MIM v's MIA P Bass

[4 Strings]

No shame in MIM, nothing wrong with them at all, if you're happy, that's it.

Well done for resisting.

[Guest gazzatriumph]

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1349377293' post='1825562']
No shame in MIM, nothing wrong with them at all, if you're happy, that's it.

Well done for resisting.
[/quote]

the wife was pleased too

[The Dark Lord]

I agree with Lozz. The MIA P is THE bass. With it, you get a no-questions asked seat at the top table of bass playing.

Strap on. Rock.

[Monckyman]

Difference in MIA and MIM basses?
MIM Basses are made in Mexico by skilled Mexican workers.
MIA Basses are made in America by skilled Mexican workers.

Get one that feels good to play,because music is all about feel and not logos.
You can upgrade pickups bridges pots etc, but if it plays like sh*t, [i]you`ll[/i] play like sh*t.
I want a seppo bass, but I`m not daft enough to convince myself it`s anything other than pose.
Never played a crap MIJ though.

[BluRay]

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1349379183' post='1825601']
I agree with Lozz. The MIA P is THE bass. With it, you get a no-questions asked seat at the top table of bass playing.

Strap on. Rock.
[/quote]

see, now you've made me want one. God I wish I wasn't so impressionable - I'd have a lot more cash to spend on other stuff.

[Sean]

So, what I'm reading here is that if you want a Fender, you need to try lots of them to find a good one unless you go for a Japanese one. There are a few good Mexican ones if you can find one and US ones are generally better but there are some dogs amongst them.

I wouldn't accept this from a car manufacturer, it would be ludicrous. I would just go to a company that makes great products that don't disappoint. We need to get over Fender, it's a joke.

[Sean]

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1349379183' post='1825601']
I agree with Lozz. The MIA P is THE bass. With it, you get a no-questions asked seat at the top table of bass playing.

Strap on. Rock.
[/quote]

:-D
I've wasted all that time learning to read, learning theory and technique and what I should have done was buy a US Fender Precision instead.

[4 Strings]

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1349425264' post='1826058']
So, what I'm reading here is that if you want a Fender, you need to try lots of them to find a good one unless you go for a Japanese one. There are a few good Mexican ones if you can find one and US ones are generally better but there are some dogs amongst them.

I wouldn't accept this from a car manufacturer, it would be ludicrous. I would just go to a company that makes great products that don't disappoint. We need to get over Fender, it's a joke.
[/quote]

tbh, this is really an impression rather than fact. They're all fine. Some might be set up nearer your ideal, but it you like a Fender P and there is little difference in the neck profiles between the MIA and MIM you're going to find any of them fine. Its similar to people thinking the older ones are better because they are, well, older.

They are mass produced like cars and despite the post from Monckyman they are actually made in huge batches by machines. The machines are operated in both factories mostly by Mexicans though! Just their quality department will be bigger than most other whole guitar guitar making organisations, I think they know a bit about production consistency by now.

[gareth]

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1349425264' post='1826058']
So, what I'm reading here is that if you want a Fender, you need to try lots of them to find a good one unless you go for a Japanese one. There are a few good Mexican ones if you can find one and US ones are generally better but there are some dogs amongst them.

I wouldn't accept this from a car manufacturer, it would be ludicrous. I would just go to a company that makes great products that don't disappoint. We need to get over Fender, it's a joke.
[/quote]

i take it you don't drive peugeots, citroens, fiats and fords then

[Guest gazzatriumph]

Ive upgraded pickups to seymour duncan SPB 1 and can now go back to enjoying playing the bass which is what its all about.

[Sean]

[quote name='gareth' timestamp='1349457239' post='1826650']
i take it you don't drive peugeots, citroens, fiats and fords then
[/quote]
Correct.

[Sean]

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1349454317' post='1826605']
tbh, this is really an impression rather than fact. They're all fine.
[/quote]

So, I ask all of you that have or have had shoddy Fenders, do you think was, in fact, your impression of their quality rather than their quality that was at fault? Are they in fact, all fine and if so why are there so many threads whining about the quality differences? And why don't we see similar threads about MusicMan?

[gareth]

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1349460306' post='1826697']
So, I ask all of you that have or have had shoddy Fenders, do you think was, in fact, your impression of their quality rather than their quality that was at fault? Are they in fact, all fine and if so why are there so many threads whining about the quality differences? And why don't we see similar threads about MusicMan?
[/quote]

I have seen a lot of fenders and my feeling is that personally i wud only have classic series MIMs, any MIJ/CIJ and all USA fenders apart from the ones built to cost in the 1990's with vennered bodies and headstock trusses

[4 Strings]

Because they sell 1 to every 100 Fenders?

[gareth]

[quote name='gareth' timestamp='1349460651' post='1826700']
I have seen a lot of fenders and my feeling is that personally i wud only have classic series MIMs, any MIJ/CIJ and all USA fenders apart from the ones built to cost in the 1990's with vennered bodies and headstock trusses
[/quote]

musicman are more consistently good than fender

[skej21]

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1349048055' post='1821213']


Thanks - that's useful. I guess the pick ups may be slightly different spec as well. My son has a Mexican Tele in sunburst which is very nice - bit the trans finish doesn't seem to show so many body joints as 6 to 8.

FWIW I have tried both MIM and MIA P and J basses and I agree with your description (not tried a post 2008 MIA yet though).

I am a Musicman player and would draw an analogy between the SBMM (not the Sub) and USA versions of those instruments - I dont think they are 6 or 8 piece though.
[/quote]

That's slightly inaccurate. The USA fenders with painted finishes usually have 3 piece bodies, the naturals sometimes have two as you're looking at the wood. USA deluxe/select/reissues etc have 2.

Unfortunately, there is no waste in the Mexican factory, so they can make the body up with as many pieces as it takes. I had a friend who stripped his mex tele and it had 76 bits glued together and sanded to create the shape of the body.

Edited October 5, 2012 by skej21

[4 Strings]

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1349461455' post='1826717']
That's slightly inaccurate. The USA fenders with painted finishes usually have 3 piece bodies, the naturals sometimes have two as you're looking at the wood. USA deluxe/select/reissues etc have 2.

Unfortunately, there is no waste in the Mexican factory, so they can make the body up with as many pieces as it takes. I had a friend who stripped his mex tele and it had 76 bits glued together and sanded to create the shape of the body.
[/quote]

Really? You see cheap tables etc made like this, I'm surprised a genuine Fender would. If this is the case there is quite a difference to MIM, although I doubt it would make any difference sonically or otherwise to the actual guitar.

The body would have been cut from a block by the same machine as if it were two or three pieces glued together.

[The Dark Lord]

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1349425504' post='1826060']
:-D
I've wasted all that time learning to read, learning theory and technique and what I should have done was buy a US Fender Precision instead.
[/quote]

Yup. Shoulda got a Fender MIA P.

It works this way. You turn up at the pub, and on your arm is Holly Willoughby all flushed and flustered telling everyone that you are the greatest lover she has ever had. Now, actually, there are lots of regular "girls next door" out there who have better figures than Holly Willowbooby are nicer looking and are (probably) better in the sack. Trouble is ..... they're just not Holly Willowbooby.

It's the same thing with basses. For Fender P Bass - read Mrs W. When people see you got one - they think "cool, mojo, rock'n'roll". A copy is just a copy, no matter how much it cost. You don't find us MIA P owners jumping in like trian spotters to other people's forums about their "Sadmakersky Dingbat Yamamoto made in someone's garage basses" saying "my bass is better than yours because, because, because, because". We just know.

I've had about a dozen and a half of MIA P Basses over the years. There have been a couple of bad ones. There have been a dozen really good ones. There are two perfect ones which I still have. That's no different for any brand of bass.

The big thing though is ........ there is THAT Precision sound which cannot be replicated. It's most noticeable (to me) on the low G note. A sort of thud with a burble, which, if the sound could be translated into English........ would say "rock'n'roll".

Accept no substitute. [u]Nothing [/u]even comes closes. Fender MIA Precision. Strap on. Rock.

[skej21]

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1349462894' post='1826743']


Really? You see cheap tables etc made like this, I'm surprised a genuine Fender would. If this is the case there is quite a difference to MIM, although I doubt it would make any difference sonically or otherwise to the actual guitar.

The body would have been cut from a block by the same machine as if it were two or three pieces glued together.
[/quote]

Totally agree. The cutting etc is all the same but it is true that they Mexican factory has no wastage. It means they can make more guitars with the same amount of wood than the US factory, bringing down production costs.

Edited October 5, 2012 by skej21

[The Dark Lord]

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1349460306' post='1826697']
So, I ask all of you that have or have had shoddy Fenders, do you think was, in fact, your impression of their quality rather than their quality that was at fault? Are they in fact, all fine and if so why are there so many threads whining about the quality differences? And why don't we see similar threads about MusicMan?
[/quote]
The two bad ones of mine just didn't have the sound. One black and maple, the other black and rosewood. I swapped the pickups out on one - and it didnt make any appreciable difference. Didn't sound good acoustically. An MIA P should have that familar "clank and rumble" when you play it. I couldn't see any real difference to any of my other good ones. They just didn't sound right.

Also, beware of the A string rattle. They ALL have it as the break angle isn't great. For most, you can avoid the problem by winding the A string 'round the post well. Some others - you just can't. Make sure the nut is fitted correctly for that too. Needs a bit of height.

Basically - you gotta play it first .... which makes it difficult buying a really, really decent P on here or on ebay.

Safest way ...... if you have the financial firewpower ...... is to go to a BIG music shop and try a new one off the rack in your colour. Most all of them are great. Walk past all of those Tex Mex Tiger economy and Jap stuff and get a USA one. You'll be fine.

[The Dark Lord]

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1349460072' post='1826693']
Correct.
[/quote]

Your car should be German. Your chef should be French. Your architect should be British. Your lover should be Italian. Your guitars should come from the US of A.

Go ahead, buy a Mexican bass .... but only if your lover is British, your chef is German, your car is French and your architect is Italian. And good luck with all of that. Especially the French car.

[Doddy]

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1349463872' post='1826774']
Your lover should be Italian. Your guitars should come from the US of A.
[/quote]

Mine's Mexican and my Fenders are either Japanese or Mexican,so what does that say?

I've got Japanese and Mexican Fenders and a couple of Squiers (one '83 Jap and one newer) and I'm happy
to take any of them on gigs. I've played US models and I don't sh*t myself with excitement. They are nice,but really not
far superior to any of mine. In fact one of the nicest Precision Basses I've tried for a while was a Squier Classic Vibe.

[4 Strings]

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1349462925' post='1826746']
Yup. Shoulda got a Fender MIA P.

It works this way. You turn up at the pub, and on your arm is Holly Willoughby all flushed and flustered telling everyone that you are the greatest lover she has ever had. Now, actually, there are lots of regular "girls next door" out there who have better figures than Holly Willowbooby are nicer looking and are (probably) better in the sack. Trouble is ..... they're just not Holly Willowbooby.

It's the same thing with basses. For Fender P Bass - read Mrs W. When people see you got one - they think "cool, mojo, rock'n'roll". A copy is just a copy, no matter how much it cost. You don't find us MIA P owners jumping in like trian spotters to other people's forums about their "Sadmakersky Dingbat Yamamoto made in someone's garage basses" saying "my bass is better than yours because, because, because, because". We just know.

I've had about a dozen and a half of MIA P Basses over the years. There have been a couple of bad ones. There have been a dozen really good ones. There are two perfect ones which I still have. That's no different for any brand of bass.

The big thing though is ........ there is THAT Precision sound which cannot be replicated. It's most noticeable (to me) on the low G note. A sort of thud with a burble, which, if the sound could be translated into English........ would say "rock'n'roll".

Accept no substitute. [u]Nothing [/u]even comes closes. Fender MIA Precision. Strap on. Rock.
[/quote]

So when I say a bass needs the right transfers to be nice, am I near the truth?

[The Dark Lord]

Your lover should definitely be Italian though.

[Doddy]

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1349464799' post='1826799']
Your lover should definitely be Italian though.
[/quote]
Nah.