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How are the Fender mim standards nowadays?

#21
kaoz said:
so its kinda like standards<classics and so on. Im asking now cause while i was almost about to buy a standard jazz, i came through a classic 50s precision which costs around the same money as the standard jazz. I know its a total different thing (p vs j), but you really got me thinking about it. Which of the two you would buy? Im going for a modern kinda prog-sludge or sth (:P) metal sound (mastodon,kylesa,cult of luna etc), so im thinking that the jazz is more what i'm looking for, but i guess the classic series are way better construction-wise. Which one of the two would you pick?
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Precision, def. Jazz basses are cool, but I personally would never use one in the styles you list. P basses are more brutal and powerful. Jazz basses have great voicing though.

And I guess also buildingwise the P is better. As I said in a previous post, I think the standard J's aren't very J-like. They don't have the amount of grit as their American/Japanese brothers:
I like the classic series J's, though.
 
#22
kaoz said:
so its kinda like standards<classics and so on. Im asking now cause while i was almost about to buy a standard jazz, i came through a classic 50s precision which costs around the same money as the standard jazz. I know its a total different thing (p vs j), but you really got me thinking about it. Which of the two you would buy? Im going for a modern kinda prog-sludge or sth (:P) metal sound (mastodon,kylesa,cult of luna etc), so im thinking that the jazz is more what i'm looking for, but i guess the classic series are way better construction-wise. Which one of the two would you pick?
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Hey dude,

I've played music like that, in my past. I actually played shows with two of the bands you mentioned!

From my experience, you might want a P, yourself (Kylessa and CoL use Ps, and Mastodon uses a P/H). The more sludgier bands tended to go with them. The only Jazz i remember seeing back then was Nate, from Young Widows, who used a black MiM Jazz bass when he was in Breather Resist.

Either way, you're gonna have a fine instrument, even "as-is", without any mods. Shoot, Rob Wright (nomeansno) used stock MiM Ps all the time, SPECIFICALLY for their pickups.

"i like the new ones with the cheap mexican pickups. those pickups are the greatest- they're so hot they're microphonic." (from a 2002 Bass Player article)

It's all about making it work with what you got!



FWIW - I used a Harmony Precision bass copy, myself, back then.
 
#23
inthebassclef said:
The MIM p bass are really very solid instruments for the price. The MIM J bass craftsmanship is the same but I find the sound to be lacking a bit, a bit to empty sounding. However, the American standard J basses are top notch stuff. I guess what it boils down to is I find that the standard P bass is pretty solid but I personally would not go for a standard J bass. If you are looking for a J bass I would save up a bit or look for a used American standard, they are everywhere and really solid instruments. Hope this helps.
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I largely agree, and it's because the MIM Standard J pickups just aren't that good IMO. I have a 2010 J, which is very good overall, but improved enormously when I installed the pickups from my 2003 Am. Series. I've tried several MIM Standards J's, and never been that impressed with the tone; "empty sounding" is about right. I don't think the gap is that wide on the P-bass side, partly because the MIM P-bass pickups have a thick, gritty punch that some might even prefer over certain MIA pickups.

In general, I think the quality of MIM Standards has gone up enormously since around 2006, for both basses and guitars.
 
#24
I heard this a lot about the standard j pickups (empty sounding etc). But i've read here and there that the p-pickup might get buried by the guitars in the mix, so that why i thought a jazz would be a better choice. Plus you get more tonal variation than with a p-bass
 
#25
I think the Classics went up $100 because they changed the finish from poly to lacquer. That's the case with the MIM Classic '50s P Bass anyway.

I bought a MIM Strat four years ago. Total teurd. Returned it a week later and got an American Standard. I've since handled and owned a lot of MIM basses, and they've all been excellent. One of the nicest basses I've ever played was a Fiesta Red Classic '50s P. It was so nice, I have a black one on the way. ;)
 
#26
Since we're all throwing in our two-cents-worth, I'd like to throw in a "middle of the road" suggestion. I recently bought my first MIM Jazz, but not of the Standard Series. It's a Blacktop Jazz bass, and it's definitely a quality piece of work.

I got mine fresh from the box, directly from Fender. No floor/demo model shenanigans here. All it needed was a setup for intonation/string height purposes and a new set of strings (the E-string had a kink in it over the 17th fret&#8230;no big deal). Even out of the box it felt great, and now, post-setup it feels even better. In other words, no lemon here!

But the main reason I'm suggesting it is because of the electronics and the sound it produces. If you're not familiar with them, the Blacktop Jazz has a pair of Precision pickups instead of Jazzes. Lemme tell ya, it's a roarin' monster! Nice, deep, fat sound with the mid-range "snarl" I personally love&#8230;lotsa attitude there, bro! And if I want to ease up on the 'tude, I roll off the bridge pickup (which, admittedly, is a little weak when solo'd) and I've got a classic Precision sound. If you like the Jazz neck/body combo, but want something really ballsy that won't break the bank (about $100 less than a Standard), try one out if you can find one.

Going back to the quality control issues I've seen pop up here, and across many TB threads; I think a lot of us can agree that Fender and Squier might have suffered from lax QC up until about five or so years ago, but have since tightened them up significantly. That's not to say most of what they put out before 2008 was crap. I'm sure both produced a lot of quality instruments over the past two decades. But I can't help but notice the "lemon" card being played more often against 90's to early 2000's instruments than more recent builds. Not a statement of fact, just a potentially flawed observation.
 
#27
I think, like any bass, you will find some good, some bad, some average. I have a 2011 Fender P bass that is a fantastic player IMO. But I actually prefer my older model Squier P/J basses to it for feel and overall tone.
 
#28
My FSR Antigua was flawless,,,,,after the 3rd bass Guitar Center received.

The first had a skunk stripe issue, the second looked like Han Solo painted it after being frozen in Carbonite for a few years.

The final one was perfect. After the winter in my dry house, I had to dress the fret ends, now it's a real player.

Somebody goofed up in Mexico. Some are perfect, others need the quality control issues to be addressed,,,,at the factory level.
 
#29
I played an MIM standard P a while back, when I was evaluating P basses. Ended up with a used Squier P that just needed some TLC in the end. But I was fairly impressed with that particular MIM. Good feel, solid, the sound was there, and the fit and finish were pretty good. A great instrument overall. And it doesn't hurt that my local music store consists mostly of actual players as employees, so they actually maintain their stock. Sometimes a rarity these days.
 
#30
The thing i don't like on my MIM Jazz is the electronic and the body wood.
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But i like the neck and i think it got a better feeling than others Jazz bass no matter it is a Custom Shop or American made one.
 
#31
I picked up a new Fender MIM FSR Jazz from Guitar Center last Friday and after spending a week with it I've got to say that I'm impressed. I'm very impressed with the overall quality of the build.
Not only did it setup nicely and have a nice tone but it has nice shielding paint inside the pickups and control cavity. It even has grounding screw that connects the pickup cavity shielding to the control cavity shielding. That's something that many of the USA Fenders that I've worked on didn't have.

After going over the bass, here's a list of things that I modified:
  1. replaced the output jack with a Switchcraft $3.50
  2. replaced the strap buttons with Dunlop strap buttons/locks $13.50
  3. replaced the Fender pickups with Nordstrand NJ4's $155.00

To be honest though, I think that I could have kept the Fender pickups installed and still loved this bass. The Nordstrand NJ4's are definitely an improvement but not so much better as just different IMO.

That comes to a grand total of $597.00 for a new Fender Jazz (I purchased the bass on sale for $424.00 including tax at GC).

I played nothing but Fender basses in the 70's but haven't owned one in 25 years.
This workmanship of this new MIM Fender Jazz is far superior to the basses that Fender was producing in the 70's. I won't go into that in detail but let's just say that the Fenders that I purchased new from 1972-1978 were by far the worse built basses that I've ever owned.

I played several MIM and USA Fender Jazz basses at Guitar Center the day that I purchased this one and I can honestly say that there was no discernible difference in the overall quality of the MIM and USA models.

Not a bad looking piece of ash either!
 
#32
JOME77 said:
Not a bad looking piece of ash either!
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+1. Gorgeous!

I think you’ve touched upon a number of interesting points here. I routinely gig my three MIM Jazzes, and not once have I had someone come up to me and say: “OMG...MIM?!?” (Well, actually, that did happen once. It was on a shared bill where the other bassist played a USA Jazz, and he couldn’t believe that my MIM’s neck profile was more comfortable to him than his MIA’s.)

Each of us has differing standards and tolerances for the tools of our trade. But Fender’s MIMs have yet to disappoint me. In fact, I’m presently contemplating a fourth MIM acquisition. And for the record, I already own two USA Jazzes, and can certainly afford another new USA model.
 
#33
MIM's have been pretty good for a long time now. i bought one in like 2004 and it's fantastic. excellent build quality, fit, finish, and sound. of course, mine was fretless and the main problem i usually see with MIM's is fret sprout/unfiled frets sticking out, so there's that haha.
 
#34
Just bought a 2013 MIM Jazz, the sound is good, and build quality far exceeded my expectations, I went to look at one used in un-played condition, a guitar player had it. I looked this thread up to see comments other had about the new recent made basses. It is sunburst and I have had a few sunburst MIA jazzes and I do not recall the wood looking any better really nice grain in the wood, nice finish. Neck is sweet too, adjusted up easily set the intonation and plays smooth as silk, truly like it a lot. Just thought I would share my experience with this quality piece..Dave
 
#35
"A salesman told me that they are way better than the standards made before 2010-2011" ...

Are they even compared to the ones of the classic series?

Your salesman, is a 'salesman' ... ask him why 2010/11 is so much better than the 2009 .. there is no difference, only the individual differences between one bass and the next ... and you get that in every model/level of Fender basses ...

Too many differences to compare MIM Standards to basses offered in the Classic Series that are MIM ... specs and components are so completely different, that 'better' is going to be totally subjective to users interpretation and preferences...
 
#37
I have a 2012 MIM Jazz and a 2013 La Cabronita, also MIM. Having owned two other MIM Jazzes in the past, I'd say they've come a long way. I feel both were well worth the price I paid for either. The fretwork on my Jazz is great, well-crowned, compared to not crowned at all in the past. They sound great and play as well as any other bass I've played. In fact, I prefer the feel of the neck on this MIM Jazz I have now, to my old 08 MIA Jazz.
 

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