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On January 30 2014 08:23 Mikau wrote:Show nested quote +On January 30 2014 00:16 Ben... wrote: I own one (or more) of each MIA, MIM, and MIJ and here's what I've noticed. I've been a Fender guy for a long time so I guess I can chip in. I guess it helps that I'm also kinda nitpicky and like to tinker with guitars.
Quality-wise, the American and Japanese are about on par, maybe a small edge to the American stuff, and both are noticeably better than MIM in most, but not all, cases. When I did a complete teardown, I found the American Strat I own is basically flawless. The frets are perfectly dressed and levelled, the finish is perfect, and it stays perfectly in tune as the bridge seems to be quite a bit more stable than the old style bridges found on MIMs. The necks on the newer (post-2007) American instruments are significantly better than MIM (pre-2008 they are about the same. They changed them for 2008). On instruments with maple fretboards, the back of the neck is satin while the fretboard is gloss, which I do think is the ideal way for a maple fretboard neck to be. For the cost you do need to keep in mind they come with a beefy hard case, which I imagine factors into cost a bit (the case for my Strat is really nice). Structurally, there are very few if any issues in any of the American instruments I've played. The neck pocket in my Strat is perfect and is nice and snug without being too tight. In constrast, the pocket in my MIM Precision Bass requires a fair bit of shimming to get the action (string height) to a playable level.
That said, there is nothing wrong with MIM. 99% of people will be perfectly satisfied with them if they find a good one. For the price doubly so. I certainly like mine. There are MIM instruments that are on par with MIA quality-wise, I have no doubt about that. You just have to find them. The issue is that the quality of the instruments can be hit or miss so trying before buying is a must. I've owned 5 MIM instruments over the years and have sold all of them but 2. It is all about finding the good ones. The one Strat I sold was a FSR (special run) Strat that sounded great but had huge issues with the frets that no amount of tinkering would fix outside of a refret (I didn't notice it when I played it at the shop. Now I take more time to check for flaws). Likewise, I also had a 5 string Jazz Bass that had 3 different high frets that had to be brought down. That bass also had issues with tuning stability. I sold it to get my current main fretted base, which is a MIM Classic Series 50's Precision Bass (All the Classic Series stuff is astoundingly good. I am getting a Classic 60's Jazz sometime in the future). My Precision was a b-stock, so I knew it would have a couple issues to fix, but so far it has been the best MIM instrument I've owned. Other than the neck pocket and a high fret, it has been great. This is what I mean when I say you have to find the good MIM stuff. I thought the P-bass was butt ugly when I saw it at the store but was completely blown away by it when I played it. It continues to be one of my all-time favourite fretted basses. My first guitar was a '96 MIM Strat, and it also is quite good. It has endured many botched repairs over the years and continues to play great. It has the most stable neck of any instrument I own. It never shifts with temperature changes. With an upgraded set up pickups it sounds great too.
Japanese Fenders are definitely the happy medium, or they would be if they were easy to get. They're roughly the same cost as MIM while being roughly the quality of MIA (in Japan anyway. Importing drives the cost up quite a bit. I'd only recommend it for instruments you cannot get a MIM version of). I've had my MIJ fretless '62 Jazz Bass for over a month now and the thing continues to blow me away every time I play it. I've taken it apart multiple times (truss rod is on the heel of the neck so I kinda have to take it apart to adjust the neck) and the neck pocket is just as good as those found in MIA. Snug but not so tight that it feels like you will chip paint removing it. The common comment people make about MIJ is that they are MIA quality but with worse electronics, though I haven't noticed as I quite like the vintage-style pickups in my Jazz. The finish is great, as is the neck. I love Jazz Bass necks in general (they're wider than Precision Bass necks and slightly thinner) but this one is especially good. It has no flaws from what I have found (though with no frets there's less to go wrong). The bridges on the Japanese basses are much nicer than those found on MIM basses, much heavier. Sadly, Fender has pretty much stopped using MIJ for the international market and have reserved them for Japan only now outside of a couple artist models. The Geddy Lee Jazz Bass and many other artist models used to be MIJ, as were many special run instruments but most have switched to being MIM. Now they basically only use MIM outside of a couple things like the Marcus Miller Jazz Bass. The domestic market Japanese Fenders are by far the coolest from what I've seen. They have a lot more variety to the selection of instruments available. But since they are domestic market you can't get them outside of Japan unless you go through a place that does importing (I did. It went perfectly smooth. Was stressful though because I don't trust the post office with fragile stuff).
Wow, thanks for the very thorough explanation. There's a few second hand strats (mainly MIM but some MIJ) being sold nearby, but most of them are around the same price as a new one in a shop a little further away. I'm seriously considering driving over there to look at their Standard Stratocasters (MIM) and maybe buy one. I'm a little worried about one thing though. First of all, I can't really play it. I can do what some other website recommended me (check the neck is straight and without dents, play all frets on all strings to check for rattle or buzz), but as far as judging sound goes I'm a total newbie. Not only that, compared to what I have at the moment (literally the cheapest guitar I could find online) every guitar will sound great. So I'd basically just be buying it with the idea that it's a Fender so it'll probably be good. On the plus side, the store offers a free tune up now and a second one 6 months after buying it so how wrong can I really go? Tone issues can usually be resolved in most cases. A warped or twisted neck cannot. Inspecting a guitar for issues is usually just as high on my list as tone. The inspection recommended by the other site sounds pretty good. That is what I do. Playing each fret is a great idea. A high fret can be a real pain to deal with so avoiding a guitar with one will save a lot of frustration. You will gain an ear for tone with time, so don't worry too much about that. A better quality guitar, especially when stepping up from a cheap model, is something anyone can appreciate.
On the tone thing, keep in mind that MIM Fenders are a great platform for modification, so if later on you don't like the tone, fixing that will not be tough at all. Swapping pickups in a Strat-style guitar is fairly straightforward.
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So I was looking at the new Amplifi from Line 6. It sounded nice in the videos, the software app looked amazing, annnndddddd then I find out it's iOS only. What a buzz kill. Now before I could understand that coding for Android was bad since they had 20 million different device standards, but Android's SDK has come a very long, long way. It is a lot more standardized.
Funny thing is that the app is only supposed to be a remote, all of the effects and such is coded into the amp itself. Also more funny is that the amp serves as a Bluetooth streamer of music and it reads Android just fine for that. Now I know the super deep reason it doesn't work is due to the tie in to iTunes to match guitar tunes to the music so you can jam over top the music that's playing, but it seems like they could have dropped that part for Android users and just let us have our version of the remote w/ all the effects and amp simulators and such.
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All the good music apps are on iOS. I just bought a few iStomp pedals to fuck around with and I need iOS to change what pedal they are... so I can only mess around with them when my girlfriend is over or I'm at band practice.
I played this guitar yesterday at the carvin store in hollywood. It's is definitely the best guitar I've ever played and best sounding. It's a new model they've introduced, and the natural body binding is gorgeous. Since I just got hired at a new job that pays a lot more, I think I may have to reward myself by ordering one.
Grats Wombat on the band, I can't wait to hear your stuff!
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Hey TL! Anyone familiar with Audioslave's Like a Stone? I'm having a hard time getting the right effects. Of the Pitch Shifter up 2 octaves I'm sure, but the rest, I don't know. I've been playing with the Wah and a Ping Pong Delay and it's getting there but something's missing. I don't know how to get that amazing sound of Tom Morello. Here's the link for the solo Thanks!
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Italy12246 Posts
I think he uses his whammy/pitch shift to slide into the notes; also sounds like there's some funky EQ going on like a wierd Wah.
Tbh his solos are always hard as hell to figure out.
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Unfortunately, one of those puppies costs more than a month of salary for me I usually slide into the notes and then apply some vibratto but it's still very different. When I listen to my version of the solo it sounds very sterile and empty, it's like a screech while his sound is "full". I don't know how to explain.
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Northern Ireland20729 Posts
@renoB haha yeah could be fun. that said I genuinely want to get the TL Brood War cover done before then!
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So, I bought myself a Fender Standard Stratocaster Plus Top (MiM) and Mustang I amplifier. Brought it to a luthier straight away to get it checked out and everything adjusted. I really like the guitar so far, it's gorgeous and plays really smoothly. Still getting used to the amp (having some trouble getting clean sound from it, there's just too many effects and presets to toggle between and that's without even using the software so far).
Meanwhile, I'm getting frustrated at the speed, spread and strength in my hands. I realise this is supposed to come with time but it feels like my brain and hands are too slow for what I want at the moment. I'm not sure if I'm setting my sights too high but when for example playing the bit right after the intro of Iron Maiden's The Trooper (the bit that's just on the 7th 8th 9th fret on the highest 3 strings) even playing it on 10% normal speed is way too fast for me. Now I realise that trying to play stuff that's way too hard for me at the moment on really low speeds is hardly the ideal way to practice but it was just something I decided to do to change it up.
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Italy12246 Posts
it feels like my brain and hands are too slow for what I want at the moment.
I still feel the same after 10 years don't worry xD
The Trooper is a pretty tough song to learn. You should try something easier; if you are into Maiden, go for (most of) Running Free, anything but the harmonies should be doable if i don't recal wrong.
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I'm not that into Maiden (I like a couple of songs but other than that not so much), I basically just alternate practicing 'technique' and songs. The Trooper was a random pick from Rocksmith's track list. It just felt like I should be able to play that 5 note little riff if I just turned it down to slow enough speeds and was annoyed to find out that that was too much to ask.
I guess even non ideal practice is practice, and everything that makes my fingers surer of themselves helps though.
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Northern Ireland20729 Posts
One day I will post my 'get fast the Wombat way', but as it's considered terrible practice I may abstain for now
Basically, I found if I practiced slow and tried to build up incrementally I'd eventually plateau, or my muscle memory would be 'locked' below 100% tempo. Now I just try everything slow to get an idea of the shapes and once done grind it at 100% tempo until tight.
I have many flaws but latent handspeed isn't one of them :p
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On February 03 2014 06:15 Mikau wrote: I'm not that into Maiden (I like a couple of songs but other than that not so much), I basically just alternate practicing 'technique' and songs. The Trooper was a random pick from Rocksmith's track list. It just felt like I should be able to play that 5 note little riff if I just turned it down to slow enough speeds and was annoyed to find out that that was too much to ask.
I guess even non ideal practice is practice, and everything that makes my fingers surer of themselves helps though. Before playing, something fast or challenging spend a couple of minutes thinking of playing it. Play it in your mind without the guitar, think about how it sounds and how your fingers should move. Sounds weird, I know, works nonetheless.
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On February 03 2014 06:36 Wombat_NI wrote: One day I will post my 'get fast the Wombat way', but as it's considered terrible practice I may abstain for now
Basically, I found if I practiced slow and tried to build up incrementally I'd eventually plateau, or my muscle memory would be 'locked' below 100% tempo. Now I just try everything slow to get an idea of the shapes and once done grind it at 100% tempo until tight.
I have many flaws but latent handspeed isn't one of them :p
That sounds like a fast track to throwing your guitar at the ground haha.
Honestly the best advice I can give to a new person playing is to play with a metronome, use all 4 fingers in the proper positions and learn to alternate pick each note. It's difficult but it will save you so much time if you learn it now than in the future.
I never used a metronome to practice until recently. I used to just play slowly and speed it up as I was playing it. Then I'd get frustrated. It helps so much to play at a timed slow pace to build muscle memory and increase the speed in increments. It definitely takes patience but I've noticed a huge improvement for myself as I find my left hand to be much more clumsy than my right.
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If anyone could help me locate an SSH Stratocaster with a maple neck with natural or sunburst finish, I will - literally - be eternally grateful.
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Italy12246 Posts
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I love my Les Paul Studio Fireburst finish, but god damn those sunbursts are beautiful. I wish that I liked the way Strats played/sounded more, they're beautiful guitars.
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Italy12246 Posts
I'd so sell my soul for the last one
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The second to last one is my favorite, personally. But I've always like the darker Strats. Really gorgeous finishes on all of them though.
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Italy12246 Posts
Fuck i wanna play my strat now. I should getting it back from my luthier this week after a pickup swap and general electronics revamp/clean up (the pots were scratchy as shit after way too much abuse), so looking forward to it.
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