MIM Strat's

I can't compare it to a Squire since I've never played one but I've owned a MIM Strat for about 9 months or so and I am completely happy with everything about it.

It's all about what you like so you'll have to check them out for ypur self but unless you get a lemon I think you'd be happy with it.

I have a MIM Strat and love it. Couldn't ask for a better guitar for the price paid.

Shibby

I've got a MIM Standard Strat. I love it.

You'll see a lot of differing opinions out on the web re. MIM's vs. American Strats. Some people will get very patriotic and just dismiss the MIM's entirely, others will say that the MIM's are as good as anything American you'll find.

IMHO, the two main weaknesses of the MIM Standard Strats are that they have a really small pot metal inertia block that isn't probably so hot in terms of sustain; and that the stock pups on them aren't as nice as on higher end models. But you can replace the block with one from Callaham ($75) and replace the pups with something better and still have spent less $$ than on a higher priced model.

The necks on the MIM's are made in the Corona, California factory, as I understand it. And, from what I've read, the Ensenada Fender plant is nothing to sneeze at.

I recently read "The Stratocaster Chronicles", a 50th anniversary coffee table book on Strat history, and learned a couple things that are worth thinking about with regard to the MIM's. Consider that when Leo Fender designed the Stratocaster a big part of the concept was for it to be a mass production guitar that could be successfully reproduced by an assembly line instead of by a shop of luthiers. Also, looking at my MIM Standard... the tremolo, the 21 fret fretboard, the plain maple neck, the headstock shape, the "vintage style" fretwire, etc... are very true to design of the "vintage" '50's strats that everybody loves so much.

I did my homework and bought a MIM and don't regret it. It feels good and it sounds good. The American Strats have a lot of nice bells and whistles and if you can afford those I'm sure that they're nice, but the MIM Standard is, as my friend Scott puts it, "A good solid journeyman's axe".

For the $600+ price difference, I'll gladly keep wailing away on my Mexican Strat versus an American.

I think quarterfront summed everything up quite nicely, so I'll just leave it at that. :)

To answer the original question, yes, the MIM is in most peoples opinions better than the made overseas squiers...

My favorite strat is my Jimmy Vaughn MIM signature strat.

I've put a few dollars into it:
bone nut
new trem block
shielded and grounded the pups
had the frets redone by someone I trust
better tuners

but the pups themselves once shielded and grounded sound excellent, and the look and feel of the guitar can't be beat. And I've still spent less than an American strat.

I didn't want to spend as much as an American goes for, so I purchased the Highway 1 three color sunburst, with the maple neck.

Congrats dude! Also, IMO the Jimmy Vaughan guitar is a great guitar for the money... :)

I can't believe how smooth this guitar plays. I was turned off towards Fender after owning a Squire, and am glad I tried a real one. The setup was great from the factory and it just feels amazing. I love the Epiphone, but wanted something totally different as well, and this is exactly what I was looking for. The Highway 1 is an awesome guitar.

Yup, I kinda like squiers because I know that I can accidentally put a dent in it and not lose 1,000 bucks off the value... 8)

I'd say the MIM strats are a lot closer to the MIA specs than the chinese/korean squiers.

Although on average, I'd say the quality of the American ones was higher (especially the signature models... wow) the best strat tone I've ever had the joy of cranking out was from an MIM strat.

I would definitely feel good gigging with an MIM or MIA strat, but I would take issue with gigging with a Squire, if only for the parts, unstable tuners and trems, poor setups, etc.

Get a used MIM strat for $225 and you'll be very happy.

I agree. A squire is just not in the same league with a strat, be it a MIM, MIA or MIJ one.

They've gotten better over the years, but I still consider a squire a learning instrument, not a performance quality one. An MIM strat is really still a bit below performance quality, but not by so much that you can't spend a few dollars to fix the little details and get it there (most specifically, shielding the pups).

A real basic question -- which ones are the MIM strats? I see two clusters of price points: one set around $320-$350 and another set, including the one mentioned in an earlier post
My favorite strat is my Jimmy Vaughn MIM signature strat
around the $550 - $650 mark. Are both of these MIM, or only the more expensive ones?

(I must confess that I have only looked at the online stores .. haven't actually checked either type out physically)

They're both MIM's.

The JV's have a hotter set of pickups, about the only real difference.