Fender announced the MIM Standard is a thing of the past... :(
Some argue it is a PR stunt to boost sagging sales of the line. Also, some have issues with the price increase of it's replacement... The Player.
http://reverb.com/news/fender-discontinues-mim-standard-series-replaces-with-the-player-series (http://reverb.com/news/fender-discontinues-mim-standard-series-replaces-with-the-player-series)
I like MIM strats, but never cared for the ceramic pickups and wasn't a huge fan of the stock bridges. If the new Alnico pickups and bridge don't need replacing, the new series could be a nice improvement for just a little bit more money (I believe the difference is $50).
Remember, it was just called "Standard", they didn't call them "MIM Standard"... Everybody else did becuase they had to differentiate it front the "American Standard", which is confusing... and drove home the fact that the they were not made in the USA".
I think the "Player" name is the right move and I do like the fact they adressed the pickups. I don't like that the offsets come with humbuckers at the bridge.
Full disclosure: My "other" guitar is a "Standard"
Seems like a positive change to me. And it looks like they have a couple of Super-Strats in the lineup (H S H). Cool.
Where are they being made
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Quote from: jimilee on June 19, 2018, 09:30:53 PM
Where are they being made
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At the Mexican Ensenada factory the same place as the now old standards. I played a tele today and it was really nice and my only gripe with the strats is the two point trem I don't think they sound as good as a 6 screw imo. The new pickups are definitely better than the old ones though.
I feel a new guitar coming on.
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I've had a standard tele since it was new in 92-93'. The bridge was terrible, but the pickups are great. It was early on for the mim line, and has Alnico pickups so they all probably did at some point. I put a Wilkinson bridge one it 5-6 years ago and it transformed the guitar.
Had a friend who had a strat from the same time and it was also a great guitar.
I've got a 95 mim strat ... don't know that I'd ever part with it. I'm a little sad they did away with the standard but whatever ... my wife's classic vibe strat plays just as well and cost less
I got a MIM tele a couple years ago. It was mostly fine, though the intonation set up was abysmal (literally could not tune it) and the volume pot went silent with 1/8th turn left on it. Got a pro set up at a luthier in town, and swapped out the pots (went 4-way with it), and since then its been awesome.
(I also ended up swapping out the tone cap to a slightly lower value as I felt it got a little too muddy a little too early in the turn, but that's a personal preference thing)
When I compared the MIM I once owned with the Am Std. I noticed the width at the nut was 1mm less on the MIM. Seems like not much but it made a huge difference in feel for me (favouring the wider variant). Has this been changed over the years?
Also, I hope that 2 point bridge (yay!) has conventional dimensions so that a retrofit is easy to do. I care not for the 6 screw version, this seems like a significant improvement. Prices I see on these are very decent I think. Buy a HSH strat, drop in a gotoh wilkinson and never look back :)
Quote from: Adam_MD on June 19, 2018, 10:11:27 PM
At the Mexican Ensenada factory the same place as the now old standards.
Is this confirmed? I didn't remember seeing this in the linked article (despite people saying so in the comments)
I saw pictures of the back of one of the headstocks, it had an MX aerial number.
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Quote from: Govmnt_Lacky on June 20, 2018, 11:54:02 AM
Quote from: Adam_MD on June 19, 2018, 10:11:27 PM
At the Mexican Ensenada factory the same place as the now old standards.
Is this confirmed? I didn't remember seeing this in the linked article (despite people saying so in the comments)
Yes I had it confirmed by someone who works for Fender in UK.
A demo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liSQAy2HZhg
I saw just the Stratocaster part, until now, and it sounds to me a bit more Strat the the old standard.
I have a MIM Stratocaster Standard with stock pick up neck and middle. It sounds ok, single coil type, but not so Strat.
PS I bought my Stratocaster in the 2016. My Ibanez in the 2007. The Takamine in the 2014. Every guitar I bought was put out of production after two or three yearst. It's happening just to me?
Anyway, if I have to buy some other guitar I will warning you. Promise. :P