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Differences between Fender MIA, MIM and Squier bass

slobake

slobake

resident ... something
Aug 6, 2011
1,904
25,886
Somewhere to the left of "Whoopie"
smowles01.wordpress.com
#1
Yup, I know this has been talked about many times here but I am going to add my 2 cents.
I have been playing bass seriously with a band for about four years now. The first bass I liked was a 50's MIM. After that I added a Squier James Johnson Jazz as a back up. I bought a new American Standard Precision about two months ago. Since then I have been playing my weekly gig with the Am Std. It seems to fit better in the mix with the band.
On Friday I decided to change things up and use my Squier Jazz. Plugged it in and in changed my mind. Then I plugged in my MIM 50's and decided against gigging with that one as well. Here are the reasons why:
The Squier Jazz now sounds like it has a cold to me. The tone sounds very nasal. A subjective thing for sure but that is what I hear. The set up is pretty good on that bass but I like the tone on my Am Std P a lot better.
I still like the tone on my MIM 50's and the nice fat neck and small frets are great. The tuners are tight and funky and the pots are noisy. I have no doubt someone will advise me again that I need to clean the pots. I have cleaned them with enough times that I am sure that is not the problem. Also the quality of the build is pretty good but not as good as the MIA. The frets aren't as smooth at the edges and the bridge is slightly more difficult to work with on the MIM. I also have to loosen the neck on the MIM to adjust the truss rod.
I still like both my old basses but the Am Std is hands down my go to bass. My ears and and skills improved over the years to the point where I can hear and feel a real difference between the three basses. I like the sweet tone on the 50's MIM but the Am Std pickups are hotter and more versatile.
I will probably get rid of the Squier and I need to make some decisions about the MIM. If I keep it I will be upgrading the tuners and replacing the pots. I also like the Am Std bridge better than the MIM, but that is a minor thing.
My first two basses served me well for several years but now I prefer the Am Std. Just my two cents.
 
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#3
nerkoids said:
IMHE...

Soundwise:
MiA > Squier MiI > MiM

Feel-wise:
MiM > Squier MiI > MiA
Click to expand...

Thanks Nerkoids it is good to hear how other people see this.
What is it about the feel of the MIM that you like?
What is it about the feel of the MIA that makes it the least favored? How old is the MIA? I like the newer MIA's better than the older models. The pickups are better and the overall build seems to be made better on the bass I bought.. I did play several MIA' at two different stores and they were not all the same. I knew which MIA I was right as soon as I played it. If they were all like the other two basses I played I would not have bought one.
 
#4
I have owned them each of those many times.. A few mods like bridge, pups, pots and fretwork can make a fair sounding MIM or Squier sing like a MIA.
The MIA is a better built bass and I like them but don't count out the Squier and MIM if they are stock. If the MIM is a classic 50's it has an MIA bridge and pups on it from what I recall.
 
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#5
bassbully said:
I have owned them each of those many times.. A few mods like bridge, pups, pots and fretwork can make a fair sounding MIM or Squier sing like a MIA.
The MIA is a better built bass and I like them but don't count out the Squier and MIM if they are stock. If the MIM is a classic 50's it has an MIA bridge and pups on it from what I recall.
Click to expand...
I don't know about the pickups on the MIM but I do like them a lot. The bridge is significantly different than my Am Std, maybe it is the same bridge that is on the American Vintage.
 
#9
Never owned an MIA, but I've owned MIM, Squire and MIJ Squires. In general I feel that the current lineup and pricing generally reflects the quality of the instrument. There are exceptions and the top of one category often scratches or even exceeds the bottom of the next, but in construction, feel and tone I'm pretty sold on
Squire<MIM Fender<USA Fender

The only place where Squire attacks MIM is in value and in options. The number of Squire bases is staggering and the law of diminishing returns is pretty clear when you look at MIM vs Squire. MIM may be better, but it's hard to argue that they're almost twice as good.

MIJ is of course the wildcard, but they're all over the map, with MIJ Squires chomping on MIM Fenders and MIJ Fenders sometimes taking MIA Fenders to the cleaners. However, as they have been almost entirely dropped from the USA distribution it's not really germaine when discussing new instruments.
 
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#11
Sold my MIM (more than one) and kept my MIK, which was way, way better feeling and sounding. My MIA surpasses them both by far. Sound, feel, playability, quality, etc. I've only owned one Squier so I don't feel qualified enough to address them. I didn't like it at all, but so many others do. I've never owned a MIJ bass, but the Strat I had was phenomenal.
 
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#12
All of this is a good discussion that I am enjoying. Of course, as has been mentioned nothing is static. Any make bass can be made poorly or well. It is up to us to play as many as possible until a bass speaks to us.
All of the basses I have purchased spoke to me at one time but we change and what we hear and feel changes as well. All of this is subjective and each of us is best served playing the bass that is "our" bass.
One mistake we can make is buying a particular brand because a lot of others say it is a good one. I made that mistake with a Road Worn Jazz. Just not my bass an I rushed in to the deal.
 
#13
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#14
slobake said:
Thanks Nerkoids it is good to hear how other people see this.
What is it about the feel of the MIM that you like?
What is it about the feel of the MIA that makes it the least favored? How old is the MIA? I like the newer MIA's better than the older models. The pickups are better and the overall build seems to be made better on the bass I bought.. I did play several MIA' at two different stores and they were not all the same. I knew which MIA I was right as soon as I played it. If they were all like the other two basses I played I would not have bought one.
Click to expand...
My impressions here:

My comparisons of Fender/Squier Jazz basses | TalkBass.com

Well...

Sound-wise... I felt the Mexican was lacking. The American sounded phenomenal. I mean, thumpy on the neck pup. Massive sustain, and very little mud. Not sure if it was the amp I was plugged in or the strings, but I instantly loved the sound coming out the MiA. I even loved the bridge pup -- something I hardly ever use. The Squier VM, however, comes in at a very close second. I think they are deeper-sounding than the MiA pups, but they don't quite have the mid-range definition of the notes. Which translates to a small lack of edge in a mix (which could be fixed easily with EQ and compression, no doubt), but makes up with a nice pillowy tone. Of course, that could have something to do with playability...

Feel-wise... There was no contest for me -- the MiM won, hands down. But... but... the two models they had on hand, a black and tobacco-burst with white pickguard... the black one felt like a toy. Yet, they're both Standards... both lefties. I imagine if not from the same lot, at least from the same time period, they just felt and sounded different from each other. The edges on the tobacco burst's rosewood fretboard were slightly rolled, compared the the black MiM. It just played like a dream.

Coming in second was the Squier. However, I think the Squier wasn't set up as well as its Fender brethren, probably on purpose so people would flock to the more expensive line out of frustration. The MiA... it was fine, but I didn't feel like I could be as dexterous on it. The sound made up for it, boy howdy.

So for the Squier, it's still a very close second. Not going to get rid of it anytime soon, but now, I wouldn't mind that particular MiM. I'm curious if it's normal that that kind of variance. The two MiA models I tried were pretty much interchangeable, regardless of colour. Same with the MiA P-basses. They played equally well and sounded pretty consistently.
Click to expand...
 
#15
slobake said:
Yup, I know this has been talked about many times here but I am going to add my 2 cents.
I have been playing bass seriously with a band for about four years now. The first bass I liked was a 50's MIM. After that I added a Squier James Johnson Jazz as a back up. I bought a new American Standard Precision about two months ago. Since then I have been playing my weekly gig with the Am Std. It seems to fit better in the mix with the band.
On Friday I decided to change things up and use my Squier Jazz. Plugged it in and in changed my mind. Then I plugged in my MIM 50's and decided against gigging with that one as well. Here are the reasons why:
The Squier Jazz now sounds like it has a cold to me. The tone sounds very nasal. A subjective thing for sure but that is what I hear. The set up is pretty good on that bass but I like the tone on my Am Std P a lot better.
I still like the tone on my MIM 50's and the nice fat neck and small frets are great. The tuners are tight and funky and the pots are noisy. I have no doubt someone will advise me again that I need to clean the pots. I have cleaned them with enough times that I am sure that is not the problem. Also the quality of the build is pretty good but not as good as the MIA. The frets aren't as smooth at the edges and the bridge is slightly more difficult to work with on the MIM. I also have to loosen the neck on the MIM to adjust the truss rod.
I still like both my old basses but the Am Std is hands down my go to bass. My ears and and skills improved over the years to the point where I can hear and feel a real difference between the three basses. I like the sweet tone on the 50's MIM but the Am Std pickups are hotter and more versatile.
I will probably get rid of the Squier and I need to make some decisions about the MIM. If I keep it I will be upgrading the tuners and replacing the pots. I also like the Am Std bridge better than the MIM, but that is a minor thing.
My first two basses served me well for several years but now I prefer the Am Std. Just my two cents.
Click to expand...
So, you're comparing a jazz to a modern spec'd P and a vintage spec'd P. Well done...you've done nothing to show the difference between the brands/countries of origin...
 
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#18
Why everyone is talking about bridges? It's the last thing you have to worry about. Things like "bridge is difficult to work with" make me wonder...

Seriously, vintage-style threaded bridge is exactly the same one they put on MIM Classics, Road Worns, AVRIs and...*drum roll*...Custom Shop!*ba dum tssss!*. I prefer it to other bridges because of adjustable string spacing & brass saddles which makes wood more prominent in your tone. It might look flimsy, but there's nothing wrong with it's design. It's been around since 50's and all those vintage Fender instruments have one :) And how often do you have to "work with" it? Once a month? Twice a year? Unless you're changing sting gauges and brands all the time, it is sort of "set it and forget it" type of thing.
 
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#19
My experience with MIJ are limited to Marcus Miller ( really heavy,electronics too noisy); Geddy Lee ( did not like the neck profile); Aerodyne ( beatiful look but I did not like it at all)

Fender MIM: Standard Jazz (it sounds good, "cheap" finish; RW P and J, like them alot, spund amd feeling, did not care the finish; Nate Mendel ( Liked the feeling and look but did bot like the QP pups); Fender Classic 50 laquer ( love it).

Fender MIA : Special ( The one I liked the less); Hihgway One ( liked feeling and sound); American Standard P and J 2008-2011 ( nice basses, sound wise was same as the standard MIM); AVRI P ( lovely bass but the "flash coat" was way to fragile, it will chip just by looking at it), Select Active J ( crappy noisy electronics, once upgraded it was on the same league as a Sadowsky metro).

To me, the RW, classic and select are the best Fender I have owned.

One day I would like to try a custom shop.
 
#20
slobake said:
Yup, I know this has been talked about many times here but I am going to add my 2 cents.
I have been playing bass seriously with a band for about four years now. The first bass I liked was a 50's MIM. After that I added a Squier James Johnson Jazz as a back up. I bought a new American Standard Precision about two months ago. Since then I have been playing my weekly gig with the Am Std. It seems to fit better in the mix with the band.
On Friday I decided to change things up and use my Squier Jazz. Plugged it in and in changed my mind. Then I plugged in my MIM 50's and decided against gigging with that one as well. Here are the reasons why:
The Squier Jazz now sounds like it has a cold to me. The tone sounds very nasal. A subjective thing for sure but that is what I hear. The set up is pretty good on that bass but I like the tone on my Am Std P a lot better.
I still like the tone on my MIM 50's and the nice fat neck and small frets are great. The tuners are tight and funky and the pots are noisy. I have no doubt someone will advise me again that I need to clean the pots. I have cleaned them with enough times that I am sure that is not the problem. Also the quality of the build is pretty good but not as good as the MIA. The frets aren't as smooth at the edges and the bridge is slightly more difficult to work with on the MIM. I also have to loosen the neck on the MIM to adjust the truss rod.
I still like both my old basses but the Am Std is hands down my go to bass. My ears and and skills improved over the years to the point where I can hear and feel a real difference between the three basses. I like the sweet tone on the 50's MIM but the Am Std pickups are hotter and more versatile.
I will probably get rid of the Squier and I need to make some decisions about the MIM. If I keep it I will be upgrading the tuners and replacing the pots. I also like the Am Std bridge better than the MIM, but that is a minor thing.
My first two basses served me well for several years but now I prefer the Am Std. Just my two cents.
Click to expand...
This is exactly how I felt when i upgraded my heavily modified squier to my amstd jazz don't listen to what people say around here to me the price was defiantly worth it IMHO.
 

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