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.
Mex vs USA fender... discuss.
- Thread starter Michael Simpson
- Start date
Two guys have two cars: one a Lexus and one a Toyota. They’re going to rip out and replace the interior, drivetrain, suspension.... you get it.
And oh yeah, for whatever reason the car bodies look pretty much exactly the same except for the badges and a bit of trim.
Now which car is better? More importantly, which guy is the bigger idiot?
Both are idiots.
Nice. Too late to delete my post so I don’t get stuck reading this thread?
Haha, agree. At least he wasn't the guy who similarly compared choosing wood used for baseball bats to choosing wood for guitars. Sure, it's wood being used for each, but the intent purpose for each is VASTLY different. That's like saying, well they use this wood to build houses, so it must be more than good enough to make guitars out of.
Have no fear, if you get tired of being "stuck" reading this thread there are hundreds of others on here just like mine for you to browse too!
Or just other threads, if this isn't your thing.
My thoughts. I have have played some dog Mim basses, and some great ones, like my RW Jazz. Just depends on the instrument.
Same here. I apparently stumbled onto one of the "great" Mexican P-basses. Picked it up used without even plugging it in. Upgraded the pickup and put flats on it, and I loved how it played and sounded. Changed the neck to a Jazz for comfort, and it felt wonderful. Then I sold it, thinking I should "upgrade". It was as good as almost anything I've played since, including Fender Custom Shop, a Lull, a Watkins, etc. What a dope.
And keep in mind, I'm a crappy player who is on TB more than he practices or plays. Sheesh.
Then again, I found a used Peavey Fury here that has maybe the most comfortable neck I've played, and sounds so great. I'm no dummy...I'm keeping this one.
Last edited:
There's a button upper right to "unfollow" threads that start to bug you.
I wouldn't really eject ya from the car, though, Bud!
My comment simply follows of the preordained script of MIM vs MIA threads, which invariably include both
car analogies, and accompanying groans about the irrelevance of car analogies.
No way out of this game, I'm afraid, as we are all just puppets in a tragic closed circle of hell known as TB.
Here's curveball for everyone. My buddy bought a '97 Squer Affinity for $100 and just leaves it hanging on the wall. I picked it up one day I was at his place and was like, wow, this thing has a really nice, fat, chunky neck on it and it's light! I told him he should put some effort into cleaning it up and doing it justice. He was like, "Meh, I'm not really into it." So I convinced him to let me have at it. Pots were full size, but scratchy, wiring was sub-par. Adjustment screws on the bridge were rusted and frozen.
I cleaned it up, polished the frets, shielded the control cavity with shielding paint and pot copper foil on the back on the new pickguard I had sitting in my parts box (original pickguard was a boring 1-ply white), soldered together a new harness from high quality parts, new knobs, popped in an '08 Am. Std pickup I had sitting around, Fender vintage style bridge from the parts box, popped on some GHS Precision flats and give it a nice set-up. dare I say this thing sounds and plays as nice as my American Standard that has been PLEK'd and has a Fender PV'63 pickup in it and sounds amazing.
My friend is now blown away at how nice his bass sounds and plays.
All goes to show that there can be gems in any range.
I cleaned it up, polished the frets, shielded the control cavity with shielding paint and pot copper foil on the back on the new pickguard I had sitting in my parts box (original pickguard was a boring 1-ply white), soldered together a new harness from high quality parts, new knobs, popped in an '08 Am. Std pickup I had sitting around, Fender vintage style bridge from the parts box, popped on some GHS Precision flats and give it a nice set-up. dare I say this thing sounds and plays as nice as my American Standard that has been PLEK'd and has a Fender PV'63 pickup in it and sounds amazing.
My friend is now blown away at how nice his bass sounds and plays.
All goes to show that there can be gems in any range.
I get your point, but I think the idea of "cutting corners" is relative. If you buy something like a Lull or Sadowsky, you could make the argument that they're generally better than the Fender US Standards because the US standards "cut corners" in comparison.
They're all just balancing cost and profit versus hitting the desired price point, unless you're talking no corners cut whatsoever, like a Fodera or something.
The question is (for me at least) where is that line for you personally...your budget, your talent level, whether you play out, etc.
- Mar 8, 2011
- 12,232
- 51,187
- Disclosures
- Authorized greenboy designs builder/Owner of BNA Audio
Exactly. I think the OP was skewed from the start. Already gave his opinion right off the bat and is seeking confirmation, which is fine I guess. I tend to prefer US made instruments for my own reasons, but I’ve never watched someone tear it up at a gig and wondered where their bass was made either
Hmm, I think people set up mim jazzes poorly when they sell them just so others will complain about them and then the used prices won't go up
i bought a MIM mustang recently. finish is literally perfect. tone is as good as any PJ i've played and better than most - i love playing it to hear it. no fret or fretboard issues - no proud frets, sharp edges, neck and fretboard are smoothhhh. there is a tiny black spec in the pickguard. later on i plan to replace the pickguard with pearl white anyway, and it's a very small spec, so i don't care.
i can't compare the mustang to a made-in-usa mustang as they don't make one, but i have played lots of fenders made pretty much everywhere, and while i'm not one of the people who say say "my $200 squier is as good as a fill-in-the-blank", i bought this mustang because i needed the scale length but mostly because i loved the tone. and after it arrived, i was very happy with fit, finish and build quality.
i can't compare the mustang to a made-in-usa mustang as they don't make one, but i have played lots of fenders made pretty much everywhere, and while i'm not one of the people who say say "my $200 squier is as good as a fill-in-the-blank", i bought this mustang because i needed the scale length but mostly because i loved the tone. and after it arrived, i was very happy with fit, finish and build quality.
I thought it was crooked as well after I took the picture and did a double take, like ***?! I had to pull the bass back out of the gig bag verified that it's actually perfectly straight and aligned correctly.
MIM for cost effectiveness, absolutely. I have two MIMs and one MIA. I consider one of the MIMs to be an equal to the MIA in all respects.
Bottom line: do what you like. Always do what you like. Odds are, what you value most is ultimately going to work best for you.
Bottom line: do what you like. Always do what you like. Odds are, what you value most is ultimately going to work best for you.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Not an equal comparison, but a fair one. For guitars, cheaper wood will be heavier, and have more defects, such as discoloration, knots and bark inclusions (especially in maple). Cheaper wood will likely have more crooked grain (not great for necks).
Weight is probably the number one reason people won't play certain basses. Cosmetics is also important for most of us. Compare the grain on a MIM sunburst to that of an MIA. That's also why higher grades of bass bodies are generally made from fewer, and better matches pieces. I've seen MIM bodies made from 5 pieces of wood, plus a top and bottom veneer.
I won't even get into the tone wood debate.
And as others have said, it is a fact that MIMs use inferior hardware.
