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ANY love out there for MIM's?

OldCityBassman

OldCityBassman

Guest
Nov 10, 2014
349
389
Florida
#1
I have seen a lot of negatives regarding the MIM Fenders and don't quite understand it. I read threads scratching my head wondering why people think all mim's suck. I have a 95/96 MIM Jazz I bought for $250, closet queen for over a decade. This bass is sweet. Its like wearing a glove, plays really nice. I have Fender nickels on it which sound lovely. Anybody that likes Jazz basses would say it feels and plays pretty darn good. I definitely am not saying it is as good as a better Jazz bass. And since its pre 2000 something I hear it really sucks!

It weighs about 1.2 lbs more than my MIA Precision.

Did I just get lucky and get a good one?

I plan on putting Vintage 70's pickups on it with maybe the 62 Jazz pre-wire kit bestbassgear sells. Maybe a Babicz too. For the price I paid why not.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I love mine, they don't all suck! Any others love theirs?

mimjazz_zpsbcba87f8.gif
 
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#2
I like that color. I don't want to lump all the MIM's in one big group cuz that would be stupid. What I do know is I haven't really connected with the MIM's at GC is the past 10 years, and the one I played the other day, a P-Bass, didn't play as well as my new Squire Matt Freeman bass. It didn't look as good either. If you covered Squire with Fender, the Matt Freeman seems like a more expensive bass.

I like your jazz though and since GC gives me free setups with any new purchase, a MIM bass could be a real good buy.
 
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#4
I've played many MIMs--guitars & basses and they are good.
I've had times where the MIM played better than an MIA version of the same bass.
I would buy an MIM if it was the one that fit what I was looking for & my budget.
While my last purchase was an Ibanez, I almost bought an MIM fretless J Bass.
 
#5
I've never played an MIM Fender Bass.

However, I had a few dollars and knew I wanted a Fender Strat, and was open to buy a Squier or an MIA or anything in between. I went to a store that had at least 30 of them. I picked up the nicest looking one first. It turned out to be an MIM. I played it a bit and it felt and sounded great. The quality was outstanding as well - nothing looked out of place.

I then cycled through every other one there and there were a few contenders, but none of them were as perfect as the MIM that I first picked up, so I bought it.

Sure, when I was going through them all, I also picked up a few other MIM's, but several MIA's too... Instruments are not identical to each other, and gems are found in every price point. Limiting yourself to only top tier instruments will give you fewer gems to pick from.
 
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#6
Nothing wrong with them IME.

I would definately buy a used CIJ or MIA over a new MIM, but I have owned 4 or 5 1990's MIM P and J basses and they were all great basses for the $250-350 I paid for them used.

I had a 1999 P that had a crappy pickup that I replaced with a Basslines. it ended up being a great gigging bass.
 
#8
MIM Standards seem to carry the pre '08 stigma, even though quality was defintiely upped since then. To be completely honest, aside from the Classic series basses (that handily rival any US Fender, IMO) I hadn't even touched a MIM since '05. I was recently in the market for a budget 5 string and stumbled across this used beauty:
image.jpg

It was already a great player. I simply dropped in some Fralins, and now it's a monster. The newer MIM's have normal Jazz pup dimensions. If this bass is any indication of the recent MIM's, then they're certainly great basses. Of course, you have to find one that has "the goods", but you have to do that with the U.S. models too. Fwiw, I would pick this over the Squier VM5 any day of the week, and I've owned (and liked) two of them.
 
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#9
jeff7bass said:
I like that color. I don't want to lump all the MIM's in one big group cuz that would be stupid. What I do know is I haven't really connected with the MIM's at GC is the past 10 years, and the one I played the other day, a P-Bass, didn't play as well as my new Squire Matt Freeman bass. It didn't look as good either. If you covered Squire with Fender, the Matt Freeman seems like a more expensive bass.

I like your jazz though and since GC gives me free setups with any new purchase, a MIM bass could be a real good buy.
Click to expand...

Interesting observation, are the new Squier's better quality than the mim and would Fender let that happen since their name is on the mim?
 
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#15
I dont think that anyone who knows Fenders very well will ever say that pre 2000 (actually mid '01) MIM Standards all have to suck ... in fact, virtually every model/era of Fenders over the years have certainly had some that played/sounded better than others, and then some even much better ... often times when I state the differences on threads it may be perceived as a negative inferrence, but that is not the case, as I am just listing component differences ... and there are some very different components used on the the pre-mid '01 MIM Standard J's than the later offerings ... in general:

.. the pickups are a perceived lower quality, produced off shore in the Cort plant (they used the same part # for each piece), and will measure the same length vs the later switch to conventional Jazz longer bridge/shorter neck configuration ... this can come into play for those wishing to make a simple mod by switching to some pickups that only come in the longer/shorter config as standard ... it is not tough to increase the size of bridge pickup route for those that need to do it, but just something that gives reason for some to be more critical ...

... the body wood will likely be perceived by some as a lower quality, such as poplar, compared to the later used alder

... the split/splined shaft pots with the Strat style knobs are different than the later solid shaft knobs using conventional 'top hat' style Jazz knobs, so for those wishing to replace the knobs, the press on option needs to be used unless a little extra care is used to attach the set screw style knobs ...

... and maybe the most common thing I look for on the early edition MIM Standard J's, is for neck and truss rod issues ... the thin profile on these necks that makes them so nice to play, also can require a bit more attention in terms of more frequent adjustments, and it is not uncommon to find one that has been maxxed out or even stripped by someone turning beyond the point they should (especially when they start approaching 15-20+ years old like the pre '01's) ... I have found quite a few with excessive relief, and no adjustment left ... this too can be fixed, but again one more reason for them to be negatively critiqued ...

.. if you found one you enjoy, it certainly does not matter what anyone else thinks of it ;)

.. that is a beautiful color on OP, probably LPB?
 
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