'92 mexi Telecaster question re: body and neck

[kcwm]

I could have sworn that I read that the early Mexican made Fenders used USA made bodies and necks because the Ensenada plant wasn't able to produce their own. Now, I can't seem to refind that information. Also, were bodies made at this time made of poplar with an alder veneer?

My Google-fu skills are weak!

The reason that I ask is that I'm about to have the guitar refinished, new pickups installed, and the neck sanded and lacquered up vintage amber style.

[DanD]

I know that in some time frame between '88-'90 the Squires that were once Mexican were US made because of issues with the Ensenada plant.

Don't know about any other time but some Mexican bodies do have Alder veneer. I think the reason behind the veneer was to make the four and five piece bodies appear to be two piece.

Some Mexican bodies are Poplar. Some of the Mexican Classic 50s and 60s models used Poplar on solid painted bodies. I've heard they veneered some of those models with Alder for see thru finishes but I've never owned one in a see thru finish to confirm that. I do have a Classic 60s partscaster in Burgundy Mist w/Cray neck and pups that's Poplar and it sounds like a good Strat should.

If your body has a see thru finish you should be able to look at the pup/control route edges and see the veneer line if a veneer was used. If it's a solid color there'd be no reason to use a veneer.

[Kap'n]

Those are the old top loaders, right? If the bodies were MIA, I don't think it really means anything. A friend has one, and even though it was a solid color, it had a veneered top and bottom, I'm presuming to provide a stable painting base for the Deciduous vulgaris - aka "shitwood."

I know it's veneered, because he dropped it, and a chunk of veneer came off.

[Gravity Jim]

I had a mid 90's MIM Strat and I will second the Kap'ns statement: doesn't matter whether those things were CNC'd in the US or Hecho en Mexico, they sucked. I wanted to strip mine, and a guitar tech I knew warned me not to: "Removing that paint will break you, and you won't like what you find underneath," he said. It could have been up to 7 pieces of ugly, streaky poplar.

In addition, the body had no resonance and the bridge was a joke. But I do owe it a debt of gratitude: my disgust with it led to replacing it with a mahogany Warmoth hollow Strat body, and eventually replacing every part until it became my beloved Zencaster.

[NeoFauve]

I had an early 90's MIM Tele.
It was LP/Ice-ish Blue Metallic finish. There was no way to tell what kind of wood, how many peices it was made of or if there was a veneer.
The insides of the control rout was very rough. Like it was done w/a tiny chansaw. Yet it was very well coated with blue.
I set about drilling all the holes to put a vintage style box bridge on it.
It was my first "Fender" Tele, and worth the $200 I paid for it.
I enjoyed that guitar.

[Don]

'90s American Standards had veneer as well. I had a '93 Am. Std. Strat, a '95 Am' Std. Tele and a '96 Am. Std. Strat, all sunburst, all veneered.

Judging by the way that the sunburst finish is dark in the belly cut of recent MIM Stds. I'd say that they're still using a veneer.

On my '96 MIM Duo-Sonic there is no veneer, I can tell because the black finish has sunk slightly showing the witness lines of about 6 pieces of wood under the right lighting.

I can't tell with my '99 MIM Jazz Bass. It's also black but is finished much nicer and no seams are obvious.

BTW, all but one of the veneered guitars that I mentioned above sounded and played fine.

[kcwm]

I actually really like the way the guitar plays and sounds. in fact, I once sold it and then bought it back when I saw the guy selling it.

Those are the old top loaders, right? If the bodies were MIA, I don't think it really means anything. A friend has one, and even though it was a solid color, it had a veneered top and bottom, I'm presuming to provide a stable painting base for the Deciduous vulgaris - aka "shitwood."

I know it's veneered, because he dropped it, and a chunk of veneer came off.

If it was a top loader, then the body was drilled for string-thru and they did a nice job. I posted about this guitar some time ago. It has a Fishman VT Powerbridge and slot for a 9v battery on the back of the guitar like you see on Fender production Power Teles. It very well could have been a custom job, but if it was, it was done really well.

I thought I'd read something about there being a ban on using alder back in the early '90s which is why the veneers were used, so it made me wonder about what wood might have been used in it's place. If it is poplar, I surely don't mind it. Both the Rio Grandes I used to have in it and the Fender USA pickups I have in it now have sounded beefy.

[Don]

I don't recall there being a ban. I think Fender just used what was cheaper.

[kcwm]

I may have read and/or remembered wrong. Certainly wouldn't be the first time

[Wilko]

There are several different quality levels on the MIM stuff some is crap, some is awesome.

Some is multi-wood, some is a couple of nice pieces of wood. The vintage style MIM stuff is higher quality. Visible on the Thinlines and strats (no black belly cuts, etc.)

[kcwm]

I think it was a thread similar to this one where I read about an Alder ban and/or an increase in the price of alder. I read it on more than one site, but I suppose it could have been the same guy on multiple forums. I suppose that, next time, I should do a better job of remembering where I found the information.

I'm just a curious guy who likes to know a lot of trivial information about things that really don't matter. What does matter is the fact that I have a guitar that resonates with me.

Thanks for the info!

[Don]

I'm pretty sure it was due to the price of alder at the time. I remember when they switched the MIM Std. guitars to alder Fender made a big deal of it. I'm sure that either the price of poplar went up or the price of alder went down to the point where the price was close enough that Fender could use alder as an advertising point. Even if alder still cost a little more they could afford to use it if saying so sold more guitars.

[DanD]

...

On my '96 MIM Duo-Sonic there is no veneer, I can tell because the black finish has sunk slightly showing the witness lines of about 6 pieces of wood under the right lighting.
...

My black '89 Squire body has those same sunk in finish lines but only two, equating to a three piece body.

I know the Squire range was bottom of the line for Fender so I wonder at what point in time the bottom of the line products moved away from the tried and true 3 piece body as "standard"?