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Eliz Cisneroz

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Aug 2, 2024, 8:33:17 PM8/2/24

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This is really neat. There are subtle differences, except for the USA one with an ash body and maple neck. My Geddy Lee Jazz Bass has an alder body and a maple neck. The neck is very thin. It's a MIJ one but I just love it. Wish he put that in this video for a comparison though.

Fender has done an excellent job of destroying their brand in my opinion. Particularly their American made stuff. In fact that "American Made" label is a bit tricky these days with parts being made in Arizona and shipped to Mexico for finishing and shipped back to Arizona for the "Made in America" stamp to go on. Why would anyone pay $1400 for a USA built jazz bass of questionable nationality when you can get a reasonable Squire equivalent for less then $300...? IF you're the least bit handy you can slap one together yourself for nearly nothing.

My current stock of Fender basses consist of a 83 Fender P bass made in the Fullerton factory and an Active Squire Deluxe Jazz Bass 5 string with a phenolic fingerboard. I would put the Squire up against any American made Jazz 5 string out there. I will never buy another American made Fender again... unless it's just an amazing deal that I can flip.

On other messages boards that are more Fender centric, it is very popular to get an overseas made Fender and then mod the hell out of it with new pickups, toggle switches, pots, and sometimes bridges and tremolos. I find this funny because by the time you slap down all that $$$ in mods, you'd have the money for a used USA model.

I have a MIJ 1975 reissue Jazz. It was built in 94 with block inlays and neck binding. I am the original owner, I love it. Out side of the finish, I don't think there is much of a difference between this and the Geddy Lee model.

I own and have owned several Fender guitars over the years of various vintages,models and countries of origin and haven't had any reliability issues or problems with finish,parts and electrical components in any of them except for my '78 Lefty Strat that developed a bad longitudinal warp in the maple neck but I was sent a replacement neck in under 2 weeks.I doubt very much that many-if any-people could take a blindfold test and be able to tell from listening,which guitars were MIA,MIM,MIC,MIK etc. Ever since the new millennium especially, the quality of Fender guitars has improved considerably and has become way more consistent across the board.The fit and finish of some foreign made Fenders may not be on par with MIA models but that doesn't make them inferior guitars at all,they are still great guitars but the woods especially aren't as high a quality as those used in MIA Fenders,but then again I have played some MIJ Fenders that would blow most MIA Fenders of the same model out of the water.

If you are interested at all in finding out the superlative quality that goes into some MIJ guitars,check out this site: and you'll see some MIJ Fenders and Fender copies that exceed MIA Custom Shop models in price and quality.They also have MIJ Orville and Orville by Gibson and other Gibson copies by Burny,Fresher,Edwards etc. that can give MIA Gibsons a run for their money.For centuries the Japanese work ethic and attention to quality and detail has been legendary and even copied by many North American companies-especially in the automotive industry and now that same diligence has gotten into the guitar making industry.

BTW I recently played a MIC Squier Jazz Bass and wasn't pleased with the neck or the neck action,it wasn't anywhere near my buddy's MIA Jazz Bass for playability and the neck seemed much wider below the 12th fret,to the point that I found it unplayable but then again I have small hands and the bass was only $200 so I didn't expect it to blow me away.That has been the only guitar made by Fender or any of its subsidiaries that I've not been impressed with for quite some time.

A lot of bee ess about Fedner could be ended if people would get in their cars and drive out there for a look around. They will welcome you as a guitar player and be happy to answer anything but business questions while on the shop floor. And while yer at it, you can play anything you see, and man I saw some guitars. You can watch them making parts on machines that Leo bought and modified. You can hold the dies and stamps that Leo and George drew and had made. You can watch them making all the parts that are going down to Mexico to be made into Mexican guitars. You can go through the pallets of beautiful ash, alder, and maple blanks, and if you are of a mind to you can pick one out for your own guitar. Those pallets over there are headed for Mexico, these here are staying in Cali, and it is purely numbers, nobody is singling out the shitty ones for Mexico.

Seriously, I don't understand the repetition of just not true things said about that company. I told our local rep a long time ago that I use Fenders because I love them, and I hate fenders because I use them. I'm not a sycophant or a fan boy, I've had my disagreements with them and when something they make isn't right I have no problem telling them, because I love them.

Yes, I should have said Corona and not Arizona. As for as the other comments go, I'm not sure I should have to drive to California to get a straight answer about where the guitars and their parts are made and finished. You say the necks and bodies for the Mexican guitars are made in Corona on dies and tooling made by Leo.... Then what is Fender doing with all the necks and bodies they make in Mexico?

Ok, I'm not picking nits or arguing. I said "blanks". The wood all arrives at Corona. Some of it is destined for the Custom Shop, but it is clearly marked with a makers name. The rest is just pallets of blanks, and Mexico is getting some and Cali is getting some. 99% of the Maple comes from New York, Ash from down south, Alder from Pacific NW, Spruce from both Pacific NW and also Alaska for the good stuff. It really gags me when somebody repeats the old HCGF bull that somebody pokes through the wood and sends the crap down to Mexico. They don't, and they'd laugh at any such suggestion, and if you saw what they are doing there you'd laugh too. Blanks are sent to Mexico, and they make necks and bodies down there, yes they do.

It sure is hard to get an answer out of them jokers, and I have personally pitched awesome b1tches at them over the decades for just that, I agree with you. Yes, they spray Nitro in Cali. If you remember the mid-late 90's they made California guitars, my #1 is a California Fat Tele. They were made in America, painted in Mexico, have an AMX serial number. That was when they were re-building the paint shop and becoming compliant with whatever regulations there are regarding spraying Nitro and other finishes. They did that so they could continue to spray nitro, and they still do.

The paint shop is about the only place you can't see there, too nasty in there. The Customme Shoppe guys do some of their own painting, I saw a small booth back there with a couple bodies hanging up in it.

My 1400 dollar Jazz says where it is made right on it. My Gibsons do too. I have no reason to not believe them, and even before I ever went out there I never believed some joker on the internet skwawking about parts going in and out and orders to stop doing things and every other line of crap I have read since the internets took off. If you asked Fender where a Jazz was made and they couldn't give you an answer well shame on them, I'd be more pissed at them about not getting the front end up on things than I'd be believing some duplicitous origins of their guitars. There's hardly any money in guitars as it is, you know that, they sure don't do themselves any favors by covering up the origins of their stuff.