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Fender Thoughts

#41
"To me the base MIAs should sell for the price of the Highway One Series. IMHO, I also think the Highway One Series are priced too high for what they are. MIMs seem to be the best bang for the buck in Fender's line."


Forget what you know and try the 2008 MIA Fender basses. They are priced right imho and the build quality is the best I have seen in a heck of a long tine. I also think a used Highway 1 bass is probably one of the best values by Fender at that pricepoint.
 
#45
Smallmouth_Bass said:
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.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know. But I do make a difference between what is "fixable" with a regular setup (saddle height and truss rod adjustment), what's more involved but still fixable (fret leveling and dressing, nut recut etc, which is a lot more expensive unless you do it yourself), and what isn't "fixable" (bad hardware positioning, bad finish etc...). IMO, an instrument in the $1500.00 range shouldn't need anything more than a regular setup.
 
#48
"Forget what you know and try the 2008 MIA Fender basses. They are priced right imho and the build quality is the best I have seen in a heck of a long tine."

I purchased one of the new series in white right after they came out. It had finish issues where the three piece body was glued. The joint had shrunk and it showed a visible shadow that ran the length of the body. I emailed Fender Customer Support and they responded very quickly. They acknowledged it as a common issue but didn't suggest it was a QC issue. It did play well. I took it back and exchanged it for another one. It came straight out of the box with loose control knobs and a few cosmetic issues. I returned it and ordered another in Blizzard Pearl. It came in with a blister in the paint, loose control knobs, a scratchy pot and severe fret sprout. All three were the very new ones. All three had a great sound but suffered with QC issues. I got frustrated and bought my Warwick.

My new MIM sounds just as good and doesn't have a single QC issue. The finish is better than the three MIAs I bought and returned. Although my MIM is great, I saw two others with various factory cosmetic issues. I've seen a lot of ba MIMs. That is why I believe them to be hit or miss. Right now, for me, my MIM was a hit and I am very pleased with it.

I'm also in the group that believes Squier to make a pretty decent bass for the money. I've seen and played better Squiers and MIMs and MIAs. I've played better MIAs than MIMS and Squiers to. You've just got to search.

I know that I'm probably in the minority, but I didn't really like the new SKB hardshell case that came with the MIAs. It's very durable and would be great for travel but it's an overkill for general storage situations. I would have preferred them to use the other SKB case.
 
#49
I bought my MIA Fender Jazz in 1998 (I believe the bass was a '97, though, to judge from the serial number). I've played it steadily for the last ten years (between 6 and 8 different bands, ranging from ambient to goth-metal to 80s-type pop). I've smacked it against amp heads and speaker cabinets, dropped it countless times, beaten on it with my fists and open hands. I've probably kicked it once or twice.

I've never taken it for a repair once -- the action has gotten slightly higher, but that's about it. Oh yeah, and the G tends to go flat here and there.

As other people said before in this thread -- maybe it's just luck.
 

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