Do You Play a Fender Because It's Expected?

[Sid Fang]

I don't play a Fender, because it's expected and defiance of expectation is part of the rock and roll aesthetic. Then again, I don't make a living as a session player, so I can afford to flaunt my eccentricities.

[unclejane]

Originally Posted by MrPierre

Yeah, I understand the time/money concept.

What I was trying to say (english isn't my native language sorry) is that the engineer will have to adjust the EQ anyway because with all the possibilities, each Fender bass will sound a little (and maybe a lot) different than the next.

I understand that some brand will sound nothing like a fender P but rejecting a player just because of a logo on the neck of his bass is plainly stupid.

Well actually no, Fender P's and J's all sound pretty much alike to the sound guys. Yeah yeah I know you paid 10 large for that '58 P, but sorry to break it to you dude... It's not really any different from a 2010 P But seriously, they're all about the same in terms of dialing it in on the board. Their tones don't differ that widely.

We are not in the seventies anymore, we don't have to live by some 40 years old studio-rule just because "that the way it was always done".

Well it's different if you're doing especially session work for a living. Unless you're a celebrity, you kind of have to do what the check-writers want you to do. And that often means a fretted Jazz or Precision.

If it's your own band, of course, where you're paying for the studio time or otherwise doing your own production, who cares. Then you can do pretty much whatever you want to.

In my personal opinion, I can't stand the sound of a Jazz bass at all. A Precision can be acceptable with a really strong right arm, but a Jazz bass can always be trumped by something better. I'm biased by my L2K and especially the Bunny, which records like absolute solid gold.

But for a paycheck.... I'd go ahead and give em the Jazz if they really wanted it.

LS

[BassBob1]

I play fender because I like them. I sound the most like me on a Fender jazz. I can certainly make due on a p bass though. There was probably a year when I didn't own a fender and my main player was a Spector. Then I picked up my current jazz and its been my number 1 ever since.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by Sid Fang

I don't play a Fender, because it's expected and defiance of expectation is part of the rock and roll aesthetic.

Isn't bowing to an aesthetic the exact opposite of defiance of expectation? Besides, your grandparents were saying the same thing in the 50's.

"Rebellion is obsolete. The only way to subvert the system is from the inside." --- DEVO

[Templar]

Originally Posted by unclejane

So it depends on who's got the money, how much, and what kind of a gig it is. But if I were a professional, I'd lean towards being easy to work with and doing what my bosses want. And that'd include playing a Fender if I had to....

LS

This is the crux. No one wants to work with obstinate prima donna's who make demands. You gotta be able to 'ride the bus' too.

How about this; Your band is fortunate enough to get signed, and your manager not only tells you what gear you will be playing, but also what clothes you're going to wear on stage. What then, quit in protest? There's worse things than 'having to play a Fender'.

For better or worse, in the end you're still just the bass player.

[hibachiduck]

I play Fenders because I like them. (that period is meant to be read aloud: "period")

[Mark4]

I expect to play all my basses, Fender or not.

[lolmont]

No because I like the sound like most people do.

[HereIGoAgain]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

"Rebellion is obsolete. The only way to subvert the system is from the inside." --- DEVO

But... Devo has feelings too.

[Tx Basser]

I've owned and played Fenders (over 20 of them) since my first P bass in 1966. (GOD how I wish I had hung on to the ones that are commanding big bucks now...but that is another thread.)

I've played studio sessions and countless live gigs. I play Fenders because I am comfortable with the feel and the tone I get out of them. And if a recording engineer likes it when I show up with a P bass and J bass, then so much the better. We are both happy. But I am not a bass brand snob either. I've owned lost of different makes and models but for my personal preferences, Fenders are my choice and I don't allow others to tell me what brand guitar I should be playing.

[two fingers]

Actually, I started on a Fender in the 80s. Then I rebelled against them for a long time. I was anit-Fender for the better part of a decade or so. But working at a shop that carried Fender, I got to play and setup a lot of them. The Roscoe Beck Sig came in and I really liked it. That's my main player these days and I am gravitating back towards more traditional Fender platforms (although 5ers). Scouting around for a good deal on a P5 these days. But what you are "supposed to play" never really came into play one way or the other during all these flip-flops.

[LiquidMidnight]

Speaking purely from opinion, I totally understand requesting that someone play a Fender (or any instrument) if the producer/engineer/band leader/whomever is looking to get the timbre, tone, and sonic vibe that comes specifically from that instrument. However, this bias towards Fender and utter xenophobia towards anything else is frankly just sad - and that's what it sounds like with some of these people. I get the vibe that many of them are still stuck in 1973 and are freaked out that that Ernie Ball Musicman isn't going to sound like their favorite Bachmann-Turner Overdrive record.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by HereIGoAgain

But... Devo has feelings too.

I love that song!

[LiquidMidnight]

Speaking on this topic, I remember reading a story a while back in which Lenny Kravitz was auditioning bass players for a tour. He had a line of people outside the studio waiting, and he had his manager go out and send anyone home who had a five-string or some other silly criterion like that.

How about hire someone based on, ya know, their music ability regardless of if their instrument has a B string or not? Then if you want them to play a classic looking instrument, you can require them to do so. If I got the gig with Lenny Kravitz, I'd have no problem going and pickup up a Fender P if I didn't already have one. Hell, if you want to hear someone on a classic bass so bad, how about have one at the studio? You're Lenny Kravitz. You still think it's 1975. You've probably never heard of "active electronics," "Pro Tools," or "High-gain guitar amplifiers." I'm sure you have a bunch of Fender basses sitting around.

[awilkie84]

Originally Posted by Templar

This is the crux. No one wants to work with obstinate prima donna's who make demands. You gotta be able to 'ride the bus' too.

How about this; Your band is fortunate enough to get signed, and your manager not only tells you what gear you will be playing, but also what clothes you're going to wear on stage. What then, quit in protest? There's worse things than 'having to play a Fender'.

For better or worse, in the end you're still just the bass player.

Having some 6 figure schmuck come in & tell my established band that's worked hard to get where we are that we have to change our styles & sound is like changing the brain on a person. They're not the same person anymore.

Not worth it. They can either accept our style & who we are, or they can go look elsewhere for their meal ticket.

It's not being a prima dona, it's standing up for who you are and not letting something who doesn't know you from a rock on the sidewalk dictate who that is.

[xray]

No, I play a precision bass because it's the standard that everything else tries to menic.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by awilkie84

Having some 6 figure schmuck come in & tell my established band that's worked hard to get where we are that we have to change our styles & sound is like changing the brain on a person. They're not the same person anymore.

Not worth it. They can either accept our style & who we are, or they can go look elsewhere for their meal ticket.

It's not being a prima dona, it's standing up for who you are and not letting something who doesn't know you from a rock on the sidewalk dictate who that is.

Who you are is defined by the instrument you play?

[2cooltoolz]

In 1965, when I was 13, and in my first band, it was Fender. I saved, mowed lawns, made a buck or two playing and got my first. There were only three real "brands". Fender was rock and roll, Gretsch was country, Gibson was Jazz. I chose Fender.

I'm only 59. Haven't outgrown it yet.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by LiquidMidnight

Speaking on this topic, I remember reading a story a while back in which Lenny Kravitz was auditioning bass players for a tour. He had a line of people outside the studio waiting, and he had his manager go out and send anyone home who had a five-string or some other silly criterion like that.

How about hire someone based on, ya know, their music ability regardless of if their instrument has a B string or not? Then if you want them to play a classic looking instrument, you can require them to do so. If I got the gig with Lenny Kravitz, I'd have no problem going and pickup up a Fender P if I didn't already have one. Hell, if you want to hear someone on a classic bass so bad, how about have one at the studio? You're Lenny Kravitz. You still think it's 1975. You've probably never heard of "active electronics," "Pro Tools," or "High-gain guitar amplifiers." I'm sure you have a bunch of Fender basses sitting around.

Someone coming to audition for Lenny Kravitz, who by that time was an established star on the scene, didn't do their homework if they showed up with a 5 or 6-string active. If I were Lenny, whose tastes for old school tones are no secret, I'd throw them out just for not having any idea what I'm about. And you can complain about it all you want and goof on his tastes, but at the end of the day, Lenny's the one with the gig to offer, not you, and you only have one chance to make a first impression.

Even Gail Ann Dorsey, who always uses MusicMan basses, switched to a Jazz to play with Lenny. She did it because she is a pro who wanted the gig. That's what it boils down to...either you want the gig or you don't. If I auditioned for him, you bet your ass I'd have a Fender with flats at the audition.

[DaRQsiDe]

Tecnically, a HIGH percentage of all the basses out there are either designed by Leo Fender (Fender, MusicMan, G&L) or based on what is designed by Leo.

The standard is set by this guy in shaping electric music through decades.