ShortScale.org

I'm looking into getting a new 5 string bass. I'm stuck between these two.
Modern Player Jazz V

OR

Squier VM Jaguar V

The Fender is Chinese and the Squier is Indonesian. There are obvious differences, the main ones being price and body wood type. All that aside, Is there a clear front runner as far as quality by country?

In my opinion I think the modern player jazz bass is better, played both those basses you mentioned (when my friend who is a bassist was looking for cheap 5 strings) and noticed the jazz bass had slighter better hardware (like the bridge) and woods and finish etc... I didn't really like anything about the jaguar bass tbh LOL, the modern player jazz bass felt,played and sounded better to my friend and me. But then again everybody is different I think you should try and give both a go and see what you like better.

I think the Chinese Squiers/Fenders are slightly ahead of Indonesian with respect to overall quality.

The Squier J Mascis JM, the Squier Classic Vibe series and all the Modern players are Chinese, and feel a bit more solid than the Vintage Modified range.

That said, the Vintage modified range is pretty awesome. I have a VM Jag, and the VM Bass vi, and I'd say the bass vi was significantly better in quality than the Jag.

I think you can find superb examples of Indonesian/VM guitars, but you might need to try a few, whereas the Chinese guitatrs seem to have a higher degree of consistency.

Modern Player is basically a classic vibe, so I'd say that.