I had the chance to buy a brand new 2011 MIM Jazz V Bass at a very good price.  I already have a couple of MIA ’08 Jazz basses nut I bought this one knowing that if it wasn’t up to par, at the price I had paid, I could move it on easily and not lose out.

When the bass arrived I was very impressed with the overall fit and finish of the bass, as well as a how it played.  It sounded pretty decent too!  I’d have had the same opinion if I’d paid full retail for the bass.  The finish, while not as good as a MIA, was fine and therefore it was a keeper. 

I’ve already upgraded my MIA Jazz V, replacing the p-ups with Aguilar’s and adding a ACG pre-amp so this would be an opportunity to get this MIM to be a sister-ship and back-up for my MIA Jazz V.

So with the bass passing the fist test it was time to get the shopping list down.  Again I went with a couple of Aguliar AG-5J pick-ups and added the ACG filter pre-amp, which I love.  (The ACG filter pre-amp takes a little getting used to but once you’ve done that it is a really flexible pre-amp and makes it real easy to get your sound for whatever room your playing.)  The basic MIM tuners are adequate, but this was an opportunity to add some Hipshots, which are ‘firm’ and ‘nicer’ to use.  I use Schaller strap-lock on all my basses, so put a set of those in the basket as well.

I had previously put a mirror guard on my White MIA J5, which always gets plenty of compliments, so it was a +1 for a mirror guard on this bass too!  The MIMs have shielding paint in their cavities but it wasn’t very thick and particularly with a filter pre-amp, with the potential for a lot of gain control, a little extra shielding isn’t a bad thing, so in went some copper tape.  I’ve had a spare Fender neck plate sitting in my parts box for a while now so this seemed like a good place to use it and replace the stock blank MIM plate.  I’d previously had my MIA J5 PLEK’d and I’d been pleased with the results so to get both basses the ‘same’ the MIM was off to the shop!

So here are the results, my modified 2011 MIM Jazz V, which all told comes in at $20 below the retail cost of a 2011 MIA Jazz V.  

Was it worth it?  Well with some careful purchasing I actually saved quite a bit on that number, so I have to say ‘yes’!