Fender MIM vs. Modern Player

The Fender Modern Player series reminds me of the Squier Classic Vibe series in terms of fit/finish and build quality. Are they giggable? Of course they are. Naturally, you upgrade or replace whatever suits you (as with any guitar or bass). I have played a few Modern Player guitars and they are of good quality, especially the Starcaster and Coronado reissue guitars. The only Modern Player model I didn't warm up to was the Modern Player Dimension Bass. I will say that the build quality was on par if not somewhat nicer than the typical Mexican Standard, but I didn't like the triplebucker pickup on the Dimension Bass.

As to your question on how much you'd be giving up getting one over an American Standard? The Modern Players are entry level Fenders. Good instruments if you don't want to spend a lot of money, but the American Standards are a noticeable cut above. If you can afford an American Standard, why not just get one?

 

The satin MP jazzes are $350 on musicians friend right now. I'd take one of those over a new MIM even if it wasn't nearly half the price. It does everything a standard mim Jazz can do and more and it has a musicman style truss wheel.

 

I've been using a Modern Player Telecaster as my main bass for the past year and a half. It's a solid, nicely built bass. I play in a loud rock band and it suits my needs just fine.

 

I haven't seen any of the short scale bass models yet, but I expect their build quality to be typical of the Modern Players. Given the choice of Alder over Basswood, I would go for Alder. Basswood isn't necessarily bad, except it's a bit too soft for my liking. But, I would think the pickups on the Modern Player Short Scale Jazz bass would be better than those on the Squier Jaguar SS, which are rather lame, in my opinion. Then again, the Squier VM Jaguar SS is a $179 instrument.

 

Do you know any American retailers that'll sell it to you?

 

well, if the MP is lower standard than an MIM, and you're asking if the American Standard is better, well yes, by a long way!

I have an MIM and an MIA P, both 2013 models. I never play the MIM. When I bought it, it was the best bass I ever had, two weeks later I got a big tax return and bought the MIA, the MIM hasn't been touched since.
From the rolled fretboard,better fretwork,better woods,better paint finish,better pickups,better tuners,better bridge,better pots......better wiring (ok I'm guessing here), and a case,strap,cable and don't forget the polishing cloth.
Actually it's the polishing cloth that clinched the deal for me!

 

So confusing that I don't even consider the name.

Go to store, play basses, buy the good ones for you. If you buy online, get a return policy. Like it, keep it. Don't like it, no loss. All this esoteric talk about basses not in hand is quite inconclusive at best.

 

I'd take a squier vintage mod over either personally. Changed out the pickups on my jazz 5 er to american pickups and it sounds and feels amazing! Paid 280 for the bass and 50 for the pickups.

 

Not a fan of just about every MIM I have tried.
However the Modern Player is not bad.

I know the MIM is supposed to be a step up in theory, but they don't sound or play that way to me.

 

It really depends on what you're looking for. If it's a short scale PJ you really want, then the MP can't be compared to the more expensive lines, as there's no equivalent. I've played a SS Jazz briefly, the finish was nice, felt noticeably smaller with the downsized body, the tuners have long shafts and I'd worry about hitting them, frets were well dressed and not sharp, sounded good unplugged.. it was a nice bass, especially considering its price was lower than a fair amount of the Squier range.

I've owned a MP Jazz, and I own a Squier CV Jazz, and they were pretty much the same as far as build quality goes - but completely different instruments tonally. Its difficult to compare directly. Both were on par with any MIM Standard I've played, though, which hasnt been a lot recently. Anything other than an MIA I'd really rather play before I buy, to be honest, and even then with a good return policy. There are a LOT of great, lower-priced instruments out there imo, but unfortunately some not-so-great.

If it matters to you, the MP basses I've tried have tended towards being heavy.

 

I'm happier with my MM Jazz than I was with the MIM Standard that a had a few years ago. Can't really find anything to complain about regarding fit/finish - it's better than my MIM was in that regard, and it sounds great to me, although the humbuckers do give it a bit more of a rounded tone. The selector switch can get it into a more traditional Jazz tone, though. I have a full-scale 5-string, so I'm afraid I can't offer much regarding the shorty, and didn't even know that Fender had offered it in 30" scale.