MIM Strats and Teles

Fender's MIM guitars are quite good.

My MIM strat is my favorite solid-body electric. I did put in a little work into it but nothing unordinary -- shielding (which is essential for any solid body guitar) and a trip to a good luthier for a full setup including fine-tuning the frets (something I do with every new guitar I get).

As far as I'm concerned, there's no reason anymore to look to their American standard line (and I've owned a few vintage strats). 20 years ago, when they first started making over-seas products the quality and quality control issues where significant. Today they simply aren't. There are slight differences in quality of materials, but not enough to justify the price differences.

they are descent guitars.

be very sure to paly and examine as many as you can. the details varya and that speaks to the quality of the guitar.
run your hand along the side of the neck. are the frets smooth or sharp?
look at the nut. are the grooves for the strings evenly spaced and dressed smooth?
do the tuners feel snug or are they wobbly?
whos the paint job?
doea it have a deep feel oand is it free of drips or pits?
look closely at where the neck jions the body. it should be nice and tight; with an even line throughout. if gapped put it back.

then plug the guitars in and listen to the electronics.
sound good? cool. does the switch move esaiely. does it pop?

those are just a few things.

a sign of a good guitar is when it sounds good unplugged and sustains nicely.

I don't think the MIM's are as good a deal as they used to be, because the Squiers have improved so much in the past few years. However a good MIM will compete with the American for quality of parts.
Dogbite has some good advice there. Do try the necks of both the Squier and American as well, just to see which one fits your hand best.

Personally, I'm rather fed up with the entire Squier/Fender line at the moment.

Personally for the money, I would go with 2 squiers instead of 1 MIM. The quality is the same as far as I can tell and I actually like the playability of the squiers better.

and you must remember that with the 600 $ you save you can buy a great processor or an amplifier which can make your guitar sound like anything u want...WELL ALMOST :twisted:

I like my MIM strat.

Tele, what series squire do you prefer? I'm thinking of getting a squire to leave in Keith Richards mode. (g tuning, buh bye low E)

Some Squier are indeed good. But I came across this Squire '51 at a Sam Ash recently. The frets were poking so far out from the sides and were so sharp that even I could figure out that something was wrong. Why is there such a difference in quality ? :)

oktay

Are Fender MIM Standart ssries any good? I'd quite like to know because i have just enough to get one, but i'd like other people's opinions. I heard they were pretty bad. Is that true?

I've got a '94 MIM Strat and an '03 MIM Tele ( Juanita and Alice ). Like dogbite mentioned, two guitars of the same model can have very different feels, so play everything that looks interesting. I've also got a local shop nearby that does all the setup work for my guitars. Don't neglect the importance of a good setup!

Another line in that general price range you might want to look at is the Tribute series by G&L. My current main squeeze is a Tribute ASAT.

MIM Strats are really common, so I've played a lot of them over the years.

I've yet to see one with a really good setup - string height and intonation need adjusting from the factory, at least on all the ones I've seen so far. I guess close is good enough for shipping.

But I haven't seen one yet that didn't play well after a setup.

I only have one prblem with them - the neck is not finished. I really think that finished necks are so much faster. They just seem more comfy.... Is there any way i could take care of that by finishing it(i have a lot of previous xp so there is no way i could screw up!!)? I wish it was already finished, then i would have bought that guitar already!

I like my MIM strat.

Tele, what series squire do you prefer? I'm thinking of getting a squire to leave in Keith Richards mode. (g tuning, buh bye low E)
To get that Keith tone you gotta go with the Squier Standard Fat Tele. Bucker in the neck position and standard tele single coil in the bridge. I've got the blonde and love it to death. Mine is in open G 6th string gone. I even took the peg off, makes a perfect hole to hold your smoke.

Well if I remember right, the Highway 1 series isnt much of a jump in price, maybe u should consider those too.

http://fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0111102338

What's the difference between Highway 1 and American Standart?

deferences between Highway 1 and Standard:

Highway 1 all American made.
Highway 1 has all the good tele parts; bridge is ferrous, brass saddles, tuners, and neck angle is correct and
beautiful fret work on really good rock maple necks.

Highway 1 have a thin satin finish Standards have thicker poly finishes; may last longer.

Standards have more options in pickup configurations.
Highway 1's come the way they are.

I own a highway 1 tele. simply an excellent guitar. the pups feel powerful enought for me. it has the classic tele twang too.
I like this guitar. I also own American made strats. Highway 1 compare nicely.

they sell in the 595 range.