Glad I bought a MIA Tele and not a MIM

[AliceAngelTele]

I don't buy guitars very often, but the last one was made in America, and likely any others I buy in the future will be too.

It's not about the quality for me (although obviously the quality is high), it's about buying something that was made in the country where I live.

 

[Sparky2]

I have owned one American Fender Telecaster,
three MIM Fender Telecasters,
two made in China Modern Player Plus Telecasters,
and one Fender Telecaster FMT HH made in Indonesia.

All were just fine.
All sounded, played, and felt great.

 

[VintageSG]

Somebody went on a tour of the Fender Mexico factory 19 years ago apparently, so many years before the Player Series was introduced.

does it matter how many pieces of wood a guitar body is made from?

Fender Mexican factory tour pics (not mine). MIM Standard Strat and Tele bodies being built. Looks like 7 pieces with laminate to me. Here are more pics: 2006 Fender Mexico Factory Tour

markweinguitarlessons.com

Hmm. The contentious image doesn't sit right with me. Other images show three or four piece bodies, not seven.
The 'laminate' or veneer atop the body was a successful attempt to hide witness lines. Where the strat bodies have the upper relief carved, that region shows the veneer and what appears to be a piece of sufficient width to imply a three piece.

I can't prove shenanigans or ill intent. The evidence of seven piece bodies doesn't convince me, not would it concern me had I bought one.

 

[Mike Eskimo]

Don’t tell the OP about the earliest MIM’s not being true MIM’s.

And not being MIA’s either.

Though they’re a little of both.

Maybe they should have been called MINA’s instead ?

And for the record - my 1992 MINA is a 5 piece body.

 

[archetype]

Hmm. The contentious image doesn't sit right with me. Other images show three or four piece bodies, not seven.
The 'laminate' or veneer atop the body was a successful attempt to hide witness lines. Where the strat bodies have the upper relief carved, that region shows the veneer and what appears to be a piece of sufficient width to imply a three piece.

I can't prove shenanigans or ill intent. The evidence of seven piece bodies doesn't convince me, not would it concern me had I bought one.

5 to 7 pieces was typical for MIM Standards. Probably other models as well. IIRC 3 to 4 pieces without veneer was typical for the MIM Classic Series.

My '98 James Burton Standard Tele is multi-piece poplar and veneered front and back. Mine is unusual in having a bookmatched, figured, ash veneer, perfectly matched on the back.

During microeconomic distress I sold off all of my guitars except this one.

 

[Beast_of_Burden]

Bodies that look like gym floors. No thanks

 

[Mike Eskimo]

Didn’t know they made those Burtons in that color or option. That’s cool.

The vast majority of the ones I saw were red. I do know that they were supposed to have had a full 1 11/16” nut ?

 

[archetype]

Didn’t know they made those Burtons in that color or option. That’s cool.

The vast majority of the ones I saw were red. I do know that they were supposed to have had a full 1 11/16” nut ?

IIRC 1995-1999 they were black, white, a kind of white blonde, CAR, and 2-tone sunburst. By 2000 they were any color you wanted as long as you wanted CAR.

I'm not near my notes, so IDK about the width at the nut.

 

[archetype]

Didn’t know they made those Burtons in that color or option. That’s cool.

The vast majority of the ones I saw were red. I do know that they were supposed to have had a full 1 11/16” nut ?

The bookmatched, figured, ash veneer wasn't an option, if that's what you're referring to. Someone making body blanks just had some cool veneer and used it.

 

[notroHnhoJ]

Damned toneless

It's like some of you guys have never seen wood before. All wood is made up of layers formed as the tree grows. These layers form rings, usually, on an annual basis. The wood harvested from a tree is not uniform in any way. It's laminated!

Calling something 'Butcher Block' and the like because you think it's either disparaging or clever isn't an argument. It's childish. Glued-up guitar bodies have been around for a hundred years or so. They work fine, they hold up fine, and since the wood neither adds nor subtracts anything from the sound of the instrument the point is moot.

So laminated or not, its all the same there is no difference between a book matched two piece body and a MIK Squier body (for instance)

 

[notroHnhoJ]

Glad you found something you like.

However…Your way of expressing your happiness leaves many things to be desired—including some (at best) sketchy “facts” or (at worst) some downright inaccuracies.

I know this:

I have two spectacular MIA electric guitars—a very early 1980 G&L and a fantastic 1992 Stratocaster.

I also have three MIM Telecasters, ranging in year of manufacture from 1995 to 2007…they’re just as spectacular—and they’re just as likely to be the ones I grab when jamming, recording or gigging.

And none of them have an issue that “none of the screws in the guitar body would hold , the wood was so soft it was like saw dust .” (sic for the weird punctuation placement)

I find this claim extremely dubious.

And as far as “laminates”—some of the most expensive and valuable guitars on earth have a “laminate” top…the late 50’s sunburst Les Pauls have a maple on mahogany body…yes, it’s called a veneer—but a veneer is a type of laminate.

So excuse me if I don’t reject my main Telecaster (poplar body with an Ash veneer) and I think your whole supposition is a pile of malarkey.

sweet so Gibson Les Pauls are the same as 80s Kramer Strykers

 

[Jupiter]

Hard not to read the OP as an attempt at trolling

Or rather, a successful attempt at trolling lol

 

[msalama]

Sure am glad I bought a coupla older MIA Teles a while back, and a recent MIM Vintera thickneck about a year ago too. And I don't give a crap if the Mexi has a butcher board body under that nice Fiesta Red either, because it makes no gawddamn difference.

 

[Wrighty]

I have an MIA, too. But the MIMs, Player series, for example, are still solid. Just a lot more dogs out there that you have to sift through.

I don’t know if I necessarily agree that the MiMs “have to save money somewhere.” They’re up to what, $800? That’s probably a very handsome margin for Fender. It’s not like they’re butting up against the edge of profitability and are barely keeping the lights on. Squier CVs go for 450 or so and they make money on those. There’s no way a Fender costs twice as much to make, you’re paying for the decal, too.

Extrapolating from that, I wager there’s an even bigger markup on the MIAs. You’re paying for the decal and the “Made in Corona, California” on the back.

So it’s less that the Mexican guitars have to find places to save money, and more that the American guitars can name their price and us acolytes will still line up to buy, and that principle trickles down through the line. I wouldn’t be surprised if pricing is more psychological than logistical. They can’t have the Mexican guitars too close to the American prices or the American sales will cannibalize the Mexican ones. If you only had to pay an extra 150 to jump from a Player to an AmPro, nobody would buy Players. That kind of thing.

It is as much down to carefully created marketing and a carefully created customer perception as the material cost differences. Fender / Squier are like VW / Skoda, they get it right. Many said that the latter would first lose VW sales and then Skoda sales p, once they hiked the price to make money on them. They haven’t. I know I could have bought my granddaughter any number of decent guitars to learn on, Jet, Yamaha but I bought her a Squier. Found a colour she liked, which was more important to her than anything!
It’s labour costs in Mexico that allow Fender to sell Squiers at considerably less than Fenders. The word ‘considerably’ is becoming ‘a little’ lately

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

And as far as “laminates”—some of the most expensive and valuable guitars on earth have a “laminate” top…the late 50’s sunburst Les Pauls have a maple on mahogany body…yes, it’s called a veneer—but a veneer is a type of laminate.

Gibson LPs have a thick maple cap
Epiphone LPs have a paper thin veneer

 

[Twangandy_]

I own a MIM Tele which is two pieces and a MIA Strato which has laminate on the top
They both sound great not because mine but because I like them a lot so I kept while I sold other guitar for the opposite reason

 

[notroHnhoJ]

Sure am glad I bought a coupla older MIA Teles a while back, and a recent MIM Vintera thickneck about a year ago too. And I don't give a crap if the Mexi has a butcher board body under that nice Fiesta Red either, because it makes no gawddamn difference.

Ok fine, but by extension of your logic here, a laminated body would also be just as fine, correct?

 

[notroHnhoJ]

It is as much down to carefully created marketing and a carefully created customer perception as the material cost differences. Fender / Squier are like VW / Skoda, they get it right. Many said that the latter would first lose VW sales and then Skoda sales p, once they hiked the price to make money on them. They haven’t. I know I could have bought my granddaughter any number of decent guitars to learn on, Jet, Yamaha but I bought her a Squier. Found a colour she liked, which was more important to her than anything!
It’s labour costs in Mexico that allow Fender to sell Squiers at considerably less than Fenders. The word ‘considerably’ is becoming ‘a little’ lately

Its also materials, not just labor costs.

 

[msalama]

also be just as fine

Yeah, wouldn't mind at all if the price was right and the guitar played good.

 

[notroHnhoJ]

Yeah, wouldn't mind at all if the price was right and the guitar played good.

Lucky for you the price is always right. But by extension of logic, you should sell me your MIA Fender for what an Indonesian made Fender costs, correct? Since they are all the same?