Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Inconsequential controversies in basses today...
- Thread starter nerkoids
- Start date
Both are production basses; which means you can’t go by pictures. Go to your shop and play a couple of them to get the differences.
It is possible to find MIM Fenders that are better and play better than the MIA counterpart. If you play, say, 50 of each one.
Fender has done a quite excellent job improving the quality of the instruments coming off the Mexican line. I know a bunch of very fine players using them. They won’t limit you as a player.
But, as a generalization, the MIA will be built with higher grade materials, such as tighter neck grain etc; and they tend to hold their resale better, if that matters.
And, to those asking, yes the brass strip between the bridge and the bridge pickup is a grounding strip. Fender used that method in lieu of drilling a hole for a grounding wire originally in ‘60 - ‘62; and again later on AVRI instruments. Nothing odd about it.
It is possible to find MIM Fenders that are better and play better than the MIA counterpart. If you play, say, 50 of each one.
Fender has done a quite excellent job improving the quality of the instruments coming off the Mexican line. I know a bunch of very fine players using them. They won’t limit you as a player.
But, as a generalization, the MIA will be built with higher grade materials, such as tighter neck grain etc; and they tend to hold their resale better, if that matters.
And, to those asking, yes the brass strip between the bridge and the bridge pickup is a grounding strip. Fender used that method in lieu of drilling a hole for a grounding wire originally in ‘60 - ‘62; and again later on AVRI instruments. Nothing odd about it.
I like them both, but the MIM would be all I could afford. If I suddenly found $2K to spend on a bass, it'd be time for a Sadowsky MetroExpress.
I’ve been eyeing the 60s original for sometime. I’ve never owned a JB and plan on getting one in the next few months.
Im a goofball....I still prefer "P = dots" and "J= Blocks"......even though one of my J basses, a 2004 USA Jazz, has dots
I prefer blocks for JBs too, but only on the rosewood (or reasonably compliant equivalent thereof) neck. Never did cotton to either white or black blockson a maple neck.
Which is one reason i’m not much of a burst fan, really good examples are few and far between.
Last edited:
I love a real sixties clownburst, but the MIM looks goofy. I also prefer the darker headstock. but I don't think I'd buy another Jazz Bass, too many knobs.
Of those two basses in the OP, I prefer the American one. I think it's better looking, and it has higher quality components.
Smooth_bass88
vaxx!
- Oct 31, 2006
- 12,122
- 16,793
- Disclosures
- have been on nationally released albums, charting on the Billboard 200
I actually prefer the 'bad' burst pattern on the MIM because it is less yellow. I hate yellow, and the MIM almost passes as a brownburst.
This thread is about which bass has better looks, not which is the better bass.
See above.
My point was that looks up close and personal are a different thing than some Internet picture.
Jim Carr
Dr. Jim
- Jan 21, 2006
- 16,223
- 7,613
- 76
- Disclosures
- fEARful Kool-Aid dispensing liberal academic card-carrying union member Musicians Local 72-147
View attachment 3154694
View attachment 3154695
According to @Craig4003 — "...a 'Clownburst' is a cherry burst with too sharp a gradient at the inner edge of the red. Bonus points if the center is bright yellow." I'm just not seeing that here to any significant degree. They are different, but 3tsb finishes vary a great deal, in my experience.
I wonder how different the lacquer '60s classic Jazz basses are from the Roadwork series, which are lacquer finished and have the same hardware features, headstock finish, etc. The two RW jazzes I've had are amazing.
The reasons are discussed by Ed Friedland here: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Last edited:
Not my experience at all. I’ve see a lot of MIM J basses in the last few years and more than a few MIA J basses and i have yet to see any real variation in quality of wood in the necks. I can’t tell about body wood because they are painted, but here’s what i’ve seen as the main differences.
MIA basses get a much higher level of finishing, they look and feel much slicker, nicer, especially the neck edges. Both my MIA J basses have rolled neck edges. While the MIM neck edges are serviceable they are by no means as slick as their US cousins. The US necks have graphite stiffners the Mexican necks have steel, IME i prefer the steel.
US basss have better pckups but unless it’s changed recently they both use the same pots caps and jacks. US basses use higher zoot machine heads but i don’t have any problems with the tuners on the MIM basses so it’s another personal preference thing.
I wouldn’t say one is better than he other, the MIA is slicker than the MIM but the MIM is a very solid players tool and with a pickup upgrade is a formidable bass by any metric applied and still saves you enough to buy a 500w combo.
Buy whichever one blows your dress up the best. That is after all what it’s all about. You can’t be a god of thunder if you are not in love with your thunder stick.
I overlaid them in a graphic software app and the two pics are very different in proportion. I think eastcoasteddie got it right in post #5. The camera locations are different which makes the body length and neck length look different. The angle of the knobs confirms that. As for the colour, I prefer the Classic.
Last edited:
I rarely go into GC but this past weekend I went and A Beed.. an MIA Fender jazz elite and a MIM Fender Player Jazz, it was shocking how much of a difference there was. Of course over a grand difference in price but you could feel it. The Player felt like a cheap copy. I would say my Road Worn falls somewhere in between the two, and even the RW basses you need to find the “one” which took me about 3 tries and finally found a RW with a good neck and sounded acoustically great, sorta like how you had to do it back in the old days I guess.. but again those MIA elites are on another level and I’m sure very QC consistent, as I’m sure is the case with the OP’s choice? Go MIA!
My point is that’s it’s not so much about the looks and after awhile most think that way about their bass purchase
My point is that’s it’s not so much about the looks and after awhile most think that way about their bass purchase
Last edited:
