As a guy who used to play nothing but American Teles and strats, I got my hands on an old Japanese strat, one of the first ones. Its a beauty and I love it. I got it for 200 bucks and I feel fortunate to own it. As the previous poster said, don't worry about where it was made. Play it and if it feels good and gives you the sound you want then that is all that matters. I find that new guitars are kind of like new shoes. They take awhile to feel good. I played a few of the mexican strats in the stores and the necks on them felt good. Although bending the strings it did feel kind of rough. Not smooth at all