Mim?

[lowe]

Is it worth the money? Why is it so much cheaper than USA's?

[rickym]

They are assembled in Mexico. Fender used to make everything here, then ship it south. I'm pretty sure they're built there as well now. Yes they're worth the money.

[b-squared]

The MIM Strats and Teles are great. My fave Strat is the Jimmy Vaughan signature model.

Vintage-style hardware, Texas Specials, body and neck made in Mexico. Great player!

BB

[lowe]

Alright, thanks guys.

[stryker59]

yep the mexican strats are great especially the deluxes and signature models!

[jomo]

They are "Players" guitars bro, my Joe Strummer is amazing, but they are not investments by any means. Your better off buying the American if you don't want to loose money on it.

[NeoConMan]

Agreed.

In the gap between American Fenders and Asian sh!t, they are pretty close to the American stuff.
There's some common parts between them, so mods are easy too.
Resale is not good, so lean a little further and buy American - no regrets that way.

Squier?
Forget it.
NOTHING fits in those junkers if you have to replace parts.
Might as well be made on Mars...

[overdriver]

If they where no good I wouldn't have 3 of them. The Artist, deluxe and classic lines are the better of the MIMs.

[overdriver]

Originally Posted by b-squared

The MIM Strats and Teles are great. My fave Strat is the Jimmy Vaughan signature model.

Vintage-style hardware, Texas Specials, body and neck made in Mexico. Great player!

BB

Great guitar MIA vintage trem , but BB the pups are TEX-MEX not Texas Specials still good not the same.

[hbucker]

I agree with all that's been said.

-Great players and solid instruments.
-Don't worry about it being an heirloom. Just play it and mod it to your heart's content.
-Resale won't be as good but you don't pay as much either. Actual out of pocket loss on either a sold USA or MIM would be similar.
-15 years ago MIM's were pretty suspect. Now they are much better. I have a MIM Nashville Tele that is rock solid.

[b-squared]

Originally Posted by overdriver

Great guitar MIA vintage trem , but BB the pups are TEX-MEX not Texas Specials still good not the same.

I stand corrected...thanks.

BB

[lowe]

Originally Posted by jomo

They are "Players" guitars bro, my Joe Strummer is amazing, but they are not investments by any means. Your better off buying the American if you don't want to loose money on it.

Well ill be getting a Gibson very soon. Hopefully this month but I'm sick of this Ibanez I have, thought I should try a Fender. For a backup

[overdriver]

Originally Posted by lowe55

Well ill be getting a Gibson very soon. Hopefully this month but I'm sick of this Ibanez I have, thought I should try a Fender. For a backup

IMO for just a Fender type thing as player back up deal not any investment or such a Squire 50s or 60s vibe will do ya or a reg. MIM .
And of course as with any guitar getting a good used one means ya shouldn;t lose money when its time to off it. The MIM standard , deluxe, classic player, and Squire vibe models all have fingerboard radius which is closer to the LPs so getting one of those IMO would be a consideratiom OH and the MIM sig. models. If you don't want a trem the Robert Cray is a great guitar comes with Custom Shop pickups.

[markeod72]

I have a very early MIM strat, like 92 or around that time. The pick ups, pots, all the wiring and suck are really trash. A buddy of mine picked up a Jimmie Vaughan sig model last and it is alot nicer that I though a MIM could be, except the pickguard is single ply crap. Another buddy of mine just put together a standard MIM strat, he changed out the pickups, pots, all the electronics, and put in a new heavy weight tremolo base (not sure what it is called) and I am extremely impressed with it.
MIM are good beater guitars and can easily be upgraded to their potential.

Mark

[rickym]

The beauty of Fender guitars is the interchangability of EVERY part on it. If the neck & body are solid, swapping out parts is easy. The same can be said about other guitars, but it seems so much easier on a Fender.

[coldsteal2]

my 60th Aniversary MIM's quality rivals the
USA custom shop guitars
The only improvement it needed was i put in Fender Hot Noisless
pickups. It outclasses my 93 Fender USA strat
for sound and looks. Fender chose the Mexico
factory to make thier 60th aniversary over thier
California factory which is saying alot right there
in the quality of thier guitars.
The cool thing about buying MIM is you can get one of thier top of the line
guitars for less than a bottom of the line USA Fender.

[overdriver]

^ cold the 60th does not have a nitro finish bro. polyester body and polyurathane neck bro. Nice guitars !

Top of the line MIM are not much less than the MIA standards and the standard come with a case.
MIM classic player Strat what 799$with bag. MIA standard 999$ with case. MIM Baja tele 799$ MIA standard 999$

IMO the real deal with the MIM is comparing the classic and sig. model to the MIA 57/62 RI MIM classic 50s 649$ with bag MIA 57 RI 1400$ with case. For guys like me that like the vintage type they are alot cheaper.

[coldsteal2]

Hmm thats wierd because they advertised
it as gloss Nitro finish when i bought it
oh well its beautiful anyway

[overdriver]

Originally Posted by coldsteal2

Hmm thats wierd because they advertised
it as gloss Nitro finish when i bought it
oh well its beautiful anyway

Yes they are wonderfull congrats and really do not know who advertised it as nitro certianly not Fender. I picked one out of a few for a friend and did check out the specs. . I have 2 50th anns. same thing polyester , just like what Fender used from 69 up also some vintage colours where different non Nitro finish , the nitro thing does nothing for me I like the ester better, doesn't run into my clothing when I play. To my knowlede no MIM has ever been finished in nitro.

[coldsteal2]

It was Musicians Freind that advertised it as
Nitro, oh well

I have a American Standard Reissue P-Bass that
has the nitro body but the neck is obviously poly
which is werid to have a reissue with poly neck
But now i even wonder if the American Standard
body is also poly.....no biggy

[overdriver]

Originally Posted by coldsteal2

It was Musicians Freind that advertised it as
Nitro, oh well

I have a American Standard Reissue P-Bass that
has the nitro body but the neck is obviously poly
which is werid to have a reissue with poly neck

Now thats weird wonder WTF happened there!?
Most of the vintage stuff in car colours was acrylic laquer like lake Placid Blue etc. IMO doesn't matter WTF they are finished with really , what matters is how they play and sound.

[coldsteal2]

Originally Posted by overdriver

Now thats weird wonder WTF happened there!?
Most of the vintage stuff in car colours was acrylic laquer like lake Placid Blue etc. IMO doesn't matter WTF they are finished with really , what matters is how they play and sound.

Yea they went as far as having original
vintage 57 pickups with cloth wireing
and pots, but poly on the neck, but
could be because i orderd it with a
jazz bass neck thats probably the problem
(Ok i just recognized why haha)

my neck is a USA Jazz Bass neck with
a 60th aniversary emblem on the back
of the head. starting to put two and two together
so really it would be conciderd a frankenstien
I put a Bad ass II on the bridge replaced the pickups
with SD quarterpounders anyway

[overdriver]

Originally Posted by coldsteal2

Yea they went as far as having original
vintage 57 pickups with cloth wireing
and pots, but poly on the neck, but
could be because i orderd it with a
jazz bass neck thats probably the problem
(Ok i just recognized why haha)

my neck is a USA Jazz Bass neck with
a 60th aniversary emblem on the back
of the head. starting to put two and two together
so really it would be conciderd a frankenstien

yeah a standard satin poly neck on a RI body , takes a while for things to be recalled in whats left of my brain for time to time to bro. nice bass. Was it a used thing ? here in Canada Fender and shops that sell them won't mix match stuff , I have tried I forget what but I found a strat with rosewood I liked and wanted the maple neck off of another the shop had , switch em out but no go! oh well.

[coldsteal2]

No it was brand new 06, i asked the guy at the
music store here in town if he could get one with
a Jazz Neck because i dont like P-Bass necks.
He said that wouldnt be a problem, probably just
switched it in the back room hahah
Anyway the bottom line, is no mater if its made
in the US or Mexico the quality is really not noticeable
in looks or sound

[kspeed]

Originally Posted by coldsteal2

my 60th Aniversary MIM's quality rivals the
USA custom shop guitars
The only improvement it needed was i put in Fender Hot Noisless
pickups. It outclasses my 93 Fender USA strat
for sound and looks. Fender chose the Mexico
factory to make thier 60th aniversary over thier
California factory which is saying alot right there
in the quality of thier guitars.
The cool thing about buying MIM is you can get one of thier top of the line
guitars for less than a bottom of the line USA Fender.

Love it! I have the same model, but with a number of mods (Sheptone pickups and locking tuners, among other things). Mine's a heavy motherfucker, more so than my '57 Strat or either of my LP's (granted, one is chambered). Is yours the same way?