Mexican Standard Stratocaster

I came across a Mexican Standard Stratocaster today. I was really impressed with this guitar, especially after playing a "road worn" Strat for much more money. I think the guitar is a few years old, but is in great shape. The color is steel blue and has a rosewood fingerboard. The truss rod adjustment is at the headstock end of the neck, has "modern" style tuners and it has a vintage style trem. Can anyone give me an idea of when this guitar was built?

Those of you who own one of these guitars, what mods do you make? How are the electronics? Any set up tweaks or know bugs?

I was going to build another Strat, but this one has most of the details I want and I have a fully wired pickguard ready to go with some upgrades.

I have one from '94. Great guitar, no mods or anything.

The first four characters in the serial no. can be a help on these posts.

MN04 = 1994. MZ04 = 1994 (Approximate year). This helps us narrow down the fret size, factory pickups, and more. A photo would be appreciated, if you have one.

I didn't get any pictures or write down the serial number. It was in a store and I won't see it again until Monday.

I bought one from the local music shop 'cause I loved the color, and it really is a comfortable playing great sounding guitar. And as nice as Teles sound through a 5e3 that mexi start really wakes up through it. Hope it is still there on Monday and feels the same.

If you can get more on the serial no. next week, that we may be able to help you narrow down more details about the guitar.

I like my mexi strat better than my highway 1. The neck is a bit chunkier and the frets aren't as "shred metal" big.

The stock ceramic bar magnet pickups don't sound "bad", but they are fairly hot, typical mods are new pickups, some folks change out the saddles and bridge block, other than that they don't really "need" much.

I had a white MIM Std some years ago that had a set of Hot Noiseless pickups, I should have kept it, it played and sounded great!

The only other thing I can think if is the pre 06 or so MIM Strats have small frets, later ones have med jumbos, so depending on what you like for fret size that might make a difference.
Later MIM Stds also have a full size trem block.

REAL early MIM Strats have cheap pots , switch and sometimes tuners.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/Rojelio/MexMexStrat.jpg
I have a 2002 MIM. I changed the pickups to a set of Keeley "Modern" for an ever higher output(sounds great but I miss the sound of the original pickups). I will put the old pickups in another strat one day. I changed the tuners to locking. I put on a set of Graphtech saddle(you loose a bit of chime, but I haven't broke a string in 10 years) That's all. It's my #2 guitar after my Tele.

Notice the whole "Mexican" theme (flag colors):mrgreen:

Get a nice set of pickups and put some CTS pots in it. That's all you realy need to do. Some poeple upgrade the tuners, tremolo, etc. but all you realy need is some good pups. I have Fender CS 69's in my MIM Strat. It's a very good guitar for the money.

I've tried to avoid Strats for years...I just worry that I'll sound too much like a "Strat Guy" because they seem to impart so much of their personality on the sound. To me, a Strat always just sounds like a Strat...and the comparisons are inevitable...Hendrix, Clapton Knopfler...
That being said...I gigged a Mexi Strat last night and had a blast.
Bone stock '91 that I just got from a TDPRI member.
Great guitar.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/Rojelio/MexMexStrat.jpg
I have a 2002 MIM. I changed the pickups to a set of Keeley "Modern" for an ever higher output(sounds great but I miss the sound of the original pickups). I will put the old pickups in another strat one day. I changed the tuners to locking. I put on a set of Graphtech saddle(you loose a bit of chime, but I haven't broke a string in 10 years) That's all. It's my #2 guitar after my Tele.

Notice the whole "Mexican" theme (flag colors):mrgreen:

Muy Caliente!

My MIM strat is a 91 or 92 (can't remember which right now!) but it's a great guitar.

I swapped the standard pickups for Fat 50's which made it sound way better but just as big a difference was made when I swapped the standard pot metal trem block for a Callaham steel block.

Over the years I've changed almost everything about the guitar except the body and neck(!) but in standard form they're great guitars - and a lot cheaper than a US equivalent.

My MIM Strat is from 2003-4. No mods needed; very happy with it as is. Much better than my 77 Strat, which I traded for studio time.

I have a 2001 MIM strat that is my main axe. I have modded it though, noiseless pickups & a callaham trem. Also, I ended up swapping the neck for a jazzmaster neck. The original neck was fantastic, but needed a refret after 7 years of playing. Rather than trying to find a competent luthier in my area I just put on a JM neck that my friend had lying around.

<-- Pic in profile, it's the green one.

Some of these MIM's are every bit as good as their MIA counterparts, although I do believe that the quality is not as consistent. It's recommend to play many MIM's in the store and compare them. Some people bring scales with them to the store to compare weights.

My 95 MIM has been modded. The first thing I did was install a humbucker to the bridge position. Later I replaced the pups with vintage 50s for pure strat quack.

My latest mod was a Callaham bridge which has drastically improved the sustain. I still want to change out the electronics one day.

I put it on layaway yesterday. I forgot to write down the serial number and take pictures. I did notice that it had vintage style frets, the rosewood 'board is pretty light and the plastic is still on the pickguard. The total was $359 and some change with tax. It includes a gig bag and trem arm. Did I do good?

I put it on layaway yesterday. I forgot to write down the serial number and take pictures. I did notice that it had vintage style frets, the rosewood 'board is pretty light and the plastic is still on the pickguard. The total was $359 and some change with tax. It includes a gig bag and trem arm. Did I do good?

Paul, it sounds like an MIM Standard. Price on a brand new one is $549 at GC now, so take that for what it is. With the vintage style frets, it's definitely an older model. You say "steel blue", which leads me to believe it's either Agave Blue, or Electron Blue. Agave is kind of a lighter, grey/blue, electron is a very brilliant medium-dark blue. Electron was a GC exclusive. Pretty cool looking color. Many here love the Agave.

With the vintage frets and lightboard, you're probably looking late 90's or early 2000's. They didn't switch to medium frets until 2005 or somewhere in there, not sure of the exact date, but I remember thinking "it's about damned time".:lol:

I've never been a fan of those bridges, they are quite a step down in quality from the US vintage bridge, even though to the casual eye, they look virtually identical. I have also never been a fan of the ceramic pickups used in those models. They can sound ok to some people, great to others, I always found them to be rather harsh, dark, and clangy compared to a nice set of alnico pickups. They do handle dirt well, and are a good shade hotter than standard American pickups, I just don't find them to be all that pleasant to the ear when compared side by side with something nicer. The tuners look identical to Am.Std. tuners, but are copies made by Ping. They are very serviceable, and I never had any trouble with them, but they are not as smooth as the more expensive models, and the ratio is different. Pots and switch should be the exact same as the Am.Std. model, good stuff there for sure.

SOme of these had nice big chunky necks, kind of D shaped and fairly fat. I didn't care for those, but lots of folks absolutely love them.

These are pretty solid guitars, especially for the money they go for. With some modding they can be made into pretty nice axes. If not for the vintage frets, I could deal with one with a bridge/block and pickup replacement.

I'm already planning on replacing the electronics. I have a pickguard waiting with a Lollar rewound bridge pickup and two from a St. Blues guitar I had that got stolen. The bridge might get a replacement eventually. It needs to be adjusted so it lies flat on the body. Maybe a couple more springs and a claw adjustment. I don't use the trem much. I can live with vintage frets. The only other mod is that I have a half completed circuitboard for an Alembic Stratoblaster that I may install. I'll see how it sounds stock first.

Now I need to go get some gigs to pay it off.

bought it used, but mint condition. I don't have it anymore as my 18 year old grandson, who's one helluva guitar player, wanted a strat and I had six of 'em in my collection. He tried 'em all out and settled on the MIM guitar as he thought it played the best and sounded the best for what he needed. I even have a 2000 MIA Clapton "Blackie" Strat that he passed over for the MIM guitar.... I wish I had it back but he's up and coming and I'm over the hill so that's that... Here's a couple of shots with the MIM and the Clapton. The MIM has the rosewood fingerboard.......JH in Va.

Awesome trousers!

bought it used, but mint condition. I don't have it anymore as my 18 year old grandson, who's one helluva guitar player, wanted a strat and I had six of 'em in my collection. ... Here's a couple of shots with the MIM and the Clapton. The MIM has the rosewood fingerboard.......JH in Va.

Except for the Stones sticker, that looks like a dead ringer for my '96 MIM Standard. :smile:

I have 4 MIMs at the moment: early 2000's partscaster with a Jimmie Vaughan body and bridge, std rosewood neck with a mint green pg and Texas Special pickups with modified pole piece positions to follow the radius. Vintage frets on the neck. It's my best sounding modern strat and easiest to play. It was stripped to wood and painted in black/clear lacquer and is being honestly aged to look relic'd (I play it...I'm only as careful with it as I used to be when I was 16). (in my avatar)

Second is a 2008 Lake Placid Blue standard with maple board. Med-jumbo frets and a crazy gray pearl pg and mim classic 50's pickups. Another great playing strat with true vintage sound (no rwrp center). I should probably throw in a 3 way switch....but I can manage.

I also have another partscaster with a refinished black/clear lacquered body and later rosewood fretboard with med-jumbo frets. This is an HSS with an American neck pu. I have it sold, waiting for the buyer to come up with the money. It's a great, versitile guitar with the nice neck single coil and ability to get dirty with the humbucker.

My last one currently is a 2011 all stock MIM FSR in a ruby red transparant finish (I can see the grain). It's not a laminated top, so it looks pretty cool as the grain isn't perfect. Looks more real. I gotta send the SN# to Fender as this might be CAR...not sure. Anyways, the pg/controls/covers are all black with a rosewood board. The 11's have a gloss finish everywhere, which I'm not crazy about, but there's some tiger in the neck, and I'm not about to screw around with it.

For me, changing a pickguard is usually the only visual thing I do unless the body is dammaged (why I painted the first 2 guitars). Pots are CTS already, so people telling you to change them don't know MIM's. Pickups.....well....everyone has their favorites, so choose whatever you want. MIMs are perfect for this as the builds are done well and upgrades in pups alone are enough to make them really nice. You would do well to level and crown the frets (I do my own) as this makes setup easy. They're a good, low cost way to experiment with guitars and not lose your shirt if you decide to sell for something else. I've had a couple dozen MIMs and love to fix them and play around with them. They're all over the place cheap.

Thanks for the replies about your MIM Strats and what you've done to them. Can't wait to bring mine home.

Brought 'er home yesterday. Restrung it, adjusted the bridge and did a general set up. So far so good, but I know I'll have questions.

Here's some pictures in the meantime.

Congrats, it's among the last Standard Strats w/ vintage frets.

OK, here's the things I notice about it that I'd like to improve. First of all I have a wired pickguard all ready to go to replace the pickups and electronics. But I'm all right with the stock electronics for now.

I'm having trouble getting the bridge to lie flat on the body. I have three springs and the claw screwed about as tight as it'll go. (I'm using D'Addario EXL 125 .009-.046 strings). More springs or? Will more springs on the claw cause the strings to be "tighter" on the neck? In other words, I can bend strings eaiser on my Esquire-clone with the same strings. Is there a way to make the Strat more play like the other guitar?

I'm getting some pinging at the nut when I bend strings. Lube the nut with graphite? Replace the nut with bone or Tusq? Graphite string tree? When I set it up I put a heaping helping of Guitar Honey on the fingerboard and let it soak in for a while. The wood sucked it in with little to rub off. It looks the right color now.

The tuners aren't the best I've come across. Any good choices for direct replacements?

The bridge block is the skinny one. Worth the effort to replace it with a heftier one? GFS?

My other two Strats are parts casters and other then a '57 RI I had for a while, the last Strats I've owned have been vintage (long gone). Overall the MIM seems like a good mod platform and a pretty good guitar in it's own right that could use a few minor tweeks to make it better.

I know a lot of this has been covered before, so if you don't want to repeat yourself, please just post a link to the answers. Thanks everyone!

The first four characters in the serial no. can be a help on these posts.

MN04 = 1994. MZ04 = 1994 (Approximate year). This helps us narrow down the fret size, factory pickups, and more. A photo would be appreciated, if you have one.
:shock:
ive never seen an 0 where u placed it


MN4 = 1994.

MZ4 = 2004

and those are good guitars
just get more springs for the back...i like 4 minimum
5 will basically make it a hardtail
pickups make a WORLD of difference
stock tuners are usually very good (check that u have wrapped the post properly}

.......

The bridge block is the skinny one. Worth the effort to replace it with a heftier one? GFS?

..........

Well worth it to replace the small zinc block with a full size steel. I've never used a GFS, only Callaham or a post 2006 HWY 1 block will fit the MIM Standard bridge.

:shock:
ive never seen an 0 where u placed it


MN4 = 1994.

MZ4 = 2004

Thanks for the correction. :roll: That was a big oops post!

and those are good guitars
just get more springs for the back...i like 4 minimum
5 will basically make it a hardtail
pickups make a WORLD of difference
stock tuners are usually very good (check that u have wrapped the post properly}

I did some reading around the internets and found answers to most of my questions. Today I found the extra springs from my old Parts-Start and put them in along with the ones that were in it so now I have five springs. The trem lays almost on the deck, the string tension feels right and the tuning is stable after an hour of playing. Everything is feeling good and right with this guitar now. And it sounds fine. The pickups are a little glassy, but I'm going to play it for a few months before I make any other changes, other then perhaps the trem block.

These are nice guitars. The one I got was like new, still had the stickers on it. It just needed a little TLC. I guess someone bought it to learn guitar and didn't so they put it on consignment.

I recently bought an 2002 MIM after realizing that no matter how much money I put into an old Squier project...it really wasn't going to get good enough. The MIM is really great and I don't feel the need for any mods at all. Just for the record I've owned many other Strats over the years, Japan, USA, and other MIM. This one just has the feel, sound and mojo for some reason.

I gave it the gig test yesterday. And man did it get tested! We got rainned out so it got a little water on it while we were tearing down all the gear. I only got to use it on one song before we had to bail (the first set was acoustic), but it sounded great, and plays wonderfully. In spite of the changing temps and moisture, it stayed in tune. I'm thinking less and less about mods. The KGP brass block still sounds tempting, but there's no hurry. One thing at a time. It's a real good guitar (not a real good guitar for the money). It's a real good guitar, period. Thank you Fender company!