Originally posted by jedi817None of the above!
...Go for the mexican fat strat or put in the four hundred dollars more for the american and give up the double coil?...
Quality control on the Am-Strats is getting spotty - almost as bad as Gibson! And they never were worth more than any other model.
If you just have to get a Strat, look around for one of the made-in-Japan re-issues. My '62 RI Jap-Strat was better-built, and better-sounding than anything else in the store when I bought it. I later sold it (for more than I paid) when I needed rent money. I don't miss the made-in-USA Jaguar I played in the mid-70's, but I still get kinda misty-eyed about that '62 RI Jap-Strat.
At the lower prices they command, (sorta like the folks that buy Harley's instead of rice-rockets) you should still have cash in pocket for a good humbucker.