Korgscrew
Group: Super Admins
Posts: 3511
Joined: Dec. 1999 |
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Posted: Dec. 01 2005, 04:59 |
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Do you mean the Mexican (I think that's where they're making them now) one?
I haven't tried it myself. The Japanese ones used to have a very good reputation - I'm not sure I ever tried one of those properly either, but judging by the general quality of output from that factory, I can see how they got that reputation. I've only played one Mexican Fender instrument (a standard series P Bass) for any length of time, and wasn't hugely blown away by it, but at the same time, it was quite playable. They've supposedly improved their standards since that one was made, so it's worth giving a few guitars a try to see what you think.
I think some people do rather exaggerate when they say that certain guitars suck. I personally think even instruments like the Squiers are quite decent. They don't have that really special feel and special something to the sound that a really high quality guitar can have, but they're quite usable.
I think you'd find the 60s reissue Strat quite decent, probably not the best guitar in the world, but more than good enough for rock and roll. That's just a guess really, but one based on the fact that Fender's quality control these days seems to be quite decent.
Often they benefit from a pickup replacement, which you can always do at a later date if you don't completely like the way it sounds (but make sure it sounds good when it's not plugged in - if it's just a dead sounding brick of a guitar to start with, new pickups won't help).
If you're looking at one of the more costly reissues, I think they're a different kettle of hide glue (not that Fender use that). The US-built guitars have all had very positive reviews (again I haven't played any of them myself recently, but they always used to be generally good and they're said to have improved). They ought to be pretty consistent in quality, and there shouldn't be so much reason to replace the pickups.
There are lots of alternatives, of course, but if that's the one you really want, I'd suggest going to try one, so you can see what you think.
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