Strat mods

I have a mid 2000s MIM as my only Strat. I went into the shop expecting to leave with a US one but that particular MIM, out of the 30 or so Strats I tried, really sang and resonated when not plugged in and felt by far the most comfortable.

As it left the factory it wasn't bad apart from a dreadfully cut nut, but the US ones I tried weren't much better. Fender seem to have got better on that front though.

I didn't like the Mexican pickups - they had ceramic bar magnets and sounded harsh and buzzed quite a lot. And the trem was about as reliable as an unreliable thing.

So I switched the pickups for a set of Lace Sensor Hot Gold and replaced the nut with a Graphtec teflon impregnated one. I also switched the trem block from the cast pot-metal for a Callaham 50s spec steel one which improved sustain and treble. I also fitted a tremsetter in the trem cavity so it can float enough to give a semitone up-bend and still consistently return to tune.

Overall it probably cost me about the same as a US Standard of the time. But had I bought a US Standard or Deluxe I'd still have wanted to change the pickups and probably the trem block as well.

Some of that probably qualifies as "cork sniffing", so I'd say the only thing that affected the playing other than the usual Strat trem stability issues was the factory nut. And it needed a setup of course.

My most recent Fender is a 2015 Wilko Johnson signature Tele, one of a limited release of 200 for Europe and Japan only. It's basically the 1960s vintage rosewood-board, alder body MIM in a non-standard colour scheme. It plays superbly and sounds like a vintage Tele should. I set the action and intonation and otherwise I feel no need to change anything.

And it cost less than the "regular" model for some reason. Maybe black with a red scratchplate is a really cheap finish to apply or something.

You could do far worse than a MIM Fender.

Avoid Korean-built Fender though. I've a Lite Ash Tele I bought online that left the factory with the bridge plate askew far enough to trap the strings so they couldn't be pulled through the body. The body string holes were in the right place but the bridge securing screws had been put in at a diagonal angle that meant the bridge was in the wrong place and at the wrong angle. Easy enough to fix in an hour by plugging the holes and re-fitting the screws where they should have been.

And the neck needed shimming to correct the fingerboard angle and levering sideways a bit in the pocket to get it perpendicular to the body. Overall a really shabby bit of work on what is some very nice wood fitted with Duncan pickups. All easy to fix in an hour or two you know what you're doing, and no worse than some seventies Fender
production, but it should never have left the factory like that. I've seen a few horror stories about other Korean Fenders, which is a bit surprising as the Korean factories can and usually do build perfectly good guitars for the price asked.

I vote for the mexi-strat. You're going to end up changing out the pickups no matter what you buy. So get the mexi-strat and then put in what you want. 
 
Or better yet, get yourself a neck from Warmoth and a body from ebay and then pick all your own parts. Put it together yourself and for a bit more than a mexi-strat, but certainly less than an american version, you'll end up with something that will rival the top end custom shop models.

Another option is used American Strats.  You'll end up somewhere between the 1/3 cost of new MIM and 1/2 the cost of a new MIA.
 
Not for a few years, but I've owned both.  The MIM was nice for the price.  The MIA was nice.
('99 MIM I bought new, then a '98 Am Dlx I bought used in '00)
 
So maybe all of the hardware won't have to be changed in a used MIA.  Might get away with just a pup swap if he has a specific set in mind.  And somebody else will have taken the initial depreciation hit.

I used to mod my guitars/basses... trying to find that elusive tone.
One thing to be aware of...
If you decide to liquidate modified instruments, it doesn't increase the value.
If it was a $500 guitar, putting another $600 of mods/upgrades won't make it a $1100 guitar when reselling.
 
I took a bath on numerous guitars/basses...
 
Years later, I decided to only buy instruments I love "as is".
At least for me, it helps keep G.A.S. (somewhat) in check.  
 
If you get a higher-end instrument, if you mod it... make sure to keep the original parts and avoid destructive changes that can't be reversed.  That can kill the value... and (maybe it's just me), but I don't like seeing classic instruments "butchered".  
 
 
 

Just a comment on Sweetwater.  I don't usually buy guitars on line.  I worked in a music store (in Nashville) in the early 70's and each guitar in stock tended to have its own identity.  I had a Gretsch PX6120 (bought new in 61) and always wished I hadn't sold it.   In a "soft moment" I bought a Gretsch from Sweetwater.  When it arrived it was in perfect condition and the intonation was also perfect. 
 
But, the case was another story and it had to be replaced as the lining inside was coming apart.  They apparently went over the guitar but didn't check the case.
 
I don't have a Strat but I have a MIM "Nashville" Tele.  Our lead guitar player, who plays a US Strat (has Blue Lace Sensors and ball bearing nut), likes my Tele and usually plays it when I have him on a recording session.