Indonesia or Mexico... does one seem to have better quality?

LOL. The Avalon is totally gratuitous there.

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He did a Fedora video around the same time. I think he may have tested something against the Fedora, but it was more-like a $2000 J bass vs. a $22000 J bass

I will try to dig for it, but I think the $90 one was not up against the Fedora, but it was up against one of his $2000 basses that he has all over his wall, I forget the brand, it is not Enfield like Mark Smith plays, Hmmmmm
I will look it up. But I am sure it is 2 different tests, but if you look at the prices, each test is roughly the same scale of values beinb used. $100 vs $2000. and then $2000 vs $20,000

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No, @Mac and @howard
I am a man, I admit when I am wrong, and when I need to EAT CROW

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In my Defense @Mac and Howard.

This is the video I was thinking about, but the price I stated was wrong.
It is a $400 next to a $3500 bass.
This is a more realistic test, considering I can to tests of $500 SBMM modded Ray4 ro a Stingray and they can get close.

But an Ammoon to a Fedora, thats way out there. But I think the Ammoon held its own in that one too.

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Ah I remember that one too.
There’s all too many out there @T_dub .
I really must stop watching them. It just feeds my GAS lol :joy:

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Sort of. “Fender Indonesia” is not a separate factory. Fenders and Squiers are made in all three factory complexes in Indonesia - the same factory that makes Cort and Ibanez, also the other factory that makes ESP, Yamaha, Schecter and Supro; also the one that makes all the Samick partners like Hohner and Washburn. None of whom artificially limit materials by region like Fender does :slight_smile:

image

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My one and only bass is an Indonesian Squier Jaguar CV. I was really impressed with the build quality and the setup only required minor tweaking out of the box. The componentry is budget but the core instrument is sound.

My strat is a MIM player series and it’s really well built. I’ve actually had two. The first arrived damaged in transit but was setup to perfection. The replacement wasn’t as well setup out of the box so there’s some inconsistency there, but I’d buy another in a heartbeat if something happened to my current one.

My Gibson Les Paul has the highest quality materials but is probably the most shoddily finished of the lot. Sounds great though.

Bottom line, I’m not going to be snobby about the country of origin, I’ll judge based on the quality of the end product.

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This is like a perfect two sentence synopsis of the common general sentiment of Gibson online :slight_smile:

Googling “Gibson quality control” is pretty amusing.

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But I didn’t mention anything about materials. What I was saying is that within a country there are going to be good basses and bad basses made. No country only makes good basses or only bad basses. So its more important to talk about a factory in a country rather than the country as a whole.

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Yes I got that - totally true, and why I said “sort of”. What I was pointing out here is the “factory” you are talking about is not a Fender factory but one of three sprawling factory complexes making guitars for nearly all the vendors. So comparing the specific “Fender” factory in Indonesia with the Fender factory in Mexico isn’t really easy. And then to add to that, there’s the Fender protectionism thing they do to keep the MIA’s (and to a lesser extent the MIJ’s) more desirable parts-wise.

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I don’t have a MIM bass…yet…but I do have 3 Indonesians, and they are all great.

Squire 70 vibe jazz (I still say this thing is amazing, the only knock is component choices, which have all been swapped now, but the body/neck are outstanding.

ESP LTD Rocco Prestia active PJ (great electronics, great burled maple body, inlay work great)

And now the ESP LTD Frank Bello passive PJ (again great all around fit finish, electronics-EMG)

The detailing is lacking on the Squire vs. the other two, not due to country, but due to price point, and, Fender. My upgrades on it put it just around the Bello bass but under what the Rocco bass went for originally.

I have a Chinese Michael Kelly acoustice AE with amazing inlay work that had to be reglued, neck sanded to be really nice, but plays fine now. Fit and finish are meh, but again price point.

The Gretsch I believe is made in Korea, and I cannot say enough good things about all of that bass.

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Today I finally got my hands on the American Performer Precision (€1200). It is the bottom end of Fender basses that are MIA. It felt quite nice to play the finish was amazing, sounded pretty well as well! All around a great instrument

… but wood, build quality and hardware wise it was nothing earth shattering over my MII Cort A4 Plus (€600) or MIM Fender Vintera (€900).

It kinda did not feel “something special” to me as vintera did…

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It’s good you were able to go try it and not have to have it deleviered, unpack, play, set up, play more, decide its not for you, and pach it up and ship back.
So you go back next time and try an EBMM stingray. :wink:

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I did :wink:

That was Indonesian made and costed %30 less…

I really enjoyed the wide but thin neck, the feel and build was great as well. I will however try and find it used. The shop prices are blown out in Italy due to taxes…

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What would be the most expensive MII ?

Here is a contender

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There’s a few contenders out there :heart_eyes:

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This one looks like a winner :star_struck:


ESP LTD B-1005 MS Natural Satin

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That is my Favorite Ray34. If I were looking to get a Ray34, that would be the one I would get.
As a matter of fact, I would trade mine for that one any day.
Mine is a little older, but way harder to find used.
At least, I could not dig many up when searching for price comparison, the only ones I found were in russia, and around $1300 after shipping. They are NEW / OLD STOCK tho, and they are the color of the one Davie 504 has. Mine is very close, but more honey then red on the edges, and maple fretboard, not rosewood.

i still would take that black one with black hardware however. I would put an orange pearl pick guard on it, you better believe that.

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Those are both nice, and Cort in Indonesia was not the factory that was getting bad press due to how they treated workers, so I can live with those.
Plus my Ray’s are built in that factory also, so I am just glad they are not the Korean built. only because that is where they were treating workers poorly.
I love that Schecter, but I think I prefer it in the black / grey
The Cort is gorgeous, still have a little rough time buying their brand, but it is sweet looking.
I am not a huge fan of the fanned fret basses. Who knows, may love them if I played one, but I have a hard time liking the look. That neck mount looks HUGE from this angle. Also, I am more a 4 string fan. do they even do fanned frets for 4 strings?

I realize this is a price contest, so I don’t think you are showing your favorite basses, just the most costly ones.

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The bad worker treatment was Cort in their home factory in Korea, right?

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