can find the MIM factory the other is at all things Strat
Dr Fene
What Bill Porter actually saidThe hardware on the Mexican Strat is certainly not the same as on the USA. I've checked the Fender web site again and it states that the 50s MIM, 60s MIM and HW1 have '3 Vintage Style Single-Coil Strat® Pickups with Staggered Pole Pieces, Alnico Magnets'bought a MIM 60s classic rather than the more expensice USA highway as the electronics were the same
Having played guitars for 35 years including 12 as a Music Shop Manager I kinda noticed that the hardware was different = doh
T'was meant as a joke guys, and a dig at the UK news.the news we get in the UK that the USA/Mex border is a free run
I spent 2 years lusting after a HW1, when I finally had the cash available I tried one out alongside the 60s MIM and couldn't tell any difference in the sound. However, I preferred the neck on the MIM and the 60's feel. It seems more like a Strat to me. It was also 75% the cost of a HW1
Its all down to personal choice but I think that some people's decisions are based on the 'Made in USA' decal believing that if it's Mexican then its an inferior product - I certainly was until I tried the MIM.
When you look at the Fender parts numbers for each model you will see the 50's-60's MIM Classic Strats use the same pickups. The HWY1 uses the same pickups as the 70's Classic MIM.
I think I was replying to wleeds comment.
Yes, we all know that the MIMs have never used a spring in the trem block. Because of the hole for the trem arm running all the way the through the block (which you can't actually see in TonsOfBlues' picture of the "old" MIM block), it was impossible to hold a spring.
OTOH, TonsOfBlues pic of the "new" MIM block shows that there is no hole. Therefore, it may be possible to hold a spring in this block.
Two questions: a) Is it possible (i.e., does anyone know for sure whether is will hold one of the little black trem springs that Fender sell for this purpose), and b) Does it even already come stock with a trem arm spring included, as do the MIA models (since the point being discussion was "MIM hardware is now the same as the MIA except for the pups".)
I'm not sure why I'm having such a hard time getting a straight answer to such a simple question here!
Actually, it's more complicated than that. In the Wilkinson range, "vintage" just mean "six screw pivot", as opposed to the "modern (two-point pivot)" bridge. The steel block is an optional upgrade for the Vintage bridges; Wilkinson sell a "Vintage" trem withe both a zinc and a steel block. The blocks are both the same size, only the material they are made of is different.
To further complicate things, there are also manufacturers (like MightyMite) who have licensed the Wilkinson design, and make their own version (but are still branded "Wilkinson".) It's a point of some discussion and debate whether the "real" Wilkinson trems (i.e., the ones you'd buy directly from Trevor Wilkinson's UK-based company) are made in the same, or a different factory, as the MightyMite ones. It is clear that even the "real" ones are currently subcontracted to be made in a Korean factory, however.
So it can get a tad confusing when buying a "Vintage spec" Wilkinson bridge, as you can see. BTW, I bought the MightyMite licensed bridge on eBay, because it was less than half the price of the "real deal" version bought directly from Wilkinson in the UK after shipping, etc. It's well made, and the pop-in arm is a great improvement over the floppy threaded arm on the old MIM bridge.
The floppy arm on the old MIM spec bridges is one of the few really annoying personal peeves I had with my guitar after I bought it, and that's why I'm curious about whether this little bit of lameness has been addressed with the current round of hardware upgrades. Not a big deal, but still... you'd think someone could answer this.
-Mark
what's the proper way to install a tremolo arm on an AMSE Strat?
I was gonna post the same site as photo didMeh ol well
Last edited by Constellation80; 06-20-2006 at 10:47 PM. Reason: Photo beat me to the punch
Hey.. I said that !!!
It's going to be really sad to lose all that content in a few months.
but the specs change on guitars and factory's every few months anyway.
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what do you mean?
You can go to the All Things Guitar web site but it will be closing down in September...
I was allowed to move my stuff off that site and put it on my own site, so you can view it now from here: http://reviews.photoweborama.com/all...our/index.html
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All Things Guitar is shutting down. I asked if I can take over the domain name and move the content to my own web site and keep the content alive for as as close to ever as possible, without any new additions, but they did not want to do that. So when the site needs to renewed in September, it won't be.. It will go out of existence.
It only cost me $12.00 a year to host an extra domain on my webspace, so it was not going to be a big deal for me to simply house the files...
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oic
The pics aren't showing up on that one page but you're the one that took that tour?
anyone know where the site with the American factory is?
They should be now. I making change to the site becase my host say it can't do a redirect the way I had it. It should be fixed...
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