• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Fender MIM road worn 60' J bass

SanDiegoHarry

SanDiegoHarry

Inactive
Supporting Member
Aug 11, 2008
17,143
9,104
San Diego, CA
#1
So killing time during lunch, I went into a former employer or mine, Guitar Trader of San Diego, to see what they had...

Turns out, they mostly have guitars (still) but I did see the aforementioned bass - a MIM "Road Worn" 60's J bass.

I played it through a Genz Benz shuttle head and some tiny speaker (8"?) - but I have to confess, it sounded great. It played great too - (kudos to GT for setting up every bass on their wall with reasonably fresh strings). The "Road worn" BS actually did make the bass feel much more comfortable, and the action was sweet.

I then looked at the price tag. $1200???? For a MIM Fender??

So my thumbnail assessment is this: Nice bass but the $$ is out of line; Additionally, while the bass did feel comfortable due to the "road worness", I have a principle issue with pre-worn instruments - They strike me as something a poser would play. Perhaps that's just me.

So I'd say that for $600, this is a good axe. For $1200? Uh, I don't think so.
 
#6
This ain't a flame, but am I the only one that finds the idea of "road worn" basses totally cringeworthy? Is the idea that you pretend that you're a bigtime bassist and you and your bass have seen loads of action up and down the country? I mean, come on...
 
#7
BigOldHarry said:
I hadn't noticed that - but it makes sense (from a manufacturing standpoint). Cloneworn, perhaps?

And while you and I agree that $1200 is insane, if folks are willing to pay it, I guess it isn't *that* crazy.
Click to expand...
People pay around $300-400 for someone to relic a bass. If that's your thing, it isn't out of line. Other finishes (like the metal flake on G&L's) run about the same and doesn't affect playability as the "Road Worn" series apparently does. If the playability is improved for someone and it looks better to them, the $$ ain't much of a deal.

As far as all the wear being very similar, well, no one complains when they buy a black jazz with a white pg and there are literally thousands of them around..all pretty much identical. I guess I don't understand the issue.

If someone were to buy a road worn bass for the "feel", found the look pleasing, as well, and didn't care how many people owned the same thing....what's the problem and why is it a problem for people who don't feel the same way? Are you guys being billed for the purchase in some kind of weird social financing experiment?

Mike
 
#9
sean.1986 said:
This ain't a flame, but am I the only one that finds the idea of "road worn" basses totally cringeworthy? Is the idea that you pretend that you're a bigtime bassist and you and your bass have seen loads of action up and down the country? I mean, come on...
Click to expand...

I'm 100% with you, but to each his own. I suspect that the players that will be drawn to these basses are, for the most part, noobs who don't want to wait to earn their stripes, so to speak.

It *really* cracks me up that they might all look the same - can you imagine five of these on a GC wall, all looking worn exactly the same way... Poser heaven!
 
#11
As for the "Road Worn" basses I can't see myself payin' the extra dough for one (I agree w/Big Ole' Harry, it kinda' reeks of poser) As for the raise in prices I think Fender is planning on giving great "sale" prices in the near future. (how about a "road worn" bass @ $500.00 off?) slick ploy to get people to buy their basses in a recession.
I got lucky a couple of weeks ago and stopped by the local GC and found a Fender J 70's reissue marked @ $360 I bought it on the spot (plays, sounds Great, after a set up) Like You Harry. I stop by the music stores WAY TO OFTEN (according to my wife, that is...I stopped by the Sam Ash in City of Industry after a business stop this morning!):hiding:
I'm sure the road worn's play great, at the price they're asking Fender Mexico's QC is going to be top notch (as is on the reissues)
But mark my words There will be a Big Fender sale coming in the coming months where the prices will be slashed (ie where they should be!)
 
#13
I actually like the look of the road worn series - and had suggested they do it for some time now - ie, offer a relic'd guitar from the MIM for a fraction of the price of a custom shop relic. Unfortunately, they are quite expensive. :( I would buy one for $500 though! Unless you have a collection of road worn basses, you probably won't have 2 in the same room ever, so you won't notice they are worn in the same spots.

As for not earning my stripes... I've been playing bass for 20 years now, and treat all my instruments with great care - so I have some guitars now for 15+ years, and they look mint. I had one cheapo bass that I never used to even use a gig bag for, just throw it on the back floor of my car to transport, and even that bass didn't get very relic'd after years of using it like that. The finishes on bass bodies these days seem to be very durable!
 
#14
BigOldHarry said:
It *really* cracks me up that they might all look the same - can you imagine five of these on a GC wall, all looking worn exactly the same way... Poser heaven!
Click to expand...


I recently saw 4 Road Worn Strats hanging in a row at a local store, all with the same wear right down to two little paint chips in the same spots on either side of the jack. It looked very Twlight Zone.
 
#16
I actually played a Road Worn Telecaster at GC. It was vintage white w/ maple fretboard and looked very sweet. Played great and sounded great as well. Really nice guitar, didn't feel like any MIM Fender I've ever played before. Much higher quality.

At $949, I feel the guitars are much more reasonably priced than the basses. If the basses were just under $1K like the guitars, I would probably GAS for one, but at $1250 the basses don't really interest me all that much. Someone will probably buy them, but I would rather save the extra money for an American Std. personally.
 
#17
ashtray said:
I actually like the look of the road worn series - and had suggested they do it for some time now - ie, offer a relic'd guitar from the MIM for a fraction of the price of a custom shop relic. Unfortunately, they are quite expensive. :( I would buy one for $500 though! Unless you have a collection of road worn basses, you probably won't have 2 in the same room ever, so you won't notice they are worn in the same spots...
Click to expand...

+1

Finally! I like them, too, and I have several ACTUAL relics.

They are too expensive. I would buy one of the 50's P-basses, but can't afford it now unless I sell something...:ninja:

I agree with the earlier poster who pointed out that the new instruments (without relic finish) obviously all look the same and no one cares, so why worry about the relics being similar?

BTW, the Roadworns are not actually all identical--similar, yes, identical, NOT! Jeez--just look at a couple. :rolleyes:

ashtray said:
...As for not earning my stripes... I've been playing bass for 20 years now, and treat all my instruments with great care - so I have some guitars now for 15+ years, and they look mint. I had one cheapo bass that I never used to even use a gig bag for, just throw it on the back floor of my car to transport, and even that bass didn't get very relic'd after years of using it like that. The finishes on bass bodies these days seem to be very durable!
Click to expand...

+1

I have 2 MIM's I lend to my students. After two years in ultra-cheapo Fender gig bags and being tossed around by 7th graders, dang--no dings. Weird, but that poly is tough stuff.
 
#18
I had that "road worn" idea decades ago! Here's how it works: You buy a bass, you play it, A LOT, and it gets road worn all by itself!

No disrespect to anyone that digs this, but personally I find this whole idea of making new basses look like old ones to be desperately stupid, particularly when you have to pay MORE for it.

I recently decided I had to have another Precision. I own an MIA with a rosewood board strung with flats. Love it, wouldn't change a thing, but I wanted a maple board with roundwounds...you know the story :)

I ended up with a Standard Precision, made in Mexico. I had my doubts because I've ordered several MIM's before and always returned them for quality issues.

This one had an issue too...the volume knob was full-on all the time, couldn't turn it down. ***?! But everything else was great, so I took it to my tech and within 2 minutes he resoldered a connection and it worked perfectly.

This is a GREAT bass. The neck and fretwork is perfect, hardware is solid, and it sounds fantastic. I wish I had bought it pre-price increase (I paid $620 for it) but I probably couldn't have gotten it in the drop-dead-gorgeous Lake Placid Blue color at that time.

It's still a bargain compared to a MIA P-bass, and a HUGE bargain compared to a Road Worn, both of which cost twice as much.

Each to his own.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back