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Hey Fender- This is NOT cool!

rogerbmiller

rogerbmiller

Gold Supporting Member
Sep 16, 2003
7,103
5,921
NYC
#1
I had a couple of hours to kill today and I was in the hood so I stopped in the local Sam Ash which features the Hartke bass lounge.

Now, I am a Fender MIJ and MIM guy. So much so that I sold all my USA P basses. But I never really logged much time on a USA jazz so I Gavr one a test drive. It felt great but when I hung it back up I noticed it looked like this:

image.jpeg


I mean for $1200 this is the best Fender could do to match top woods?!

By way of comparison here is a $230 Squier:

image.jpeg


And a $340 Squier

image.jpeg


And a MIM jazz for $599

image.jpeg


This is NOT ok Fender. If you are going to charge $1200 for a TSB Jazz you have to do a better job!!!
 
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#2
There are people that will bother and people it won't. I honestly couldn't tell you if the wood on my burst 5 string MIA P bass matches up. I never looked all that closely. I can tell you there's a weird extra yellow "spot" on the tort guard. I only noticed that because a guitar player pointed it out. That bass speaks to me. Wood grain be darned.

I can understand if it puts you off. They aren't all like that, ya know?

Never mind that the USA and Mexi factories are about 500 yards from each other and swap parts all the time. So.....whatever.
 
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#4
I agree, I would not buy because of that. Plenty of better looking great playing MIA Fender J's out there.

rogerbmiller said:
I had a couple of hours to kill today and I was in the hood so I stopped in the local Sam Ash which features the Hartke bass lounge.

Now, I am a Fender MIJ and MIM guy. So much so that I sold all my USA P basses. But I never really logged much time on a USA jazz so I Gavr one a test drive. It felt great but when I hung it back up I noticed it looked like this:

I mean for $1200 this is the best Fender could do to match top woods?!

This is NOT ok Fender. If you are going to charge $1200 for a TSB Jazz you have to do a better job!!!
Click to expand...
 
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#11
The Squiers and even some mexican Fenders have a thin alder veneer put on top of 5-12 parts of unmatched alder or poplar parts. So the comparison isn't fair. Some of the Squiers aren't even alder. As others have mentined before: some players sometimes even love the brutalism and honesty of unmatched parts. I wouldn't care about it if I like the bass. It would influence my decision if it would be ash under a natural finish. Even many of the real vintage Fenders from the 60s are not so well matched parts of wood, often 3-4 pieces.
The early Fullerton reissues are known for this too.

The mexican plant and their multipart bodies:

MIM_shaped_blanks.jpg


The veneer on top of the parts:
l.jpg
 
Last edited:
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#14
Exactly this, anyone that's stripped a MIM knows that, it's why there is black paint all in the rear tummy cut on the bass, to hide it
DirkP said:
The Squiers and even some mexican Fenders have a thin alder veneer put on top of 5-12 parts of unmatched alder or poplar parts. So the comparison isn't fair. Some of the Squiers aren't even alder. As others have mentined before: some players sometimes even love the brutalism and honesty of unmatched parts. I wouldn't care about it if I like the bass. It would influence my decision if it would be ash under a natural finish. Even many of the real vintage Fenders from the 60s are not so well matched parts of wood, often 3-4 pieces.
The early Fullerton reissues are known for this too.

The mexican plant and their multipart bodies:

MIM_shaped_blanks.jpg


The veneer on top of the parts:
l.jpg
Click to expand...
 
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#15
DirkP said:
The Squiers and even some mexican Fenders have a thin alder veneer put on top of 5-12 parts of unmatched alder or poplar parts. So the comparison isn't fair. Some of the Squiers aren't even alder. As others have mentined before: some players sometimes even love the brutalism and honesty of unmatched parts. I wouldn't care about it if I like the bass. It would influence my decision if it would be ash under a natural finish. Even many of the real vintage Fenders from the 60s are not so well matched parts of wood, often 3-4 pieces.
The early Fullerton reissues are known for this too.

The mexican plant and their multipart bodies:

MIM_shaped_blanks.jpg


The veneer on top of the parts:
l.jpg
Click to expand...

Great photos. I believe I have seen these before.

I have owned a Few burst MIM basses. I am now down to one burst J as my player.

Every one I have owned had a top because there was never this problem with mismatched pieces.

I can only hope that Fener let this one slip accidentally and it ended up in the burst pile rather than the paint it black pile.

I have to say though, I thought a lot of the USA standards were single piece bodies. Hmm...
 
#16
For that kind of money, it would be something that made me pass it by.
Its true the audience wouldnt notice, but they also arent paying 1200 bucks. If they were, i bet they would consider mismatched grain also.
Sure, it doesnt affect the sound or playability, but i want a bass that looks like someone paid attention to details for the extra money.
 
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#19
DirkP said:
The Squiers and even some mexican Fenders have a thin alder veneer put on top of 5-12 parts of unmatched alder or poplar parts. So the comparison isn't fair. Some of the Squiers aren't even alder. As others have mentined before: some players sometimes even love the brutalism and honesty of unmatched parts. I wouldn't care about it if I like the bass. It would influence my decision if it would be ash under a natural finish. Even many of the real vintage Fenders from the 60s are not so well matched parts of wood, often 3-4 pieces.
The early Fullerton reissues are known for this too.

The mexican plant and their multipart bodies:

MIM_shaped_blanks.jpg


The veneer on top of the parts:
l.jpg
Click to expand...
Bingo
 
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#20
rogerbmiller said:
Great photos. I believe I have seen these before.

I have owned a Few burst MIM basses. I am now down to one burst J as my player.

Every one I have owned had a top because there was never this problem with mismatched pieces.

I can only hope that Fener let this one slip accidentally and it ended up in the burst pile rather than the paint it black pile.

I have to say though, I thought a lot of the USA standards were single piece bodies. Hmm...
Click to expand...

With very very few exceptions there are no and never were single piece bodies. From a technical perspective it wouldn't be a good solution. A one piece body could warp. Different parts that are glued together are a more stable solution and the glue is more stable than the wood itself. Many of the xx.xxx,- coffeetable basses are made from more parts than the Fenders (Warwick, Alembic etc.).
 
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