• 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.

'96 MIM Jazz Bass, worth it?

U

ulgen

Mar 9, 2014
18
5
#1
Hello Everyone!

I was looking for a Fender Jazz Bass to buy and there is some guy near my home happening to sell a 96' MIM.

I was actually going to go for an unused player series jazz bass, but this '96 MIM is only half the price, and I am a bit tight on the budget.

He claims that it is in good condition and stuff. If that is the case, would you suggest me to go for it? How do you compare a '96 MIM Jazz bass to a brand new player series jazz bass in built quality and soundwise? What I know is that during those years Fender had MIJ jazz basses and MIMs are the lowest in quality, but I don't how they are compared to new player series.

Thank you for the help!!
 
#2
The MIM Jazz Basses are generally well worth their cost, but there may be little things to deal with along the way. I experienced slipping bridge saddles. There are several easy fixes for that, I upgraded the bridge. Another thing was the plastic nut broke so I had a nice bone nut installed. Aside from that it performed very well. I gigged the hell out of it. It’s a keeper.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ulgen
#4
ulgen said:
Hello Everyone!

I was looking for a Fender Jazz Bass to buy and there is some guy near my home happening to sell a 96' MIM.

I was actually going to go for an unused player series jazz bass, but this '96 MIM is only half the price, and I am a bit tight on the budget.

He claims that it is in good condition and stuff. If that is the case, would you suggest me to go for it? How do you compare a '96 MIM Jazz bass to a brand new player series jazz bass in built quality and soundwise? What I know is that during those years Fender had MIJ jazz basses and MIMs are the lowest in quality, but I don't how they are compared to new player series.

Thank you for the help!!
Click to expand...

Can you try it out first? Any specific instrument can have good or bad quality. You could buy a brand new one with problems. Compare pricing online, play it, check it out and make an offer if you like it!
 
#5
You're basically talking the same bass, just used vs. new. Both series are MIM and made in the same factory to more or less the same specs for the same market. They renamed the Standard series to Player in 2018 and with it came a bunch of marketing materials, but no real substantive changes.

If you're ok with the look, I'd check out the used one. If it's in the condition stated, you save some dough. If not, then spring for the new one and choose your color. Nothing to lose.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ulgen
#8
I bought a '97 MIM Jazz new (in '98) and didn't care for the stock pickups, but since the bridge pickup is the same size as the neck pickup, that drastically limited my options for replacement pickups. You could use two neck pickups, but you won't have any noise cancelation. Bartolini made a set specifically for the MIM Jazz (they're the only ones who did, as far as I know), but I didn't like those much better, and I highly doubt they make them anymore. You might like the stock pickups, though. I had a friend who loved the sound of that bass and frequently asked to borrow it for gigs, so your milage may vary.

Otherwise, it was a fine bass. Mine was on the heavy side, though (about 11 lbs), and I did replace the flimsy stock bridge with a Badass II. While it added about a half a pound to the weight, it made a big difference in tone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ulgen
#9
Thanks everyone for the input!!! Just got a 2011 MIM Jazz bass, it was in a much better condition than the one from 94’. The bridge pickup was swapped with a noiseless N3, so with these given I can say that it is such an awesome bass!!

I own a rickenbacker 4003 and had a precision bass before. I think because of the neck profile jazz bass is much less tiring for the fretting hand!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Blues Bass 2
#10
I was gifted a 96 MIM Jazz. It's stock, and was unused for upwards of 15 years. I cleaned it up, played it stock. It sucks! LOL. Truly. Dead tone. It's heavy, but I like heavy basses. Just wanted to say thanks for the thread. I have a parts list, which includes the pickup size issue . Can't get rid of it because it has tremendous sentimental value. Just don't want it to sit in the case and take up space for the rest of my life until some other unlucky bastard gets stuck with it. Turns out a lot of people like the body and neck, so it may end up being a great bass!
 
#11
senderoff said:
I was gifted a 96 MIM Jazz. It's stock, and was unused for upwards of 15 years. I cleaned it up, played it stock. It sucks! LOL. Truly. Dead tone. It's heavy, but I like heavy basses. Just wanted to say thanks for the thread. I have a parts list, which includes the pickup size issue . Can't get rid of it because it has tremendous sentimental value. Just don't want it to sit in the case and take up space for the rest of my life until some other unlucky bastard gets stuck with it. Turns out a lot of people like the body and neck, so it may end up being a great bass!
Click to expand...

See, I think the issue is that the MIM Fenders are currently seen as an upper-mid-grade type product. People seem to have forgot this fact, to the point I have to occasionally wonder if I've lost my mind, but I clearly remember them being a very budget offering through much of the 90's. I remember buying a Yamaha Pacifica for 2x as much as a MIM Tele in the mid 90's... and I gladly spent the money because everything about that guitar was 2x better than the Fender. IIRC the standard grade Epiphones also cost significantly more.

Having never owned one I cant clearly say whether the current enthusiasm for MIM Fenders is wholely a change in perspective, or if the product has gotten that much better. I suspect its a bit of both, and either way, I personally would be a bit wary of spending the going price of a used MIM on an older model.
 
  • Like
Reactions: urkel3000
#12
Yes, the old MIM Standard series of the 90's typically weren't very exciting instruments. Consider that they were priced back then about the same as a mid tier Squier is these days - they were budget instruments, no question about it. Today's Player series are better instruments! That's not to say there are good examples out there - there must be. But I wouldn't buy one of these without trying it first.

The first really good MIM's were the Classic series (now Vintera).
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back