Best thing to do is buy what you like and don't worry about value.
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Which is the better Investment, MIA or MIM?
- Thread starter 13lues
- Start date
Yup, treat it like an appliance, buy the one you like the most. Fender makes thousands of bass's per year, I believe there will be next to no value in 2015 vintage MIA or MIM basses. In the future. There will simply be too many of them around.
Perfect answer.
Buy used - given it's a buyer's market right now, you'll see selling prices for used instruments are really low.
As an example, I bought a MIM Fender jazz bass and a MIM P Bass. I bought these instruments for $200 each. Both in excellent condition. I sold the P Bass for $350. (it came with the Badass II bridge and SD pickups already on it!)
Traded the Jazz bass for the SR700 in my pic.
Between the MIM and MIA, I would get the MIA if the right one comes your way.
Buy a used MIA. Wait for the right price and you will not take a hit.
Specific MIA's are a good investment. MIM's will get devalued compared to the newer ones, as CMC tolerances get tighter in correlation with Moore's law. Instruments with more handwork invested= better financial investment. By specific, I meant something a bit more limited, like AVRI's. I'd highly recommend being a bit patient and saving up for that, or a custom shop. Purchase used, and chances you will not only not lose, but make back, were you ever wishing to sell it
Truth. Not only are they great Fenders....the best in my opinion, but they're not being made anymore.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
If you are buying for return on money, you are not only wasting your money, but not getting the bass for the reason you should - because it feels/sounds good.
Either way, you will lose on the deal - pretty equally IMO. None of these are going to be "vintage" for a long time, if ever. Figure out your budget, and go out and play some.
Either way, you will lose on the deal - pretty equally IMO. None of these are going to be "vintage" for a long time, if ever. Figure out your budget, and go out and play some.
Big Hoss
Up note, down note, blue note, brown note...
- Sep 5, 2014
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Unless you get a smokin' hot deal on a legit, NOS vintage instrument, generally speaking, mass produced instruments are a poor "investment", but worthy of purchase for use, as a tool, and for personal enjoyment. Financially most instruments are money pits.
Could not have said it better! Very few new instruments are "investment grade", that opportunity came and went.
Big Hoss
Up note, down note, blue note, brown note...
- Sep 5, 2014
- 5,455
- 4,234
- Disclosures
- None
I'm not going to go so far as to say no instrument is a worthy investment, but you would be exceedingly lucky to get a low enough price on any instrument to make it a good investment... A $50.00 estate sale Stradivarius for example would be an excellent investment, a $2,000.00 MIA Fender Precision Bass Standard not so much...
According to Damodaran, last 10 years the average annual RoR of S&P500 is 7.6% and a 10 year T-Bond is 4.8% so technically speaking neither MIA or MIM are good investments since both will depreciate. Even in the long run it would make more sense to invest in the S&P, average annual RoR from 1928-2014 is 9.6%
Both are good instruments though so you'll likely be happy with either one.
Both are good instruments though so you'll likely be happy with either one.
I agree that the reason to buy a bass is because it's the bass you want to play and not resale value. But since the OP is asking resale value - buying new and selling later, the cheaper the bass, the less you'll lose on it. Everything loses 1/3 of its value or so, and the odds of any current Fender production model becoming a collector's item that increases in value is slim to none. Probably the best advice on the thread is to buy used yourself in the first place. Buy a used MIM for $350 or an MIA for $850, and ten years from now, if you take care of it, you'll probably still be able to sell it for $350 or $850. I think that's how so many TBers manage to go through so many basses - they just rotate them, pretty much.
Having played for many years and see the ups and downs (mostly ups) of instrument costs, this option has really discouraged me lately. While there are a few MIM Roadworns and Artist sigs that I would like to have, I cant see paying a new price for them. Take the Mike Dirnt Roadworn sig.. $1099 new when a US model used to run the same price. Ridiculous! I am sure someone will repl with inflation and blah blah blah.. But I cant even see spending $700 ish on a Dee Dee sig.. Too much for a MIM rig....
I cant see a MIM holding any value or comparable value as does a US model in 20 years... I've seen MIM sigs that sell new for $1099 already going for $400-500 used.
If there is any possibility of a bass being a "good" investment, this is it. Although as someone else mentioned, they are generally not a place to put your money if you want it to grow. Aside from a possible spike in MIJ values, definitely buying used is the best way to lose the least amount of money. Buying pretty much any bass new will definitely result in a similar situation to buying a new car, which is not an increase in value! If buying new, the cheapest thing you can find is probably the best chance to lose the least amount of real dollars. Buy a new squier affinity for $179, figure a 60% loss in value, you're out $100. Buy a new Fender Custom Shop for $3k, a 10% loss would lose you 3x as much money. a $10k Fodera and a 5% loss in value costs you 5x more than the affinity.
This is all well and good until you realize you have to play a Squire.
