Which Mustang Bass in 2025?

[Just Wrong]

I'm in the market for a Mustang bass and would love your thoughts on the JMJ, Vintera II and American Performer models. What I'm most concerned with is build quality. The last time I bought a MIM Fender was about 15 years ago, a Road Worn Jazz, and it couldn't stay in tune for more than a couple of songs. I'm hoping that quality has improved since then—how does the build quality compare between the JMJ and Vintera II?

I did try out the American Performer and wasn't impressed with the tone, though I know pickups are easy to swap out. How does the tone stack up on the JMJ and Vintera II?

I watched this video (I found the best Mustang Bass), but it didn't give me much clarity. The terms "Mojo" and "Feel" are way too subjective. The JMJ is priced at $1,349, and the Vintera II is $1,179, both getting a "2" in the "Cost" category, while the American Performer, which is $1,499, gets a "1"? The Performer is also on sale for $1,199 at the moment. I picked the Vintera II in the blind sound test, but the guy used roundwounds on all the basses except for the JMJ. That didn't feel like a very fair comparison to me.

What are your thoughts?

 

[NKBassman]

I haven't tried the Vintera or American, but I had a JMJ for a few years and really liked it. Very high quality, and great sound.

 

[ahbass2500]

I have the original Vintera. Mentioning it to mention quality of the MIM. I had the bass setup and fret ends cleaned up shortly after receiving it. After those were taken care of, it feels/plays great.

I swapped the pickup in mine over to a Nordstrand NM4. Stock pickup was weak to me. Probably could have saved myself this swap by going with the JMJ. Have heard good things about that pickup (believe it is from Seymour Duncan).

I did not even consider the American one. Last thing I want on a Mustang bass is a bridge J pickup.

 

[HelpImaRock]

Squier CV + Nordstrand NM4V.

 

[BGroovy]

I think JMJ (and that's what I chose) due to the pickup. If you're Ok with the relic look and chunky neck profile.

The pickup is fantastic, this can be a weak point in Mustangs.

It's the best MIM Fender I've played/owned. I did some light fret end dressing. It setup perfectly. It's an absolute joy to play and it sounds fantastic. Records really well, sits in the mix where you want to. Sounds even up and down the fretboard.

To me the JMJ is one of those basses I can't put down.

My only slight gripe and this is personal preference, is I don't like nitro neck finishes. I'll probably sand it and oil/wax it. I'm an Ernie ball neck finish fan.

 

[ScarfFace]

The town I live in has a famous guitar shop with each of those models, plus the the Squier Classic Vibe 60's Mustang in stock. I was there a couple months ago to check them all out and ended up leaving with the Classic Vibe. I would have bought it even if it were double the price! The JMJ seemed to be a very well built instrument, but I found the thick neck the most difficult of the 4 to move around on. It was gorgeous and sounded incredible though. The Vintera was the coolest looking of them all and felt really nice, but the price difference between that and the Squier was not justified in my mind. The American Performer felt great all around, but like others, I didn't like the look of the Jazz bass pickup in it, and I've found that at this point I am a "single pickup kinda guy" lol.
If I were to rank them from 1 to 4 factoring in Feel, Tone, Looks, and Cost I think I would do so in the following order-
Classic Vibe
Vintera (only barely over JMJ)
JMJ
American Performer

By the way, my Classic Vibe is dead stock (other than swap for Labella Mustang Flats) and I don't have any plans for upgrades. I did, however buy a Sonic Bronco to mod the heck out of!

 

[fhm555]

Here's mine. It's an FSR PJ Mustang. It's MIM and the build is flawless. I'm not at all crazy about the control setup but I really like the neck pickup soloed. I'm thinking about setting it up VVT and putting a split coil humbucker in the bridge position.

 

[Just Wrong]

The town I live in has a famous guitar shop with each of those models, plus the the Squier Classic Vibe 60's Mustang in stock. I was there a couple months ago to check them all out and ended up leaving with the Classic Vibe. I would have bought it even if it were double the price! The JMJ seemed to be a very well built instrument, but I found the thick neck the most difficult of the 4 to move around on. It was gorgeous and sounded incredible though. The Vintera was the coolest looking of them all and felt really nice, but the price difference between that and the Squier was not justified in my mind. The American Performer felt great all around, but like others, I didn't like the look of the Jazz bass pickup in it, and I've found that at this point I am a "single pickup kinda guy" lol.
If I were to rank them from 1 to 4 factoring in Feel, Tone, Looks, and Cost I think I would do so in the following order-
Classic Vibe
Vintera (only barely over JMJ)
JMJ
American Performer

By the way, my Classic Vibe is dead stock (other than swap for Labella Mustang Flats) and I don't have any plans for upgrades. I did, however buy a Sonic Bronco to mod the heck out of!

I dropped by a store this morning that stocked the JMJ. Tried it and liked it much more than the American Performer.

Decided to give the CV a try based on your comment and, while I preferred the JMJ's nut width, I have to say the CV is impressive... There's no way I can justify paying an extra $900 for the JMJ having played both side by side.

 

[ScarfFace]

I dropped by a store this morning that stocked the JMJ. Tried it and liked it much more than the American Performer.

Decided to give the CV a try based on your comment and, while I preferred the JMJ's nut width, I have to say the CV is impressive... There's no way I can justify paying an extra $900 for the JMJ having played both side by side.

Sorry if I made things more complicated for you! As long as you don't care what's on the headstock (I don't) you really cant go wrong with the Classic Vibe.

 

[Sharko]

It's important to understand that the American Performer mustang doesn't sound like a mustang. Because of the addition of the J pickup, the split pickup can't be a traditional Mustang pickup because 1 coil would always be out of phase with the J. So on this model the split pickup is actually a P pickup in a rounded housing to look like a Mustang pickup.

So if you want the Mustang sound, this option won't deliver. If you want the Mustang look but want a PJ sound, then this or the Player/PlayerII will work.
I wanted a real Mustang pickup, so I discounted these.

For me, I compared the CV and the vintera and couldn't justify the price difference for the vintera, left with the CV. I didn't consider the JMJ because I really wanted a competition stripe.

 

[capnjagg]

If you don't mind used, I'd try and find one of the old MIJ Mustangs. My brother owns one and it's fantastic all around. Otherwise, I'm one more vote for the CV. Our drummer has one at the practice space and it's a lot of fun to kick around on. The price to quality ratio is indeed great, and it still leaves you room for pickups if you feel like you need some (I like the stock tone myself).

 

[Swerve]

I found this video comparison helpful.

 

[Sharko]

don't forget the other used options!

Squier VM mustang, the Duncan designed pickup sounds pretty good.

Fender pawn shop mustang, never played one but they look rad

MIJ mustang, great reviews and great looks.

Squier Mikey Way sig mustang, if you want to stand out on stage and never be heard in a mix, this one delivers hard.

 

[Pet Sounds]

I had a JMJ Mustang, and it was great -- tied with a '50s Road Worn Precision Bass for the best MIM I've encountered/owned. The only reason I sold it is that I'm not really a short-scale player. I don't like any of the P/J models, personally.

 

[Brandon Shea]

Are you planning to use flats or rounds? I never really found a tone I liked with rounds on my American Performer, but after putting La Bella flats on it last summer, it's probably been my most used bass. The pickups are weird (not to mention noisy) and took a long time to get used to. I've had the most success rolling the volume of both pickups back to about 50-60% as a starting point and adjusting from there to tweak the tone.

 

[prndltech]

I like my Nash mustang…


I used to have a Jmj

 

[sunbeast]

It's important to understand that the American Performer mustang doesn't sound like a mustang. Because of the addition of the J pickup, the split pickup can't be a traditional Mustang pickup because 1 coil would always be out of phase with the J. So on this model the split pickup is actually a P pickup in a rounded housing to look like a Mustang pickup.

So if you want the Mustang sound, this option won't deliver. If you want the Mustang look but want a PJ sound, then this or the Player/PlayerII will work.
I wanted a real Mustang pickup, so I discounted these.

For me, I compared the CV and the vintera and couldn't justify the price difference for the vintera, left with the CV. I didn't consider the JMJ because I really wanted a competition stripe.

Actually the Mustang pickup in the American Performer is essentially just a split single-coil, it will hum on its own but you get humbucking with both the Mustang and J pickups turned up just like a Jazz Bass. A traditional Mustang pickup is two identical coils with one wired out of phase so that shared noise between the coils is cancelled out, while in the American Performer they use two identical coils but wire the two coils in-phase so there is no hum-cancellation at all. A P-bass pickup on the other hand uses two coils with the magnets in opposite polarity, and also the wiring phase in opposite directions- this results in hum-cancelling that is also phase-coherent (both coils end up in-phase with each-other). I guess Fender decided that hum-cancelling with both pickups on was more important than a humbucking Mustang pickup in this model, though I suspect many owners would rather have a humcancelling Mustang pickup designed like a P-bass instead based on reviews I've read.

 

[BearlyBass]

I'd omit the American Performer because it's not my vibe. Between the other two, I'd say the deciding factor is neck finish: gloss or road worn. I prefer the JMJ for that reason, but I'd not complain about gigging a Vintera II for awhile. Plus those finishes are sweet.

Pickups are (relatively) cheap and easy to swap, and the build quality is comparable from the ones I've had in my hands. I had a JMJ arrive drop shipped directly from Fender that had its output jack wired backwards, so I don't think these Mexican signature models are getting special treatment in QC.

Also: the used market on these would be my move. I've seen open box Vintera II's going for well under $1,000 on Reverb and the JMJs pop up here all the time right around a grand.

 

[sunbeast]

The biggest attraction for me for the Vintera II are the body contours not found on any of the other modern Mustang models (which all use slab bodies), the biggest attraction for the JMJ is the Duncan custom-shop pickup, the Squier offers a great potential upgrade platform for the price IMO (I actually have a Squier with retrofitted JMJ pickguard and pickup- the JMJ pickup is a different size than the traditional one used in all the other models mentioned). The American Performer doesn't really make much sense to me, but I haven't spent much time with one to be fair.

 

[REV]

I Played a JMJ for a few years but it was not any better than my P bass. Don't get me wrong, as far as Mustang basses are concerned the JMJ (IMHO) is the best there is.