The Fender Stratocaster - American Series vs Mexican Standard

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Since 1981 I've owned an unbranded Strat clone. It was a birthday present from my father, who bought it from a friend of his. I know very little about this guitar, though I suspect it was 'custom built' from separate components circa 1980

I had always been aware that this Strat wasn't a Fender Strat. That sat uncomfortably with me - so close, yet so far! The guitar even came in a genuine Fender gig bag! But because I eventually evolved into a bass player the fact that my Strat wasn't a Fender became less of an issue

The time came when I at last took the opportunity to own a Fender Stratocaster. In late 2002, I brought a Mexican Standard Stratocaster from a friend of mine. This guitar feels better to play than my Strat clone

In 2003 I treated myself to a birthday present - a brand new American Series Stratocaster. This is the guitar that I had subconsciously wished I owned back in 1981. This guitar feels better to play than my Mexican Stratocaster

I was very pleased with how my Mexican Stratocaster looked and played when I first brought it, but this was put into perspective when I brought my American Stratocaster - overall it clearly has a higher standard of quality than the Mexican Stratocaster. It has a fuller sound, feels more robust, and looks classier too

I consider the Mexican Stratocaster to be a real Fender, but I consider the American Stratocaster to be a real Stratocaster... After all, many Stratocaster-playing guitar legends probably started out playing 'off-the-peg' American Stratocasters. Arguably, today's American Series Stratocaster is the direct descendant of those guitars

This web site compares my American Stratocaster with my Mexican Stratocaster, which may be of some use to anyone unsure of what the subtle differences are between these guitars (picture 1)

Model - American Series Stratocaster
Manufactured - America (MIA)
Year - 2003
Body colour - Olympic white
Plastic colour - Parchment
Neck / Fretboard - Maple
Styling - Modern
Neck width at nut - 43mm
String spacing at nut - 36mm
String spacing at bridge - 52mm
Serial number - Z3059***
Accessories - Branded hard plastic case (made in China), branded 10ft lead, branded strap, strap locks, branded polishing cloth, hex keys, manual

Model - Standard Stratocaster
Manufactured - Mexico (MIM)
Year - 1996
Body colour - Arctic white
Plastic colour - White
Neck / Fretboard - Maple
Styling - Vintage (and 'G-Vox Ready')
Neck width at nut - 42mm
String spacing at nut - 35.5mm
String spacing at bridge - 52mm
Serial number - MN5202***
Accessories - None

The MIA Fender logo is similar to the logo of the original 1950s Stratocasters, often referred to as the 'spaghetti' logo, with the guitar's serial number on the back of the headstock. The MIM Fender logo is the silver 'transitional' type, with the serial number on the front of the headstock (picture 2 and 3)

The MIA tuning pegs are of staggered height. The D, G, B and E pegs are lower in height than the E and A pegs. The MIM tuning pegs are all standard height (picture 4)

The MIA has an 'easy-glider' string tree. The MIM has a standard 'butterfly' string tree

The MIA headstock has a wooden plug at the truss rod adjustment hole. The MIM headstock has a plastic plug

The MIM neck is slightly chunkier than the MIA neck

Both necks and fretboards are maple, but the MIA maple is paler in colour (this could be due to its type of finish). My impression is that the MIA maple is a better quality wood than the MIM's maple. The satin finish on the MIA neck and fretboard is very smooth to the touch, though it has a slightly 'plastic' look it (which is not actually unpleasant). The MIM neck and fretboard has a definite 'woody' look and feel, which may already be showing signs of aging. The skunk stripe on the back of the MIM neck feels rougher to the touch than the MIA skunk stripe

The MIA fretboard has 'rolled' edges, which gives it a smooth rounded edge along each side - it's more comfortable to play than the MIM fretboard, which has very squared edges along its sides

The MIA nut is slightly contoured which removes any square edges. The MIM nut is not contoured, and is actually 1mm wider than the neck! This is very noticeable if you catch your finger on it when playing open chords (picture 5)

The MIA has 22 frets, the MIM has 21. The MIA fretboard overhangs the scratchplate to accommodate the extra fret (picture 6)

The MIA frets are 'medium jumbo', with the MIM frets being 'vintage', which are narrower and lower. The strings on the MIM 'feel closer' to the fretboard than the MIA. The MIA frets are actually coated in the same finish that the fretboard is coated in (apart from the top of the frets which are bare shiny metal). This gives the sides of the MIA frets a golden hue to them, but the coating on the frets is prone to being chipped off

Both guitars have a four-bolt neck joint with a rectangle metal neckplate. The MIA neckplate is branded - with 'Fender Corona California' - and has a hole for the neck's micro-tilt adjustment (though the accompanying manual makes no mention of how to adjust the micro-tilt!). The MIM neckplate is not branded (picture 7)

The MIA has a bi-flex truss rod, the MIM has a standard truss rod. The MIA truss rod uses a smaller hex key than the MIM guitar

The MIA 'olympic white' colour is a slightly dull white, with just a hint of creaminess. The MIM 'arctic white' colour has a definite creamy-yellow hue (these subtleties in colour tone don't always appear obvious in photographs)

The MIA body has perfectly smooth contouring along its edges. The MIM body has less contouring, though still smooth, but its body edges have a slight 'squareness' when compared to the MIA body

The MIA has a 3-ply scratchplate and 3-ply tremolo cavity plate. The MIM has a 3-ply scratchplate, but the tremolo cavity plate is single-ply

The colour for all MIA plastic parts is 'parchment', which is actually an off- white colour, and is consistent in colour tone across the scratchplates, pickup covers and knobs. The MIM plastic colour is a purer white, but is not consistent in colour tone across all the plastic parts - this gives it a slightly uncoordinated, cheap look

I have since replaced the plastic parts on the MIA with a Fender tortoise shell scratchplate and black pickup covers and knobs (picture 12)

The MIA has a 'modern' 2-point synchronized tremolo with flat-top stainless steel saddles. The MIA tremolo block is cast steel, with three black tremolo springs. The MIM has a 'vintage' style 6-point tremolo with traditionally-shaped saddles, a zinc tremolo block and three tremolo springs (picture 8 and 9)

The MIA saddle screws are varied in height and they don't protrude from the top of the saddles. The MIM saddle screws are all of the same height and can protrude from the top of the saddles, which leaves them prone to digging into the palm of your hand while you play. The MIA has black saddle-screw springs of different length. The MIM saddle-screw springs are the same length

The MIA strap hooks are 'strap lock' hooks, whereas the MIM has standard strap hooks (picture 5)

The MIA pickup routing allows for the larger humbucker-type pickup to be installed in the neck and bridge positions, if you decide to do so (you'll also need an appropriately-routed scratchplate). The MIM pickup routing will only allow a humbucker-type pickup to be installed in the bridge position (picture 10)

The MIM is 'G-Vox Ready'; the two scratchplate screws on either side of the bridge are actually larger than the others, and they are tapped down the centre to allow another screw to be attached. The G-Vox system comprised of a MIDI pickup device, designed to connect to the strat via these two unique screws, which in turn connected to a computer by a special interface. Software for the G-Vox was usually of a 'learn to play' type aimed at beginners.

The MIA has 3 standard single-coil pickups with alnico magnets, with the bridge pickup being 'high output'. It also has a 'Delta-Tone' tone control system - the first tone knob is a standard tone control for the neck pickup; the second tone knob acts as standard for the middle and bridge pickups, but at '10' the tone control circuitry is bypassed. You can feel the knob 'notch' as you turn it to '10'

The MIM has 3 standard single-coil pickups with ceramic magnets. The two tone knobs act as standard for the neck and middle pickups - the bridge pickup has no tone control

Each guitar has its pickup poles staggered differently to the other (picture 11)

The MIA has a distinct, rounded pickup tone at each of the five pickup selector settings - each flavour of pickup tone is clearly apparent. Although the MIM pickup output is louder than the MIA, the MIM pickups have a thinner sound which gives less body and distinction between each pickup selection

Here is a popular Stratocaster forum

FDP Forum : Stratocaster

Here are two official Fender web sites

Fender USA

Fender UK

Here are my other personal web sites (nothing to do with guitars...)

Sample Length Calculator

Perception Portal

The Fantastic Four Fluxion