Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 6:47 pm
Hyperbole. But then again, I'd call any sunburst Strat a piece of crap until I played it. I hate those things, but once I play a nice one I usually can't hate that particular guitar anymore.Mike wrote:You're open-minded I see.
Well, well, that's mostly to do with the specs sheet, like I was suggesting. MIMs often tend to have specs that aren't exactly to my liking. They do have cheap MIMs that are glossy finished, though, like the Blacktops. I don't know why but on this forum, satin finish or maple board is often cited to look or feel cheap, but I don't think that's much of a prevailing opinion out there in the world. I actually prefer a satin finished maple board to a glossy backed rosewood board, but I do suppose that the other option, the satin backed rosewood board, doesn't feel as nice to me personally.Thomas wrote:I've had quite a few MIM from the standard range that I've picked up as parts of trades or for doing work on peoples guitars. All of them apart from the first Tele I had were bad. The necks feel kind of unfinished to me. I guess that might be one of the reasons you can get them secondhand for buttons. Calling them bad might be a bit unfair, however they feel cheap. If you're in the market for an OK secondhand instrument about the £200 they're just fine.
That said, they sell the most number of MIM Standards out of any models, so I suppose those are the specs they picked through market research, but that's kind of what sucks about them, they're largely boring things because they reflect the average of everybody's opinions. I mean, you ask the average person on here who their favorite guitarist is, you'd probably get lots of cool answers that say a lot about that person. If you asked everyone to rank their favorite guitarists and average them, we would probably end up with Jimi Hendrix like every other greatest guitarist list. That's the nature of having something that is the average of all opinions. Predictable, boring, and not very inspiring.
I think that's how I feel about MIM Jaguars. They're good but they're just not quite right. Now how much of that is due to the wrong specs, I don't know. Having played the Classic 60s Strat, as I said, I think it's largely the specs and the approach to the majority of MIM guitars that makes them decent but hardly keepers (IMO, once again).Thomas wrote:I've had the Classic player Jaguar, that was a fine guitar. Not good enough to keep compared to my Japanese or vintage (unfair comparison I know) ones tho. I think I kept it for a week. A lot of people praise MIM guitars but I wonder how many of them have still kept them.
Most of us who dismiss MIM offsets are so married to that whole 7.25" radius thing that everything else feels wrong. People whose first Jag is a CP or Blacktop Jag usually end up loving theirs.
Well, I don't know how the market is in the UK, but it seems like to get a truly good MIM that is absolutely a keeper, you're spending $700 instead of $500, and at that point, you almost just feel like spending a bit more on an MIA or an MIJ, or getting one used. That's the problem I had and the reason why I could never bring myself to own a Classic 60s Strat, even though I adore them. At $700 I could just get a guitar that I'd probably like better anyway, and I have, several times.Thomas wrote:I've tried some of the pricier Tele models, they were a lot better but the radius wasn't for me. Besides if I'm getting to the £700 quid mark the US American Tele special pisses all over any of the MIM stuff I've tried and the US standard. Strangely it has the same radius and Jumbo frets which I usually hate but the neck feels 100 times better. That could be down to the shape of the back of the neck or the rolles edges on the board. The fretwork was totally superior too. It feels like a complete guitar and when I pick it up it makes me want to play it.
