I have a recent Squire VM Jazz and like most everything about it. Looking at a 90s MIK Squire P bass. What should I expect? Similar quality? Compare and contrast, discuss amongst yourselves. Thanks.
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Current Squire VM Jazz vs 90s MIK P-bass
- Thread starter oldleftybass
- Start date
Well since you bumped it....
I bought the MIK P-bass. The overall feel is slightly lower quality than the current VM Jazz- just not quite as solid, beefy. Solid, but a tad more "toy-ish". I upgraded the electronics, put in a 61 reissue pickup and a new nut and it sounds very nice, I think the pickup did most of the improving. Much more "articulate" now. I'm happy with it.
On the plus side, the MIK body is a two-piece: solid top and solid back, which is real nice. The VM Jazz is a three or four piece side-to-side with noticable differences between the pieces, the MIK is a one-piece top, very nice looking.
I bought the MIK P-bass. The overall feel is slightly lower quality than the current VM Jazz- just not quite as solid, beefy. Solid, but a tad more "toy-ish". I upgraded the electronics, put in a 61 reissue pickup and a new nut and it sounds very nice, I think the pickup did most of the improving. Much more "articulate" now. I'm happy with it.
On the plus side, the MIK body is a two-piece: solid top and solid back, which is real nice. The VM Jazz is a three or four piece side-to-side with noticable differences between the pieces, the MIK is a one-piece top, very nice looking.
VM Jazz all the way! They're gorgeous basses.
Also, that MIK isn't a 1-piece top, it's a veneer over a 4-5 piece body.
Also, that MIK isn't a 1-piece top, it's a veneer over a 4-5 piece body.
Hey I'm a Squier fanboy so here is my 2cents. I just got into the MIK Squier basses. I bought the first cheap and it had neck issues a 90's Black with maple neck. The bass is not plywood but must be Alder by the grain I can see and weight. The neck is a very nice maple with vintage feel. I had to get the bow out of the neck and rewire the whole thing but now it is a great bass and I have my time and maybe $80.00 in her.
A week latter a second popped up here locally and I bought it but now wish I did not. It is the same year as the black one also with a maple neck but has a red body. The neck has issues and the body is plywood. Although it sounds good it is toyish like you said comapred to the other MIK I bought before it.
A week or two later I picked up a sweet MIK 87' Bullet E series. This bass is black with rosewood neck and is killer. It feels as good as any MIA P I have owned and sounds great. I paid $100.00 for it. So the MIK are all over the place IMO....why? Who know's?
As for the VM? I'm not a jazz bass guy and the VM P bass is nice but something about it did not wow me when they came out. I'm a CV Squier fan over VM. I would say the way Squiers are made today thou the nod would be VM over the 90's MIK..or most of them that is.
A week latter a second popped up here locally and I bought it but now wish I did not. It is the same year as the black one also with a maple neck but has a red body. The neck has issues and the body is plywood. Although it sounds good it is toyish like you said comapred to the other MIK I bought before it.
A week or two later I picked up a sweet MIK 87' Bullet E series. This bass is black with rosewood neck and is killer. It feels as good as any MIA P I have owned and sounds great. I paid $100.00 for it. So the MIK are all over the place IMO....why? Who know's?
As for the VM? I'm not a jazz bass guy and the VM P bass is nice but something about it did not wow me when they came out. I'm a CV Squier fan over VM. I would say the way Squiers are made today thou the nod would be VM over the 90's MIK..or most of them that is.
Are you sure? I had the pickguard off to do the electronics work and there's a very obvious seam all the way across the body- sure looks like two pieces of wood, top and bottom. It's a '97 MIK, serial number starts VN7 so it was most likely the Saehan factory..
MIA Fenders aren't even 2 piece bodies. Many Squier & MIM bodies that are finished with a burst or trans finish get a veneer. Some of the solid colours have them too, if they were too poor to get a trans finish.
Here's a slightly fuzzy photo I took while I had it opened up, you can see the seam where the top and bottom were glued together. Seam runs through the control and pickup cavities. No obvious veneer on top.
Here's a slightly fuzzy photo I took while I had it opened up, you can see the seam where the top and bottom were glued together. Seam runs through the control and pickup cavities. No obvious veneer on top.
Picture's worth a thousand words. You nailed it, that's a seam.
Here's a slightly fuzzy photo I took while I had it opened up, you can see the seam where the top and bottom were glued together. Seam runs through the control and pickup cavities. No obvious veneer on top.
So, you have a laminate body. Great. It's still not only 2 pieces.
Either that, or that's not a seam in the body, it's a seam in the finish or a line from the plunge router.
Yeah, my VM Jazz is four pieces side-to-side, very obvious. The other thing about the MIK is that the grain lines on the back continue down to the bottom of the "comfort cut out", so there's clearly no veneer on the back either.
