American Special vs (Mex) Deluxe?

skinfreak

I realise the badge of 'American Made' means a lot to some, but when faced with a better equipped axe from south of the border (such as the Roadhouse Deluxe or the newer plain Deluxe - whatever the differences are) are there any reasons for going with the more basic US Special (besides the jumbo frets)?

Funkfingers

Play some of each model. Buy whichever one is most satisfying.

Chalky

No.

Haych

I wouldn't be surprised if Fender move all mass-produced instruments to Donald's favourite country and maybe keep Custom Shop in California, and maybe some high end 'special editions' assembled in the US.

At the end of the day there can't be much difference between Mexican made and USA made guitars.  The tooling and CNC programs are probably identical.  I think I read somewhere that Mexican made bodies are more likely to be made of several pieces of wood glued together and US bodies made from two or three bits.  After that it's just the quality of the parts screwed to the two finished bits of wood, no?

The Roadworn series is made in Mexico, is it not?  And the Baja Tele?  I've played both and they are stunning guitars - I'd have one in a flash if I weren't haemorrhaging money at the moment.

usedtobe

I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it, tbh..

skinfreak

I reader a review of the Strat Roadhouse deluxe in Guitarist and it was pretty glowing. At this point if I were to buy one it might get swayed towards the us model if only because of the jumbo frets. As long as it is white and has a 70's headstock I don't really mind... good to know the mexistrats are good.

jimboflojo

I A/B'd the mex standard tele against the American special at GAK today and preferred the feel of the Mexican.  It's all subjective as everyone's already said and comes down to what you prefer. If you can try them side by side and buy the actual guitar then you can't go wrong

SNAKEBITE

skinfreak said:

I reader a review of the Strat Roadhouse deluxe in Guitarist and it was pretty glowing. At this point if I were to buy one it might get swayed towards the us model if only because of the jumbo frets. As long as it is white and has a 70's headstock I don't really mind... good to know the mexistrats are good.

On a cynical side note, when was the last time you read a review in a guitar mag that didn't rate the product/

Funkfingers

By Jove. He's right. Even the worst-made, toneless, unoriginal design will receive praise for being value for money. 

NelsonP

I own a Mexican tele - one of the Shiflett sigs. when I bought it I A/B'd it vs the American Std Tele Deluxe. I actually preferred the look, tone AND feel of the Shiflett tele, so that's the one that I walked out of the shop with. It's now been professionally set up and I've modified it to reduce noise (all tele deluxe's seem to suffer from this). It's a brilliant guitar.

There are one or two areas where I believe the American standard might be better:
- the tuners are OK, but not amazing
- there's a brown inlay in the back of the neck that is not perfectly flush with the neck at the headstock end (see below). you hardly notice it, but it's there.


I've also A/B'd vs a Friedman vintage T and whilst the Friedman is nicer (lovely neck, all fit and finish is perfect), it's not worth 3 times the price in my opinion.

olafgarten

NelsonP said:

I own a Mexican tele - one of the Shiflett sigs. when I bought it I A/B'd it vs the American Std Tele Deluxe. I actually preferred the look, tone AND feel of the Shiflett tele, so that's the one that I walked out of the shop with. It's now been professionally set up and I've modified it to reduce noise (all tele deluxe's seem to suffer from this). It's a brilliant guitar.

There are one or two areas where I believe the American standard might be better:
- the tuners are OK, but not amazing
- there's a brown inlay in the back of the neck that is not perfectly flush with the neck at the headstock end (see below). you hardly notice it, but it's there.


I've also A/B'd vs a Friedman vintage T and whilst the Friedman is nicer (lovely neck, all fit and finish is perfect), it's not worth 3 times the price in my opinion.

The inlay on the back is a 'skunk stripe' they have them on 1 Piece maple necks as they fill the channel where the truss rod is inserted. On necks with Rosewood fretboards you usually don't have them because the truss rod is inserted under the fretboard. 

I have noticed that they stick out slightly on a couple of Fenders I've played, one American and 1 Squier. 

NelsonP

olafgarten said:

The inlay on the back is a 'skunk stripe' they have them on 1 Piece maple necks as they fill the channel where the truss rod is inserted. On necks with Rosewood fretboards you usually don't have them because the truss rod is inserted under the fretboard.

Thanks for the info. Mine has a rosewood board and a skunk stripe - it seems that Fender have played around with different methods over time. Maybe the original 72 deluxe's were like this?

HAL9000

I own a US and a MIM. Like others, I prefer the feel of the Mex guitar.

olafgarten

NelsonP said:

olafgarten said:

The inlay on the back is a 'skunk stripe' they have them on 1 Piece maple necks as they fill the channel where the truss rod is inserted. On necks with Rosewood fretboards you usually don't have them because the truss rod is inserted under the fretboard.

Thanks for the info. Mine has a rosewood board and a skunk stripe - it seems that Fender have played around with different methods over time. Maybe the original 72 deluxe's were like this?

Yes, I think I remember reading somewhere that in the 70's they started using a Skunk Stripe for all necks for consistency.

BluesyDave

Played both.  Each perfectly usable but the US Special just felt nicer.  So much so I've just bought one.  Jumbo frets I guess.

skinfreak

BluesyDave said:

Played both.  Each perfectly usable but the US Special just felt nicer.  So much so I've just bought one.  Jumbo frets I guess.

Jumbo frets!!! Yeah baby!!! 

My DGT has ruined me....