My wife has a Standard Jazz bass, and it plays wonderfully. I'm sure the American Standards have slightly better pickups, but it's really an excellent bass, and what has sold me on Fenders for the future.

Well I'm in a position where I can compare both a MIM Strat and a MIA Strat as I own both. A little over 5 years ago I bought my MIM which has served me really well. Its a fantastic guitar. Over this summer I bought a MIA Strat, and it is much more refined and is of higher quality than the MIM but I find that both are still high quality instruments. I've changed the pickups in the MIM which immediately increased its quality. I prefer the feel of the American but I still play both of them pretty equally.

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http://www.youtube.com/guitarmike26

Free & Easy Down the Road I Go

My take on the always volitile MIA vs. MIM debate: I own 2 MIM's (06 & 07) and 1 MIA (03). I play all 3 of them on a daily basis. On the occasion that I pick up 1 of the MIM's first, I always say to myself, this is a nice guitar and plays great. But when I go to the MIA directly after, I say, there's a difference and the difference is noticably better. Just my personal observation. This is not to mention the obvious attention to detail that I see in the MIA. All 3 of my Strats are hanging on my wall. When the light hits them in a certain way you can see a very obvious line where the butt end contour does not blend smoothly on the MIM's. That line is nonexistant on the MIA. It's a smooth transition from cut out to top surface. But, you know what, I still love all 3 of them.