FENDER MIJ LIMITED INTERNATIONAL COLOR PRECISION BASS

[soulstar89]

Hey Peeps,

 

I went down to Wunjo Guitars In Denmark Street Yesterday afternoon and they have two new MIJ basses:

 

The Precision in Morocco red (maple fretboard):

https://www.wunjoguitars.com/products/made-in-japan-limited-international-color-precision-bass®

 

The Jazz in Yellow:

https://www.wunjoguitars.com/products/made-in-japan-limited-international-color-jazz-bass®

 

I Picked up and played the P bass, At the moment I favor P's. The neck is a U shape (this may be my fav). 40mm nut. 70's reissue basically. It played really nicely. the neck was AMAZING.....But the body is basswood! 

 

Both are extremely light. I was left confused as they go for £1349!

 

I can't stress how natural and nice the necks were. I just wish it was ash or alder.  

 

Wunjo was unpacking a load of guitars so I presume once they have unpacked everything, they will remove the sold-out icon on basses

 

Edited May 24, 2023 by soulstar89

[Musicman20]

That's a high price!

[lidl e]

They need to move that precision tugbar to the right spot!

[Bassassin]

I quite like that yellow Jazz.

 

But £1349 and the first thing you'd have to do was change those Strat knobs?

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

40 minutes ago, lidl e said:

They need to move that precision tugbar to the right spot!

It isn't a tug bar, its a thumbrest

[Lfalex v1.1]

Bongos are Basswood-bodied, and they sound fine. 

It's actually quite a light, resonant wood, but (like Poplar) it's not very attractive. That's why it gets used for solid finishes.

[jd56hawk]

5 hours ago, soulstar89 said:

It played really nicely. the neck was AMAZING.....But the body is basswood! 

 

Both are extremely light. I was left confused as they go for £1349!

 

 

Prices are up everywhere, but when it comes to Fender MIM and MIJ basses, I can't see myself buying one instead of something from G&L or Reverend.

As for basswood, my Classic Vibe is basswood and it's a gem!

Edited May 24, 2023 by jd56hawk

[Baloney Balderdash]

Quote

The neck was amazing... BUT the body is basswood.

 

What is that supposed to mean?

 

Yes, it's a cheap wood, but several high end basses got a basswood body and several professional guitarists and bass players swear by it.

 

Basswood is actually supposed to be a great tonewood (if one believes in that).

 

And the actual price difference from a more expensive wood is a very little percentage of the actual production costs, and even less asking price.

 

That a wood type is cheap has nothing to do with quality, it just means that it is readably available, which again means sustainable and good for the environment.

 

"It sounded and played amazing, BUT the solid colored body was X wood and not Y wood", that just doesn't make any sense, unless you got X-ray vision and listen with your eyes and/or suffers from OCD.

 

Edited May 24, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[soulstar89]

34 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

 

What is that supposed to mean?

 

Yes, it's a cheap, but several high end basses got a basswood body and several professional guitarists and bass players swear by it.

 

And the actual price difference from a more expensive wood is a very little percentage of the actual production costs, and even less asking price.

 

Basswood is actually supposed to be a great tonewood (if one believes in that).

 

That a wood type is cheap has nothing to do with quality, it just means that it is readably available, which again means sustainable and good for the environment.

 

"It sounded and played amazing, BUT the solid colored body was X wood and not Y wood", that just doesn't make any sense, unless you got X-ray vision and listen with your eyes and/or suffers from OCD.

 

The issue I have with basswood is it’s soft. This means screw holes can over time could lose its catch. Dings (which doesn’t really bother me ) are more easy to happen. 
 

I can purchase a late 80’s mij pb-70 ash body/ maple neck with us pick ups for around the same price.  
 

for me I felt the pick ups didn’t complement the basswood or vice versa. 

 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2023 by soulstar89

[Baloney Balderdash]

54 minutes ago, soulstar89 said:

The issue I have with basswood is it’s soft. This means screw holes can over time could lose its catch. Dings (which doesn’t really bother me ) are more easy to happen. 
 

I can purchase a late 80’s mij pb-70 ash body/ maple neck with us pick ups for around the same price.  
 

for me I felt the pick ups didn’t complement the basswood or vice versa. 

 

 

 

I suppose one not being fond of the fact that basswood is one of the softer hardwoods and the risk for screws stripping, dings e.t.c that comes with is a reasonable enough reason to not like it, though that wouldn't bother me personally.

 

However whether or not the pickups was a great match for the resonance of the basswood though I am rather sceptic on how exactly you would be able to access that, way too many other determining variables to the tone of any given bass be to be able to credit any issues one might have with it to the body wood type vs pickup type/model of said bass with any kind of reasonable certainty. 

 

Edited May 24, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[neepheid]

Eh, talking about basswood like it's balsa or something.  Seems overdramatic to me.

[soulstar89]

41 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

I suppose one not being fond of the fact that basswood is one of the softer hardwoods and the risk for screws stripping, dings e.t.c that comes with is a reasonable enough reason to not like it, though that wouldn't bother me personally.

 

However whether or not the pickups was a great match for the resonance of the basswood though I am rather sceptic on how exactly you would be able to access that, way too many other determining variables to the tone of any given bass be to be able to credit any issues one might have with it to the body wood type vs pickup type/model of said bass with any kind of reasonable certainty. 

 

the basswood bass had a tone  I am not familiar we regarding a 70’s bass guitar. Granted it could be the pick ups as well as the body. 
 

the sound to me was alien. 

I would have thought the would have gotten very close to the specs of a 70’s pick up. 
 

It sounded completely different to the 1980’s pb-70us  I played. 
 

 

[Lw.]

The yellow paint on the jazz looks kind of cool but I'm struggling to see what makes these stand out from any other Fender subsidiary copy & the price is a bit silly for what they are. 

 

Also is it just my eyes or is something slightly off with the headstocks/logo placement? 

[Jono Bolton]

1 hour ago, soulstar89 said:

The issue I have with basswood is it’s soft. This means screw holes can over time could lose its catch. Dings (which doesn’t really bother me ) are more easy to happen. 
 

I can purchase a late 80’s mij pb-70 ash body/ maple neck with us pick ups for around the same price.  
 

for me I felt the pick ups didn’t complement the basswood or vice versa. 

 

 

 

Are dings more likely to happen with basswood? It's still got several layers of finish over it, which will pick up marks before the wood does.

[Baloney Balderdash]

1 hour ago, soulstar89 said:

the basswood bass had a tone  I am not familiar we regarding a 70’s bass guitar. Granted it could be the pick ups as well as the body. 
 

the sound to me was alien. 

I would have thought the would have gotten very close to the specs of a 70’s pick up. 
 

It sounded completely different to the 1980’s pb-70us  I played. 
 

 

 

Close Encounters of the Third Kind?

 

To be honest I'd personally prefer an alien tone to a 70's tone.

 

I guess though it depends of if we are talking E.T or Predator? 

 

Are Teletubbies aliens?

 

Cause I am not sure if I'd like a bass with that kind of tone, possibly a bit too childish for my personal taste.

 

But if I had to I would prefer Tinky-Winki over any of the others, or maybe Po.

 

Definitely not Dipsy or Laa-Laa.

 

 

Edited May 24, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[soulstar89]

47 minutes ago, Jono Bolton said:

Are dings more likely to happen with basswood? It's still got several layers of finish over it, which will pick up marks before the wood does.

I’ve encountered more dings from basswood. It’s just a soft  wood. again chips and dings don’t bother me all that much. 
 

 

[soulstar89]

40 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

 

Close Encounters of the Third Kind?

 

To be honest I'd personally prefer an alien tone to a 70's tone.

 

I guess though it depends of if we are talking E.T or Predator? 

 

Are Teletubbies aliens?

 

Cause I am not sure if I'd like a bass with that kind of tone, possibly a bit too childish for my personal taste.

 

But if I had to I would prefer a Tinky-Winki over any of the others, or maybe Po.

 

Definitely not Dipsy or Laa-Laa.

 

 

 

lmao you put a smile on my face with this for sure. 😂

 

I love paul Jackson’s tone live with herbie Hancock and the head hunters. 
 

finger style funk with a 70’s pbass. 😍

 

 

Edited May 24, 2023 by soulstar89

[lidl e]

6 hours ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

It isn't a tug bar, its a thumbrest

It was a joke! Too subtle i suppose...

[uk_lefty]

Fender Japan have always used basswood as far as I know except on special run limited edition basses. It's made by Fender Japan, they know what they're doing. 

 

As for the price, nothing shocks me any more. I just wish I'd filled my boots when you could get a brand new Aerodyne bass for about £430 in the recent past. 

[soulstar89]

19 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

Fender Japan have always used basswood as far as I know except on special run limited edition basses. It's made by Fender Japan, they know what they're doing. 

 

As for the price, nothing shocks me any more. I just wish I'd filled my boots when you could get a brand new Aerodyne bass for about £430 in the recent past. 

I was really shocked by the price tbh.
 

The neck on every japan made bass I have played always feels perfect. my hands don’t fight it like I am playing a cement block lol. 
 

Regarding the body wood only the lower spec basses used basswood. For example the pb-62 reissues are in three tiers 50, 70 and 96. The pb-62 (50) is basswood where the 70 and 96 are alder. The 96 has USA electronics and pick ups.
 

 
 

 

[LeftyJ]

14 hours ago, soulstar89 said:

Regarding the body wood only the lower spec basses used basswood. For example the pb-62 reissues are in three tiers 50, 70 and 96. The pb-62 (50) is basswood where the 70 and 96 are alder. The 96 has USA electronics and pick ups.

 

Yep! I briefly owned a PB57-50 which was basswood, and I have a JB75-90US with an ash body that can double as a boat anchor. Really fine bass, but it weighs a ton. 

 

Normally, if you're not sure (when they're a solid finish, for example), you can easily tell them apart by their hardware. The entry level models with basswood bodies will usually have smaller Gotoh GB-1 tuners and bridges with barrel saddles. The ones with alder and ash bodies will usually have more period-correct hardware for the model they're intended to reissue, with larger tuner base plates and threaded saddles. These limited editions are no exception, and also use the Gotoh GB-1's and barrel saddles. 

Edited May 26, 2023 by LeftyJ