Thread Pros and cons of MIM strat?

Here's a start....

Pros:
Value for the price
great medium level guitar
Necks are made in USA

Cons:
Supposedly lower quality materials
Output Jack loosening problem
Poor re-sale value

Yeah, great value for the price indeed, and as far as lower quality materials are concerned I'm not sure that someone unable to afford a US Strat (no criticism here, I'm not either) is so likely to own an amp that will actually reveal the MIM's limits anyway. The wood is less carefully chosen, but it's far from catastrophic. The single coil pickups are good (I own a MIM Fat Strat and the only pickup I ever felt the need to have changed is the HB), not even sure if they're that much different from those of the "standard" US series. And, if you know how to solder properly (which curiously is not my case ), you can certainly redo the inner mess in no time (well, I actually never inspected the solderings within a US Strat but on the Mexican it certainly didn't look well - even though I didn't notice a real effect on the sound).

Regarding the poor resale value, well... if it matters that much to you, get one used then!? Nah, actually I don't really think that this kind of questions should matter too much when you choose a guitar, or if you already think about reselling at the very moment you buy it then maybe you should think again about your choice? Well, just my 2 cts on that point anyway...

Quote: if you know how to solder properly (which curiously is not my case ), you can certainly redo the inner mess in no time

Is this something that I should know how to do, or can I buy a used one that is already fixed? What should I look for?

No, what I mean is that the way everything is soldered in the guitar looks a bit "dirty", quite a bit of leaks here and there. Clearly not a job from Fender's employee of the month, but frankly it's not that much of a problem, you could just as well leave everything the way it originally is, and most likely you won't notice it at all - unless of course you have a look inside. Anyway, if one day you want to have a pickup changed then you can still ask whoever'll take care of it to have a look at this part, nothing totally necessary though.

If wood is good and if the guitar is well assembled it's fine, pick up and electronic can be easily changed.

I did that on my MIJ. the base is realy good, nice accoustic sound, but pots and pickup were a bit weak.