Why does everyone use Fenders?

[Edward G.]

I don't care why you play what you play. If you can't bring it, guess what...

[pica]

I don't play Fenders just because everyone else does. I play both my Squier VM Jazz and my Fender 24 Fret Jazz because I like the quality, I like the sound, and I like the style. And that's all I have to say about that.

[vin*tone]

It's kind of a thing here that there always needs to be a Fender hating vent thread I suppose. Lets out all that hot air.

Play the bass you dig. Why go casting judgements on other peoples choices? It's just small minded.

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by vin*tone

It's kind of a thing here that there always needs to be a Fender hating vent thread I suppose. Lets out all that hot air.

Play the bass you dig. Why go casting judgements on other peoples choices?

Because if you are a "musician" with no gig, no band, aren't recording, probably will never progress beyond that situation and spend your time in Internet geardo-forum "social networking" with other such notional "musicians" instead of developing an actual career, it's the kind of thing you would do, instead of sitting down and shutting up until by some divine miracle you obtain the brief loan of a clue that gives you a more sensible perspective on the concerns of those tiny few who are really playing outside the bedroom.

Obverse of this coin features the ever-popular drooling fanboy.

Real playing in the real world winnows all this nonsense out very quickly.

If you keep in mind the kind of people you're really dealing with on instrument forums, attitudes and obsessions that are otherwise utterly baffling become clear.

It's worse on guitar forums.

Hope this helps those who wonder.

[PDQbass]

For gigging musicians at any level Fenders are a no-brainer, great sound recorded, cut through any live mix, play fast and smooth, built like a brick sxxxhouse.
For bedroom divas/wall-hanging collectors they are pretty boring, no quilted maple, no funny shapes, no hollow bodies, no weird head stocks, no crazy boutique prices. Just my opinion.

[jbailes]

Originally Posted by Bongolation

Because if you are a "musician" with no gig, no band, aren't recording, probably will never progress beyond that situation and spend your time in Internet geardo-forum "social networking" with other such notional "musicians" instead of developing an actual career, it's the kind of thing you would do, instead of sitting down and shutting up until by some divine miracle you obtain the brief loan of a clue that gives you a more sensible perspective on the concerns of those tiny few who are really playing outside the bedroom.

Obverse of this coin features the ever-popular drooling fanboy.

Real playing in the real world winnows all this nonsense out very quickly.

If you keep in mind the kind of people you're really dealing with on instrument forums, attitudes and obsessions that are otherwise utterly baffling become clear.

It's worse on guitar forums.

Hope this helps those who wonder.

Wow dude!

[mongo2]

Originally Posted by Bongolation

Because if you are a "musician" with no gig, no band, aren't recording, probably will never progress beyond that situation and spend your time in Internet geardo-forum "social networking" with other such notional "musicians" instead of developing an actual career, it's the kind of thing you would do, instead of sitting down and shutting up until by some divine miracle you obtain the brief loan of a clue that gives you a more sensible perspective on the concerns of those tiny few who are really playing outside the bedroom.

Obverse of this coin features the ever-popular drooling fanboy.

Real playing in the real world winnows all this nonsense out very quickly.

If you keep in mind the kind of people you're really dealing with on instrument forums, attitudes and obsessions that are otherwise utterly baffling become clear.

It's worse on guitar forums.

Hope this helps those who wonder.

Oyyy....

[PJRL]

Because you can't beat them for the classic Fender sound, they are still doing it right. Simple enough.............

[drTSTingray]

Fashion???

They go out of fashion sometimes - in the early 80s you could barely give them away.

However there are many bassists who have got by just fine without ever being associated with them.

If you like em them buy em, use em and have fun. But those who do please stop telling everyone else they're not a bass player if they don't or are unemployable as a bassist if they don't use them.

For me, some of my favourite bass parts are on Fenders, especially 60s and 70s soul - Geezer Butler, Leo Lyons, John Paul Jones - however they've also been responsible for the bass sound on some of the most appalling middle of the road pop schmulz I can think of - we had tons of it in the UK in the 70s especially - think The Partridge Family.......Smokie.............Jonathan King.........The New Seekers arrrgh - all classic Fender sounds lol!!!! No doubt played by sessions guys on pre CBS basses.......all the guys in bands bought new ones - you know, those 70s basses everyone turns their noses up at.

All in all, I love Fenders but get sick and tired of so many people talking about them. I also know a lot of people who play them who are not employable as bassists simply because they haven't learned to play their instruments properly......don't worry, they still ask people who choose to play EB3, Ric and other makes why they don't play a Fender.

[sigmafloyd]

Originally Posted by Bongolation

If you keep in mind the kind of people you're really dealing with on instrument forums, attitudes and obsessions that are otherwise utterly baffling become clear.

Hope this helps those who wonder.

You summed your own post up quite well

[pasco jacorius]

I'm gonna tell the truth(yeah I can be a mythbuster sometimes). People love fender basses because you can't help but running after that vintage classic sound , even when you're buying a very expensive bass (not for the prestige but for the sound) you unconsciously exept it to sound like a Fender...
Othewise why do we often hear in reviews of those boutique basses 'the neck pickup can dial into this fat pbass tone !!' or ' the bridge pickup can dial into that growly jaco tone' ? Everybody wants the Fender tone.
But they don't do fancy wood or make you look like a so wealthy guy..or maybe some people just want to sound like something modern and different(that's what they say)..so they buy other basses.
But trust me I have a Cort (with modified with US bart electronics) a Warwick(german) , and they do their job and can produce very interesting thing , but nothing beats a well built and well sounding Fender bass(try it first,don't order..) in a live or a studio setting. Exept when you play very heavy kind of metal (death or black or whatever) or some crazy jazz stuffs where you need extra strings or frets or more modern sounds but Fenders can also do that.. Jaco did very decent mordern jazz music that with a 4 string passive jazz bass...now everybody's lazy so they buy 6 strings very active basses (and can't even do what jaco did with a 4 string passive )... I'm kidding of course ,
stringers are nice too.
So play what you wanna play...but keep a Fender somewhere in the house. And keep on focusing on doing music and don't focus much on gear and other GAS related state of consciousness.. IMHO

PS: sorry for the little mistakes, I'm french.

[kurosawa]

Originally Posted by batmilk

Not to hate on Fenders at all, I love the way they look and sound and would definitely love to have one...

<snip>

Is it actually a specific tone these guys want or more of a fashion statement?

Well, it's not really about the brand. Leo invented VOICES. There's the P, the J bridge, the J blended, the MMSR. And he also invented the Tele and Strat voices.

Adolphe Sax was also in that line of work. Besides the entire family of saxophones, of which Berlioz approved, he invented the saxhorn, which evolved into the flugelhorn and euphonium.

And like Leo's best work, Sax's saxophones had a very human kind of voice that players and listeners alike found emotionally satisfying.

As with Leo's creations, the sax had direct competition, like the Sarousaphone, also a conical-bore brass instrument, but with a double instead of single reed (it doesn't survive, but sometimes bone pickers like to fool around with the tromboon, made by stuffing a bassoon bocal into a trombone and taping over the register hole, which might give you a rough idea of the Sarousaphone's sound, which couldn't have come close to the sax in terms of expressiveness or emotional impact).

It makes no more sense to resent Leo's brilliance than Sax's, nor the popularity of the voices he invented. Imagine an argument between wind players that sax players just played sax because everyone else did it and because saxes look cool, but really aren't they a little too COMMON, and aren't tromboons every bit as good?

[tmdazed]

a few of the worst basses I have owned were fenders, first one I had was a MIM seafoam green j-bass, Just did not like the tone mix with the rest of the band, sold it and got a killer used ibanez, worked great. Second was a sunburst PJ, detested the neck on that one, sold it after 3 weeks. Third was made in the US J-bass, hated the neck on that one as well. But that Being said, tons of guys have owned Fenders and made them sing, they Just are not for me.

I also find the look of a bass tantamount to my decision as well , to myself , fenders look like mass production, I like the subtleties in wood grains and custom finishes, I like different shapes other than the standard fat bottom fenders, some can have the same basic shape, but change it enough to give an elegance that I just do not see in fenders.

Tonally , my "Boutique" GMR blows away pretty much any other bass i have owned, Past or present. The combination of Fine tonewoods and good quality electronics makes all the difference to my ear and mixes GREAT with the bands sound.

But really , you should decide for yourself, try several models and Brands and play what you like, not trying to run fender down, just relaying my experiences

[ggvicviper]

Why? Because I told them to use Fenders.

[Rockin Mike]

Owning a Fender gets you street cred with some bandleaders and venue owners. It's worth having one in your arsenal for that reason alone.

You never know when you'll get the call for a country gig.

Yee-haw.

I know Fenders are prominent in many styles of music, but still, Yee-haw.

[sigmafloyd]

80/20 rule. Fenders are the defacto bass and good enough for most people who want to play bass in a band. The other 20% is people who think they need or want "more".

[Rockin Mike]

I had an early 80s Squier affinity in Candy Apple red. It got a lot more respect than my Carvin LB-75 which was superior in every way including tone.

People hear what they want to hear.
Go figure.

[exidor]

I started with a krammer duke for two years went to fender jazz 75 RE for one year then strap fail smashed on to concrete floor,bought ibanez sr 300 played for 8 mo sold it bought Schecter Stiletto Custom 4,two years,I later smashed it to pieces & stopped playing for three years,when started to play again bought Warwick corvette played it for 4 years during that time my brother moved left me to watch three of his basses
USA P,MIM J with messed up neck and one other,that 4th year bought VM77 I missed that 75 RE not the same.one year later I sold Warwick bought G&L l-2000 cool,6mo later sold VM77 & bought used MIJ Geddy Lee jazz think to my self this feels like home in my hands the next day went to hitsville USA got picture taken with lots of other bass players, picture in Bass player mag I'm in the left side of the picture I'm now a big star and it's all because of a fender bass?lost my main job in end of September my brother took back two of his basses left me with MIM J made a frakin bass,last week sold G&L
for money,I will not sell fender I love it and need it to gig twice a week and am looking for a job and that's why every one loves fender basses!

[96tbird]

Man alive!

[maguire]

I think it's a low-risk, easy entry, easy choice for a lot of players.

Good Sound:
The pickups sound how you expect them to sound... generally. P and J control layouts are simple and intuitive for the most part.

Good Design:
The styling is original, recognizable and iconic. Aesthetically, the proportions are well divided and intentional. The designs change very little and remain relevant.

Good Ergonomics:
Not too heavy. Comfortable contours.

Good Marketing:
A lot of price options for a range of people with different income and experience levels. It's easy to find a well-balanced Fender model within a given price or experience range.