i mean really, can there be that big of a difference?

[MobileHolmes]

I could be waaaayyyy off, but I always figured that some of the budget basses use more peices because they cut the usable wood from a bad board, hence, more cuts=more peices. Anyone know if there is any truth to this?
\.)

I'm thinking it might have more to do with the trees actually. I've heard that there are fewer and fewer big tonewood trees to cut down (or that can be cut down). I don't know much about alders in the wild, but, you'd need one like 16 inches in diameter to get a one piece bass body out of it, and you could only get it from the middle. OTOH, you can cut 2-3-4 and more piece basses from smaller diameter trees, and from around the one piece body on the bigger one. FWIW, I 've never noticed much tonal difference based on number of pieces. It is more of an aesthetic concern, and then only on translucents. I've got an old MIJ P copy in Ash and you can barely see where they joints are (I can't even remeber if it is 2 or 3 pieces) . I've seen some fenders, however, where the grain didn't match very well. The best sounding MIM I've played (Better than some MIAs to my ears) was ash and translucent, and had the worst matched 3 piece body I've ever seen (one of the 3 pieces had essentially no grain, and the other two were basically oriented upside down from what would have looked right). OTOH, I've seen MIAs that were nearly as bad.

 

[biff malibu]

Play one and decide for yourself.

i have played plenty of everything.

 

[punkbassistfc]

The problem with the perception of were an instrument is made stems from the price points. I have tried many different mia's, mim's, and cij's. I currently own a Fender jazz Mia 2000, a Fender Jazz Mim active deluxe that i resprayed, and a cij fender p bass 70-78 ri. I can honestly say that all of them are pretty equal when plugged in. When not plugged in the Mia jazz owns all of them because the string thru body reallly makes the bass sing.

So in my opinion, no it's really not worth the extra dollars. No drunken person in a bar will notice the difference anyway. Only a fellow bassist.

 

[MobileHolmes]

The problem with the perception of were an instrument is made stems from the price points. I have tried many different mia's, mim's, and cij's. I currently own a Fender jazz Mia 2000, a Fender Jazz Mim active deluxe that i resprayed, and a cij fender p bass 70-78 ri. I can honestly say that all of them are pretty equal when plugged in. When not plugged in the Mia jazz owns all of them because the string thru body reallly makes the bass sing.

So in my opinion, no it's really not worth the extra dollars. No drunken person in a bar will notice the difference anyway. Only a fellow bassist.

It ultimately comes down to playing a bunch of basses and finding the one that works for you. i was looking for teles a few years back in a shop where the kid just kept bringing me guitars. I was looking MIA, but he threw a couple MIMs in the mix too just to see. I didn't think they sounded quite as good, but without looking at the headstocks, I didn't have reason to believe they weren't MIA. THey seemed like about 90% of the guitar at 60% of the price.

Actually, the mismatched MIM I mentioned above is one of the better Jazzes I've played lately. I don't particularly like the MIM pickups (THey are a little dark) but on an ash body they worked well.

 

[srxplayer]

It can very well make a difference. The biggest difference will be in the fit and finish, along with the fretwork, shielding, etc. A nice finish on a bass accounts for a good percentage of it's cost, since labor is typically one of the most expensive variables in building anything.

+1

Also there is probably more of an acoustic (unplugged)difference between the woods than there is when it's plugged in. I have always believed that the electronics in a bass and the strings used have more infuluence on the tone anyway.

 

[pickles]

i have played plenty of everything.

Ah, so you already know the answer to your question, but posted it rhetorically?

 

[dvh]

My current MIA has a nice ash body with translucent orange finish - it is a 1 piece body and looks perfect.

Are you sure? At least two things suggest otherwise: 1) There are very few trees with the required dimensions for this. 2) 2 or 3 pieces laminated together are actually stronger and more stable than one. A one piece slab is more prone to warping, no matter how thoroughly dried.

As far as I know...

 

[DEEPENDMUSIC]

A higher priced instrument will probably have higher quality wood. The slap tone on a MIA jazz is better in my opinion than a MIM jazz. It's very noticable unplugged to me. That would tell me the quality of wood is a big factor. I love the slap tone on my Lakland Skyline Darryl Jones sig. bass. Graphite reinforcement will help that too.