I've never had any difficulty rocking out on a fretless 6 string with 7 knobs and a switch.
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A personal insight on Fender popularity...
- Thread starter stflbn
- Start date
I've never had any difficulty rocking out on a fretless 6 string with 7 knobs and a switch.
Disclaimer: I'm a Fender fan boy
OK - I can honestly say that all things aside - tone, necks, design, blah blah blah....the only basses that really catch my eye on a regular basis at a large music store with variety are Fenders. There are of course some exceptions, but when I walk by an olympic white jazz with red tort guard my reaction is WHOA! There are very few outside of Fender that ever get my attention just by walking by them. I think that says a lot. Sure, I'm in love with my tone, action, and everything else that comes with a fine MIA Fender Bass. I'm still impressed every time I open my case though.
OK - I can honestly say that all things aside - tone, necks, design, blah blah blah....the only basses that really catch my eye on a regular basis at a large music store with variety are Fenders. There are of course some exceptions, but when I walk by an olympic white jazz with red tort guard my reaction is WHOA! There are very few outside of Fender that ever get my attention just by walking by them. I think that says a lot. Sure, I'm in love with my tone, action, and everything else that comes with a fine MIA Fender Bass. I'm still impressed every time I open my case though.
Heh... case in point.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=464493
First two responses are to buy Fenders. OP merely wants to play 'rock, Classic rock, 90's rock'.
.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=464493
First two responses are to buy Fenders. OP merely wants to play 'rock, Classic rock, 90's rock'.
.
Don't know if I can answer your question or not but just my experience here:
I don't have much exposure to different brands of basses. I mainly play Peaveys and have tried other brands on recommendations of guitarists (I saw the other comments about that...what is it with guitar players thinking they know what type of bass a bass player needs anyway?) but didn't like any of them.
Now my T40 is a tone monster -- everyone knows that or should know that about the infamous Peavey T40, so thinking of something that can top that to me was a feat. My Dyna bass is the first bass Ive ever had that had active EQ...it sounded great 'off' but when I turned it on, WOW... and my foundations ROCK too even if they are a bit mellow right now with dead strings... I mean Peaveys really have some nice sounding basses I think. BUT...when I took my Pspecial out of the box, tuned it, strapped it on and plugged it in for the first time. I hit my first note on it and it blew me the freak away... I was like
My practice amp cant handle it at all. The sound difference is just stunnng to me. Does that make my T40 and my other Peaveys anything less? Not by any means but holy crap!!! that Fender still amazes me every time I plug it in and play. 
(my Squier VMJ is pretty darn stout too and my guitarist loves the way that one sounds .... 
though his favs are the Pbass and the T40 )So take that for what you will. ^_^
Are any of the Fender suggestions bad suggestions?
How about we go back to my vegetable scenario.
O.P. I'd like a vegetable to go with my steak.
Reply 1. Potato
Reply 2. +1 Potato is great with steak.
Your reply: any vegatable will go with steak. Go try them all, and pick one that moves you.
All are legit reply's, although, potato is far more to the point, and will work just fine.
Im sorry im missing your point , the first two responses seem perfectly logical to me , good basses for rock and within the $300-$550USD price range
Are any of the Fender suggestions bad suggestions?
How about we go back to my vegetable scenario.
O.P. I'd like a vegetable to go with my steak.
Reply 1. Potato
Reply 2. +1 Potato is great with steak.
Your reply: any vegatable will go with steak. Go try them all, and pick one that moves you.
All are legit reply's, although, potato is far more to the point, and will work just fine.
And on that point, the OP has yet to be able to respond to my post in page 4 about what exactly is wrong with Roger Sadowsky going with a Fender-based design.
These posts questioning or praising Fender are so regurged and overdone!
Why doesn't someone post something NEW and FRESH, that's NEVER been discussed or debated like....
Active vs Passive
VietnAmpeg
Tubes vs SS
Combo vs head\cab
Cabinet design and efficiency in relation what is 'loud enough'
Made in USA vs Made in other country
Flats vs Rounds
Did I miss any?
(BTW wink = sarcasm for those that don't know).
Oh yeah and to keep it on topic. My first bass was an MIM Fender Jazz based on suggestions from here. Then I got an MIM Fender PJ. Then a couple of SX's. Then a PV. Then a couple of Laklands. Then a Kubicki FCS. Finally settled on a Stingray and 08 MIA Jazz. They're both children of Leo so it works for me!
Why doesn't someone post something NEW and FRESH, that's NEVER been discussed or debated like....
Active vs Passive
VietnAmpeg
Tubes vs SS
Combo vs head\cab
Cabinet design and efficiency in relation what is 'loud enough'
Made in USA vs Made in other country
Flats vs Rounds
Did I miss any?
(BTW wink = sarcasm for those that don't know).Oh yeah and to keep it on topic. My first bass was an MIM Fender Jazz based on suggestions from here. Then I got an MIM Fender PJ. Then a couple of SX's. Then a PV. Then a couple of Laklands. Then a Kubicki FCS. Finally settled on a Stingray and 08 MIA Jazz. They're both children of Leo so it works for me!
Nothing is wrong with his choice. He wanted to create a bass that was better/different yet the same, yet acceptable. And as any business his intent is to make as much money as possible, while producing a quality product.
I think he's doing fine. Kudos to him for finding his niche.
(I'm sorry if this response isn't what you likely hoped for... as I keep saying... this thread isn't about Fender basses, it's about people's tendencies, which always seems to get over-ridden by people's 'tendencies' to find something to get offended by)
However, (I feel) he pretty much has tailored all of his basses on Fenders. It's nice to see some others like Lakland and such do other things that show some inspiration and willingness to at least try some variation on the theme.t
I tend to agree, since the design isn't really so unpleasant, and the tone isn't too much one thing or the other, it's a niche. It tends not to excel at any level, but does well at all levels, hence its long standing place in its niche.
Well the reason that people recommend Fenders is probably pretty simple. They are just the base of it all, they produce a sound that is well known and agreeable in pretty much all genres, they are easy to play for anyone even if they don't fit your preferences perfectly, and between Squier and Fender there is something in everyone's price range. They just work at most everything. They might not be your favorite instrument, but they will usually suffice unless you have a specialized need.
Heh, please don't think I'm offended... if there is an urgency or irritation in my tone it is only because I'm really trying to grasp your point.
I guess I'm just not seeing this "tendency" as much as you are, I guess. True, Fender (or Honda Civics, or whatever) are always highly recommended, because they are the "safe and reliable" choice. Some people find that a rather bland thing to recommend, and that's fine too.
It's just that I see all kinds of people recommending everything from SXs to Fenders to Laklands to Alleva Coppolas to.... whatever. I don't see this tendency to "homogenize".
Really though? Sadowsky and Lakland both have proprietary technology that they apply, both offer a wad of options, and in terms of basic body design... both don't really stray that far from the basic Fender body design.
I guess we're just seeing different "degrees" of things, on all counts.
Man, have you got an uninformed opinion.
4 string, 5 string, 6 string, tic tac, active, passive, single coil, humbucker, stack knob, angled headstock, straight headstock, in-line tuners, two on a side tuners, three on a side tuners, block necks, dot necks, graphite, rolled edges, bent bridge, high mass bridge, fine tuner bridge, short scale, medium scale, long scale.
Really, how many more changes can there be?
I guess we're just seeing different "degrees" of things, in all counts.
As people always do.
The Tech is definitely what makes the Sadowsky or Lakland or whatever brand difference. Just depends if the player can warrant the difference in price. It just seems very 'safe' to me that Sadowsky hasn't even tried to step out of the box visually, but then... Fender hasn't had success with that either. It seems to me that Lakland at least has taken some creative license visually and done thing to their models that are identifiable as a Lakland when you see them.
ok since the problem (which I agree with) was people not being specific and just going "Well I played them for (insert X amount of years) and they've done fine for me all along", I have a bit more specific reason why I liked them.
Not as many mid-range priced basses use all-passive stuff in some of their basses. Once you get past the $300 mark, a lot of the basses throw in active pickups, preamps and a bunch of other bells and whistles. Those are great, dont get me wrong, but when I want a simple, passive sound then that's where I would pursue a fender bass. Now I will admit that a LOT of their MIM products do come out poorly made (necks especially) but thats sort of a luck-of-the-draw thing.
But I would like to add that I just received an Ibanez SR500 and while the tone is great it still can't even mimic the tone of my Squier Vintage Modified basses. I'd ALSO like to add that the Ibanez was far better crafted, intonated, and playable than ANY Fender MIM/Hi-Way1 or Squier VM bass that I ever picked up or owned.
If Ibanez can pull that off, why can't Fender?
Not as many mid-range priced basses use all-passive stuff in some of their basses. Once you get past the $300 mark, a lot of the basses throw in active pickups, preamps and a bunch of other bells and whistles. Those are great, dont get me wrong, but when I want a simple, passive sound then that's where I would pursue a fender bass. Now I will admit that a LOT of their MIM products do come out poorly made (necks especially) but thats sort of a luck-of-the-draw thing.
But I would like to add that I just received an Ibanez SR500 and while the tone is great it still can't even mimic the tone of my Squier Vintage Modified basses. I'd ALSO like to add that the Ibanez was far better crafted, intonated, and playable than ANY Fender MIM/Hi-Way1 or Squier VM bass that I ever picked up or owned.
If Ibanez can pull that off, why can't Fender?
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
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Most of the parts of a Fender bass are not trademarked ... therefore they can be legally copied. If you make Rickenbacker or Musicman copies and try to sell them you will be shut down quickly.
It is like the IBM pc and the Apple PC. Apple protected their design and IBM didn't. Now the industry standard is IBM and not Apple.
There are a lot of cheap knock off p-basses and jazz basses that make inexpensive starter basses, and there are also some high end jazz type knock offs that are better than the Fender for those who want a high end bass. hen there are all of the basses that Fender makes. So you can go into any music strore anywhere in the world and there will be some p-basses and jazz basses in that store.
It is like the IBM pc and the Apple PC. Apple protected their design and IBM didn't. Now the industry standard is IBM and not Apple.
There are a lot of cheap knock off p-basses and jazz basses that make inexpensive starter basses, and there are also some high end jazz type knock offs that are better than the Fender for those who want a high end bass. hen there are all of the basses that Fender makes. So you can go into any music strore anywhere in the world and there will be some p-basses and jazz basses in that store.
Because they don't feel they need to because the snowball continues to roll, or they don't want to... or they simply don't recognize that it matters?
