Disappointed!!

[theplumber]

Was in Glasgow today and I took a run in to Merchant City Music. I have been looking online at the Nate Mendel Signature p bass as it seems to fit what I am currently looking for in terms of look and neck size! I currently use 3 of the Squier Classic Vibe range and the fit and finish is superb! Also the neck is a perfect fit for me and to top it all..they sound great! I had tried out a Nate Mendel before lockdown but went with the Player series instead. I seem to remember that the player series was around the £600 mark and I believe the NM was about £850. They have a NM in stock at £1399! To be honest I wasn't going to pay that money anyway but just wanted to lay my hands on one to see if it measured up and I would have been looking around for a second hand version!. It certainly looked the part..roadworn but not dragged behind a car type of thing. But when I picked it up I was shocked! The guitar sounded terrible and the fret ends stuck out all up and down the neck! They were jumbo type frets but that said they felt horrible!  If I was blindfolded I would have said I was holding an old Westfield!! The young salesman came up and asked what I thought and I pointed out the neck...ah he said! It's Mexican!! Bloody hell!! Seems a lot of the recent Mexican bass guitars are like that. I had a look at a Vintera series and in fact had a feel of a few of the necks on other makes and nothing came close to how bad the neck was on the NM. He said we might have to get the tech guy to have a look at it!  Anyone own a Nate Mendel bass and what like are the necks....It was like trying to play a ladder!!

[Lozz196]

Sounds like a Friday afternoon instrument to me. I’ve got 3 Mexican made JMJ Mustang basses and all 3 are superb quality. 

[theplumber]

2 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Sounds like a Friday afternoon instrument to me. I’ve got 3 Mexican made JMJ Mustang basses and all 3 are superb quality. 

I agree.. I had a Classic and Vintera 50,s bass guitars and they were top notch. 

[miles'tone]

I suppose rather than be disappointed, be happy you didn't like it. Better that than falling in love with a particular bass you wouldn't or couldn't buy...

[Dan Dare]

Fret sprout is not uncommon on instruments that are built in one climate and shipped to another. Or maybe the wood used for that instrument hadn't been sufficiently dried/seasoned. Usually the result of the wood shrinking as it dries, leaving the fret ends poking out. Not by a lot, but enough to make the neck feel horrible.

 

If a shop hadn't picked up on it and addressed the issue (they usually just need a swift file and smoothing), it suggests that they don't check instruments before putting them out on the racks.

[theplumber]

20 minutes ago, miles'tone said:

I suppose rather than be disappointed, be happy you didn't like it. Better that than falling in love with a particular bass you wouldn't or couldn't buy...

The point of playing the bass was to give me an idea if one crops up second hand what the bass would be like.To be honest that particular guitar wasn't up to scratch but there are plenty more out there.........

[walshy]

11 hours ago, theplumber said:

Was in Glasgow today and I took a run in to Merchant City Music. I have been looking online at the Nate Mendel Signature p bass as it seems to fit what I am currently looking for in terms of look and neck size! I currently use 3 of the Squier Classic Vibe range and the fit and finish is superb! Also the neck is a perfect fit for me and to top it all..they sound great! I had tried out a Nate Mendel before lockdown but went with the Player series instead. I seem to remember that the player series was around the £600 mark and I believe the NM was about £850. They have a NM in stock at £1399! To be honest I wasn't going to pay that money anyway but just wanted to lay my hands on one to see if it measured up and I would have been looking around for a second hand version!. It certainly looked the part..roadworn but not dragged behind a car type of thing. But when I picked it up I was shocked! The guitar sounded terrible and the fret ends stuck out all up and down the neck! They were jumbo type frets but that said they felt horrible!  If I was blindfolded I would have said I was holding an old Westfield!! The young salesman came up and asked what I thought and I pointed out the neck...ah he said! It's Mexican!! Bloody hell!! Seems a lot of the recent Mexican bass guitars are like that. I had a look at a Vintera series and in fact had a feel of a few of the necks on other makes and nothing came close to how bad the neck was on the NM. He said we might have to get the tech guy to have a look at it!  Anyone own a Nate Mendel bass and what like are the necks....It was like trying to play a ladder!!

The Nate P basses are in my opinion the best P bass for the money. However, some of the ones I have had ( Ive owned 10 or so ) have had the same issues as well as the earlier ones ( Badass Bridge) having bowing neck issues, not all of them but certainly a few I have had. The later ones I think have extra rods in the neck to prevent this. Regarding the fret ends, the one I have in atm definitely needed a fret dress and the ends tidied as it wasn't great. It was second hand and 4 years old. I believe the Mexican stuff is very very good, although there are a number of  'Friday Afternoon' ones kicking about. A flea jazz I had was terrible, completely wired up wrong and needed considerable fettling before it was a good-un.

 

[markbunney]

I keep looking at the new Mexican Duff Mckagen signature but it is also £1400 and I worry about the quality.

 

I have the original issue Duff signature which I love, but am starting to think that the neck is starting to develop some issues. It’s 7 years old but I am constantly noticing buzzing and dead spots despite a recent pro set up.

 

The American Performer range is around £1,250 and I am tempted to get one of those instead. I have always wanted an American made fender

[Burns-bass]

10 hours ago, markbunney said:

I keep looking at the new Mexican Duff Mckagen signature but it is also £1400 and I worry about the quality.

 

I have the original issue Duff signature which I love, but am starting to think that the neck is starting to develop some issues. It’s 7 years old but I am constantly noticing buzzing and dead spots despite a recent pro set up.

 

The American Performer range is around £1,250 and I am tempted to get one of those instead. I have always wanted an American made fender

Without wishing to start WW3, the quality of wood, components, and finish of the USA basses is higher. (But I still love Mexican basses!)

[Lozz196]

10 hours ago, markbunney said:

I keep looking at the new Mexican Duff Mckagen signature but it is also £1400 and I worry about the quality.

 

I have the original issue Duff signature which I love, but am starting to think that the neck is starting to develop some issues. It’s 7 years old but I am constantly noticing buzzing and dead spots despite a recent pro set up.

 

The American Performer range is around £1,250 and I am tempted to get one of those instead. I have always wanted an American made fender

There’s a used V2 Duff at Classic And Cool Guitars for £1150 

[OliverBlackman]

24 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

Without wishing to start WW3, the quality of wood, components, and finish of the USA basses is higher. (But I still love Mexican basses!)

I tend to agree. Love my 2006 mex p bass but it has its imperfections. The US basses 2008 onwards stepped it up a gear too.

[Dan Dare]

1 hour ago, Burns-bass said:

Without wishing to start WW3, the quality of wood, components, and finish of the USA basses is higher. (But I still love Mexican basses!)

 

Imho, it depends on the instrument. The better Mexican instruments use (or used to use) the same components as US built. I have a Mexican active deluxe P (P/J) which is much better put together than my '72 Jazz. Mind you, A Harley Benton would probably be better built than a '70s US Fender...

[markbunney]

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

There’s a used V2 Duff at Classic And Cool Guitars for £1150 

Thanks, I’ll take a look

[Burns-bass]

54 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

 

Imho, it depends on the instrument. The better Mexican instruments use (or used to use) the same components as US built. I have a Mexican active deluxe P (P/J) which is much better put together than my '72 Jazz. Mind you, A Harley Benton would probably be better built than a '70s US Fender...

We’ve had this conversation Ad Infiniti’s and it’s always a circular one. Opinions differ and at the end of the day it’s all just wood, plastic and metal bolted together.

[Burns-bass]

Just now, Burns-bass said:

We’ve had this conversation Ad Infiniti’s and it’s always a circular one. Opinions differ and at the end of the day it’s all just wood, plastic and metal bolted together.

And it’s entirely my fault for bringing it up so for that I apologise. 

[Belka]

I have a Nate Mendel and although I think generally it's a great bass and sounds good, the frets are the one thing I don't care for. It's not that my bass suffers fret sprout, it's that the ends are not well rounded and can feel a little sharp. I also don't like jumbo frets generally, IME small/mandolin frets feel much better and I can't see the need for jumbo frets on a bass generally; I understand that one reason guitarists like them is for bending, but you generally can't bend bass strings anywhere near as far as guitar strings, and in any case, the 7.25 radius on the Nate Mendel would severely limit any extreme bending you might want to try. 

[neepheid]

Right, it's dodgy because it's Mexican made.  Jesus wept.

 

EDIT - In case anyone was wondering, I'm being super sarcastic towards the sales person in the shop.  A bad instrument is a bad instrument, doesn't matter a jot where it was made.

Edited December 30, 2023 by neepheid

[ambient]

It surely shouldn't make any difference where it's made. They should still be built to the same standard.

 

 

[Stub Mandrel]

I don't judge any instrument on where it's made.

 

I have American, Mexican, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian and Chinese basses. All of good or better build quality.

 

Worst bass I have tried recently was a Japanese Fender Aerodyne, which should have been the cream of the crop, but if felt awful.

 

My Mexican Flea Jazz is easily the most comfortable bass I have. Used it recently for a 'seat of the pants' dep as it would not get in my way for anything I needed to do.

 

You have to judge every bass on its own merits and also try to see beyond any bad setup (good shops will tweak a bass you are trying out) and even eadily corrected faults.

 

I'm not saying that bass wasn't poor, but it's not my experience that Fender Mexican basses are anything other than the equivalent of the American ones in practical terms.

[Stub Mandrel]

On 29/12/2023 at 09:30, markbunney said:

I keep looking at the new Mexican Duff Mckagen signature but it is also £1400 and I worry about the quality.

 

I have the original issue Duff signature which I love, but am starting to think that the neck is starting to develop some issues. It’s 7 years old but I am constantly noticing buzzing and dead spots despite a recent pro set up.

 

The American Performer range is around £1,250 and I am tempted to get one of those instead. I have always wanted an American made fender

 

My go to basses for most gigs are an American Vintage II precision and Mexican Flea Jazz.

 

While the P is more period correct, I can't claim one is better quality than the other in respect of timber, components or build.

[theplumber]

5 hours ago, neepheid said:

Right, it's dodgy because it's Mexican made.  Jesus wept.

 

EDIT - In case anyone was wondering, I'm being super sarcastic towards the sales person in the shop.  A bad instrument is a bad instrument, doesn't matter a jot where it was made.

When I tried out the bass and pointed out the issue..in my opinion of the neck he came back and yes it's Mexican! I said rubbish I have recently owned two Mexican made p bass and they were brilliant in every way! He said no I mean a few of the Mexican bass guitars recently had issues with the necks! From what I understand from one of the other comments it seems that the NM bass has jumbo frets and its the edges that I felt rather than fret sprout. If that is the case I really would have to try out another one just to see if that is the case. I am used to a nice neck profile and smaller frets on my Squier Classic Vibe guitars and was disappointed with the feel of the end of the frets.