Re: Mexican Strats

"Ether" <ether@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

The Repair Guy wrote:
"Ether" <ether@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

The Repair Guy wrote:

Look--you're a luthier, right?

Luthiers make instruments. I just fix them.
There aren't many luthiers posting here.

If you *really* can't tell the (major) difference
in quality between a USA Strat and a Mexican
Strat, it's not the sort of thing you should be
saying in public--in front of your potential
customers.

There are several differences. We disagree as
to how important some of these differences are,
whether they're justified by the price difference,
whether some are objective quality differences
or intangible "feel" differences.

Then again, you may appeal to a lot of people
with broken MIM Strats, people who are looking
for a luthier who shares their appreciation for
such instruments. And there are probably a lot
of those people around.

What do you think I've been saying? That the
MIMs and MIAa are the same except for price??

That's basically what you've been saying, yes.
To wit:

"IME, the difference is in the electronics - pickups,
pots, etc. Same wood, same fret metal, same
finishes, same quality control."
--The Repair Guy, 4/10/2006 6:54 p.m.

All of which, as I have said, is hogwash.

Sure. See chart I posted comparing them.
Same wood, same fret metal, same finishes.

Just because the bodies are made of alder and
the finish is polyurethane does NOT mean that
USA and MIM Strats have the "same wood" or
the "same finish".

It pretty much does, IMO. Functionally, alder = alder.
Poly = poly.

USA = superior wood selection and superior finish.

Cosmetic differences.
Some people think bird's eye maple (traditional
snob neck wood) is actually sonically and structurally
INFERIOR to plain old rock maple. Actually, there's
not much doubt about the structural part.
This is just an example of how much cosmetic touches
add to an instrument.

Better fret treatment, too.

I agreed with this. Keep pointing it out if you want,
though.

Like I said--go try these guitars yourself, call
Fender and talk to them, and then get back to us.

I've played several of the guitars over several years.
I've worked on them. I used to finish guitars, so I have
an idea of how important a nice glossy finish is to the
sound & playability of an instrument.

The Repair Guy
repairguy1993 dot netfirms dot com
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Mexican Strats
    ... Luthiers make instruments. ... There aren't many luthiers posting here. ... quality between a USA Strat and a Mexican Strat, ...
    (alt.guitar)
  • Re: Mexican Strats
    ... There aren't many luthiers posting here. ... quality between a USA Strat and a Mexican Strat, ... Same wood, same fret metal, same finishes. ...
    (alt.guitar)
  • General broad comparisons between Stratocastors
    ... Neck wood quality; Nope ... Ratio repair/upgrade cost to purchase price; ... other than in the mind of the most stubborn Mexican Strat owner, ...
    (alt.guitar)
  • Re: General broad comparisons between Stratocastors
    ... Neck wood quality;  Nope ... Ratio repair/upgrade cost to purchase price;  Nope ... other than in the mind of the most stubborn Mexican Strat owner, ...
    (alt.guitar)
  • Re: General broad comparisons between Stratocastors
    ... Neck wood quality; Nope ... Ratio repair/upgrade cost to purchase price; ... Strat owner, they arent even similiar on that front. ...
    (alt.guitar)