What is the difference between a American Fender strat guitar and one assembled in Mexico?

Question

Other than being assembled in different places.

Answer 1

American strats are made with higher quality wood, electronics, etc.  They sound better.  They have higher resale value should you ever want to sell it.  As the name implies, they are also made in America, where the people making the guitars are paid a lot more.

Is it worth the extra $600 (sometimes more)?  That's up to you.  I have a mexican strat myself and love it.  If I had a lot of money, I'd probably get an American model, but for now I'm perfectly happy with what I have.

Answer 2

the difference is one sounds better. i mean i just started playing but to me the mexican strat sounds better with some sweet strings

Answer 3

I own a couple American made strats and I used to own a 1972 blonde strat that I sold a long time ago in the 80s when the Yamaha DX7 keyboard first came out - had to have one, wish I would have kept the strat. My son has a Mexican made strat and it is a great choice for a versatile guitar that can provide tone ranging from blues, country, rock, southern rock, classic rock etc. The Mexican made strat might be at the mercy of less-intensive quality control and lesser wood selection, and electronic parts that are more the product of mass-production rather than hand-picked quality control. But, overall the Mexican made strat is a great choice for beginner and intermediate guitar because it's affordable and can get you playing and taking lessons. It's possible to find a Mexican made strat that has double humbucker pickups which makes the guitar even stage-worthy and able to drive amps and effects rather decently. A guitar is greatly influenced by the quality of the guitar strings. Make sure to use at least D'Addario .009-.042 or similar quality strings. It's important to absolutely 'fall-in-love' so to speak with the guitar you purchase, and stay motivated.