Hi all I need some advice, I have always wanted a genuine Fender Precision bass. At my local music shop there is a 60s one (new) for around 2 grand. This is a lot of money to spend on a bass. I already have a MIJ Fender P that I got second hand for £360 in 2017. My question is, would I notice a difference compared on a Fender USA compared to my MIJ ? Given how it'd just be so much more money to spend
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Is Fender MIA better than Fender MIJ?
- Thread starter Sweeps
- Start date
It really depends on the Bass;
In general;
you will notice some difference between any 2 basses. Different is not always "better".
Fender Japan has been very consistent in quality over its 4 decades.
COO matters much less these days.
Since it's at a local shop - you have the advantage over any of us who may comment here; You can try the bass out for yourself and decide.
Curious; Is the "60s" bass an "AVRI" series?
From a purely financial / practical perspective;
If you consider that amount to be a lot to spend on a bass, then I'd simply walk away;
We all have our own "scale" of how much we're willing to pay for "diminishing returns", and the reality of diminishing returns has never been more apparent than what it is today, with the quality of lower priced instruments.
You don't have to spend 2 grand to get a good or even great bass.
In general;
you will notice some difference between any 2 basses. Different is not always "better".
Fender Japan has been very consistent in quality over its 4 decades.
COO matters much less these days.
Since it's at a local shop - you have the advantage over any of us who may comment here; You can try the bass out for yourself and decide.
Curious; Is the "60s" bass an "AVRI" series?
From a purely financial / practical perspective;
If you consider that amount to be a lot to spend on a bass, then I'd simply walk away;
We all have our own "scale" of how much we're willing to pay for "diminishing returns", and the reality of diminishing returns has never been more apparent than what it is today, with the quality of lower priced instruments.
You don't have to spend 2 grand to get a good or even great bass.
Nothing more to say.
P basses and MIA get mystified a lot. However, as far as I know, they don't use neither fairydust nor snakeoil over in Corona, CA.
The good news is that whichever you choose, you'll have "a genuine Fender Precision bass"
If its a standard MIJ and a 60's reissue MIA then there will be a lot of spec differences. Many or all you might notice while playing. Quality wise I think they will likely be close to the same
This. You are in a perfect position to do a side-by-side comparison and answer the question yourself. All Fenders need to be judged on their individula merits, so you can't rely on generalizations or what you think should be the case.
An MIJ is a genuine Fender.
Any differences will be rather small, and will have nothing to do with the geographic location of the factory where it was made. E.g. the neck profiles might be different, but that would be a function of the design, not the country of origin.
If your current bass sounds and feels good, I'd stick with it. If it isn't working for some reason, there are lots of affordable Fender basses out there, both new and used.
Hey, try it out and decide for yourself, but I think it's too much to spend on a USA-made Fender when you can get a better bass for less.
When I started playing bass I thought a Fender Precision was the way to go, and I still try out Fender basses when I stop by Guitar Center, but one thing I've learned here is not to let the name on the headstock influence me.. I've always wanted a genuine Rickenbacker, but...
Anyway, stop by the store, plug in the Fender and play it.
While you're at it, see if they have one of these hanging up, compare it to the USA-made P bass. Then decide if the Fender is worth four times more.
Squier Classic Vibe Precision Bass
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In my experience and I have owned plenty of both, Fender Japan always were the better instruments.
As far as I know, the MIJ Fenders typically have basswood bodies, vs the alder or whatever US Fenders use now. So MIJ prob lighter, prob slightly more prone to dents. There is no magic that surrounds US Fenders, that is unless you want to go back to 1966 or earlier. Just find one that is-
Light enough
Resonant enough
Pretty enough
Cheap enough
Its a P-bass.
Light enough
Resonant enough
Pretty enough
Cheap enough
Its a P-bass.
Maybe solo'ed you might. When the notes start flying in the band I'd be surprised if you could tell the difference. As for manufacturing assuming the components to are equal, I wouldn't turn down a MIJ bass. Their standards for quality culturally are much higher than here in the states.
I just came back from a 2 week tour of Japan, where in numerous locations green grapes being sold for $400-$500 roughly a pound. Seriously, no joke. These are without a doubt the most uniform in size color ripeness and texture, you will ever find. Even the unbelivably the best tasting grape you will ever eat the . taste does not change from one grape to the next. Perfection.
If they can do that for grapes (largely controlled by their department of agriculture) I wouldn't be too concerned about a bass made in Japan.
Try them out and see! I'm a huge fan of Japanese fenders and own a couple right now. I also have a MIM p-bass (one of the ocean blue special models) that is just a great looking and playing instrument, and an American AVRI Jazz that I absolutely adore.
You can find 100% killer examples from each factory, no doubt. The MIJ ones are a steal in my opinion, due to the generally lower price and reliable quality.
You're the only one making the choice. This horse hasn't only been beaten to death, it's been resurrected, beaten to death, and resurrected again ad infinitum. Do you like the bass? Do you want to spend that much money? What are your objectives? Resale value? Your MIJ is the better bargain there, because you paid so little for it. Would you notice the difference? I never can. There's an old thread somewhere AB'ing bass sounds, and one of the basses was just a chunk of wood with strings and a pickup. I couldn't tell the difference. I suspect many people can't. But I'll pay a little more for the backward F, because god help me I love it so.
This could be very subjective and as others suggest, trying them out may be the key. If the "60's" precision is true to period the width of the neck could be 1.75 which might be different than the MIJ which could be 1.625 (current std nut width) so there could be a difference in the feel and play of these two which might help with the decision.
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1 - You already own a genuine Fender Precision bass. Your MIJ Fender is a genuine Fender.
2 -
Would you notice a difference between a MIJ and MIA bass if you played them side-by-side?
Maybe.
Would that difference be because on is MIJ and one is MIA?
No way of knowing. Every bass is going to be ever so slightly different. Two basses from the same factory could have a slight difference. There's no way to know if any difference between the two basses is because of the country of origin, or any number of other factors. They could just be different because they're different model P basses built to slightly different specs.
Would the difference mean one is better than the other?
Subjectively yes; objectively no. "Better" is a nebulous term for musical instruments. You might like the sound and feel of one. Someone else might prefer the other.
Even if you do notice a difference, and even if in that difference you prefer the MIA, is it worth the extra cost?
Only you can say for yourself if you like it a £1500 more than your current bass. It is 100% a personal preference and personal finance question. Almost no one in the world other than you will notice the difference. You won't get more gigs because of it. It won't magically make recordings significantly better. The only other people who might even notice will be other bass players on TB arguing over which they prefer.
3 - At this point, really, any factory from any country can make a high quality bass. There's nothing magical about the factory in the USA that Mexico or Indonesia or China can't replicate. The issue is usually in that Fender has different factories building different series of instruments, and they're being built to certain price points. There are gems and dogs made in the American factory. There are also gems and dogs made in the Japanese, Mexican, Indonesian, Korean, and Chinese factories. The reputation of how good each factory is would suggest that there are more gems, and less dogs. But also, doesn't mean that every bass from the better reputation factory is a gem, and it doesn't mean that there are no dogs, and most are neither; they're mostly just well made basses.
Some people say MIA is highest quality. Some people say MIJ is highest quality. The truth is obviously more complicated that that.
Worry less about which factory a certain bass came from, and worry more about how well made it is, how well it plays, and what it sounds like in your own hands.
2 -
Would you notice a difference between a MIJ and MIA bass if you played them side-by-side?
Maybe.
Would that difference be because on is MIJ and one is MIA?
No way of knowing. Every bass is going to be ever so slightly different. Two basses from the same factory could have a slight difference. There's no way to know if any difference between the two basses is because of the country of origin, or any number of other factors. They could just be different because they're different model P basses built to slightly different specs.
Would the difference mean one is better than the other?
Subjectively yes; objectively no. "Better" is a nebulous term for musical instruments. You might like the sound and feel of one. Someone else might prefer the other.
Even if you do notice a difference, and even if in that difference you prefer the MIA, is it worth the extra cost?
Only you can say for yourself if you like it a £1500 more than your current bass. It is 100% a personal preference and personal finance question. Almost no one in the world other than you will notice the difference. You won't get more gigs because of it. It won't magically make recordings significantly better. The only other people who might even notice will be other bass players on TB arguing over which they prefer.
3 - At this point, really, any factory from any country can make a high quality bass. There's nothing magical about the factory in the USA that Mexico or Indonesia or China can't replicate. The issue is usually in that Fender has different factories building different series of instruments, and they're being built to certain price points. There are gems and dogs made in the American factory. There are also gems and dogs made in the Japanese, Mexican, Indonesian, Korean, and Chinese factories. The reputation of how good each factory is would suggest that there are more gems, and less dogs. But also, doesn't mean that every bass from the better reputation factory is a gem, and it doesn't mean that there are no dogs, and most are neither; they're mostly just well made basses.
Some people say MIA is highest quality. Some people say MIJ is highest quality. The truth is obviously more complicated that that.
Worry less about which factory a certain bass came from, and worry more about how well made it is, how well it plays, and what it sounds like in your own hands.
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If you mean is the USA P gonna be £1600 dollars better?
Ive owned one of each. And the answer is....... No.
Ive owned one of each. And the answer is....... No.
All of the MIJ Fender basses I have played were great. I have anJapanese neck on a USA precision body right now, and it has tons of vibe.
As others have said, no opinion will carry more weight than what you learn from actually putting the instrument in your hands.
The big difference is quality control. You'll find lower-end Fenders that slip into the market with defects and ideally the overall level of quality should be higher on the more expensive models, but that doesn't necessarily mean a given one will play better, or you're guaranteed a flawless instrument because of the label.
Once you get into the $2K range you're in the zone of starting to look at custom builds or used boutique basses and then you have some really tough questions to ask. Is an off-the-shelf Fender really going to give you more bass for your buck than some of those boutique custom or high-end listings in the classifieds, or are you paying a premium for that "genuine Fender" label more than the actual bass itself?
In the end, all that matters is that you like the bass. If it makes you want to play and you sound good on stage nobody is going to care if you paid $400 or $4,000 for it. But the market is pretty wide open these days with a lot of really incredible, high-quality instruments available, so if you want the most bang for your buck there are probably better deals out there unless the Fender name is really what you want to pay for.
The big difference is quality control. You'll find lower-end Fenders that slip into the market with defects and ideally the overall level of quality should be higher on the more expensive models, but that doesn't necessarily mean a given one will play better, or you're guaranteed a flawless instrument because of the label.
Once you get into the $2K range you're in the zone of starting to look at custom builds or used boutique basses and then you have some really tough questions to ask. Is an off-the-shelf Fender really going to give you more bass for your buck than some of those boutique custom or high-end listings in the classifieds, or are you paying a premium for that "genuine Fender" label more than the actual bass itself?
In the end, all that matters is that you like the bass. If it makes you want to play and you sound good on stage nobody is going to care if you paid $400 or $4,000 for it. But the market is pretty wide open these days with a lot of really incredible, high-quality instruments available, so if you want the most bang for your buck there are probably better deals out there unless the Fender name is really what you want to pay for.
Both will be good basses, I own MIA and MIJ jazz basses and precisions and they are all good basses. My number one jazz is a CIJ (crafted in Japan - different factory than the MIJ and I believe all current Japanese Fenders are MIJ) while my number one precision is MIA.
Depending on where you live (i.e., in or near a large metropolitan area), used could be an option to save money. Either at a music store, Craigslist, or Reverb looking at local ads so you can still play them before buying. I live in Santa Fe, NM, and picked up a '62 AVRI (American Vintage Reissue) Precision last year for $1500 on Craigslist and an AO (American Original) is still for sale for the same price.
Depending on where you live (i.e., in or near a large metropolitan area), used could be an option to save money. Either at a music store, Craigslist, or Reverb looking at local ads so you can still play them before buying. I live in Santa Fe, NM, and picked up a '62 AVRI (American Vintage Reissue) Precision last year for $1500 on Craigslist and an AO (American Original) is still for sale for the same price.
