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Are Fender guitars made in Mexico good quality? Anybody experience of the 'Fender Mustang Sienna Sunburst MN' solid guitar--22 frets and a 24" scale length.
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11-09-2020 03:07 PM
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Yes, they are good quality in my experience.
Originally Posted by swingtoneman
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Hello, the same for me, I play a fantastic jazz bass and an electric XII that are worth Us series IMO.
Components and processes are the same in Mexico and in the US, instruments are just cheaper...
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Allegedly Leo Fender said "you can buy a Fender guitar made in the US by Mexicans or you can buy one made in Mexico by Mexicans." A lot of the skilled workforce in America is immigrants who learned their trade at home, in many cases. All of the MIM Fenders I have seen appeared to be every bit as good as the much more expensive American versions.
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Thanks guys for your knowledge--much appreciated.
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They are not the same guitars in terms of components. MIM has 4 or 5 piece poplar wood bodies. US has 2 or 3 piece alder (think some are still ash but that's going away). MIM has single flex truss rod. US has bi-flex. MIM usually has ceramic pickups. US usually has Alnico. MIM has stamped metal parts. US has a lot more die cast parts. Higher quality cast tuners on US models. Probably different fret wire. Don't know about finish differences. MIM is made to a price point so cheaper bits. US is made for a high profit margin so more expensive bits.
Wouldn't worry too much about workmanship. In both Mexico and US they are made by machine. QA is likely better in the US but that's speculation based purely on final price.
Thing is, how good does a plank of wood with a pickup need to be? Lots of good music being made on MIM Fender guitars and they are certainly good enough.
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The days of ceramic magnet MIM pickups are long gone - actually, even most Squiers have Alnico magnet pickups nowadays.
Also, AFAIK, even some of the for MIA Fenders are made in Ensenada, Mexico...Last edited by RomanS; 11-10-2020 at 06:24 PM.
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the mags may now be alnico...but is the design correct?..real fender usa pups have magnet polepieces...mims and squiers used slug polepieces with bar magnets under bobbin...(like a p-90)
ala mim strat set currently being sold on reverb...completely different tone and response
cheers
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Originally Posted by Cunamara
leo was long gone from fender over 20 years before they were making guitars in mexico!..not his line
cheers
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Those are ceramic mag pickups! But not all MIM Fenders come with these - eg. the Player series have regular Alnico slug magnet pickups, and so do Squier Classic Vibe models. Originally Posted by neatomic
the mags may now be alnico...but is the design correct?..real fender usa pups have magnet polepieces...mims and squiers used slug polepieces with bar magnets under bobbin...(like a p-90)
ala mim strat set currently being sold on reverb...completely different tone and response
cheers
You can't really generalize by country of manufacture - you have to look at specific models! Same thing eg. for trussrods - not all MIA models automatically have double action ones, vintage reissue models will of course have single action trussrods (and stamped metal bridges, which BTW, are preferred to cast ones by most Tele players, anyway).
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You can generalize about price point models versus high margin instruments. The point is MIM Fender and US Fender do have significant differences. Are we going to list every exception and include out of production models for the sake of argument? Originally Posted by RomanS
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Of course there are differences in specs and details - and price points. But the pricing differences are mainly due to labor costs, not to build quality!
That's my whole argument - don't expect a MIA Tele to be "better" than an MIM one, just because it costs more. Teles are essentially consumer goods designed for factory/assembly line production, NOT works of art handmade by master craftsmen (like some archtops).
Just look for the specs you want, at the price you're willing to pay, and you'll find a perfectly fine Telecaster, country of manufacture doesn't really play a role there, the CNC machine doesn't care whether it's located in Corona, CA, or Enseñada, Mexico...
And Teles are just parts screwed together - if you don't like the pickups, or tuners, or bridge, well, swap them out, it's not rocket science.
That's why Leo Fender was such a genius!
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Oh, and BTW, the examples I listed - Fender MIM Player Series & Squier Classic Vibe models - are neither exceptions nor out-of-production - they are current standard production; if you're are talking about MIM Teles, you are talking about the Player Series; the older Standard Series (with the ceramic magnet pickups) has been discontinued a couple of years ago.
I don't think there's currently any Fender MIM model in production that has ceramic magnet pickups, and even on Squiers they are only found on entry-level models like the Affinity series.
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53:25
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Nit pick all you want. You can't say that a $400 MIM Strat/Tele is the same quality as a $1500 US model. It simply isn't. It has cheaper parts. If it didn't, it wouldn't be $400.
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My 2¢ as the owner of MIM, MIA, Fender Custom Shop and Squier guitars... regarding the experience of the player, I can say that the country of origin has no influence on the enjoyment I get from a guitar.
So I say, if a guitar feels good in your hands and sounds good to your ears, specs and provenance are irrelevant. Personal budget not withstanding.
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Much of the cost of a factory guitar goes to pay for labor, rent, taxes, and other overhead. The cost of the materials in the guitar is only a small part of the sale price.
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Indeed, but is it a distinction that makes a difference? Originally Posted by Spook410
I gigged for years on a Squier Affiniy Tele. Sounded fine, played well after some setup, worry-free on the bandstand. I swapped in Dimarzio Area Ts to kill the hum, but I'd have done that with an American Tele. Still have it. Stable, reliable guitar.
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I found my MIM guitars benefited from having a bit of work done on the frets. I went down the pickups rabbit hole, and wiring upgrades, mostly money wasted. I have a couple of MIM FSR guitars, a Tele and a Strat. The MIA Fenders came and went, and the Gibsons and Sadowsky remain in their cases while I play the MIMs.
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The days of 400$ MIM Teles & Strats are long gone, they start at 700 now, 400$ will only get you an Asian-made Squier Classic Vibe... Originally Posted by Spook410
And those 700$ MIM ones are only the "entry level" Player Series Teles, if you want a "vintage correct" Mexican Tele, you have to step up to the Vintera Series, which starts at 900$.
The very comparable American Performer Tele starts at 1150$ - so there's only a small price difference...Last edited by RomanS; 11-11-2020 at 05:13 AM.
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Are Baja Telecasters still a thing?
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I’m not entirely sure my $1500 Teles are better made than a MiM one. I think the components are a bit better,
and the finishing has more attention, esp frets.
I think the lower cost Fenders seems really good value. I like the Vinteras for example, just wish they weren’t covered in that horrible Poly laquer, but what do you expect?
More expensive Fenders, a lot of pros seem to favour other makes. Suhr is popular for instance.
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Bajas were discontinued a while ago, the Vinteras are actually replacements for that series. Originally Posted by christianm77
And I agree about the horrible poly finish - that's the bane of most inexpensive guitars; but then, the paint (and especially the labor intensive process behind it) is a major part of the total building costs of a guitar, much more than you'd think...
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grab a new road worn. It's a vintera with nitro finish and very little aging. Originally Posted by christianm77
Fender 50 Tele Road Worn VBL – Thomann Belgie
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I would think a lot of the price of the final product is based on demand. If people are willing to pay more for something MIA for some psychological reason, that’s what it will be priced at.
A very brief internet search shows that prices in the 80’s were $500-700, so maybe it’s more or less consistent, based on the inflation rate?
OTOH, it begs reason that one can’t make a guitar using modern production techniques for less than $1000.
Anyway, I have a partscaster that supposedly started out as a MIM Tele. It has a Warmouth neck and SD pickups, and I replaced the body and added a tremolo, so things aren’t what they used to be, as they say.
It is a great player nonetheless.
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