austin Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I'm currently wanting to buy a Precision and have been looking for a white MIJ Squier as I had one a few years ago and really liked it. I have seen a couple of MIM Fenders for sale quite cheap though but I don't know alot about them? Any advice on which is the better bass as I've heard the MIM basses aren't meant to be that good?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 This is a common misconception. MIM fenders can be great what can be problematic is the QC. If you try before you buy then you'll probably come across some good and some bad. Plenty of people have tried mine and loved it Good luck in your hunt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mart Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 [quote name='charic' post='1120095' date='Feb 8 2011, 02:03 PM']...MIM fenders can be great what can be problematic is the QC. ...[/quote] Isn't the same true for MIA Fenders! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Think its the case with all of them. I had an MIM Precision, and it was a great bass. Not as good as my US Precisions, but in relativity, a US costs twice as much as an MIM, but the MIM wasn`t only half as good as the US - prob 75/80% as good. I think people have sl*gged MIMs unfairly really. They are Fenders entry level instrument, so expecting the same quality as a higher end model is unrealistic. I was perfectly happy with my MIM, but managed to get my US basses for approx £500 a piece. I wouldn`t have bought a US new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I went shopping for an MIA fretless a couple of years back and tried a MIM out of curiosity as much as anything else. The QC was dire, I'd swear that all they'd done was look at a picture of a finished bass and said "yeah, that looks the same". The first one was poorly finished and had a bit of a lateral twist on the neck, second one was just totally dead out of the box but the third one felt and played every bit as good as the MIA. I saved myself £600 which was an unexpected bonus, but it took me a while to sort through the dross... I certainly wouldn't risk buying one without trying it first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clauster Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 As others have said, it's all in the QC. I've had three Feder Precisions. The first, an early 70s USA (dead cheap because this was the early 80-s) was fantastic. The next (late 70s USA) was okay - not bad but not great. The last was a mid 90s MIM, as well put together as either of the others, sounded fine and played better than the late 70s US. The only downside was that it was by far the heaviest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tredders Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 (edited) I must have had 12 or more different Precisions over the years (hell, I still have 5 now!), and the one thing I've learnt is you can't generalise that all US P basses are great, or all MIM's are substandard. In my experience, it just doesn't work like that. I've had some dogs in my time (and that includes a 75 US P bass, and a US '62 Re-issue). I've also played some awful MIM and MIJ ones, too. You really do need to try before you buy... If you blindfolded someone and gave them a MIM, a MIJ, a US, and a Squire (and they were all well setup), I bet most people wouldn't be able to identify which was which... Edited February 8, 2011 by tredders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 [quote name='tredders' post='1120796' date='Feb 8 2011, 11:11 PM']I must have had 12 or more different Precisions over the years (hell, I still have 5 now!), and the one thing I've learnt is you can't generalise that all US P basses are great, or all MIM's are substandard. In my experience, it just doesn't work like that. I've had some dogs in my time (and that includes a 75 US P bass, and a US '62 Re-issue). I've also played some awful MIM and MIJ ones, too. You really do need to try before you buy... If you blindfolded someone and gave them a MIM, a MIJ, a US, and a Squire (and they were all well setup), I bet most people wouldn't be able to identify which was which...[/quote] +1 I think people tend to forget that Fender gear was all designed with mass production in mind (hence the bolt-on necks, modular electronics etc.) Anything mass produced is going to produce a few dogs along the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 There is a Squier Silver Series p-bass just popped up in the classifieds here for £200 - [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=122238"]link [/url] - seems a very good price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 [quote name='tredders' post='1120796' date='Feb 8 2011, 11:11 PM']If you blindfolded someone and gave them a MIM, a MIJ, a US, and a Squire (and they were all well setup), I bet most people wouldn't be able to identify which was which...[/quote] + 1. I`d be able to say which I preferred, but I`d never be able to say where it was made. With my own Precisions that I`ve had, if someone had presented them to me without any identifying marks, again I could have said which I liked best, but wouldn`t have been able to say where each was made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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