Quick one. . .

[Lewins]

What does MIM mean?

Ive been watching this forum for a few weeks now and still cant work out what it means!

[Casternuts]

Originally Posted by Lewins

What does MIM mean?

Ive been watching this forum for a few weeks now and still cant work out what it means!

Made in Mexico

[Lewins]

Nice one

Cheers ma dears

[surfoverb]

I thought it was 'Made in Manhattan'?

[Lewins]

Is MIM bad or good?

Im guessing its not as good as american made? What about korean and japanese build quality?

Is it the quality of materials used or is it the standard of the workforce? Is it anything to do with mass production?

Whats the pecking order? Heres my guess

American
Mexican
Korean
Japanese
British????

[surfoverb]

Originally Posted by Lewins

Is MIM bad or good?
Im guessing its not as good as american made? What about korean and japanese build quality?
Is it the quality of materials used or is it the standard of the workforce? Is it anything to do with mass production?
Whats the pecking order? Heres my guess

American
Mexican
Korean
Japanese
British????

Hmm I'd say the pecking order goes:
USA/CIJ
MIM
KOREA
CHINA
RUSSIA











ENGLAND

[kludge]

Originally Posted by surfoverb

Hmm I'd say the pecking order goes:
USA/CIJ
MIM
KOREA
CHINA
RUSSIA











ENGLAND

Followed by...
Egypt
Pakistan
Syria

(I play a lot of middle eastern drums, so I'm quite familiar with their manufacturing. There's a reason you don't hear about the great manufacturing powerhouses of the Middle East! My main doumbek was made in Syria, apparently from melted pop cans. I'm not sure they bothered to remove the pop first. Wretched quality control, but it is a beautiful-looking and sounding instrument)

[kludge]

Oh, and we should probably consider this thread in price versus quality too. If you consider PRICE, your pecking order is something like:

vintage USA - Custom Shop - USA - CIJ - MIK - MIM - MIC - MII

For QUALITY, it's different. Some would argue, but I'd say top-quality copies (Anderson, Suhr, old Schecter, etc), followed by great vintage - CS - CIJ - good vintage - USA - modern MIM - MIK - MIC bad vintage - old MIM - MII. Or something to that effect.

[surfoverb]

To answer the original question, Is MIM good or bad?...I'd say Good for sure. I havent owned a MIM Tele in 6-7 years or so but the one I had was pretty dang good and I imagine they've only gotten better by now.

[Old Cane]

For less than $400 new and usually under $300 used I agree. Great buy. Might need a little work but really good for the money.

[Lewins]

Sorry going back to original problem. . .

CIJ = ? Guessing Created in Japan?

MII = ? Guessing Made In INDIA?

If Im right, Ill feel Im part of the club, fingers crossed!!

[jwells393]

CIJ .......... Crafted in Japan ......... replaced MIJ (Made in Japan) on heel of necks around 1997
MII .......... Made in Indonesia........ Squiers


Hmmm........... Since we now have Squiers coming out of India looks like we need another abbreviation.

[KevinB]

The quality of the MIM guitars seems to be getting better all the time. And of course cheaper labour and less restrictive governmental controls also add to value for money. The Ensenada factory is also a Fender facility - with Fender employees - unlike other countries where local companies build to Fender specs to satisfy Fender contracts. Raw materials are also commonalized between Mexico and the USA with bodies and necks being shipped south for finishing. This tends to give Fender more incentive - and probably higher profit margins - to move more and more production to Mexico.

CIJ/MIJ quality is still excellent though specs on these can vary somewhat from USA models.

[hockey_head]

I think the main thing with fenders and squires now is to test drive the animal you want, online purchaces are kind of a crapshoot as far as woods, hardware etc., MI*, CI* imported from venus.......
I think you are more likely to get the junk from an outlet that sells online and that you are are gonna test drive something you will like at the music store.
the tech at the store should set up your axe with your choice of strings for free and a couple of weeks after he set it up you can take it back for a quick tweaking.....for free?
after that you can worry about where it came from and are my saddle screws SAE 6-32 or are they M3 metric etc.
the local guy gets your money, you develop a relationship with the tech(whom you didn't have to pay $35 to set up your online guit) and you got to see, touch and sample your guitar. win, win, win.....wherever it came from.
authorised fender dealers also can get return/replacement and warranty issues taken care if.
sorry if i got off track alittle, but it does pertain to my experience with fender over the ages.

[kludge]

Actually, I think the whole pecking order thing comes out very vague in the end. Every Fender factory in the world has made great guitars. Some make more great guitars than others; some make some crappy guitars; some make LOTS of crappy guitars. Consistency varies.

And then you have to factor in feel and tone issues, modifications, random mojo, wear and tear, and what kind of sound and vibe the player is after in the first place, and... honestly, the only way to judge a Fender guitar is to play it yourself. At best, you'll get rule-of-thumb when looking at different factories or different eras.

[Gary in Boston]

Is it kinda like Coca Cola?

Every place America went from around 1920 forward they opened a Coke plant. When I was a kid, before plastic bottles, the glass Coke bottle actually had bottling marks on the bottom saying where the bottle, maybe not the Cola came from.

The recipe is so perfect it can be made anywhere.

Gary

[surfoverb]

Originally Posted by Gary in Boston

Is it kinda like Coca Cola?

Every place America went from around 1920 forward they opened a Coke plant. When I was a kid, before plastic bottles, the glass Coke bottle actually had bottling marks on the bottom saying where the bottle, maybe not the Cola came from.
The recipe is so perfect it can be made anywhere.

Gary

I prefer MIM Coke because it's made with real sugar and not corn syrup.

[Colt W. Knight]

I like Coke and Telecasters. God Bless America, I may have to go enjoy a refreshing coke while playing some Lynyrd Skynyrd on my tele.

[Gary in Boston]

I'd love to teach the world to sign in perfect harmony I'd love to buy the world a Coke to keep them company. It's the real thing..........

Gary

[woodman]

a lot of people upgrade MIM pickups, hardware etc. and create some nice axes. so in that respect, yes, they're good!

[Flat357]

Originally Posted by surfoverb

Hmm I'd say the pecking order goes:
USA/CIJ
MIM
KOREA
CHINA
RUSSIA











ENGLAND

Ha ha ha bonk .
Do you think English craftsmen are inferior ? Wanna fight ? Well do ya ?

[outbreak]

some mims ive seen have been horrible but others nice. i have a mim standard i love but when buying that i tryed the black one next to it on the rack and it was a horrible guitar i'd never buy but the sunburst right next to it i loved and it came home with me

[telecaster1987]

Guess I got lucky with the MII Squier Black & Chrome Tele I just bought online from GC. The neck is good, nearly as good as my '85 MIJ Tele, (no cheese graters, please!) and it's just as heavy. Body's either Alder or Agathis.

It's my "kit" for a hotrod project when I get the parts in this week. Will post pics of the process when I do it.

Cheers!