MIA ?

I will chime in with my standard so-1 it looks exactally like a stratocaster and the intonation and fretboard action are to my standards, it was  made in china and i have played mia's fenders and there is no difference. most or all of the parts for mia's are not made in the usa so what is?

Southpaw ,
   Ya took the words right out of my mouth ........
   I've played hundred and fifty dollar guitars that played and sounded every bit as good as my expensive ones . Heck , they even looked nice .......
    My primary workhorse is a made in Korea copy of a Gib 330 . Let me tell you , I don't leave home without it ........

                     Jerry

This is an "eternal discussion", some people are more positive about a MIM others about a MIA
I have only thing to say: I believe that FENDER USA has some lower priced guitars like the Highway series and my humble opinion is that a more expensive Mexican FENDER will sound better than a Highway 1.
Have you noticed how many DIFFERENT FENDER STRATOCASTERS ARE MADE? you need a week in a music store to compare all the models: Beck, Clapton, Johnson, Rory Gallagher, Knopfler, Malmsteen, Buddy Guy, Jimmy Vaughn, SRV, Robert Cray ADD the Standard Fenders, the relic Fenders, the Custom made, the vintage strats, classic player AND THAN you start again with all the Mexican models.
It is ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND A FENDER IN THE FENDER WOOD.
TOO MUCH = TOO MUCH
I was told that you can hear difference with an amp using the CLEAN SOUND, but once you start with an effect board? ......IS IT STILL POSSIBLE TO HEAR THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MIM and MIA using effects like distortion?

I think the MIA hype comes from the american made companys like Martin & Gibson. If you go back in time a bit and look at it, There used to be pretty much either a Gibson or a Martin for a quality guitar. Both of those being american made. Then we get to the late 60's and an onslaught of cheap japanese/Chinese/Korean imported copys. While some of these turned out to be jems the majority were very poor quality and thus everyone began to associate poor quality with imports. They were labeled as cheap rip offs. A few of these imports established a name for themselves and live on today (Ibanez, Takamine,etc...) Then Gibson started contracting out epiphones to japan in the early 70's and the first few runs of these really lacked in quality control. A few would be good and them some would be total trash (more bad karma for imports). Then Martin followed suit with the Sigma line... It was just common practice that the higher end guitars were made in america and the cheaper models were done over seas due to the cheaper labor costs. So that's what everyone believed. Not to say that all american guitars are better. Martin had a bad run of incosistency in the 70's. Even today a comparable model 70's martin will not bring the money of an 80's model, usually. Gibson in the last 10 years has really fallen behind on their consistency as well. It's a gamble if you order one unplayed.. I think we are starting to come around though. Canada has really established itself in the guitar world as a force to be reconed with and more and more quality is starting to come from over seas (Blueridge,Morgan Monroe,The new Masterbuilts from epiphone,etc..) I'd say that in general more quality comes from america and canada at the moment but I'll grant that their are some very good imports out there as well. Just my .02  Peace! -Pix

well I was made in america

I took two guitars to a collector who pays top $$ for vintage guitars. My 1976 Made In AMERICA Stratocaster and another not made in America guitar. I bought my 1976 Strat in 1986 for $450 used. I was offered $2,375.00 for my MIA Strat, which I quickly declined. The second guitar was not an American made guitar(classical Epiphone made in Japan) and I was offered only 15% of what I paid for the instrument.
   The lesson here is equity. The value increases over time. This must tell you something,eh?

I'll be the first to admit that my home country has many flaws and several items that deserve harsh critisism but our guitars do not fall under this category........In my humble yet educated opinion.