Differences between Fender MIA, MIM and Squier bass

[shoulderpet]

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.

Im a bit late to this thread but if i could suggest trying a pickup change with the Squier after all you like the way it plays in terms of feel, it is likely after all that the stock squier pickups are what is causing the nasal tone

 

[shoulderpet]

Yeah, an American Standard goes for £1,250 in the UK which converts to $1,925. I'd want something more like an American Deluxe for that kind of money.

Import costs are the devil!

Yep uk is crazy expensive, £1250 sounds about right, online may be a little cheaper but not much , an Mim Fender goes for around £500-600 here , hell one of the Squiers (can't remember which model) goesfor £400 here

Edit - just googled and is the James Johnston jazz bass

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

You probably should just get a Ric and be done with it.

 

[static0verdrive]

The Squier Jazz now sounds like it has a cold to me. The tone sounds very nasal.

This is J vs P, not Squier vs Fender. You can try backing the bridge pickup off a bit and or raising the neck pickup a little to find a tone you like (not to mention playing with the volume knobs), but it will never sound like a P. I prefer the J sound but not for every song or band, which is why I'm glad I have a J and a P.

 

[shoulderpet]

You probably should just get a Ric and be done with it.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

 

[hsech]

Like comparing a Mercedes and a Yugo.

 

[gommer]

These posts remind me that I should practice more and reading less..with practice I may make the squier sound better

 

[bassbully]

One of the best basses I have ever owned started as a lowly late 80's MIK Squier. With the magic from my hands and improvement's to everything but the tuners it has the look, sound and playability of any vintage P bass or any MIA,MIJ,MIM or Squier I have ever owned or played.
Fenders and Squiers are easy platforms to mod. The parts are everywhere and if the body and neck are good and it sings, you can build yourself a fantastic bass, save money and make a bass of your own.

 

[Batmensch]

I think the moment people who play squier/MIM stop telling people who play amstd or above that they have wasted their money on their basses while simultaneously people who play amstds stop looking down on people who play squiers these threads will stop.

Both are good basses that nobody other then us on talkbass really care that much about. They both sound good and are good in a band setting and once the stage lights are on it's your playing that counts not your decal.

Yup. I have three Indo Squiers (one a FrankenSquier) and one MIA Jazz, and I like them all equally for different reasons. For me, each one is as good as the other, again, for different reasons, and no, I'm not a delusional Squier fanboy, just someone who doesn't let a logo get in the way of my enjoyment of these instruments.

 

[slobake]

Thanks for all the replies. I think at this point we can agree that j's sound nasally compared to P's.
My original post was not intended as a professional review or an attempt to rip any type of bass. It was more a personal observation about changing preferences a s we grow as bassists..
I wouldn't change the pickups on my 50's MIM I love the way they sound. The MIM sounds great when I play it without the band. It sounds pretty good with the band too but the MIA seems to sit better in the mix when I play with a band. Yup things can be EQ'd but the MIA is a lot easier to get there.
I will probably keep the 50's MIM and replace the tuners and pots. I love the fat neck and small frets on that bass.
I don't like the thinner neck on the Jazz. The bass is made well I just prefer necks with more girth.
I only need two basses so the Jazz I going yo go.
I will sell some other stuff I don,t use also. I need to come up with some cash for the Tone Hammer I would like to get

 

[deste]

These posts remind me that I should practice more and reading less..with practice I may make the squier sound better

+1

 

[slobake]

Poor wording for the title of this thread. Changed it.

 

[quickfix]

For the OP. There's no reason to loosen the neck on your 50's P in order to adjust the relief.
There are four slots on the heel truss rod nut. Use a long shank, common screwdriver. You'll get a quarter turn out of each slot.

Folks seem to think that it's a Phillips head. It's not. If anything it would be more Pozidrive than Phillips, as there's no camming shoulder.

 

[slobake]

For the OP. There's no reason to loosen the neck on your 50's P in order to adjust the relief.
There are four slots on the heel truss rod nut. Use a long shank, common screwdriver. You'll get a quarter turn out of each slot.

Folks seem to think that it's a Phillips head. It's not. If anything it would be more Pozidrive than Phillips, as there's no camming shoulder.

Good to know, thanks. A quarter to a half turn is usually all it takes. In four years I have only needed to adjust the tension once and that was probably because I put on heavier strings.

 

[Jack Butler]

Wait till you play a Japanese Fender.

Everyone has their own preferences, but personally having owned all at one time or another MIJ has been my preference. Used MIM's are hard to beat from a value perspective though.

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...

I agree they all work fine. I actually really like the high mass bridge that comes on the CV(and maybe other models?) Squier. They just look so beefy and solid. Can't say I notice any real difference in sound though.

 

[slobake]

I agree they all work fine. I actually really like the high mass bridge that comes on the CV(and maybe other models?) Squier. They just look so beefy and solid. Can't say I notice any real difference in sound though.

The bridge on my MIM is pretty good but the MIA is better. The MIA seems more responsive and has allen screws instead of standard screws. The allen screws are easier for me to work with. I carry a ball end allen wrench in my case. I did an on the fly intonation adjustment a couple of weeks ago in record time for me. Got it done while our band leaders were working out a transition.

 

[Kukulkan61]

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.

I think all Jazz basses sound like they have a cold...JMO

 

[lethargytartare]

all your paying for when you buy a MIA is the made in usa fine print

The main difference between the different levels of "Fender" basses is the quality of the hardware, and tighter QC standards.

The MIA necks are quite different from the MIMs and Squiers (modern ones, anyway...I can't speak to every generation)? The reinforcing rods make a huge impact on their stability -- they're just on another plane. That's why you can practically buy an MIM or Squier bass for the price you'd pay to get an MIA neck by itself. I agree completely with the "ultimately they're only as 'good' as they fulfill your playing" and "it's still the player who makes the music" etc. but I keep seeing comments that suggest folks don't realize the necks on the MIAs are structurally very different.

 

[rolandm]

My observations based on my experiences, as useful/less as they may be, are as follows.

Stock Squier Jazz bass (VM70s).
Sound: Very clinical, but passable for a jazz. DD pickups sound better than newer Fender ones. Potentiometers are 500Ks and really thin the sound of these out dramatically.
Fit and Finish: Well done, within specs, fretwork was acceptable, required very minor fret filing to get the string height I desired, which was lower than standard. Pickup and control routing was very clean.
Recommended upgrades: Shield the cavities. Change the 500k pots out for 250s (or do what I did and drop a Fender American harness in from another bass that I'd modded), and that will open up a whole lot of meat in this bass. Change out the cap for something a bit more strictly controlled in terms of quality control and your sound consistency issues in terms of tone may narrow appreciably. Other than that, I'd leave it be and gig the pants off of it (and I have).

Stock Fender MIM Jazz bass:
Sound: Good. Typical jazz bass, with great single-coil tones no matter what you pull down or up in terms of pickups.
Fit and Finish: Again, very good rigging, but the control cavities and pickup routing was a bit rough, and made shielding a bit challenging.
Recommended upgrades: Shield the cavities. Upgrade the pickups to something like Barts, Dimarzios, Seymour Duncans, etc. Stock pickups are fine, but you'll get a lot more out of your setup with upgraded pickups that can pull nuances better than the stock ones. Controls are fine as they are, but Varitones and Parallel/Series switching can really make these basses (and the Squiers and the MIAs) tone monsters. My favorite is a Stellantone Elek-Trix. Dipswitch selectable capacitor value, and a push-pull parallel/series switch. I'm not affiliated with them, but I loved this plug-and-play harness a lot.

Stock Fender MIA Jazz bass:
Sound: Very similar to a MIM Jazz.
Fit and finish: Very good. Routing seemed pretty nice and shielding went it well. Someone ran a sander through there.
Recommended upgrades: Well, you can keep it like it is, and it certainly won't hurt you, but upgraded pickups and perhaps some pickup switching capabilities would be welcome in most jazz basses. Aaaaaaaaand shield it, too.

Overall
Sound: They all sound good, but stock, it's MIM=MIA>Squier. Now, if you mod the controls on a Squier, however, it's MIM=MIA=Squier. They can all get the job done very well.
Fit and Finish: For me, it's Squier>MIA>MIM. It's just what I've experienced. I've seen a lot of each of these, and the Squier string spacing, tuning alignment, nuts, and fretwork were all well within what I would expect of a competent mass-produced bass, especially the more recent models where QC was really stepped up. MIAs and MIMs are just as good, but the control cavity cleanliness is my biggest pet peeve, because most guys bring them to me to shield.
Recommended upgrades: Preamps, tone controls (like SD Blackouts for passive basses), Varitones, etc., are all very much subjective, but I honestly would recommend a pickup upgrade eventually if you want to hear everything your bass is capable of giving you. Not that Fender is bad at pickup design, but there are better choices out there. And all of them should be shielded, as the factory shielding paint really doesn't get the job done.

Final word?
Look, if you know you're gonna upgrade the bass to really chase your tone, start with a Squier. They are very inexpensive, and set up properly play VERY well. The name on the headstock means ZILCH. If it's a dog, it's a dog, if it's a gem it's a gem. The proof isn't in the logo, it's in the sound.

But if you just want a set-it and forget it bass, hit the MIA or MIM depending on your bucks.