Two MIM or One American Original P

[Aussie Player]

The main difference between MIA and the rest is the quality of the wood, pick up and hardware.
I had a pair of 1995 P's. one MIA and MIM. The MIM had neck movement bouncing between concave and convex fretboard and it was aggravating but it sure looked pretty, white with tort. The MIA has a 2 piece body, is a little heavier, the neck is as stable as marble top. Never moved nor been taken of, just perfect as bought a dozen years ago. The pickups are cleaner meaning when you play something with quick note succession, every note in the run is clear where the MIM is not.

If you look at the MIM factory tour videos on UTUBE, you will note the body wood is made from blanks of 5-6 wood pieces as obviously, small wood pieces and off cuts would be cheaper to source than larger pieces used on MIA's and it is important to note that a sunburst finish can be 2 or 3 pieces for MIA compared to a thin laminate face and back piece on an MIM. The solid colors are.......who knows?

I have told the story before about having a Squier Affinity $200 Jazz 5 and an MIA Jazz 5 at the same time and the Affinity had a nicer neck and was much lighter, even though it had a 6 piece body (Without the facia laminates back then). I sold the MIA and upgraded the Affinity with MIA American pick ups, Bridge, pots and output jack. Still have it a dozen years later. Boy, doesn't it growl!

Recently picked up an MIM Vintera 60's bass from here and it is every bit the quality level and feel of my last 2012 MIA Jazz bass in the same color scheme, white and tort.

This means that as the years pass, the cheaper guitars are still improving and closing the gap between MIM and MIA with the exception of the hardware which is easily changed out, for not that much money. Treat every guitar on its own merit. A good bass is a good bass. When I started playing Fenders were undesirable and not competitive with Gibson as a quality bass guitar. These days, I have several of each.

 

[Mike Sorr]

I have owned very VERY many Fender basses over the past few decades, Americans (including a few 70's era P Basses), Japanese, and Mexicans. I currently own a Mexican made Precision Bass Special PJ (The one with the Jazz neck), that I would put up against any Fender bass I've ever owned with the possible exception of my '72 Jazz.

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

AO all day. Best Fender line. aka Junior Custom shop

 

[Killing Floor]

Probably already been addressed but 2 is twice as many as 1.

 

[Sands]

Sell the 2 MIMs for 4 Squires(?)

 

[vindibona1]

Sell the 2 MIMs for 4 Squires(?)

While I wouldn't support selling either of these older MIM's for anything, If you look around there are a LOT of pros playing Squiers (as well as Epiphone electric guitars). Fact: There is only so much you can do to supe-up or dumb down a modular solid body. Usually (IMO) MOST of the difference comes with attention to detail and hand work, followed up by electronics and bling. Having said that there are a handful of bass makers that just KNOW how to put a bass together to all the parts REALLY jive together. The problem is often the cost. I'd love to have a Ken Smith, but at $7500 I'd never take it out of the case. I had a similar problem with a Gibson Standard, numbered limited edition LP. Fell in loved with it and bought it, but I gigged (and practiced) with my Chinese Gibson LP copy, which (in a blind test ) was chosen over a genuine Gibson by several unsuspecting parties. (BTW-I bought the thing as a joke and was shocked). Bottom line: Every bass is a unique instrument unto itself, regardless of brand, model and price point (ask me about my $100 Gio 6 string- I've posted about it).

 

[3bc]

hello friends. I own these two MIM basses....a RW Jazz in Fiesta Red and a mid 2000s standard in LPB. Both are lightweight and are “good” players in their own right. The P is even outfitted with SD Antiquities.

I’m curious about member’s opinions of owning just one really nice bass...for me, an American Original Precision vs owning two pretty nice mid level Mexican basses. Again, the Mexicans are decent in their own right. But I’ve recently been contemplating selling these and just owning one prized bass that really is a step up in every aspect.

Any opinions on one experience vs. the other? Thank you all for your input. Much appreciated.




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I think it depends on the quality of the instruments you already have. Not all MIM are created equal, neither are all MIA. If one or both of your MIM are really special basses, I would keep them. If they're just copies of each, but unremarkable, then flip them for the bass you really want, you can always rebuy an unremarkable MIM in the future if you want to.

I had a very special Skyline 44-02. I wasn't satisfied, wanting the prestige of an American 44-94. I had both side by side for a while, and kept the 44-94. The quality of the woods on the American was a clear cut above, it was prettier and more precious. But they sounded exactly the same, owing to the same electronics and types of wood used, and the 44-02 actually played a little bit better, you could get the action lower than the American version without fret noise, it was just a special instrument. In retrospect I should have kept that bass which I bough for $500 and sold for $750. Vs. the American I bought for around $3k. The American is still a great bass that plays and sounds awesome. But if I could have a do-over today, I'd take that Indonesian bass back, and turn the 44-94 into a pair of distressors or something for my home studio.

 

[lizardking837]

hello friends. I own these two MIM basses....a RW Jazz in Fiesta Red and a mid 2000s standard in LPB. Both are lightweight and are “good” players in their own right. The P is even outfitted with SD Antiquities.

I’m curious about member’s opinions of owning just one really nice bass...for me, an American Original Precision vs owning two pretty nice mid level Mexican basses. Again, the Mexicans are decent in their own right. But I’ve recently been contemplating selling these and just owning one prized bass that really is a step up in every aspect.

Any opinions on one experience vs. the other? Thank you all for your input. Much appreciated.




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Stick with what you have now. The RW basses punch above their price tag and the P looks fantastic.

 

[coy garcia]

I love my american P's better than my MIM ones....they just seem to be thicker and have more mojo....but it could just be in my mind. My P's are 70's and my MIM is a 90's so that may matter also.

 

[REV]

Your Road Worn Jazz looks very nice. The P is probably nice too. Fenders are so inconsistent that (to me) you really have to play them to know if they're any good. I'd take a good MIA Fender bass over 2 MIM any day but I'd take 2 good MIM Fenders over a so so MIA bass as well.

 

[Jscriv]

I've played American fenders that don't feel or sound as good as my MIMs. With that said, my Pro II jazz bass is one of the nicest fenders I've ever played

 

[jpmcbride]

Any opinions on one experience vs. the other? Thank you all for your input. Much appreciated.

I've owned both an American P and a MIM P and both played great. I can't say there was much, if any, difference between them. I certainly couldn't have identified them in a blind test.

 

[Lownote38]

hello friends. I own these two MIM basses....a RW Jazz in Fiesta Red and a mid 2000s standard in LPB. Both are lightweight and are “good” players in their own right. The P is even outfitted with SD Antiquities.

I’m curious about member’s opinions of owning just one really nice bass...for me, an American Original Precision vs owning two pretty nice mid level Mexican basses. Again, the Mexicans are decent in their own right. But I’ve recently been contemplating selling these and just owning one prized bass that really is a step up in every aspect.

Any opinions on one experience vs. the other? Thank you all for your input. Much appreciated.




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Keep what you have. That RW Jazz, especially, is more vintage correct than an American Original. It's a great bass!
With the P Bass, you already fixed the only weak point it has, and that's the pickup. The Antiquity pickup is, in my opinion, better than any p bass pickup Fender produces.

 

[sxaxsx]

Two basses are better than one if:
You want to leave one at the rehearsal space.
You need a backup in case something breaks.
You like having a wider variety of tones, a P and a J.

One bass is better than two if:
I got nothing. I guess if you can get all the tone from one bass and the other just sits in the case unused. I get the desire to have a MIA Fender, I have two. But do it if you want to support American workers, and American made products, not because you think it is going to be magically better than the MIM. Both are Fenders both have the same designs and technology. Both are slabs of wood bolted to slabs of wood. Pickups can be changed, frets can be dressed which will shrink any perceived advantage one has over the other. The main "upgrade" MIA has over MIM is the reinforced graphite rods in the neck and different bridges. Ironically all those vintage basses everyone wants are from long before Fender started doing either so how much of an "upgrade" is it?

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

Thanks so much to all for the feedback. I agree that the basses I have are good/great players. Unfortunately no one around me has an AO to try. I only have experience with their electrics as far as playing/experience goes. I guess I’m in the age old “maybe the grass is greener over there” situation. I did recently play a used Ernie Ball Music Man Special (a $3k bass) in my local GC and instantly the feel, quality, sound, electronics etc were instantly recognizable that I had an incredible high quality instrument in my hands....it played and sounded absolutely incredible....it was inspiring to play. It’s unfair to think my MIMs would be expected to deliver the same quality given the price difference (still holding that they are great in their own right)....I guess my desire is to own a P or J bass that really is an experience like the Stingray above .....I may experiment with some different strings first as those can make all the difference in sound and feel of an instrument. Thank you all for your feedback.

I’ve owned American Fenders and currently own 2 Ernie Ball MusicMan basses. I have owned 4 more at previous times.
American Fenders can’t hold a candle to Ernie Ball. If you like the sound and feel of The StingRay Special…. get one. Keep one Fender PBass for when you want that Fender sound. A good Fender P and a StingRay can cover almost any situation.

There are good deals to be had on used StingRay Special.

 

[uOpt]

I think most people here would say that 1 much better instrument is better than 2 mediocre ones.

The tricky part is that fewer people are convinced that the basic MIA Fenders are much better than the/some Mexican ones.

 

[Aussie Player]

I think most people here would say that 1 much better instrument is better than 2 mediocre ones.

The tricky part is that fewer people are convinced that the basic MIA Fenders are much better than the/some Mexican ones.

Your last line is quite telling because the difference between MIM and MIA is large enough to create a list of items compromised in the MIM to bring the cost down. The problem is, (And I am guilty of same) that posters list what comes to mind when typing, so that is never an inclusive list of the differences between them.

Sometimes there is a positive difference such as a quartersawn neck in lieu of a flatsawn neck on the MIA, but that too, is only if you recognize that as a superior cut and one which brings benefit to the stability of the neck. Does it counter the MIA addition of the graphite rods added to MIA production basses since 1995. I think it does but would an MIA be better still if quartetrsawn? The custom shop seems to think so.........

 

[4andnomore]

In my experience the diminishing returns on p-basses kick in around $900. YMMV.

 

[vindibona1]

I think most people here would say that 1 much better instrument is better than 2 mediocre ones.

The tricky part is that fewer people are convinced that the basic MIA Fenders are much better than the/some Mexican ones.

If you get past the MIM vs MIA and look at the Squier CV's or modified 70's it all gets muddled even more.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Your last line is quite telling because the difference between MIM and MIA is large enough to create a list of items compromised in the MIM to bring the cost down. The problem is, (And I am guilty of same) that posters list what comes to mind when typing, so that is never an inclusive list of the differences between them.

Sometimes there is a positive difference such as a quartersawn neck in lieu of a flatsawn neck on the MIA, but that too, is only if you recognize that as a superior cut and one which brings benefit to the stability of the neck. Does it counter the MIA addition of the graphite rods added to MIA production basses since 1995. I think it does but would an MIA be better still if quartetrsawn? The custom shop seems to think so.........

Yep!

For me, it depends on the bass in my hands at that time.

Neck feel, resonance, intonatable. Those things first, then price and last manufacturer. Country of origin never figures in for me. I will support whomever provides me the best bass at that moment out of the basses I'm looking at, regardless of the location of the human that build it.

True some series may be built with better parts and inprovements, however those inprovements don't always transfer from one piece of wood to another. You can have 25 examples of the same model in a series but find a few klunkers. Might have a better time finding good basses in a particular series or line but each one should be evaluated on it own merits and not on name or place of origin.