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ANY love out there for MIM's?

#221
Some people go through a lifetime looking for THAT one bass. For me , it came to me about 5 years ago in the form of a 2000 mim P Bass that I got off craigslist for $200. The set up was awful and the strings were dead as a doornail. Tossed a set of flats on it and took about an hour to set the neck and intonation. In all my years of playing , I can't think of any bass that I've ever had my hands on that I would trade it for. It will be my go to until I croak.
 
#223
I bought a '98 or '99 MIM Jazz fretless new, and owned it for 10-ish years. It felt great, but wasn't assembled with much care. It quickly developed a nasty and persistent A string buzz, the Strat-style knobs looked and felt cheap (one eventually stripped), tarnish and rust spots popped up in various places, the pickups would mysteriously cut in and out, and the neck refused to stay in adjustment for very long. All of which raises the question, "So why did you buy it, smart guy?" And the answer is, because it's what was available at my local shop, in my price range, at a time before the internet offered even a fraction of the information now available. Every once in a while I'd decide to make it right by upgrading the pickups, knobs, bridge, and wiring. But after tallying up the cost of parts it just didn't make any sense.

On the plus side it was very light and the neck felt fantastic (adjustment issues aside). The experience wouldn't stop me from buying another MIM Fender, but it did leave a pretty bad taste. If I were to buy another MIM, I'd take the advice of many posters in this thread and play through as many examples as I could before picking the one that felt right.

Has anyone owned an early production MIM bass like mine, as well as a more recent model? Are the newer ones significantly better? Based on the comments in this thread, it seems like MIMs are pretty solid at this point, but it'd be great to hear from people who have personal experience with older and newer ones.
 
#224
20141206_230538.jpg
I bought a '94 MIM Squier Series Jazz from some girl off craigslist. It is the one second from left.
It was pretty cheap, but I found out later that the neck was a bit warped, so I ended up just using the body.
I love this body, it is so light. Its kinda cool looking too because it has the one piece pickguard which is actually kinda rare.
All my Fenders are MIM. They can be hit and miss just like anything else. The black one on the left now has a 2014 maple Precision neck which is also MIM.
 
#225
MrAtomic said:
I bought a '98 or '99 MIM Jazz fretless new, and owned it for 10-ish years. It felt great, but wasn't assembled with much care. It quickly developed a nasty and persistent A string buzz, the Strat-style knobs looked and felt cheap (one eventually stripped), tarnish and rust spots popped up in various places, the pickups would mysteriously cut in and out, and the neck refused to stay in adjustment for very long. All of which raises the question, "So why did you buy it, smart guy?" And the answer is, because it's what was available at my local shop, in my price range, at a time before the internet offered even a fraction of the information now available. Every once in a while I'd decide to make it right by upgrading the pickups, knobs, bridge, and wiring. But after tallying up the cost of parts it just didn't make any sense.

On the plus side it was very light and the neck felt fantastic (adjustment issues aside). The experience wouldn't stop me from buying another MIM Fender, but it did leave a pretty bad taste. If I were to buy another MIM, I'd take the advice of many posters in this thread and play through as many examples as I could before picking the one that felt right.

Has anyone owned an early production MIM bass like mine, as well as a more recent model? Are the newer ones significantly better? Based on the comments in this thread, it seems like MIMs are pretty solid at this point, but it'd be great to hear from people who have personal experience with older and newer ones.
Click to expand...

I've had some crappy ones from both older and newer years
 
#229
crucislancer said:
I'm saving up the cash now to pick up the black 50's P bass with the lacquer finish :)
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And I don't blame you. They look great and the one I was able to try did feel very nice, too.

Jeez -- this is what TB has done to me: I'm disabled and have arthritic shoulders, so my doctor has asked me to play only very small and light instruments. Being a good patient, I've got my 1993 Stingray up for sale, and yet here I am, drooling over an equally heavy and chunky MIM P-Bass that would do my body no favors. What the heart wants, the heart wants, I guess.
 
#232
for the money, the MIM's are a great bass and great value.. My personal preference is to get a used MIA if at all possible when someone asks for advice but sometimes you don't have that option and sometimes you can get a pretty screaming deal on MIM's..

What gets me a bit upset is hearing people try and justify that there is no difference, or that (And yes, I've heard this) MIM's are superior.
 
#233
SamJ said:
for the money, the MIM's are a great bass and great value.. My personal preference is to get a used MIA if at all possible when someone asks for advice but sometimes you don't have that option and sometimes you can get a pretty screaming deal on MIM's..

What gets me a bit upset is hearing people try and justify that there is no difference, or that (And yes, I've heard this) MIM's are superior.
Click to expand...

No offence, but I have played both MIM's that are better than MIA's and vice verse, I would say on the whole MIA's are more consistently better than MIM's though. maybe something like 1/10 MIM are better than 1/10 MIA if that makes sense. My own however is very average for a MIM

I would tend to agree that a used MIA is worth shooting for!
 
#234
zombie1965 said:
No offence, but I have played both MIM's that are better than MIA's and vice verse, I would say on the whole MIA's are more consistently better than MIM's though. maybe something like 1/10 MIM are better than 1/10 MIA if that makes sense. My own however is very average for a MIM

I would tend to agree that a used MIA is worth shooting for!
Click to expand...

9 out of 10 experiences where people "played an MIA that sucked" can be attributed to a bad setup or strings... same can be said for any bass really.
Your experiences are anecdotal at best... the reality is I've never seen an MIA that has had a decent $60 setup and new strings sound or play bad.. I've had similar experiences with MIM's.. What you get with the MIA's is better woods, electronics, pickups, workmanship, finish, etc.. Fender aren't idiots, they're not going to undercut their bread and butter American line with better low cost basses, they simply offer a selection based on budget.
 
#236
Rip Topaz said:
I love my new MIM P.
3C21992B-40F8-494B-97E7-7B3B32E56F77.jpg

Only had it a few weeks. Electronics have been giving me fits, but the bass itself is solid and plays great. I'm planning a pickup swap anyway to get it closer in sound to my main P, so I see the electronic issues as a minor headache. It's a keeper.
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Lake placid blue? Nice! I didn't realize the MIM standard came in that color. Hmmmm.......might have to look into one.
 
#238
fretno said:
I was going to use that '57 p/g and in fact had it on but I think it's got a little more of a bad attitude in Black
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Absolutely agree. I dig the anodized look on lots of basses but I just don't think it gets much classier than black on black on maple. Tough lookin' for sure.

Rip Topaz said:
I love my new MIM P.
3C21992B-40F8-494B-97E7-7B3B32E56F77.jpg

Only had it a few weeks. Electronics have been giving me fits, but the bass itself is solid and plays great. I'm planning a pickup swap anyway to get it closer in sound to my main P, so I see the electronic issues as a minor headache. It's a keeper.
Click to expand...

Ooh niiice. You know what year that is?
 
#240
OldCityBassman said:
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 guess what I'm trying to say is I love mine, they don't all suck!
Click to expand...

Just to address this OP specifically, I think one of the issues people have (very generally speaking) with MIMs is that they have changed so many ways over the years since production first began in Mexico. It almost seems, at times, like the factory in Ensenada was a test site or proving ground for ideas Fender was kicking around, or it was a place where random parts were shipped to be assembled.

There is absolutely nothing whatsoever about the place of origin that really has an impact on the overall quality of mass-produced instruments or the consistency of that quality and it has often been (accurately, validly) said that the main difference between MIA and MIM Fenders is that MIAs are made by Mexican workers and craftspeople on the Northern side of the USA/Mexico border and MIMs are made by Mexican workers and craftspeople on the Southern side of the USA/Mexico border. There is definitely truth in this.

(It is under 200 miles from one plant to the other.)

At the same time, depending on what year an MIM was made, they may or may not have comparable build quality with regard to hardware, electronics, wood, etc.

So, essentially, at least in my experience and my opinion, MIM quality (again, very generally speaking) can legitimately be considered more inconsistent overall than MIA Fenders or even such lines as the Squier CV and VM models.

That, of course, is not to say "all MIMs suck." That is a completely nonsensical and baseless thing to say. Any mass-production of any item of any kind can produce lemons. There are entire years of MIA Fenders where I have played numerous examples and found them all lame and lacking.

For the most part, an MIM is a decent-to-very, very nice instrument, and with a little bit of cash thrown at it, yes I do believe many of them CAN rival MIAs. Plenty of them are darn close to that when they are bone stock.

You are correct. They don't all suck. I'd argue that MOST of them don't suck. Otherwise they wouldn't garner the sales figures they do.
 

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