sounds like it is getting as confusing as EB Musicman-Sterlings etc etc 
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Will Fender still have the MIM basses?
- Thread starter road-cat1
- Start date
And yes, these 'player' models are made in Mexico. So its just the new price-adjusted and renamed MIM Standard
The Player Series looks nice; I like the idea of a more "back to roots" series of basses at a moderate price. I wish they aged the maple fretboards a bit to give them a more vintage look, and Pau Ferro does not look vintage. I heard a YouTube video with the P-Bass and the new pickups sound pretty good. Weren't all of the Player Series basses passive? Maybe they will release active basses under a different series
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Speaking in very <generalized> terms, here is a clip of an article that sums things up nicely:
Q: What is the difference between Alnico and ceramic magnets?
A: Alnico magnets are made of an alloy of Aluminum, Nickel, and Cobalt. Ceramic magnets are made from ferrites (often iron oxides). Magnetically speaking, ceramic magnets produce a stronger field than Alnico. The result is a slightly hotter sounding pickup with more treble response. A lot of people automatically say that Alnico is superior to ceramic in pickups. Alnico tends to produce a very musical pickup in most setups. However, there are fantastic sounding ceramic pickups out there. The reason ceramic has a bad rap is probably due to its use on low quality instruments, in low quality pickups. Ceramic magnets are often useful in high-output pickups to help retain high end that is lost due to overwinding, and help to create crunchy sounding pickups for hard rock, heavy blues, and metal styles.
EDIT: The Player Series is using Alnico pickups in both the J & P basses.
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Its just a MIM Standard! With tweaked options. The MIM standard is a back to roots bass, always has been. Sheesh. They change the magnets in the pickups, give us a few more colorsto pick from, and everyone's losing their minds! The Fender PR department deserves a raise!
I can picture the scene down at Fender HQ:
"Hey PR Department, accounting says we need to raise the price on our MIM Standard lines"
"OK. We'll tweak the options slightly, but call it, get this, 'The Player' line. We'll still build em in Mexico with basically the same everything. But now we can charge an extra $50!"
"Gee, what a swell idea!"
sounds like it is getting as confusing as EB Musicman-Sterlings etc etc
It's not that confusing (albeit Sterling by MM maybe isn't the best of names considering other models).
EBMM - made in the USA; StingRay, Sterling, Cutless, Big Al, Bongo, Caprice
SBMM - Made in Indonesia, finished in the USA; Rays & Subs
This is just Fender trying to pull the wool over peoples eyes yet again.
I want the yellow p bass, mainly because it's yellow.
I am just waiting hopefully for a blowout sale of the suddenly passe MIM standards.
Snooze. I can't see how this line is going to bring new people to the brand. I'm not the type to check the fine print and really dig into the details, but browsing the line on sweetwater didn't give me urge to even click on one for more info. Looks like my jazz or aerodyne aren't getting traded in anytime soon.
I think it’s more because the price to value ratio on the CV series was a little too good. Especially after word got out. That led to a lot of non-Fender players who were sitting on the fence about adding a PB to their collection to start looking at the Squier Classic Vibe series. And that couldn’t have been too good for the MIMs or MIAs. Get yourself a CV and optionally put a top quality pickup in it, and it'll easily hold its own against a Fender. And for about a grand less.
So glad I dropped out of the Fender game- they are just doing everything possible to raise their prices across their whole line.
It might be store or batch specific of models. I posted this exact reddit thread earlier here and someone pointed out a Talkbass member snagged one and noticed no serious QC issues. I wonder since Fender mass produced a bunch at once to "surprise" people may have lead to some missing the mark in terms of quality. My buddy who works at my local GC is at too small a store to have received a single player model. They still have to move older models to make room so I can't see what he thinks.
Its nice to see some new color choices, although I wish you could get a choice of fretboard with every color. Also, the same blah white pickguards on everything, wouldn't hurt to offer other choices there as well...
Also hoping to see the big 70s TV logo make a comeback in some way, some day.
Also hoping to see the big 70s TV logo make a comeback in some way, some day.
I mean they probably are all white because that's likely the cheapest and easiest pick guard option for them.
