After a white Jazz, black guard, maple neck, neck pickup cover....Am Std vs. Marcus Miller?

[SimonPLights]

Hi Guys,

I'm after a white Jazz with a black guard and a maple board, of the best quality possible. Around 900 pounds as a budget.

I'd like the neck pickup cover, which the MM obviously comes with but I could fit very easily to the Standard.

Given they are built in different places, what does everyone think as to which one would be the better bass? Would likely run the MM passively, so electronics don't matter. I'm talking build quality, fretwork, all those things.

What would everyone take out of the two?

Cheers,

Simon

[OutToPlayJazz]

They're actually two very different instruments - The Marcus Miller Japanese signature model is usually made of just about the heaviest piece of ash you'll ever encounter. The gloss finishing, hardware & overall build quality is stunning on these, but they're let down by the absence of a passive tone control, noisy Japanese pickups & the fact that the Fender preamp is possibly the worst preamp out there. Harsh sounding nasty $2.50 thing!

The new American Standard is a great bass - The necks are among the most stable Jazz necks around (with the posiflex graphite rods), the new thinner undercoat really does let more tone through the wood & the satin necks/gloss fingerboards (maple board versions only) are really nice, too. The new American pickups are shielded very well and the Am.Std is one of the few very quiet (buzz-wise) single coil Jazzes out there.

So even though the MM is a lovely thing to hold and look at, I'd still go for the American Standard as the default player's choice.

Edited May 26, 2010 by OutToPlayJazz

[SimonPLights]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='848888' date='May 26 2010, 08:41 PM']They're actually two very different instruments - The Marcus Miller Japanese signature model is usually made of just about the heaviest piece of ash you'll ever encounter. The gloss finishing, hardware & overall build quality is stunning on these, but they're let down by the absence of a passive tone control, noisy Japanese pickups & the fact that the Fender preamp is possibly the worst preamp out there. Harsh sounding nasty $2.50 thing!

The new American Standard is a great bass - The necks are among the most stable Jazz necks around (with the posiflex graphite rods), the new thinner undercoat really does let more tone through the wood & the satin necks/gloss fingerboards (maple board versions only) are really nice, too. The new American pickups are shielded very well and the Am.Std is one of the few very quiet (buzz-wise) single coil Jazzes out there.

So even though the MM is a lovely thing to hold and look at, I'd still go for the American Standard as the default player's choice. [/quote]

Interesting, thanks. A white American Standard, fit a black guard and ashtrays then I guess!