ANY love out there for MIM's?

[Muddslide]

^^^ Sheesh, I think I essentially posted the same tl/dr OP-ED piece on this thread a page or two back. Apologies. I am mentally slipping in my advanced years I guess.

But I popped back on to ask:

Does anyone know if any Fender line OTHER than the MIMs ever came with the following finishes:

Midnight Wine
Agave Blue
Sage Green

???

Just curious--all three are beautiful finishes (IMO) and I don't think I've seen them on anything other than MIMs from certain years. I used to have a Sage Green MIM Telecaster and it was gorgeous (and a darn fine guitar to boot.) I almost bought a Midnight Wine Jazz bass a few years ago but the guy was (I thought) asking too much and wouldn't budge on the price.

A few months back my local CL had a guy selling an MIM Jazz bass in Midnight Wine for $75! The only thing (according to him) wrong with it was that the nut was cracked in two and had a piece missing.

I contacted him the same minute I saw the listing, but of course, already gone...

 

[MovingPitchers]

^^^ Sheesh, I think I essentially posted the same tl/dr OP-ED piece on this thread a page or two back. Apologies. I am mentally slipping in my advanced years I guess.

But I popped back on to ask:

Does anyone know if any Fender line OTHER than the MIMs ever came with the following finishes:

Midnight Wine
Agave Blue
Sage Green

???

Just curious--all three are beautiful finishes (IMO) and I don't think I've seen them on anything other than MIMs from certain years. I used to have a Sage Green MIM Telecaster and it was gorgeous (and a darn fine guitar to boot.) I almost bought a Midnight Wine Jazz bass a few years ago but the guy was (I thought) asking too much and wouldn't budge on the price.

A few months back my local CL had a guy selling an MIM Jazz bass in Midnight Wine for $75! The only thing (according to him) wrong with it was that the nut was cracked in two and had a piece missing.

I contacted him the same minute I saw the listing, but of course, already gone...

Don't forget surf green

 

[zombie1965]

or th

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.

Or they realized years ago that you stick Made in America on something and instantly double its value, this is not something everyone can afford so opened a factory just over the boarder in order to sell to the masses. To perhaps not spoil the illusion that the US models are marketed as "premium" they thought we will include a few extra Quality control steps on a MIA model and a few minor details in the spec that keep it separated from the MIM models.

In reality the difference in the cost of components and materials is a few $ at most.

The labor costs are the only real difference between the MIM and MIA and if your gonna go for a $60 set up on a MIM i'd say that you would have negated the biggest noticable difference between the two

As far as the builds, Body blanks are cut on identical machines in both factories as are the necks, although to slightly differing specs. perhaps The US factory gets the first pick of the wood blanks before offloading the rest over to mexico. The electronics are mere pennies in both MIA and MIM models and even if the MIA Electronics are percieved as better, its a cheep upgrade for a MIM. after all a 450k resistor is a 450k resistor. Pickups are better on MIA, no arguments.

The finnish is where i'd say there is a difference, those MIA lacquered necks get an extra couple of steps taken on them as dose the body I suspect.

Over all though MIA are great but overpriced because the are made in the US.
MIM are a very close second to a MIA and in a few cases if your a lucky one, better. Affordable, but beware of poor ones that have slipped through poor QC.

 

[MovingPitchers]

or th


Or they realized years ago that you stick Made in America on something and instantly double its value, this is not something everyone can afford so opened a factory just over the boarder in order to sell to the masses. To perhaps not spoil the illusion that the US models are marketed as "premium" they thought we will include a few extra Quality control steps on a MIA model and a few minor details in the spec that keep it separated from the MIM models.

In reality the difference in the cost of components and materials is a few $ at most.

The labor costs are the only real difference between the MIM and MIA and if your gonna go for a $60 set up on a MIM i'd say that you would have negated the biggest noticable difference between the two

As far as the builds, Body blanks are cut on identical machines in both factories as are the necks, although to slightly differing specs. perhaps The US factory gets the first pick of the wood blanks before offloading the rest over to mexico. The electronics are mere pennies in both MIA and MIM models and even if the MIA Electronics are percieved as better, its a cheep upgrade for a MIM. after all a 450k resistor is a 450k resistor. Pickups are better on MIM, no arguments.

The finnish is where i'd say there is a difference, those MIA lacquered necks get an extra couple of steps taken on them as dose the body I suspect.

Over all though MIA are great but overpriced because the are made in the US.
MIM are a very close second to a MIA and in a few cases if your a lucky one, better. Affordable, but beware of poor ones that have slipped through poor QC.

Can't stress this enough for sure.

 

[Muddslide]

Don't forget surf green

Yeah, but I've seen that color on some other Fenders (the Jeff Beck Strat for example) and Squiers (Vintage Modified Strat.)

I realize surf green is different (and more rare) than seafoam. Fender used surf green from 1960-1965.

The three finishes I mentioned I have only seen on MIMs and was just curious if they'd ever been stock colors on other Fender or Squier lines...I have never seen them anywhere else (though of course that doesn't mean it hasn't happened.)

 

[MovingPitchers]

Yeah, but I've seen that color on some other Fenders (the Jeff Beck Strat for example) and Squiers (Vintage Modified Strat.)

I realize surf green is different (and more rare) than seafoam. Fender used surf green from 1960-1965.

The three finishes I mentioned I have only seen on MIMs and was just curious if they'd ever been stock colors on other Fender or Squier lines...I have never seen them anywhere else (though of course that doesn't mean it hasn't happened.)

Weird...I thought seafoam green and surf green were essentially the same colour, but just named differently. How could you tell one from the other?

I guess they put it on Squiers to entice those SG colour lovers to buy Squiers more than Fenders..boost sales perhaps? I know I'd stick to Fender only if they had an MIM standard in seafoam/surf green.

 

[Muddslide]

Weird...I thought seafoam green and surf green were essentially the same colour, but just named differently. How could you tell one from the other?

For me, it would be real hard to tell them apart unless there were two instruments side by side, one seafoam, one surf. Even then you'd probably have to tell me which was which!

The colors don't translate all that well through the screen, but seafoam is a touch darker than the surf. Other than that, they are super close. Here are a couple of decent-ish pics:

Invalid Link Removed
Invalid Link Removed

 

[MovingPitchers]

I'm actually GASing for an MIM jazz bass because of that neck they have. My GOD

 

[vdbass]

I think it is safe to say that there is sufficient love for MIMs. It's all in the ear after all.
My friend passed on my offer to record his album with my MIM P-bass (which had seymour .25 lbs in it at the time, so I understand ) and opted for his wine colored Squier P-bass with big thick D'Addarios...gotta say, he was right. That thing sounds GREAT on record. It has more soul than Maceo's mother!!!
Its all in the ear.

 

[DavidEdenAria]

Cool thread....i now own 5 MIM Fenders, 2 Strats, a Telecaster and recently a J bass and now a P bass.

All turned out good....only replaced pickups on the 92 Strat....the rest are fine and i am a FANATIC on changing pickups......the Telecaster does have factory alnicos, all else are ceramic.

The only things needing work was cleaning pots on a few and neck setups....very few had high or low frets BUT my J bass had sharp fret ends that stood out too much, the rest of the bass is near pristine.

MIM basses and guitar are serious instruments but usually will need some kind of neck setup in my experience.....ive never encountered one that came across as cheaply made and usually dont have the thick poly as seen on some of the Chinese guitars.

 

[Ggeorges]

I rescued a 1993 one , it was just thrown by it s owner in the balcony , open air for 2 years...it looked ugly and sad...when i plugged in for a test it sounded realy bad ..however something was telling do not leave without it...and i didn t...i took it after a long negociation ...the egyptian way...took it to my luthier and from the looks on his face ..."god one more mexican jazz bass" but we spent 2 hours cleaning it and fixing it...turned out it is an original fender mim...with an original made in usa neck carrying mexican serial numbers...made in 1993. It is now my favourite bass..hope i never have to sell it.

 

[DavidEdenAria]

I rescued a 1993 one , it was just thrown by it s owner in the balcony , open air for 2 years...it looked ugly and sad...when i plugged in for a test it sounded realy bad ..however something was telling do not leave without it...and i didn t...i took it after a long negociation ...the egyptian way...took it to my luthier and from the looks on his face ..."god one more mexican jazz bass" but we spent 2 hours cleaning it and fixing it...turned out it is an original fender mim...with an original made in usa neck carrying mexican serial numbers...made in 1993. It is now my favourite bass..hope i never have to sell it.

Hey that is exactly the same color combo on my 1992 MIM Strat....i had the tort guard already...black, rw board, reddish tort guard and black pu covers and knobs.

The neck on mine was exceptional as well...i did have to redrill the neck holes just slightly so the neck would pull down tightly against the body (screws pass freely thru the neck) but the neck is very well made.

The ceramic pickups had to go, they were just a bit too gritty....not the case with my other ceramic pickups in the 04 MIM Strat and the P and J bass, they sound great.

 

[Ggeorges]

Actualy it came with the white pickguard but it had to go. Had to do some sanding to fit the new one and it does not align perfectly with the control plate. The weird part was the the neck as per my luthier is usa made but the serials are mexican and when he checked the back screws tying the neck and the body he said they where never unscrewed before so its a factory set up. Also the truss rod would only work with a usa bullet type key which according to him is weird..i am attaching the before and after picture...and sorry for any english mistakes ...it is not my native language

 

[Kirk Bryant]

Heres my Tres Amigos, all very
good basses.