Not really any worse than any of the $1,500+ Epiphones, and those are made in China, don’t use nitro, and are not reliced. Whatever you think about those "features" they are considered premium features and require more hands-on time to get right. While I have not been that impressed with the QC of the Mexican factory post-COVID, I do believe that it is historically superior to the stuff coming out of Epiphone’s China factory. It’s just easier for Fender to oversee and maintain QC standards because it is closer to the U.S. factory and less expensive to monitor closely. I still think $1,900 for a Mexican-made Fender is rich for my tastes but the Epiphone prices are even more egregious given that they omit so many key features, are built in China, carry higher average starting prices for the mid-tier lines and up, and oh yeah…don’t carry the Gibson brand or the Gibson headstock shape. At least with Mexican Fenders they carry the Fender name and you get then Fender headstock shape.
I was on the fence about the epiphones, too. I actually really enjoy my firebird 1 model. It feels miles better than a standard firebird from epiphone. I'm excited to try the 335 and 355 models. They could have done better on the les paul, though. The only thing different on it was the headstock shape and custom buckers. There is no qc problems with my firebird model. Dark fretboard, zero flaws. I have seen some with light fretboards though.
Funny thing about people being snobby about guitars made in Mexico, half the people in the US factory are Mexican. If the quality is there then it’s worth it. My Hendrix MIM strat is amazing, def worth the £900 I paid for it new. (My other guitar is a custom shop strat for comparison) Would I pay an extra £500 for a nitro relic finish, yeah if the pickups are as good as they seem, and a nice rosewood fretboard sure. I’d love to hear this guitar compare against some other vintage style Strats though
I have one and love it. I noticed quite a significant amount of fret sprout this winter though, and I am afraid to try to solve this myself... I did polish the frets when I received it, same as you. It has also become my most played guitar recently. Cheers!
these relic Guitars being sold in that condition makes me laugh. There’s a sucker born every minute… I currently have two guitars that I have owned for over 50 years. I use those guitars doing the weddings and smoky bar gigs, I had a beer bottle thrown at someone on the Dancefloor, bounce off of the dancer and hit my guitar right on the tail strap button. Once I opened my case, and didn’t have it latched, and the guitar fell out.. But neither of my Guitars come close to the damage on these guitars being sold as relics… The finish on my jazz master was brittle, and I couldn’t understand how Stevie Ray’s guitar had. All that paint missing, it shipped off like fingernail polish. what people are being sold, our Guitars that would have normally been rejected and ended up in the dumpster. but in a genius move, they’ve taken a liability and turned it into an asset.. can you imagine buying a brand new Cadillac or Corvette with this kind of damage and paying more for it. Can you imagine buying a brand new house made to look like it was very old and neglected… How about an expensive pair of shoes, worn out and scuffed with the soles starting to come off how about a complete set of chipped dishes and mismatched silverware? they are selling junk, rejects if the guitar belonged to somebody and got worn out like that like Jimi Hendrix or Stevie Ray or Alvin Lee or Jimmy page. That is truly a relic, and the damage is accepted as patina.. part of the Guitars history.. whoever came up with the idea of selling guitars that get damaged in production at the factory, as relics, I hope they get a big raise, because that was a brilliant idea.. 1966. I went to a pawnshop with the money I saved for about eight months. Call me getting money for my birthday and Christmas and cutting grass and helping a neighbor paint his house and pulling nails out of old boards to save the wood.. Setting bowling pins, shoveling snow… I saved enough money to hop on a street car and ride down to the pawn shops on North Side in Pittsburgh. I had almost $200. I wanted a fender guitar. The man brought out 2.. hey sunburst Stratocaster and a Sunburst jazz master in the case. The jazz master had a case and I knew that the Jazzmasters were $479 new. And that the Stratocaster‘s were only $410 new. So I saw the jazz master as the premium guitar, especially since it had a case, and the Strat did not. but the reason I went for the jazz master and not the Stratocaster even though the Stratocaster was only $100, was because the Strat had a 10 inch scratch all the way down into the wood on the back. Of course, that Stratocaster was probably from the 1950s and would be worth buckets of money today… but I did not buy that Stratocaster because it had that scratch on it. Today, they get a guitar at the factory. They’ve got a couple little dings in it, then they send it to somebody to send off part of the finish and double the price… Times have changed
People need to get over the fact its a $1900 MiM Fender. We have $1700 Chinese Epiphones and $2000 Korean LTDs. And they aren't nitro or relic'd (taste aside it takes more labor to do)
The Mike McCready Stratocater made in the US is a custom shop that costs $15,000... so the MIM is a very affordable and a pretty good guitar. It sounds vintage, it looks awesome and it plays really good. Nice guitar!!!
Its a mexican femder custom shop..i cant wait till the day theres a squier custom shop..i love squier, id pay prob 870-950$ for a squier version of something like this guitar
I own this guitar .. I love it! People who hate on it actually bother to watch a video of it and comment three paragraphs of snobbery! And you should also consider that there are people who prefer nitro and can’t afford the 5k custom shops … And yes ild take a good nitro mim over an American standard with poly finish and those trash noiseless pick ups any day
I think your $1900 would be way better off building out a partscaster using relic components. I have a custom Musikraft neck, MJT body, fender cs pickups, all vintage correct cloth wiring and the list goes on. Looks and sounds on a par with a custom shop. All in the build cost me $1400, then had it set up by a pro for another 100.
Pretty cool...Second hand USA EJ strats can be found for similar prices... although I got mine in 2012 for £920! Highly recommended, maple neck though. Also, G#m in Under the Bridge, or was that major deliberate?
for me, the price seems a bit much. however, if it's become your #1 on deck, go to player, perhaps it's worth it. seeing you've "traded up" to get it, it's probably more worth it. [2 cents]
I own the Jason Isabell tele and it’s my favorite guitar. Thin nitro finish and slightly relic’d. Would totally buy this one but 100% waiting on the JF one….
The first time I saw distressed or what modern day man- children call relic was on a Gibson F5. It was already in the high 20’s or low 30’s . The distress job was extra. This all started when Levi’s started to come with holes in them from the store. A testament that the end of the American empire is on its way. Kool in almost any form left the building a few decades ago. I live in silver lake ca. it’s a total clown show on the streets.
Sounds like a $2k alder rosewood strat of decency. It is about at the right price point. Better than the cheap stuff. A little on the light side. Midrange focus warmer than an ash maple strat. Like a fine line between a heavy dud and bottomless light one. Me personally I am always looking for something in the middle that has a balanced bass and treble. Think that guitar is good candidate for a medium slightly hotter single coil set. Thicken fatten it up a little. It is decent. Definitely has potential for electronics upgrades
Worth it? Well that is subjective of course and could be argued both ways but in the end you are paying for the signature/relic. For a fan of both McCgready his relic'd guitar that have the means to acquire a reproduction of said guitar, sure it's worth it. If Fender Mexico put out a signature Robert Smith Jazzmaster reproduction (from the 17 Seconds/Faith era with the modified middle Teisco pickup) I'd gladly "over pay for it". And others who have no idea of what I am even referring to would think I was a fool for doing so. It's all subjective.
Lol, the guy with more money than sense 'really' addresses whether it's worth it, says it's worth it. Who could have possibly seen that coming... The shark has well and truly been jumped. Guitar players will convince themselves of fucking anything. 'Actually, my $3000 Chinese Squier is more than worth the money, best guitar I've ever played, much better than my USA Custom shop ones'. Think it's crazy ? who would have thought 3 or4 years ago, that Fender would offer a nearly $2k Mexican guitar and people would be gullible enough to actually buy it - you would have said they were crazy, now your saying - 'hey man, great deal'...god almighty. Give it a year or 5, till some Fender marketing genius come up with the $3k Squier. If you believe that a $2k MIM is reasonable, you'll all be running to buy the Masterbuilt Connoisseur Limited Edition Luxe.
This is purely my opinion but I want to like this guitar but can't. To me this feels like: You pay 1800 for: A beat up guitar and paint job A made in mexico guitar, not even American, wont hold its value at all Never heard one played that sounds good. I realize this is all subjective. But is there any details that say the parts used are just as reliable as the american ones? Does the MIM have the Micro Tilt neck that allows american guitars get perfect low easy action? Are the pickups american made or at least held to the same quality standards?
Not really any worse than any of the $1,500+ Epiphones, and those are made in China, don’t use nitro, and are not reliced. Whatever you think about those "features" they are considered premium features and require more hands-on time to get right. While I have not been that impressed with the QC of the Mexican factory post-COVID, I do believe that it is historically superior to the stuff coming out of Epiphone’s China factory. It’s just easier for Fender to oversee and maintain QC standards because it is closer to the U.S. factory and less expensive to monitor closely. I still think $1,900 for a Mexican-made Fender is rich for my tastes but the Epiphone prices are even more egregious given that they omit so many key features, are built in China, carry higher average starting prices for the mid-tier lines and up, and oh yeah…don’t carry the Gibson brand or the Gibson headstock shape. At least with Mexican Fenders they carry the Fender name and you get then Fender headstock shape.
Very good take
I was on the fence about the epiphones, too. I actually really enjoy my firebird 1 model. It feels miles better than a standard firebird from epiphone. I'm excited to try the 335 and 355 models. They could have done better on the les paul, though. The only thing different on it was the headstock shape and custom buckers. There is no qc problems with my firebird model. Dark fretboard, zero flaws. I have seen some with light fretboards though.
I have one and I love it. It has a cool vibe and sounds very “vintage” indeed.
Relic could have a bit more attention though.
Funny thing about people being snobby about guitars made in Mexico, half the people in the US factory are Mexican.
If the quality is there then it’s worth it. My Hendrix MIM strat is amazing, def worth the £900 I paid for it new. (My other guitar is a custom shop strat for comparison)
Would I pay an extra £500 for a nitro relic finish, yeah if the pickups are as good as they seem, and a nice rosewood fretboard sure.
I’d love to hear this guitar compare against some other vintage style Strats though
I have one and love it. I noticed quite a significant amount of fret sprout this winter though, and I am afraid to try to solve this myself... I did polish the frets when I received it, same as you. It has also become my most played guitar recently. Cheers!
Buy humidifier
Congratulations on topping 1K subs!!! 🤓
Thank you!!!
It's not a motorcycle baby, it's a chopper
these relic Guitars being sold in that condition makes me laugh. There’s a sucker born every minute…
I currently have two guitars that I have owned for over 50 years. I use those guitars doing the weddings and smoky bar gigs, I had a beer bottle thrown at someone on the Dancefloor, bounce off of the dancer and hit my guitar right on the tail strap button. Once I opened my case, and didn’t have it latched, and the guitar fell out.. But neither of my Guitars come close to the damage on these guitars being sold as relics…
The finish on my jazz master was brittle, and I couldn’t understand how Stevie Ray’s guitar had. All that paint missing, it shipped off like fingernail polish.
what people are being sold, our Guitars that would have normally been rejected and ended up in the dumpster.
but in a genius move, they’ve taken a liability and turned it into an asset..
can you imagine buying a brand new Cadillac or Corvette with this kind of damage and paying more for it. Can you imagine buying a brand new house made to look like it was very old and neglected…
How about an expensive pair of shoes, worn out and scuffed with the soles starting to come off
how about a complete set of chipped dishes and mismatched silverware?
they are selling junk, rejects
if the guitar belonged to somebody and got worn out like that like Jimi Hendrix or Stevie Ray or Alvin Lee or Jimmy page. That is truly a relic, and the damage is accepted as patina.. part of the Guitars history..
whoever came up with the idea of selling guitars that get damaged in production at the factory, as relics, I hope they get a big raise, because that was a brilliant idea..
1966. I went to a pawnshop with the money I saved for about eight months. Call me getting money for my birthday and Christmas and cutting grass and helping a neighbor paint his house and pulling nails out of old boards to save the wood.. Setting bowling pins, shoveling snow… I saved enough money to hop on a street car and ride down to the pawn shops on North Side in Pittsburgh. I had almost $200. I wanted a fender guitar. The man brought out 2.. hey sunburst Stratocaster and a Sunburst jazz master in the case. The jazz master had a case and I knew that the Jazzmasters were $479 new. And that the Stratocaster‘s were only $410 new. So I saw the jazz master as the premium guitar, especially since it had a case, and the Strat did not. but the reason I went for the jazz master and not the Stratocaster even though the Stratocaster was only $100, was because the Strat had a 10 inch scratch all the way down into the wood on the back. Of course, that Stratocaster was probably from the 1950s and would be worth buckets of money today… but I did not buy that Stratocaster because it had that scratch on it. Today, they get a guitar at the factory. They’ve got a couple little dings in it, then they send it to somebody to send off part of the finish and double the price…
Times have changed
People need to get over the fact its a $1900 MiM Fender. We have $1700 Chinese Epiphones and $2000 Korean LTDs. And they aren't nitro or relic'd (taste aside it takes more labor to do)
The Mike McCready Stratocater made in the US is a custom shop that costs $15,000... so the MIM is a very affordable and a pretty good guitar. It sounds vintage, it looks awesome and it plays really good. Nice guitar!!!
Hey great review, just wondering if you have the standard 60 cycle hum? Sounded pretty clean in your demo.
Good question! They're not noiseless pickups so yeah the hum is very much there 😂
Its a mexican femder custom shop..i cant wait till the day theres a squier custom shop..i love squier, id pay prob 870-950$ for a squier version of something like this guitar
I own this guitar .. I love it! People who hate on it actually bother to watch a video of it and comment three paragraphs of snobbery!
And you should also consider that there are people who prefer nitro and can’t afford the 5k custom shops …
And yes ild take a good nitro mim over an American standard with poly finish and those trash noiseless pick ups any day
I think your $1900 would be way better off building out a partscaster using relic components. I have a custom Musikraft neck, MJT body, fender cs pickups, all vintage correct cloth wiring and the list goes on. Looks and sounds on a par with a custom shop. All in the build cost me $1400, then had it set up by a pro for another 100.
@@Thisisrance Until you want to sell it and then lose $1000
@@Randolphguitars I’d never sell it, just repurpose the parts for another build
Pretty cool...Second hand USA EJ strats can be found for similar prices... although I got mine in 2012 for £920! Highly recommended, maple neck though. Also, G#m in Under the Bridge, or was that major deliberate?
for me, the price seems a bit much. however, if it's become your #1 on deck, go to player, perhaps it's worth it. seeing you've "traded up" to get it, it's probably more worth it. [2 cents]
@@pvater I enjoy your 2 cents
I own the Jason Isabell tele and it’s my favorite guitar. Thin nitro finish and slightly relic’d. Would totally buy this one but 100% waiting on the JF one….
The first time I saw distressed or what modern day man- children call relic was on a Gibson F5. It was already in the high 20’s or low 30’s . The distress job was extra. This all started when Levi’s started to come with holes in them from the store. A testament that the end of the American empire is on its way. Kool in almost any form left the building a few decades ago. I live in silver lake ca. it’s a total clown show on the streets.
Spoken like the quintessential man baby.
@@powbobs thank you incell.don’t forget to get out and vote. Clown world is counting on you
@@jerryakbar6147
I am not surprised that a dolt like you doesn’t know ow what an INCEL is.
Also, I always vote.
@@jerryakbar6147
How unsurprising that you don’t even know what an INCEL is.
Read a book instead of burning them.
I always vote.
You ok there buddy? Sounding a little demented
Sounds like a $2k alder rosewood strat of decency. It is about at the right price point. Better than the cheap stuff. A little on the light side. Midrange focus warmer than an ash maple strat. Like a fine line between a heavy dud and bottomless light one. Me personally I am always looking for something in the middle that has a balanced bass and treble. Think that guitar is good candidate for a medium slightly hotter single coil set. Thicken fatten it up a little. It is decent. Definitely has potential for electronics upgrades
i like that guitar so beautiful appereance and awesome sound
Rosewood on this model is so light. Yet to see a good one
i'm waiting for the Frusciante one!!! but nobody knows if its coming or not
What modal 1watt Marshall head is that in t(e background ?
@@benallmark9671 DSL1
Worth it? Well that is subjective of course and could be argued both ways but in the end you are paying for the signature/relic. For a fan of both McCgready his relic'd guitar that have the means to acquire a reproduction of said guitar, sure it's worth it. If Fender Mexico put out a signature Robert Smith Jazzmaster reproduction (from the 17 Seconds/Faith era with the modified middle Teisco pickup) I'd gladly "over pay for it". And others who have no idea of what I am even referring to would think I was a fool for doing so. It's all subjective.
Lol, the guy with more money than sense 'really' addresses whether it's worth it, says it's worth it. Who could have possibly seen that coming...
The shark has well and truly been jumped. Guitar players will convince themselves of fucking anything. 'Actually, my $3000 Chinese Squier is more than worth the money, best guitar I've ever played, much better than my USA Custom shop ones'.
Think it's crazy ? who would have thought 3 or4 years ago, that Fender would offer a nearly $2k Mexican guitar and people would be gullible enough to actually buy it - you would have said they were crazy, now your saying - 'hey man, great deal'...god almighty.
Give it a year or 5, till some Fender marketing genius come up with the $3k Squier. If you believe that a $2k MIM is reasonable, you'll all be running to buy the Masterbuilt Connoisseur Limited Edition Luxe.
You seem angry
This is purely my opinion but I want to like this guitar but can't. To me this feels like:
You pay 1800 for:
A beat up guitar and paint job
A made in mexico guitar, not even American, wont hold its value at all
Never heard one played that sounds good.
I realize this is all subjective. But is there any details that say the parts used are just as reliable as the american ones? Does the MIM have the Micro Tilt neck that allows american guitars get perfect low easy action? Are the pickups american made or at least held to the same quality standards?