Mexican vs American Fenders question

My suggestion would be to buy a "cheap" American made strat, purely for the quality of the wood and the general build. Then, buy yourself some upgraded pups. Personally, I bought some John Mayer Big Dipper pickups and threw them in my Highway One strat.

Looks exactly like this (different bridge though):

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Is there a big difference in sound?

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Define "big" - I think most serious players will want to upgrade the electronics of a Mexi, while an American or American Deluxe may stay stock (at least longer).

The fit and finish are close, although clearly more flaws get through on the Mexi - but, for all practical purposes, they're using the same CNC setups, the same software and very, very comparable materials in factories on both sides of the border. The biggest difference in cost is the labor costs (ETA: And electronics). I suspect the best Mexis are a little better than the worst Americans (fit and finish-wise), so you could even get lucky.

For me (I'm an American Deluxe, 50th Anniversary Strat owner, BTW), I think the question will be stock or not - if you're going to do Lace pickups or heavily modify/customize the guitar to your liking, you will gain less by buying American. If the guitar will be part of a gigging rig, Mexi is probably the way to go. If it will be for a youngster, a Mexi might be the way to go.

But, an American made Fender (or Gibson, for that matter) electric guitar, even if seldom played, might be a better choice if it going to be left stock. And, the fit and finish differences are noticeable, there is no question about that.

could get a mexi and upgrade everything on it I guess

Fender MIM are solid and quality instruments. Hard to go wrong with them unless you want to or can afford to spend the extra $500 to $700 extra for an American made Fender.

I agree that if you're asking this question Mexican is probably the way to go. Fender really has four production "lines" - not counting Squier - standard Mexican, high-end Mexican, standard American, American Deluxe/Reissues. I think all their lines are outstanding in terms of value per dollar at that particular price point (with the possible exception of the high end line where you pay extra to have an axe that is "exactly" like Clapton's 1957 strat or whatever). I also think that if you're patient you can get incredible deals on used guitars that sat in a case or next to somebody's bed for two years and look brand new.

But the most important thing is to play it. Everyone has very different preferences in terms of necks, fret size, scale length, and who knows what else. Specs can vary widely across brand and across models. You're not looking for a generically "better" guitar, you're looking for one that fits you.

Squier is budget line entry level crap

Compare them to a well built American fender and the tone sounds like a toy

I'm with you. At some point it's more what you can do with an instrument than where it was made. Nothing inherently wrong with a Squier.

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Squier is budget line entry level crap

Compare them to a well built American fender and the tone sounds like a toy

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No it isn't. Have you played a CV? It's nothing like a Bullet or Affinity.