MIM or MIA Tele?

[jwl325]

At half the price, I'd go with the MIM, no question.

Now once you start going up the MIA lineup to the RIs and Deluxes, IMO then you're moving pretty significantly beyond the value for your dollar of the entry-level MIMs, but then you're also looking at probably 2-3 times the cost.

[stantheman]

I think after all is said and done the "bang for the buck champions" are the Mexican Classics. At my age what I desire is something that'll play like arealmuthaforya and that I'm not constantly worrying about so much that it subjugates a lot of the pure joy of playing into "the worry box". The "collectors" can have the worry - it's what I think they thrive on as a species.
And really - who needs that?

I'd like to narrow it down to One Guitar but as long as there is Electricity it is tougher than the person who doesn't play will ever know.

[musicalmartin]

I played a road worn and a baja recently and liked both .I have a baja neck anyway on partscaster but found the whole guitar a bit heavy but the road worn was a very good guitar indeed ..shame about all the fake bollocks on it .both are MIM and good guitars .Frankly no tele is rocket science .Its all icing on a very basic cake.

[Pepi]

Maybe not be fair to say, BUT of the few MIA I played over the holiday I would have picked one MIM over any of them. They were terrible made One even had sharp fret ends and a neck pocket you could put a dime in.

[BigMike]

+1 Baja, love mine, great guitar and great price..................

[AjayTele]

Originally Posted by jwl325

At half the price, I'd go with the MIM, no question.

Now once you start going up the MIA lineup to the RIs and Deluxes, IMO then you're moving pretty significantly beyond the value for your dollar of the entry-level MIMs, but then you're also looking at probably 2-3 times the cost.

I am unaware of any Std MIM being half the price of a Std MIA, and the price comparison is also not realistic due to the excellent hard case that you get with the MIA.

The second comment about going up the lineup with MIA also applies to MIM doesn't it? The higher cost Nashville, Baja, Road Worn and 72RI series are all
significantly higher in price than a std MIM.

Value? Well that's subjective and everyone's opinion on value will be different and none will be wrong, regardless whether they choose MIA or MIM.

Originally Posted by Pepi

Maybe not be fair to say, BUT of the few MIA I played over the holiday I would have picked one MIM over any of them. They were terrible made One even had sharp fret ends and a neck pocket you could put a dime in.

Were the MIAs you played all brand new guitars? It's not clear that they were. Every new MIA I have seen recently has had superb quality of manufacture, so I must say that I am very surprised. If they were older MIAs, I don't think they were quite as well made as the current ones....

[Schtang]

Australian's minimum wage is 2.5 times higher than what is it the USA. Our real estate prices and rents are higher and we are paid more than the average person in the USA. So the value of paying $450 for a guitar in the USA will translate to around $900 in Australia (the % of what the guitar cost will workout the same in relation to the basic wage paid). It is all relative to each country's cost of living.

[jwl325]

Originally Posted by AjayTele

I am unaware of any Std MIM being half the price of a Std MIA, and the price comparison is also not realistic due to the excellent hard case that you get with the MIA.

Ajay, I was referring to the OP, where he mentioned the price of an MIA at $1.9KAUS, and a MIM Std at $900AUS. But I think it holds true here--avg retail on the MIM Stds from the warehouses here are $500, and the MIA Stds are between $1K and $1.2K, depending on finish. You're right, the MIAs come with a case, but we're talking maybe an $80 value there--still in the "half the price" ballpark to me, but obviously JMO.

As an aside, just for comparison's sake, I just picked up a new '09 MIM Tele for $400 (discounted over the holidays), and added the same molded Fender case provided with the MIA Stds from another warehouse retailer for $90--probably could have gotten the case cheaper if I'd shopped around or haggled a bit, but I just hit the "purchase" button when I saw a price that looked good to me. Now in fairness I could have applied that same 20% discount to an MIA Std, but the half-price thing would still apply. BTW--I agree with you the new Fender molded cases are very nice indeed!

Originally Posted by AjayTele

The second comment about going up the lineup with MIA also applies to MIM doesn't it? The higher cost Nashville, Baja, Road Worn and 72RI series are all significantly higher in price than a std MIM.

I probably didn't come across as clearly as I meant--sorry. What I was saying was that IMO a RI or Dlx American Tele is likely to be of substantially higher quality than a MIM Standard, while the differences between the two Std models are less substantial. I agree with you the higher end MIMs are also, generally speaking, of higher quality though IMO the margin is definitely less wide.

Originally Posted by AjayTele

Value? Well that's subjective and everyone's opinion on value will be different and none will be wrong, regardless whether they choose MIA or MIM.

Absolutely, +1. Value is the most subjective aspect of all--I was just giving my opinion in response to Vuksica's question "is the difference in the guitars worth the $1000 price jump[?]", not suggesting my opinion should be shared by everyone. It's just based on my impression playing brand new MIMs, Hwys, and Am Stds here.

Cheers, Bill

[AjayTele]

I always ramp up when the blank statement is made MIM is half the price of an MIA, because when you do an apples for apples comparison, it ain't the case.

It's also an arguement used often to justify the purchase of an MIM and then the poster often goes on to say that they bought a Baja or some other kind of "upscale" MIM. Not for half the price of an MIA of course...

My point is that the MIAs come not only with a case, but also other case candy etc. They also have higher quality hardware and finish (on the neck specifically). Also their "street" price can also be much lower than RRP as well. So the price/value gap is actually not as wide as many perceive.

[Stuco]

Squier classic vibe tele.

[jwl325]

Originally Posted by AjayTele

I always ramp up when the blank statement is made MIM is half the price of an MIA, because when you do an apples for apples comparison, it ain't the case.

Hey, I get ya Ajay. No offense meant, and definitely no intent to spool you up. The MIA Stds offer a lot of pluses as you mention--people seem to like the pickups better, lots of folks prefer lacquer finishes, and so on.

FWIW, I don't personally believe something has to be "twice as good" to be a better choice for a buyer--even minor upgrades can mean more to some of us than others.

Sorry if I came across poorly...

Cheers, Bill

[AjayTele]

Originally Posted by jwl325

Hey, I get ya Ajay. No offense meant, and definitely no intent to spool you up. The MIA Stds offer a lot of pluses as you mention--people seem to like the pickups better, lots of folks prefer lacquer finishes, and so on.

FWIW, I don't personally believe something has to be "twice as good" to be a better choice for a buyer--even minor upgrades can mean more to some of us than others.

Sorry if I came across poorly...

Cheers, Bill

No worries Bill!

All I can say is that I bought a MIA Deluxe the other day on eBay for about US$1050 including the Fender case. So sometimes there can be even better value floating around as well!

[va3ux]

Originally Posted by BritishBluesBoy

Nice guitar!!

(It is a Highway 1 Tele)

Question from a newbie : How can you tell that is a HWY 1 Tele ?

Thanks...Phil