Just wait until the Vintera IV Jazzes are released and you'll be able to get a new III on clearance, for $6-700. 
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Fender Vintera III Seventies Jazz
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
Works for me. Sounds like a 70s J, and I bet the QC on these is better than it was on the actual 70s J Fenders.
I've got nothing against MIM or MIA Fenders, but I have been far more impressed with Squier CVs than MIM Fenders. Maybe I have just had some bad ones, but I've yet to play a MIM that I felt was worth the price difference to a good Squier CV.
Squier quality is very good these days. I still think Fender goofed on the branding.
I understand whom VC Squier was and why his name is attached to Fender products now. The name Squier is too close to “Squire” which suggests a pre-professional or student. Fender created an import line with the perception that the instruments are for beginners. They should have picked any other name for that line. Import lines like “Skyline” and arguably “Tribute” don’t carry that association.
No doubt Fender sells more Squier instruments than all other manufacturers’ import lines combined. So it probably doesn’t matter what I think.
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FMIC makes money either way, regardless of what you buy. I would suggest that wood selection and woodworking, in general, are better on the more expensive ones.
I do like the cheapies, and take great joy playing them out.
Back to the thread - that bass looks incredible. I started life as a bassist on a Kent Jazz that looked like that. I have wanted to piece together a similar bass and had a Vintage Modified Squier neck to do so, but I just didi t like the feel and then one of the blocks cracked due to a large routed space underneath it so o got rid of it.
I might have to get one - I passed on the Geddy sig in Sunburst because I already have a CIJ black one!
I do like the cheapies, and take great joy playing them out.
Back to the thread - that bass looks incredible. I started life as a bassist on a Kent Jazz that looked like that. I have wanted to piece together a similar bass and had a Vintage Modified Squier neck to do so, but I just didi t like the feel and then one of the blocks cracked due to a large routed space underneath it so o got rid of it.
I might have to get one - I passed on the Geddy sig in Sunburst because I already have a CIJ black one!
Squiers have that weird Indonesian feel (like Sterling and G&L Tribute) not terrible but doesn't feel the same as a MIM/MIA/MIJ. Feels like a different brand made in a different factory, and it is indeed that.
MIM Fender vary so much. I've had some that are terrible but I also once had a Player II jazzmaster that may have been the best feeling & sounding guitar I ever had. I also have a very nice Player I P for a bit years ago.
I am iffy on the Vintera (all) series. To me, a lot of them look kinda weird. THICK, orangey gloss, no grain in any of the wood (plywood?), completely misplaced - weird looking headstock logos, clunky looking build, stiff tuners, bad finishing, etc. But if you keep an eye out there are some very attractive ones as well. But you really have to shop somewhere like SW where you can see all the pics and you may have to wait months for one that looks how you want. Then you run the risk of it actually being a good bass when it comes. But I am very picky.
Weird headstock logos? They look pretty legit to me.
Clunky looking build? I’m not sure what that means?
THICK orangey gloss? I can’t tell how thick it is from the pictures, but all gloss poly finishes feel thick to me so that’s par for the course. Total preference, but I definitely prefer the yellow tint on these to the less tinted, clear gloss that makes the maple look white.
Some people just like, or NEED, to throw shade on any thread that discusses MIM Fenders. I guess it gives meaning to their lives.
My comment was not intended to throw shade, it was just an observation of the instruments I have actually played. FWIW I think the MIA Fenders offer even less value than the MIM for the same reason as my Squier/MIM comparison. Yes, the MIA are absolutely higher quality, but for me it is not something I am willing to pay the difference in price from a MIM, thats all. Other people's value calculation can be very different than mine and thats OK.
I have an Allparts Jazz neck I got a few months ago that was made in Indonesia and if feels great, but the first thing I noticed is the finish is exactly, and I mean exactly, like the Sterling Ray 4 necks with the satin finish. The entire neck feels exactly like a Sterling neck with the Jazz width nut. I would be very shocked if it was not made in the same factory as the Sterling necks.
No way a $200 Affinity will ever compete with a MIM or a USA no matter how much money you dump into it.
I'll 2nd that comment as I've done it (more than once) You can't get there from here.
Striped everything out and replaced with high dollar stuff..... it was a miss...... with both a J and a P. It was a learning experience for me, but I didn't come out with a great bass. Not by a long shot.
I'll 2nd that comment as I've done it (more than once) You can't get there from here.
Striped everything out and replaced with high dollar stuff..... it was a miss...... with both a J and a P. It was a learning experience for me, but I didn't come out with a great bass. Not by a long shot.
Having once owned a 65 Jazz Bass ( the one that got away) I could never get with the Maple Fingerboard with the Block Inlays. Just one of my weird
hangups. The bass sounds great. I'm not sure that the Vintera's would have the kind the "pencil thin neck" mine possessed. Lesson learned. Mine worked great for singing and playing bass together, but the alder body was much heavier than my Lakland 55-94's
I live in a Universal Healthcare area of the planet and I buy Sire basses only, go figure...
The Vintera series specifically just has a certain feel. They are quite different from Fenders other two more high effort "vintage correct" offerings, American Vintage II and above that (standard run) Custom Shop. Just a fact I am not saying they aren't still good/usable. But some of those difference irk me after owning many many AV and Custom Shop basses. I still have a gold VIII P on the way so we'll see how it hold up!!Weird headstock logos? They look pretty legit to me.
Clunky looking build? I’m not sure what that means?
THICK orangey gloss? I can’t tell how thick it is from the pictures, but all gloss poly finishes feel thick to me so that’s par for the course. Total preference, but I definitely prefer the yellow tint on these to the less tinted, clear gloss that makes the maple look white.
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Or, get this... maybe some of us have actually owned and played these instruments, compared them side-by-side to other Finder lines, and formed opinions based on real-world experience.
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I dunno, I'm taking a Squier Affinity jazz to a gig tomorrow night where I only replaced the pickups for taste, not out of necessity. Stock otherwise with lots of miles on it over the last couple years. I've owned a few MIM Fenders and played countless MIM/MIA basses over my years but the $200 Affinity is literally the only FMIC instrument in my stable and I'm getting by just fine. Have not played a recent MIM or MIA that I would trade this away for if given the opportunity. Very recently cut bait on a Vintera II 50s P-bass because I got sick of fighting it's absolutely endless quality gremlins
As much as it pains me to defend anything FMIC, I feel like their Affinity stuff gets slandered way too much while the MIM and MIA get passes that their price tags don't justify (my recent Vintera experience included)
Oh yeah, I agree with that. I too have and have had custom shops and American vintage series basses and they definitely feel different to me than any of the Fender basses ‘below’ them in the product lineup. They feel like good vintage basses feel to me: solid, nice to play, and they just feel ‘right’. That said, I’ve never played a MIJ bass that feels like that either. I can’t say exactly why that is, but I agree the difference exists, and for me it’s worth the extra cost. Like you said it doesn’t mean any of the MIM or MIJ basses aren’t great in their own way if that’s what somebody prefers.
Yup, I've owned an American Standard Jazz Bass V made in 2010, bought it brand new for 1300€ in October 2010. Then I've tested The Classic 70's MIM for 800€ or so new in 2013 or 2014, really good ! the same shop was also selling MIM Marcus Miller jazz basses for only 1100€ at that time, and a friend had an MIJ 75 RI, that I found to be stupid cos' the pickups spacing was a 60's one. I also had to use a Squier JV jazz bass from 1984.
They were ALL great instruments. Different jazz basses, not always the same sounds, but they had some je ne sais quoi that was pleasing and cutting thru the mix. Obviously the MIJ 75 RI was ABSOLUTELY NOT sounding like... a 70's jazz ! The Classic JB MIM and the Squier JV 84 were my favs, I'm not surprised they still go on producing them, under différent names, but Vinteras are no less than Classic MIM of the past. The Classic 70's were selling like bananas, for 800 bucks it was stupid not to buy them, but now for 1500 bucks ? hmmm not so sure.
Then one of my BLs at that time was playing bass in another band, he was using an active Deluxe Jazz Bass MIM, they were selling for 600-700 bucks at that time. Atrocious instrument. Even with the right setup, truss-rod, action, bridge, the sound was atrocious.
EDIT: I've also tested the first Victor Bailey, Marcus Miller MIJ and Geddy Lee MIJ that arrived on the french soil, in Paris at Bass Center (Pigalle). That was something else, oustanding jazz basses for sure.
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Heck, if we're focusing on country of manufacture* and price, you can pay north of $3600 for a bass made in China. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...hZhqjrHf822QYIwyn3V_RapFiIz5nIShoCougQAvD_BwE
*Which doesn't guarantee anything about the level of quality, one way or another.
