Yesterday, on the way to a meeting, I stopped by the nearest GC and tried their Squier CV's, Squier VM's, MIM J/P basses and their USA J/P's. I tried them on a host of different amps and had an all around good hour of play time.
The MIA's left in the store were really just MEH! I've played a couple of dynamite MIA P's at that location before but they were gone and the stable was full of lemons. The MIM's were similar in quality and finish to the MIA's (which shocked me) and were MEH as well. The CV's were, surprisingly, better than any of their other offerings on the floor, which was remarkable.
I went home worried that I'd wasted so much money on my MIM P, my mods, new pickups, trips to the tech etc, worried that I should have purchased a cheaper CV and saved money, or that I should have saved up for a really exemplary MIA....
That worry vanished when I got home and plugged in my MIM P and just played. Great neck and finish, excellent pickups (SD quarter pounders), lovely broken-in set of chrome flats, great balance, rich tone (open or closed), action that is easy to adjust yielding great results. No major flaws save for a finish mark near the lower horn (any other marks are my own doing
). My ONLY complaint being some fret sprout from the changing seasons: it's not Fender's fault I live in a swamp!
Buyer's remorse? Vanished. It's nice to know that the MIA title doesn't guarantee MIA quality and that the new Squiers, while surprisingly great, aren't necessarily equal to my MIM. Went to bed with a big smile on my face
The MIA's left in the store were really just MEH! I've played a couple of dynamite MIA P's at that location before but they were gone and the stable was full of lemons. The MIM's were similar in quality and finish to the MIA's (which shocked me) and were MEH as well. The CV's were, surprisingly, better than any of their other offerings on the floor, which was remarkable.
I went home worried that I'd wasted so much money on my MIM P, my mods, new pickups, trips to the tech etc, worried that I should have purchased a cheaper CV and saved money, or that I should have saved up for a really exemplary MIA....
That worry vanished when I got home and plugged in my MIM P and just played. Great neck and finish, excellent pickups (SD quarter pounders), lovely broken-in set of chrome flats, great balance, rich tone (open or closed), action that is easy to adjust yielding great results. No major flaws save for a finish mark near the lower horn (any other marks are my own doing
). My ONLY complaint being some fret sprout from the changing seasons: it's not Fender's fault I live in a swamp!Buyer's remorse? Vanished. It's nice to know that the MIA title doesn't guarantee MIA quality and that the new Squiers, while surprisingly great, aren't necessarily equal to my MIM. Went to bed with a big smile on my face
