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Post subject: Is this a Fender or a Squier? (Fender MB-4)
Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 9:45 am
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Hey everyone, right know i have a Aria pro II TSB-550, but im thinking bout trading it for a little more for this one.

It says it is a Fender MB-4 Made in Japan. But everywhere on the internet says it is a Squier, so im not sure, here are the pictures.

Image
Image
Image

So, im thinking bout buying it for $250 buckss, what do you think?

So, is it a Fender or a Squier? How would this bass be compared to a Standard MIM in terms of quality?

anything you know bout this bass would be helpful


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Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 12:59 pm
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Not too familiar with it, but Fender did make these in the past as a Fender. The Squier version is the Skull n' Bones. The Squier will say Squier (by Fender in smaller script).

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Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 3:15 pm
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By all appearances you have a Fender bass, not a Squier. I have a MB5 and it's real clear it's a Squier. Mine was made in Indonesia yours Japan. I'd have to say, buy it.

Price isn't too bad.

Good luck.


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Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 7:44 am
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perhaps the pictures dont do this justice but it looks fake to me but i havent always seen these around other than on internet pics.
the headstock doesnt look too right for this series and the body seems somewhat small and cheap: even a Squier looks better quality than this but i could be wrong.


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Post subject: Re: Is this a Fender or a Squier? (Fender MB-4)
Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 10:36 am
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Hi.
Maybe this post is outdated but if youre still thinking about it....
Looks like 100% Fender to me. Hopeless to find any info on these on the net Ive noticed. The headstock look fine. The squiers MB head is differently cut. I think the body looks small because of the angle(?). Besides, the Made in Japan with serial number..., fakes are not usually that detailed.
I would say its all good. I like the paint job too, looks very professional.
Ive just bought a MB-5 on ebay, but havent even got it yet. Really looking forward to it. :D
From what Ive gatered these are really nice basses, that probably failed because they dont look like a traditional Fender.

Image


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Post subject: Re: Is this a Fender or a Squier? (Fender MB-4)
Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 12:24 am
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Nice Bass, Very modern.


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Post subject: Re: Is this a Fender or a Squier? (Fender MB-4)
Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 8:52 pm
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The Fender MB-4 and MB-5 were Japanese made. MB stood for "Modern Bass."

What happened was after FMIC got started up they recognized the competition they were getting in lower cost basses and guitars from Japanese companies like Ibanez, Yamaha and Aria. The market share they had grabbed was substantial and FMIC wanted that market share back. Where there had been essentially four professional lines before this time (Fender, Gretsch, Guild & Gibson), there were many more companies in the mix then. FMIC wanted to develop cutting edge instruments to not only compete with the other Asian brands but surpass them.

This led Fender into a project with Fuji-Gen to start a new brand call HEARTFIELD which came to market in 1989. FMIC rounded up some real major league talent in R&D. I mean really major names some of which came from the competition. The Heartfield instruments were awesome. In the time it took to develop them and get production started, the YEN started spiking against the US Dollar, so by the time they came to market they were more expensive than they thought they would be when the project was first started and during the run became practically as expensive as a USA Fender due the shrinking US Dollar. Therefore sales weren't exactly stellar. Why buy the Japanese Heartfield when you can buy a USA Fender for $75 more?

Anyway, these were amazing instruments with serious innovations in some cases. Neck through bodies, low-impedance XLR direct output jacks and better electronics than any top of the line Asian bass made them really first rate instruments though not only then, but even now. After less than 4 years the decision was made to retire the Heartfield line and about 1993 they ended the run.

Two Heartfield designs were continued in production in both 4 and 5 string versions and one of them was rebranded FENDER as the MB-4 and MB-5. The Fender Prophecy also was initially developed as a Heartfield model. These are both really very decent and respectable instruments. They play and feel a lot like an Ibanez but I thought they sounded more substantial and "Fenderish" than their Asian competition.

When the Fender MB series was discontinued in Japan, Squier took over the MB design and moved production out of Japan slapping the skull & crossbones on it to make it look more appealing to the youth market.

In short the Heartfield ones and the Fender ones are great. The Squier ones are better than some other starter instruments but not up to the Japanese made ones by any means. After all, the Squiers sold for about 30% of what the Japanese ones cost. The Squier ones were the last symbol of the failed Heartfield brand and all that work by an international team of all the top guitar and bass minds FMIC could wrangle.


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Post subject: Re: Is this a Fender or a Squier? (Fender MB-4)
Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 9:02 pm
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kasu wrote:
Hi.
Maybe this post is outdated but if youre still thinking about it....
Looks like 100% Fender to me. Hopeless to find any info on these on the net Ive noticed. The headstock look fine. The squiers MB head is differently cut. I think the body looks small because of the angle(?). Besides, the Made in Japan with serial number..., fakes are not usually that detailed.
I would say its all good. I like the paint job too, looks very professional.
Ive just bought a MB-5 on ebay, but havent even got it yet. Really looking forward to it. :D
From what Ive gatered these are really nice basses, that probably failed because they dont look like a traditional Fender.

Image


Are you in Oklahoma or did you buy that while you were in Oklahoma?


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