True, but I've gotten some good deals in "music" shops where nobody had a clue how to do a setup.
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Should I buy this old P bass?
- Thread starter Mikey O'Brien
- Start date
I've heard stories about those '90s MIM instruments having some pretty poor build quality. I'm not sure how much is rumor and how much is truth.
Maybe someone with more knowledge can verify or refute this version of events that I was told:
The very early ('91 to early '93) MIM Fenders were basically using American blanks and being assembled in a small shop across the border. They're excellent quality, with alder or ash bodies and decent necks, just cheap hardware and electrics. Then, sometime in '93, the original small Mexican factory burnt down. Fender built a much larger production facility that used their own wood, and generally built the poor instruments that gave MIM Fenders their less than stellar rep. Bodies were often made of poplar, with many pieces glued together. Apparently one way to spot these sandwich specials is if it's a burst, and the burst covers the entire tummy cut on the back. If you see this, it means the body has a veneer, and the burst is covering the seam. This was also the era where the MIM Jazz models had identical pickups in the neck and bridge, and they weren't reverse wound, meaning they had hum even if the volumes were matched.
Then, sometime around 2001, they decided to make the MIM models their mid-range and introduce Asian made Squiers as the cheap stuff. The strat knobs went, and the poplar bodies went. The Jazz pups matched the US models, and build quality generally went way up.
I have a '92 Jazz that I had stripped and refinished. I can confirm that it had a two-piece alder body, and the neck is quite nice. The pups were absolute dogs***t, and the body needed to be routed to allow for a wider aftermarket bridge Seymour Duncan SJB-1.
All of the above said, many also seem to think that body wood is way overrated. Even if it is a poplar sandwich special, if it sounds nice, get it. I'd just try to talk them down. I paid $175 for my Jazz not that long ago from a shop. $350 seems steep for an early MIM....
Maybe someone with more knowledge can verify or refute this version of events that I was told:
The very early ('91 to early '93) MIM Fenders were basically using American blanks and being assembled in a small shop across the border. They're excellent quality, with alder or ash bodies and decent necks, just cheap hardware and electrics. Then, sometime in '93, the original small Mexican factory burnt down. Fender built a much larger production facility that used their own wood, and generally built the poor instruments that gave MIM Fenders their less than stellar rep. Bodies were often made of poplar, with many pieces glued together. Apparently one way to spot these sandwich specials is if it's a burst, and the burst covers the entire tummy cut on the back. If you see this, it means the body has a veneer, and the burst is covering the seam. This was also the era where the MIM Jazz models had identical pickups in the neck and bridge, and they weren't reverse wound, meaning they had hum even if the volumes were matched.
Then, sometime around 2001, they decided to make the MIM models their mid-range and introduce Asian made Squiers as the cheap stuff. The strat knobs went, and the poplar bodies went. The Jazz pups matched the US models, and build quality generally went way up.
I have a '92 Jazz that I had stripped and refinished. I can confirm that it had a two-piece alder body, and the neck is quite nice. The pups were absolute dogs***t, and the body needed to be routed to allow for a wider aftermarket bridge Seymour Duncan SJB-1.
All of the above said, many also seem to think that body wood is way overrated. Even if it is a poplar sandwich special, if it sounds nice, get it. I'd just try to talk them down. I paid $175 for my Jazz not that long ago from a shop. $350 seems steep for an early MIM....
I wouldn't pay more than $250USD for a used MIM P or J and it would have to be a later 2000's model and close to mint with a gigbag.
I'd say $350 is a little high. I bought my 03/04 MIM (Lake Placid Blue in excellent condition) off a friend for $300 including hard shell case.
It sounds nicer than the 1992 three piece boner American Jazz body I used to have!
True, but I've gotten some good deals in "music" shops where nobody had a clue how to do a setup.
This has served me well in CL deals—the off chance that a proper setup wasn't possible.
As a reference I got my MIM Jazz with case on CL for $260, its a 1996 model, also has those knobs.
I saw one go for $45. I'll admit it was when I was 12. Been a while.
if they had a used generic case and you could haggle with them, maybe. i'm noticing places are getting harder to haggle with and losing more to easy alternatives, craigslist or whatever. i hope your experience differs from mine!
Wow! That's a winner. I wouldn't hold out for THAT one, OP.
Seriously, not to turn this into a whole mim vs mia debate (again), I got mine from a pawn shop for 350 with crap case. Straight neck, clean electronics. Just needed a setup and some strings. Best bass gear purchase I EVER made. I'm smitten with her still.
