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assemble a j-bass or get upgrade an sx?


eor

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title says it all, pretty much. should i try to locate a real fender body/neck, etc, or just get an sx and swap out the pickups and stuff?

 

is there a place that can tell me the difference between mia/mim/mij/miwherever parts? should i look for or avoid certain things? i'm not looking to spend a lot of cash, nor own a piece of crap. hunting down parts allows me to space the financial burden out, which i am ok with. bang for the buck is how eor rolls.

 

the bass will be for recording, mainly. it won't be used very often, as i'm not primarily a bass player, and i usually go with an acoustic guild i have for recording. which is why i don't want to tie up a bunch of cash into it.

 

love,

eor

 

i got the idea because a friend bought a mia j bass body and p bass neck on clearance at gc and put together something really sweet. nitro = :love:

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is there a place that can tell me the difference between mia/mim/mij/miwherever parts?

 

 

The serial number will tell you that. Take a look at Fenders website and get familiar with their system. It's fairly straight forward...like MIM S/N numbers start with MZ or something like that...

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If it were me (and eventually I plan on doing so), I'd go the Warmoth route.

 

You could get an SX and upgrade it, and it would probably be fine, but if I'm going to take the time to customize a bass, I don't want to skimp on any single area so that I can be sure that there is no part of the bass that is weaker than the other.

 

YMMV.

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If cheap is the objective do the SX with the bare minimum of upgrades, then save up for a better instrument.

 

If a reasonable bass for a bit more of an investment is more the point, I'd buy a mim or squier and do something similar as you intended to do with the SX.

 

Better than these two options is a USA Custom or Warmoth assemblage as both companies do very faithful Fender replacement parts and build a quality product.

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it depends what you want to be left with

a label bass

or

a killer sounding bass which has no pedigree

 

upgrading something is easier imho than starting with all that bolting together and painting

 

on an SX i would expect to swap out the pups and do the bridge and be happy at that

 

once set up decently AND fed through a compassionate and pedigree head and cab you probably have a good combination....

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it depends what you want to be left with

a label bass

or

a killer sounding bass which has no pedigree


upgrading something is easier imho than starting with all that bolting together and painting

 

 

'Pedigree' is meaningless and overrated. Any Warmoth product I've seen is noticibly in a league beyond every Fender product I've ever seen in terms of build quality. Easily. There's also USA Custom Guitars that have a great reputation for bodies and necks. A Warmoth neck and body built up with your prefered pups and hardware would be an excellent bass by any standards, and even more so when you're talking about a simple four string jazz bass. Doesn't matter if it has a brand name on it's headstock or not, it's a superior bass.

 

Also, you don't need to paint anything if you let them do the finish work, and they do a very good job. I'd put my Warmoth Explorer finish up against any bass out there in terms of a quality, beautiful finish.

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I would get the fender if you can afford it, or an SX and upgrade.

 

Don't put a parts Fender together, because at least you can use the SX as soon as you get it.

 

IMO you will end up paying more for a parts Fender bass than a new equivalent, unless you get lucky.

 

A Fender/Squire neck won't fit on an SX BTW, and SXs like Squires do require some finishing work in some cases...they are still a cheaply made basses.

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damn, so many things to consider. i guess i'm a little worried about buying fender parts off of ebay sight unseen, and i'd also have to pay someone to assemble everything once i have every last part i want.

 

but it would be nice to have my very own custom eor bass, even though it won't get played much, making it a shame to put so much time and effort into it. not to mention the $800 + bucks.

 

i'm liking the warmouth/usa customs route, but their finishing prices are a dealbreaker for me. and an extra $80 for a fretless neck! :( too bad their necks aren't compatible with sx bodies.

 

love,

eor

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damn, so many things to consider. i guess i'm a little worried about buying fender parts off of ebay sight unseen, and i'd also have to pay someone to assemble everything once i have every last part i want.


but it would be nice to have my very own custom eor bass, even though it won't get played much, making it a shame to put so much time and effort into it. not to mention the $800 + bucks.


i'm liking the warmouth/usa customs route, but their finishing prices are a dealbreaker for me. and an extra $80 for a fretless neck!
:(
too bad their necks aren't compatible with sx bodies.


love,

eor

 

 

Dood, don't sweat it, just wait a little longer and save up for what you really want. It is so worth the extra wait and cost to get what you want, rather than spend a lot of money on a bass that's only close enough. As hard as it is to do, keep saving for a bass that will be something special to you. You'll be much happier in the end.:cool:

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ok, looks like it has been decided. the winner is...

 

someone else!

 

as it turns out, by some crazy coincidence, by brother also wants to buy a jbass in the coming months, for recording only. but he's kinda funny about lower end gear- he wants to "buy it right the first time" and usually insists on having the best. which i understand, but eor is more of a "bang for the buck", "driver, not the car kinda guy".

 

so we talked it over and went over the available options. new mia fender, new warmoth and assembling one from fender parts on ebay. the mia figures to go for around $1200 after tax, our warmoth was about $900 (unassembled, just the parts and hardware) and he's too leery about a used one or putting together parts. the concept of value and mojo were lost on him.

 

so it looks like sometime in the future, we'll be splitting the cost of a new mia jbass. not having to deal with the cost and hassle of having someone assemble a warmoth bass and having a nice resale value were the deciding factors here.

 

thanks to all for your input.

 

love,

eor

 

for the record, after hours of research, i had decided the best (and cheapest) way for me to go was to purchase and upgrade a mim jbass. lost of whole basses and parts on ebay. so i guess everyone wins.

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