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American Jazz vs Mexican Jazz

Discussion in 'Basses [BG]' started by Gabu, Oct 18, 2001.

  1. Oct 18, 2001 #1
    Gabu

    Gabu

    Jan 2, 2001
    Lake Elsinore, CA
    I went back to guitar center today and decided to get the Jazz. But I am having some issues regarding the American and Mexican Jazz basses so I wanted to throw it out here and see what you all think.

    1st, Thanks very much to Casanova. After chatting with him I decided to give the deluxe another go around, and I have decided that once I understood the controlls ... I could get much more out of the deluxe than the standard.

    I compared the MIA Jazz deluxe 4 to the MIM Jazz deluxe 5. I wanted two 5s but the American 5 is still out of stock. I played both through a Fender Bassman 25. There was indeed two jacks on that, so I must have been using the passive jack before, which caused the muddy signal.

    So right off the bat I noticed that the MIA is much lighter than the MIM. This is obviously advantageous as I may be playing for several hours at a time... and the pounds will begin to count.

    There is where the advantages seem to end.

    The noiseless pickup on the MIA plays at between half and two thirds the volume of the MIM pickup. If I turn the MIM pickup down to half volume or so I am sure whatever noise that it generates will be gone. So my question is, what advantage did I gain? It seems that with that pickup I just loose the ability to play louder.

    The action feels good on both. I am not sure if the bridge and nuts are the same or different I honestly forgot to look. They both play very well.

    The overall sound of the MIA seems very mellow compared to the MIM. I am not sure that I like that. I played with the tone controlls quite a bit and could not reproduce the sound that I liked on the MIM with the MIA. I don't know if it's more wood related, pickup related ... etc etc.

    Anyways, at this point my think is to get the MIM Jazz deluxe. Is there anything I am missing as far as the MIA is concerned? What would I get for my extra $500?

    Last question. This is for those that wheel and deal alot. I am wondering what I can do as far as asking for extras or discounts to maximize my savings or whatnot. I am not looking to rip them off, just to get a good deal. :D

    I am also going to buy the Fender Bassman 25. It sounded really good with the 5 active pickup once I used the proper input jack.
     
  2. Oct 18, 2001 #2
    embellisher

    embellisher Holy Ghost filled Bass Player Supporting Member

    Apr 18, 2000
    Heber Springs, Arkansas
    That's an amazingly good little combo, isn't it? It reproduces the low B better than any other 25 watt 10" amp that I have ever played through. Very loud for a 25 watter too.

    I wish I could tell you the differences between the MIA and the MIM, but I'm not a big fan of Fender 5's so I haven't researched them like I do a lot of basses.
     
  3. Oct 18, 2001 #3
    XavierG

    XavierG In Memoriam

    Jan 8, 2001
    British Columbia, Canada
    The $500 extra will get you a bass with a headstock that reads "Made in U.S.A" (probably by Mexican workers).
     
  4. Oct 19, 2001 #4
    Nino Valenti

    Nino Valenti Supporting Member Commercial User

    Feb 2, 2001
    Staten Island NYC
    Builder: Valenti Basses
    A nice wide padded strap or one of those straps that criss/cross on your back can make it seem lighter.

    IMO, the Fender Noisless pick-up's don't compare to the ones in the MIM's. It has the same pre-amp, but the MIM's p/u's sound so much better.
    The nice thing about the MIA is that is has a few extra frets, downsized body, slightly different neck & comes w/a hardshell case.
    When a salesman knows a customer is serious about buying, thay will definitly give you a better deal, just ask for one & you'll get it, if you don't, ask for the store manager!!!! The manager DEFINITLY wants to make a sale to keep the stores numbers up.

    Congrats on your new MIM DLX Jazz V. ;)
    <a href="http://www.theoremnyc.cjb.net"><img width=385 height=70 src="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1174383&a=8647027&p=41535909&Sequence=0&res=high" border=0></a>
     
  5. Oct 19, 2001 #5
    basskunk

    basskunk

    Oct 16, 2001
    atl,ga
    I also have the fender bassman 25,it is a great practice amp.But when playing with others the 25watt gets lost in the mix,even at max volume,just something to consider.
     
  6. Oct 19, 2001 #6
    Gabu

    Gabu

    Jan 2, 2001
    Lake Elsinore, CA
    Thanks for the head's up. :) But I won't be playing that amp with the band. This will be my "in the house" amp for practicing by my self.
     
  7. Oct 19, 2001 #7
    hujo

    hujo

    Apr 18, 2001
    Stockholm, Sweden
    I don't think I've ever played an american Fender, but the mexican ones have always left me with an empty feeling. "Was that it?" That's irrelevant though, but what isn't, is that none of them never really had that good fretjobs, some were always pretty uneven, even judging by the pricerange.

    EDIT: I keep mixing swedish and english. Please kill me.