hey i was recently looking at jazz basses and looking at the huge price difference between the american and say mexican or something like that. and really what is the big difference? please tell me!
i play a fender telecaster and i need to know about effects!
Hi,
Some form of this question seems to get asked here, or in the Beginners Q&A section pretty much every week. (Check out the "Will I notice a difference?" thread further down this page for instance, or "Which Guitar" asked recently at the Q&A forum).
The usual answer seems to be that there may well not be a huge difference, but there may be smaller differences that you might think are worth paying a fair chunk of money for.
The biggest difference seems to be the labour cost in the country of origin, so you may get a better guitar for twice the money, but it's not likely to be twice as good.
The advice I've usually seen given whenever this is asked is to play them all and buy the one that sounds and feels best to you - regardless of price or brand. Overall, you should find more good ones on the expensive rack but there's no guarantee of that.
Apparently some of the expensive ones aren't all that good, and some of the cheaper ones are great, you just need to try them all. Personally I avoid the real cheapos, but I've found some good value in mid-range instruments. If you can't tell the difference yet when you play them, then it may not be the time to buy an expensive one just yet.
Good luck. :)
Where's the "I have no idea" option?
I belive the MIA's are made of alder and the MIM's are made of poplar(bodies). The quality on the MIM's are not as consistent as that on the MIA line....that being said, I'm sure there are gems in each. the MIA is supposed to have a deeper warmer tone because of the wood. At first you wouldn't notice much of a difference probably, but you would probably notice a difference as time went on. Also fret dressing, and things like that will be more impressive on the MIA bass. I've also heard the electronics/wiring is inferior on the MIM's. All and all though, you can find nice MIM's and nice MIA's. Just use your ear...there is no yes or no answer to this question.
Guitarin' isn't a job, so don't make it one.
