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MIM P Bass questions

S

Swingit

Nov 5, 2007
11
0
St Louie Mo
#1
After 25 years of playing guitar I'm finally getting back to my roots and going back to bass. I've somewhat decided on trying to find a MIM P Bass... seems like good bang for the buck.

What years are best? Are some years better than others? What are the down falls of the Mexican made bass'? What other brands should I consider?
 
#2
The MIMs suffered from a bit of sloppy QC, so I would definitely try before you buy. When they hit the mark, they rivaled MIAs in quality and sound, but their duds were equally horrible. I've had early MIMs, recent MIMs, and everything in between, they've been pretty consistently inconsistent lol.
 
#3
The latest MIMs are quite nice. I've got one that I've had for about a month now and can't find anything to complain about other than I'd like to swap out the pots. Other than that, I love it. Fit, finish, tone, everything else is just about perfect. Even the tuners do their job well.
 
#4
The newer MIMs are the nicest but thats not to say some of the older ones are not. Look used and you can get them pretty cheap. The one thing to watch as pointed out on this thread already is inconsistency. Although it has improved greatly in the newer models it can be in the older ones so check them out well.
The classic series of MIMs are as nice as any MIA standard IMO. They are made from american parts but painted and assembled in Mexico to bring the price down. My 50's classic is as nice as any MIA i have played.
With MIMs you get a great budget platform to play and gig on. With a few mods (if needed) you have a great bass that will hold up anywhere.
 
#5
I have a 2001 MIM that I found really cheap. It had scratchy pots but that was easily fixed with a new harness from bayou cables. I just got it set-up and it plays like a dream... on the other hand, a Guitar playing friend has a MIA with a warped neck that's a pain to play, although great for shooting arrows.

Of course, I would expect a properly set-up MIA to out-gun a MIM most of the time.
 
#7
When you are talking Fender, be it MIM, MIJ, MIA, etc. my advice is try before you buy. You just have to actually play them and get a sense of the quality of each bass as it varies considerably within the whole Fender line, regardless of the country it was built in or what year made.

I loved a MIA P-Bass a few years back. I found a used MIM P-Bass at another local music store and played around with it fully intending to buy the MIA at the first store. The MIM was about $750 cheaper than the MIA, and the MIM felt, played and sounded far superior (to that particular MIA). It was a no-brainer. I bought the MIM and it's been my main bass ever since (though it's been through many, many mods).

I'm still using the same stock MIM P-Bass body, bridge, tuners and pickups.

Link Removed
 
#12
I just have to add...

If no one knew where a P-Bass was made, and just played it and checked it over, it would be almost impossible to tell the difference.

If a double blind study was done, I would bet a lot of MIM's would be thought to be MIA's and visa versa.

Regardless of country of manufacture, ALL of them are a crapshoot in quality. The stereotype, bias and prejudice towards MIM Fender basses only means one thing...

Fantastic deals for me! :D
 
#14
I'll join the choir of people saying that with Fender, you have to play each bass because the year, place of manufacture, etc. is largely irrelevant.
Having said that, you might narrow your search to Mexican ones made from around 2003 to the present, because they began to use alder... a bit improvement in tone, IMO.
 
#15
SuperDuck said:
IMHO, the horrible Fender QC is exaggerated. I've played several MIM Precisions over the years and owned one - they've all been great. I was surprised at how good the Precision I owned sounded.

I even made a thread about how much I liked the tone with a sound clip that I recorded:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=426431

Great instruments!
Click to expand...

I agree 110%> I have owned 3 MIM jazzes one a deluxe sold them since I am hooked on P basses now. I now gig with a bought used modded MIM P and a bought new MIM classic 50's P. Those two basses are awsome and cop any P tones no matter if its MIA custom i dont care what it is. The Fender QC issues i read on here IMO are pure crap. I play alot of basses in alot of shops in my travels and i have yet to see the problems TBers post here on TB about MIMs and in most cases squiers and Fender in general. Where do these people come from? What shops are they seeing all these subpar crap Fenders at?

I have even talked to shop owners about this and none of them have had return issues with Fender on basses an amp or two yes not basses. Setups are setups all basses IMO need them that you buy since you need it your way so thats not in the picture here.MIMS are the best budget bass around IMO nobody can change my mind on this. I have owned alot and tryed many.
 
#16
I have owned 2 MIM P bases. The first was cheap and opportunistic so I grabbed it. I like it at first, though the pick up was muddy. Too muddy. Play a run and lose the detail.

I fitted a Bad Ass 11 and a SD Qtr Pndr and is was a diferencet bass. The reason I sold it was because the neck was not stable. The headstock leaned forward compared to several US basses and the neck would warp and all strings would contact the fingerboard between the 5th and 7th fret. Bye.


I recetly found a gem in a pawn shop. It is a MIM in my fav color combination which is why it attracted my attention, but set up with a SD Qtr Pndr plus Badass 11 bridge and a new set of D'Addario Half Wound Strings. (The pack was still in the hard case) I picked it up so many times I knew I had to chance this one as it felt so good. After all I could always get a replacement neck?

Well, I got it home and adjusted the truss rod and did the intonation and it is wonderful. Have had it 2 months now and no mood swings in the neck and it has a full and straight headstock like the US models which tends to prove the theory, or observations, as they are now, that these bases are individuals. You need to play before you buy.

I thought I would never own another MIM Fender but now I am looking for a Matching MIM Jazz to go with it.
 
#17
Sundogue said:
I just have to add...

If no one knew where a P-Bass was made, and just played it and checked it over, it would be almost impossible to tell the difference.

If a double blind study was done, I would bet a lot of MIM's would be thought to be MIA's and visa versa.

Regardless of country of manufacture, ALL of them are a crapshoot in quality. The stereotype, bias and prejudice towards MIM Fender basses only means one thing...

Fantastic deals for me! :D
Click to expand...

I'm with you Sundogue, I have two MIM P Basses and both play & sound GREAT!!!! One is a 2010 model and the other is a 2008 model....
 

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