New Fender American Vintage Series - Waiting Room

[bassman_al]

This just got posted on my YouTube Fender sub. American Vintage Series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESz0DAVYh9I

This girl that says, "It's like buttah!" cracks me up.

Annie from Sugarland. Hmmm... Not familiar with her work, but listening to her talk and play, um, they probably could have picked a better bassist. But who am I to talk. She makes a living playing bass and I bring in $2k a year doing the same, in a good year! Plus, she is cute (way cuter than me, for sure!) and I'm sure there are a lot of younger players out there who will see her and then get their parents to pay that much for a brand new bass!

That video did not make me want to get a brand new bass. But I never buy new anyway. All Fender all the time for me, but never new. I'm in the wrong tax bracket for that.

[sigmafloyd]

Originally Posted by ShowLow

Sigma, I have turned out to be an equal-opportunity bassist. For every P there is a J. And did I mention that those AVRIs are to die for? So go for it! Once the price stabilizes that is.

Right now I have an odd number of basses. Which means I need to sell one. No, buy. No no no, sell...

I actually have 2 Js and only 1 P now so maybe I need a 58 and 63 P and the 64 Jazz. That should do it

[sigmafloyd]

Originally Posted by bassman_al

Annie from Sugarland. Hmmm... Not familiar with her work, but listening to her talk and play, um, they probably could have picked a better bassist. But who am I to talk. She makes a living playing bass and I bring in $2k a year doing the same, in a good year! Plus, she is cute (way cuter than me, for sure!) and I'm sure there are a lot of younger players out there who will see her and then get their parents to pay that much for a brand new bass!

That video did not make me want to get a brand new bass. But I never buy new anyway. All Fender all the time for me, but never new. I'm in the wrong tax bracket for that.

I agree. Maybe it was the fact that she was playing Jamerson on a Jazz with rounds sounded kind of off to my ears.

[petrus61]

Originally Posted by bassman_al

Annie from Sugarland. Hmmm... Not familiar with her work, but listening to her talk and play, um, they probably could have picked a better bassist. But who am I to talk. She makes a living playing bass and I bring in $2k a year doing the same, in a good year! Plus, she is cute (way cuter than me, for sure!) and I'm sure there are a lot of younger players out there who will see her and then get their parents to pay that much for a brand new bass!

That video did not make me want to get a brand new bass. But I never buy new anyway. All Fender all the time for me, but never new. I'm in the wrong tax bracket for that.

That 58 sounds amazing. Want.

[Hamerguy]

I for one would have loved something different, though I am aware that most Fender enthusiasts just like to stick what's proven right. When I started an interest in musical instruments and bass guitars there were some Fender basses I could only dream about.
A 1983 AV Walnut P-Bass Special would have been nice...
or how about a 1978 AV P-Bass fretless with a maple board?
Yet what I would have liked most is this:


A 1983 Gold Elite II P-Bass. But I guess it is impossible as pickups and hardware were too specific to reproduce. And most of the bass players didn't especially like those features (which could be found on other Fender basses until the early 90's). I was looking for an early to mid 00's Fender American Deluxe P-Bass in cherry sunburst, nowadays quite rare...

[creis2]

I bought a 62' RI Precision and a Highway One Precision right around the same time. Maybe I got a dud, but I found the 62' RI to be very heavy, it did the neck dive thing and for some reason, I couldn't get comfortable with it. I ended up getting rid of it.

My Highway One is one of the best basses I've ever owned. I'm sad Fender discontinued these. They have the nitro body, nice neck with graphite rods and it's very light. They went for $750 new, which was a steal. I'm going to pick up another when I find a good deal on a used one.

Once we start pushing the $2000 mark, I would rather just save a bit more and buy a custom shop or a Lakland.

These basses look awesome, but I'm going to bypass this series and save for a Custom Shop bass.

I really dig Fender's early 70's basses. I like the Nate Mendel one that came out, but I'm not going to buy it because it has his signature obnoxiously on the back.

[chuck norriss]

gorgeous but $3K http://assets.fender.com/frl/25585e4...7cff90b9eb.png

[A-Step-Towards]

Hmm I picked up a lightweight all original and in good shape 1976 Jazz bass from the original owner with the original case for $1700. This was a month ago. Its natural with pearl blocks and a blackguard.The only downside was no pickup covers or thumbrest, other then that it was all good to go. It will most likely hold that value and increase in value, I actually think its already worth more then I paid as it seemed like a nice deal $300-$500 less then they seem to go for.

Anyways I guess that makes it hard for me to buy a '74 RI when I got close to one for less and its actually the real deal.

[satellite4]

Originally Posted by A-Step-Towards

Also I hate covers so I am glad they dont come factory installed otherwise I would have to live with holes drilled in my bass I have no use for.

Amen to that!

[Jawbone]

Originally Posted by Will Kelly

i think they must be high pricing these things at 2K. For that kind of dough, Lakland or Sadowsky becomes an attractive option

Amen - glad I scored my last two AV Fenders at the 1000 dollar range.

BTW: I played my friends Squier CV Jazz today - oh my, that thing is badass, little heavier than the Fender J, but the neck, tone and feel was right on.

Maybe that's where they're trying to swing everyone that doesn't want to pay $2Gs.

[ShoeManiac]

Originally Posted by bassman_al

Annie from Sugarland. Hmmm... Not familiar with her work, but listening to her talk and play, um, they probably could have picked a better bassist. But who am I to talk. She makes a living playing bass and I bring in $2k a year doing the same, in a good year! Plus, she is cute (way cuter than me, for sure!) and I'm sure there are a lot of younger players out there who will see her and then get their parents to pay that much for a brand new bass!

That video did not make me want to get a brand new bass. But I never buy new anyway. All Fender all the time for me, but never new. I'm in the wrong tax bracket for that.

Having Annie from Sugarland assist in the demos was a marketing move, pure and simple. Look at all the other players in the demos: a bunch of dudes. One is a 1st call Nashville player, but I can't say I knew who any of the guys were. Even the one who's playing with Queens of the Stone Age. Her presence in the demos was almost certainly to have a female bassist take part in the video so that it might help draw in female players.

Is it a cynical view of things? Absolutely. But marketing people are very predictable, and the things they do are very calculated.

[Britbonic]

Originally Posted by ShoeManiac

Having Annie from Sugarland assist in the demos was a marketing move, pure and simple. Look at all the other players in the demos: a bunch of dudes. One is a 1st call Nashville player, but I can't say I knew who any of the guys were. Even the one who's playing with Queens of the Stone Age. Her presence in the demos was almost certainly to have a female bassist take part in the video so that it might help draw in female players.

Is it a cynical view of things? Absolutely. But marketing people are very predictable, and the things they do are very calculated.

So since I'm a marketing guy, I'll explain how this type of marketing works. Fender has a new line of basses and they need to develop a marketing campaign to help get the word out. They also have an artist relations/endorsor program where they work directly with well know musicians or musicians who are in high visibility situations (on tour nationally with a top country band for example). Musicians get a deal on gear and early access to new cool stuff. Fender gets direct feedback on new products or ideas from working musicians and the benefit of having their gear in high visibility situations as a great marketing tool. Leo started doing this in the 50s. So who better to have come in and check out some of their new line of vintage basses the above mentioned endorsees?? And even better Fender can post of video of these professionals playing the new basses on their youtube channel with almost 50K subscribers so we can all see/hear what the new basses sound like?? So, yes all of this is marketing, as it's supposed to be. That's what you do when you have new products, you create marketing programs/campaigns to promote them and create interest so that people who feel these are the right products for them will learn about them and maybe decide to buy them.

With respect to including Annie of Sugarland in the video you think she's in the video cause they needed to have a woman in the mix, somehow implying she's not really a competent bass player?? Really?? What is this 1955??

Tal Wilkenfeld, Rhonda Smith, Esperanza Spaulding, Meshell N'degeocello, Gail Ann Dorsey, Julie Slick, Shona Tucker, Kim Deal, Tina Weymouth, Carole Kaye. Any of these sound familiar?

You guys need to do a little research before spouting off about stuff like this. Sugarland has been one of the top country acts for the last several years. I suspect they could have anyone they want playing bass but they obviously think she's a pretty good bass player.

Show of hands, how many on this thread have a gig situation like Sugarland?

[chuck norriss]

Esperanza plays a Jazz bass. They should get her a sig model & marketing campaign.

[pedroims]

Originally Posted by Britbonic

So since I'm a marketing guy, I'll explain how this type of marketing works. Fender has a new line of basses and they need to develop a marketing campaign to help get the word out. They also have an artist relations/endorsor program where they work directly with well know musicians or musicians who are in high visibility situations (on tour nationally with a top country band for example). Musicians get a deal on gear and early access to new cool stuff. Fender gets direct feedback on new products or ideas from working musicians and the benefit of having their gear in high visibility situations as a great marketing tool. Leo started doing this in the 50s. So who better to have come in and check out some of their new line of vintage basses the above mentioned endorsees?? And even better Fender can post of video of these professionals playing the new basses on their youtube channel with almost 50K subscribers so we can all see/hear what the new basses sound like?? So, yes all of this is marketing, as it's supposed to be. That's what you do when you have new products, you create marketing programs/campaigns to promote them and create interest so that people who feel these are the right products for them will learn about them and maybe decide to buy them.

With respect to including Annie of Sugarland in the video you think she's in the video cause they needed to have a woman in the mix, somehow implying she's not really a competent bass player?? Really?? What is this 1955??

Tal Wilkenfeld, Rhonda Smith, Esperanza Spaulding, Meshell N'degeocello, Gail Ann Dorsey, Julie Slick, Shona Tucker, Kim Deal, Tina Weymouth, Carole Kaye. Any of these sound familiar?

You guys need to do a little research before spouting off about stuff like this. Sugarland has been one of the top country acts for the last several years. I suspect they could have anyone they want playing bass but they obviously think she's a pretty good bass player.

Show of hands, how many on this thread have a gig situation like Sugarland?

As I finance analyst for the MKT team in the largest private company in US ..you and me know that marketing is BS..is about make people think that the new product is cool, nice and they need it, they need to attack all segments in the market, thats why they have an old guy, a young cool guy, a mature good looking guy, a fat ugly guy and a nice lady bla bla bla...has nothing to do with their talent but with what the video producer though was good to meet Fender request and of course Fender endorser are cheaper than Hollywood actors.

[bassman_al]

All I was trying to say us that she seemed a bit less polished and a bit out of place. The list of female bassists is very familiar to me. I was surprised that Fender chose Annie over all of them. But what do I know. I've been playing bass for 25 years and in that time probably haven't made as much as she did at her last gig. My wife says Sugarland is very good. She has a CD. Maybe I will take a listen.

[Mind Eroded]

Originally Posted by Hamerguy

I for one would have loved something different, though I am aware that most Fender enthusiasts just like to stick what's proven right. When I started an interest in musical instruments and bass guitars there were some Fender basses I could only dream about.
A 1983 AV Walnut P-Bass Special would have been nice...
or how about a 1978 AV P-Bass fretless with a maple board?
Yet what I would have liked most is this:


A 1983 Gold Elite II P-Bass. But I guess it is impossible as pickups and hardware were too specific to reproduce. And most of the bass players didn't especially like those features (which could be found on other Fender basses until the early 90's). I was looking for an early to mid 00's Fender American Deluxe P-Bass in cherry sunburst, nowadays quite rare...

Those Elite II P's always seemed interesting. I wonder if we will ever see Fender making vintage reissues of select '80s models. I dont think the market demands it yet..maybe when the current 50's/60's/70's 'nostalgia' period/trend dies down a bit.

[Mastermold]

Originally Posted by Mind Eroded

Those Elite II P's always seemed interesting. I wonder if we will ever see Fender making vintage reissues of select '80s models. I dont think the market demands it yet..maybe when the current 50's/60's/70's 'nostalgia' period/trend dies down a bit.

Don't know, they are cool. Mine has been with me since '85 and is a really nice P-bass.

[Buster Brown]

Originally Posted by Britbonic

So since I'm a marketing guy, I'll explain how this type of marketing works. Fender has a new line of basses and they need to develop a marketing campaign to help get the word out. They also have an artist relations/endorsor program where they work directly with well know musicians or musicians who are in high visibility situations (on tour nationally with a top country band for example). Musicians get a deal on gear and early access to new cool stuff. Fender gets direct feedback on new products or ideas from working musicians and the benefit of having their gear in high visibility situations as a great marketing tool. Leo started doing this in the 50s. So who better to have come in and check out some of their new line of vintage basses the above mentioned endorsees?? And even better Fender can post of video of these professionals playing the new basses on their youtube channel with almost 50K subscribers so we can all see/hear what the new basses sound like?? So, yes all of this is marketing, as it's supposed to be. That's what you do when you have new products, you create marketing programs/campaigns to promote them and create interest so that people who feel these are the right products for them will learn about them and maybe decide to buy them.

With respect to including Annie of Sugarland in the video you think she's in the video cause they needed to have a woman in the mix, somehow implying she's not really a competent bass player?? Really?? What is this 1955??

Tal Wilkenfeld, Rhonda Smith, Esperanza Spaulding, Meshell N'degeocello, Gail Ann Dorsey, Julie Slick, Shona Tucker, Kim Deal, Tina Weymouth, Carole Kaye. Any of these sound familiar?

You guys need to do a little research before spouting off about stuff like this. Sugarland has been one of the top country acts for the last several years. I suspect they could have anyone they want playing bass but they obviously think she's a pretty good bass player.

Show of hands, how many on this thread have a gig situation like Sugarland?

I don't know anything about Sugarland, but I know this, these players were brought in to hype these basses. I have no problem with that. I own a 57RI, a 62RI and a 75RI. Each one of these play as well as any of these new "Reissues" but cost (apparently) one hell of a lot more than their predecessors.

Simple marketing. Nothing more.

[Harpo61]

Wow this one tough crowd .

[rigorous bass]

They look great! I guess the only way to know if they are worth it is to actually try them out. I won't compare them to ”boutique” Fender copies till I do. By the way, I have a 62 AVRI P bass on it's way to me. Hopefully this settles my lust!