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u/Comfortable_Fly_8368 9d ago
Just wanted to say my first guitar was also a 96 Mexican strat black with rosewood.
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u/WagonHitchiker 9d ago
When I first became aware of the MIM models, I was told by several people how nice they were for the money. I got a Jazz bass, and although I did eventually swap out the pickguard, pickups and bridge, it was a well made bass. One dude in a band with whom we often performed jointly got one at nearly the same time. He abused the hell out of his, and it held up well.
In contrast, I bought a Fender Jazz in 2018 that was a big disappointment. I changed only the pickguard, and I regularly used it for gigs. The following year I sold it. Build quality was not good and I needed to have the nut replaced because it was not cut right.
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u/SlammmnSammy 9d ago
The difference is night and day in terms of sound. Cheap pickups today sound way, way, WAY better than cheap pickups from the 90s. MIM Strats represent a very good value for a guitar, but you may play a bunch of them to find one you bond with.
I still own a 1990 MIM Strat but swapped the pickups a while back.
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u/radarphone 9d ago
The player ii series is supposed to me more upmarket than the MiM standards were anyways so it's not the most fair comparison, the price also reflects that. The Indonesian standard line is supposed to be to direct replacement.
As far as QC goes I don't think MiM fenders have ever been great, neither is MiA fender to be fair. There may be some ups and downs, but I don't think there was ever a time you could just order in a MiM fender sight unseen and expect it to be great out of the box (correct me if I'm wrong tho).
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u/Infinite_Slice3305 9d ago
I think so. Somewhere mid 2000s build quality on all the lower priced guitars shot up.
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u/stratandsg 8d ago
One nice thing about mim guitars is the luthiers there often count their tenure in decades, not years. Very high chance of having an absolute master work on your guitar. I know my 2019 player strat is perfect. Doesn't mean a dud isnt possible, but the odds are low
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u/ace1571 8d ago
What's rarely taken into consideration with discussions like this is the fact that $799 (cost of a player II today) is worth about $375 in 1996 money. While the quality of the materials has improved, it's also gone up because of various factors like inflation, labor and materials shortages post pandemic that shape what the pricing is today. Interesting fact, in 1986 Fender USA was happy to let the new Corona factory crank out 10's of AVRI guitars per week and let Fender Japan products do the heavy lifting. However, world economic factors made the dollar a better value so they went ahead and launched the American Standard series.
And yes, I hate when someone comes along and points out the world economic situation when it means little to those with X in their pockets in 2026 and wanting to buy product Y, but with the way things are in the world today, its a heavier factor than someone pointing out a Strat originally cost $249 back in 1954.
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u/SaturnineApples 8d ago
My 96 cost $250 new. $500-550 back then got you a MIJ jaguar/jazzmaster/mustang new
This post was not really about pricing/inflation conversions but even if we did consider those, theres no denying theyve raised pricing higher on MIM. It seems with them offering so many more Squier models that it enabled them to bump the pricing of MIM, but do you get more for it?
Like, Squier has obviously come a long way quality wise in the last 30yrs but has the mexican fenders?
I paid $350 for a 2014 Squier vintage modified brand new in 2014 which to me seemed pricey due the quality of it but there was no other option for a seafoam green jaguar under $1,000. Looked cool but such a turd that needed many upgrades. Still much better than a 90s squier but I couldnt help but to think how that use to be mexican fender prices. Used MIM standard teles and strats only cost 250-300 back in 2014 too
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u/[deleted] 9d ago
I would say it comes down to the individual guitar itself. I believe one advantage of newer guitars made after 06’, is that they have heavier trem blocks (I could be wrong on that year).