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Fender Thoughts

#21
WarMan said:
Fender prices have gone up considerably over the last two years. Two years ago you could walk out with a MIM Precision for $300. I just got mine using a 10% discount flyer for $405. The street price on MIMs has increased about 50% here in Dallas since 2005.
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You think Fender prices went up, a Warwick Ash body, 5-string was selling for $949 a couple of weeks ago (new), they now sell fo $1449 at the same online store. :eyebrow:

Prices on almost ALL music gear has been going up quite a bit these past few years and moreso this year. The poor economy and the devalued US dollar ar having a real impact.:(
 
#23
I bought my Highway One Jazz with the BA bridge etc. for $649 from my local music store. It is a great feeling, wonderful sounding bass. I think it is a great instrument for the price. Prices have increased lately, but what hasn't?
 
#29
my first bass was a MIA precision+ (p/j setup.) from the mid 90s. it was one of the best sounding basses ive ever heard, and overall VERY high quality.

then in my later years i came down with a bad case of 6 string illness..and sold all my 4 strings. then one day at a local guitar store i picked up a 4 string MIM fender J. it was the only fender i'd touched since i sold my first bass that i thought sounded and felt nice...so i bought it for somewhere around $600. other than that one, ive probobly played around a hundred fender basses, anywhere from $300-$1800..very few of them sound as nice as they should for the pricetags, and i've found the best sounding ones these days are more often than not MIMs. (definately not always though..)

so in conclusion, like most companies, theyre inconsistant. but once in a while youll find that one, thats just done right.
 
#30
My experience is pretty much the opposite. I realized recently that I'm at the point where I'll pick up a high end Squier before I'll pick up a MIM Fender. And all the new American Fenders I've played this year have been a dream. I've rarely EVER played an instrument that felt like 1000 dollars in my hands, but the new Fenders do just that. I wish I was in that kind of financial league.

A big part of it for me is weight. I never used to even consider weight, but I guess I'm getting older and my back is begging me to do it any small favors I can stand. I think the new MIA Fenders have managed to cut the weight substantially while still making something that feels and sounds extremely solid. Meanwhile, a lot of MIMs weigh far too much and still feel cheap to me. I've played many MIMs in my time that have not felt well put together. Many, like the one I own, that are just horribly flawed instruments from the get go, that require massive set up to get even close to right. After playing a few MIA's lately, I've been lusting pretty hardcore.

My roommate's got an MIA from the 90s though, and it can hardly hold a candle to my low end basses, so I want it clear that I'm talking about the NEW stuff here.
 
#32
Squire has been getting way better lately too. I wanted a P bass about 2 months ago. And played a few at guitar center and the squire sounded better then the mim p basses and had a brighter tone then the highway 1 but the price tag on the highway 1 was more then I wanted to pay. I ended up picking up the vm squire p bass and its amazing. I always replace the pickups in my basses after dropping in a duncan spb3. The tone is perfect. So far I have spent 300$ on that bass and its perfect. The bridge seems kinda crappy and that will be the next thing to go but for now its working. My mim 04 jazz bass had more problems then the squire. The tuners slipped the bridge saddles wouldnt stay up. And then the pickups got replaced with duncan antiquity 2s. Eventualy ill probably get an mia p bass but for now the squire is great. I have yet to gig with it but I plan to. I just got a new band started and it sounds great at practice.
 
#33
I feel a bit bad about saying the new Fender wasn't worth the asking price before. I've tried quite a few new higher-end basses last week-end: 1 Fender (new MIA), 2 Lakland (Skyline), 1 Warwick, 2 G&L (American) and one MM Stringray. Of those, the Fender felt the best AND was ready to play needing nothing else but a bridge saddle adjustment. The Warwick was second, just not my cup of tea. The 2 Lakland needed fretwork badly, I wasn't impressed with the built quality at all and they were simply to heavy for my taste, the G&L's had a weird bridge/nut positioning that made them unplayable to me (I really wanted to like the G&L, but, alas, wasn't impressed with those either), the Musicman setup was atrocious (but then again, I'm sure it got played a lot at that store), to the point I asked myself if it was really fixable with just a regular setup (given a good setup, I'd rate them on par with the Fenders).

Of all of those, the Fender was clearly, and by a wide margin, the best value for money IMO.

Where it looses is when I compare it to my own MIM precision, and why I said I've found them too pricey. My MIM feel just as solid, has good fretwork and, to me at least, sound more lively, with more character while the new MIA sounded a bit bland by comparison. Considering I only have about 400 buck invested in my MIM (although, I have to add, quite a few hours of work to get it there, while the MIA didn't need that work), it's very difficult to justify the price differential.
 
#34
spaz21387 said:
Squire has been getting way better lately too. I wanted a P bass about 2 months ago. And played a few at guitar center and the squire sounded better then the mim p basses and had a brighter tone then the highway 1 but the price tag on the highway 1 was more then I wanted to pay. I ended up picking up the vm squire p bass and its amazing. I always replace the pickups in my basses after dropping in a duncan spb3. The tone is perfect. So far I have spent 300$ on that bass and its perfect. The bridge seems kinda crappy and that will be the next thing to go but for now its working. My mim 04 jazz bass had more problems then the squire. The tuners slipped the bridge saddles wouldnt stay up. And then the pickups got replaced with duncan antiquity 2s. Eventualy ill probably get an mia p bass but for now the squire is great. I have yet to gig with it but I plan to. I just got a new band started and it sounds great at practice.
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Squire? Aren't those made by Fendre?
 
#35
I have a MIA 2002 P/J and it sounds and plays great. I also have a 2008 MIA P V and it too sounds and plays great. I have tried a few Squires and MIM Fenders and some are okay, but I can certainly tell the difference. Is it possible that the ones I own are some of the good ones out of a sea of hit-and-miss basses? Maybe, but I don't think the MIA Fenders are as bad as some people make them out to be. Are they worth the price? That's up to each individual. I think the new American Standards definitely are.
 
#37
bullshark said:
I feel a bit bad about saying the new Fender wasn't worth the asking price before. I've tried quite a few new higher-end basses last week-end: 1 Fender (new MIA), 2 Lakland (Skyline), 1 Warwick, 2 G&L (American) and one MM Stringray. Of those, the Fender felt the best AND was ready to play needing nothing else but a bridge saddle adjustment. The Warwick was second, just not my cup of tea. The 2 Lakland needed fretwork badly, I wasn't impressed with the built quality at all and they were simply to heavy for my taste, the G&L's had a weird bridge/nut positioning that made them unplayable to me (I really wanted to like the G&L, but, alas, wasn't impressed with those either), the Musicman setup was atrocious (but then again, I'm sure it got played a lot at that store), to the point I asked myself if it was really fixable with just a regular setup (given a good setup, I'd rate them on par with the Fenders).

Of all of those, the Fender was clearly, and by a wide margin, the best value for money IMO.

Where it looses is when I compare it to my own MIM precision, and why I said I've found them too pricey. My MIM feel just as solid, has good fretwork and, to me at least, sound more lively, with more character while the new MIA sounded a bit bland by comparison. Considering I only have about 400 buck invested in my MIM (although, I have to add, quite a few hours of work to get it there, while the MIA didn't need that work), it's very difficult to justify the price differential.
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You have to watch out for setups in stores. A lot of people think that sharp fret ends (fret sprout) is a result of bad fit and finish. This is usually not a finish issue on decent quality basses. This is from humidity changes and the wood shrinking at a different rate than the frets, especially noticeable in dry winter conditions.

Unfortunately, most stores are not well equipped to have all their instruments well setup. If you are interested in a particular bass, you could always ask for it to be setup before considering a purchase and I am sure most places would oblige.

I know our local G&L dealer (probably the same one you're talking about) has horrible setups on their instruments. I know they are good instruments, but you wouldn't know it by the setups.
 
#38
I swear by my "crafted in indonesia" squire... i've had it 8 years and it's still never had any problems... i set it down for a while an aquired a few other instruments but overall if i had to pick i'd sell everything except this one...
 

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