Originally Posted by: hunter1801Alright, I was talking to one of my friends who just bought a guitar and it made me wonder what the actual differences were between Mexican Fender Strats, and American Strats.

He told me that when he went to Guitar Center, the people there told him that there was really no difference. The only difference was the pickups. I always thought there were different/cheaper parts that went into them, but he said that one of the guys told him he used to work for Fender, and they use all the same parts. The Mexican ones are just assembled in Mexican, but they have the same parts as Americans.

So whats the deal with the huge price difference if the only thing different are the pickups (apparently)?

Hiya Hunter-

The sales people at GC all lie; they get commissions for their sales. Generally, the MiMs, are made of a lighter wood (forget- alder or ash; whichever is lighter). As I noted in my review of the MiM I recently bought, the necks are a bit thinner, the nut can be a cheap plastic. The MiM I recently bought compared to my 1984 American doesn't sound as bright- however, my American has a maple neck and fretboard (I think it's one solide piece), while the MiM has a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard-that may have some effect on the tone. But my MiM still sounds great, especially on if you want a rounder sound. I believe the MiMs have slightly weaker pups; but they still sound good. My understanding of the necks- they are made in California, then shipped to Mexico.

Still, a couple of months ago, I test drove a number of MiMs, and the more recent models seem to have better quality parts. The Strat Deluxe model I tried had a maple neck, and sounded every bit as bright as my American.

Overall, I believe the quality control has gone up on the MiMs. Now that Fender has come out with a million different models of the Strat, you can get one as cheap as a couple hundred to a couple of thousand. I think you can get a basic, no frills, good sounding MiM that sounds great for around $400 (compared to around $600 for a basic American Strat) or less. The VG model (think that's the model), has something like 21 effects built in, and goes for something like $1600+.

I've just made another purchase off of Ebay for a MiM that was modded with noiseless pups, locking tuning gears- was hot-rodded to the gills and I love it. Sounds absolutely fantastic. Bottom line, try one, if you like it, buy it. Here's a pic of my most recent MiM:

got it for a total of $300. Had to put it together and do some soldering, but it sounds absolutely fantastic. Made in 1996. I have no problems with used gear, and I've found many diamonds in the rough on ebay or pawn shops.