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1993 MIM Fender P Bass Advice Please

BluesOnBass

BluesOnBass

Dec 17, 2010
552
302
By the Big Lake
#1
Hi All, I have an opportunity to purchase a 1993 MIM P Bass and am wondering what people's opinions are about these. I will have to travel some distance to actually try it out, and have only seen pictures so far (which look good) and have the sellers word that it is all in good condition, and has not been played in about 6 years.

This is a case of a mother selling a son's bass that was left behind some time ago I think. She does not really know the value or how to rate the condition. I did get the serial number and looked it up to find out the year and where it was made. It's up for sale for $300. It has not been modified at all from the original.

I'm wondering if this was a good year for MIM P basses, what the necks are like ( I prefer thinner, flatter necks instead of baseball bats), and if $300 seems a reasonable price to take a ride out to look at it.

Thanks for any helpful input!
 
#4
I have an MIM P and a Am. Std. P, the profile of both necks is nearly identical. An MIM P, if it is a good one is a very playable instrument. I swapped out the guard for a tort. one with a 62RI p-up, CTS pots, etc. and it sounds very close to a vintage Precision for a lot less $$$ !!! :cool:
 
#7
My sunburst '94 MIM P bass has a relatively thin neck thickness which is a bit uncomfortable for me. But if that's what you like, then you'd like the neck. I changed out the bridge as one of the height adjust screws kept loosening and dropping down one of the string adjustors. Mine is kind of light weight as well. I also replaced the pickups with Seymor Duncan an SP1 pickup, a tortoise shell looking pickguard, metal knobs and CTS pots. It sounds and looks like a vintage P bass. The neck is very stable and only needed an initial adjustment, which was 4 years ago. it would be my main bass if I didn't get a sore thumb playing it.
 
#10
My MIM Jazz dates from that same time period, and is a good bass. I know the necks aren't identical between J's and P's, but the neck on mine I consider to be on the thin side, which is perfectly acceptable to me. $300 is a fair price, if its in good condition. If you find that you don't really like this one, you can find another in the same price range without much trouble. You can likely expect to want to change the pickup for sure, and possibly the bridge as well, as the bridge on these is rather cheap and rattly. I put a Babicz FCH on mine, and it truly transformed it into a great bass, along with a couple other basic mods. Good luck.
 
#11
My main bass is a stock MIM P from 1998 and I love it! MIM's can sometimes get bad wraps, however they can be really solid and great basses as well. In truth any product line can have it's duds. If everything checks out as described then $300 is a pretty fair price, seems to be the average rate for used MIM's. If there is something you do find out you don't like you can always mod it. Good luck.
 
#12
I have three MIM P Standards in my stable. You get ahold of a good one, you're in P Bass Heaven. Unfortunately, there is really no way to know until you handle and play it. I don't think there were any "bad years" for the MIM standard, but, as with nearly any brand, there are some lemons that get by QC every year.
 
#16
Mine's a '94 MIM from a craigslist ad. Seller knew nothing about it (wasn't his) but asked $350 and I talked him down to $250.

If the one you're looking at has "Squier Series" on the end of the headstock, don't fret over it. Mine has that and at first I was put off by that (which is why I bargained with the seller), but after researching "Black Label Fenders" my mind was put at ease.

Bottom line...mine isn't quite in mint condition, (a few minor marks/scratches if you look closely enough), but without a doubt it's the most comfortable bass I've ever played owned. So much so that I eventually sold off all my other three basses and only kept this P. All I did was change out the plastic Strat-style knobs for chrome ones.
 
#18
I bought a MIM P-Bass for my son some time in the mid-late 90's. The necks were the same for the P-basses and J-basses and had the J-style contour so the neck is not too thick. I must have tried a dozen of them before finding one that I was willing to pay $ for. The quality of MIM Fenders of that era were all over the place so you may or not be happy after a long trip to try one out. IIRC I paid $250.00 new for one that had a nice tobacco sunburst finish. Most of them were solid color.

Rick B.
 

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