• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Again, Fender being overrated BS

#22
songwriter21 said:
Hey All,

First off, obviously there are many who have had good luck with this brand, and like them a lot or love them and won't play anything else. That's awesome, since the perfect bass is what we search for, and yet it's different to us all. I'd be the same way as those Fender fans, if I didn't think they suck complete ass.

I thought my faith was somewhat restored in this brand. I was pretty close to buying an American Jazz V Deluxe until I closely looked at the construction of one at one store, two more at another store, and then another at another store. Every single one had nice neck joint gaps, some on both sides, with uneven neck relief on the bass and treble sides. Also, a number of them had HORRIBLE hum. For a $1799 made-in-USA price tag (new), this is totally unacceptable. Look on Musician's Friend...last time I looked, there were 8 returned and being sold used. What is worse, was a Roscoe Beck V (used) that I tried over the weekend. I was really excited to finally find one, too, as rare as they are...for a minute, I thought, JACKPOT. Man, was I wrong. The gap on the bass side (there was one on the treble side, too) was so pronounced that you could've slipped almost two credit cards in there. Better to use those to hold the joint tighter than use them to buy the damn thing, imo. Btw, it's at the Sam Ash in Columbus, OH, if you care. If you're REALLY love-crazy for this overblown brand, then go for it...good luck getting a decent one.

I swear, even with Music Man, yes Music Man, these big companies seem to get lazy like nothing else, simply from people gawking unwisely at them because of their overly exaggerated, name-dropping reputation. I don't get it, and haven't gotten it for the last 10-15 years. I've played and owned the gamut (sp?) of basses, also having been to Winter NAMM '09, and know that MANY basses blow Fender out of the water, including Ibanez. Get your freakin' act together, big boys...you're the McDonald's of the bass world.
Click to expand...

I had to check the date of this post to make sure it wasn't from 1975.


I don't know where you're finding all these shabby Fender basses, but every Fender I've picked up that was made in the last 5 years has been of excellent quality. Every MusicMan bass I've played from that time period has been superb.
 
#23
I've heard the hum from these basses and it's not good. Such an easy and obvious thing to prevent with better shielding from the factory but they don't do it, presumably as a cost cutting measure.
Also, 5 string necks should rely on more than a one piece neck for stability even with graphite bars but that's a whole other can of worms.
 
#27
smcd said:
I had to check the date of this post to make sure it wasn't from 1975.


I don't know where you're finding all these shabby Fender basses, but every Fender I've picked up that was made in the last 5 years has been of excellent quality. Every MusicMan bass I've played from that time period has been superb.
Click to expand...

Same here - it's probably just another lame troll thread...


- georgestrings
 
#28
smcd said:
I don't know where you're finding all these shabby Fender basses, but every Fender I've picked up that was made in the last 5 years has been of excellent quality. Every MusicMan bass I've played from that time period has been superb.
Click to expand...

I've not encountered a bad Fender for a while. Even those cheaper Chinese ones seem really well made, all things considered.

A few months ago I was gassing for an ES-355 style guitar. I tried three Ibanez guitars of this type. Each one was decidedly lackluster. I don't want to be replacing pots in a hollow-body guitar any more than the next guy, and the pots were ratty and cheap in those Ibanez instruments. The necks were poorly finished. You cannot rush a hollow instrument the same way you can throw together a bolt-on solid guitar. Ibanez didn't get that memo.
 
#29
smcd said:
I had to check the date of this post to make sure it wasn't from 1975.


I don't know where you're finding all these shabby Fender basses, but every Fender I've picked up that was made in the last 5 years has been of excellent quality. Every MusicMan bass I've played from that time period has been superb.
Click to expand...

Right? I've bought 3 Squier basses, two of them sight unseen, in the last few years and not one of them has a neck gap. I've spent time with Modern Players, MIMs, FSR P's, certain artist models, MIA standards and even CV Squiers and they've all been of a good quality. The only 'Fender' bass I've tried with any obvious flaws was an Affinity P I saw in a music shop last month, and that had closed gear tuners so it's probably an older model and has been sitting there a while.

OP almost made me feel lucky about seeing such good instruments around everywhere.
 
#33
I'm not sure how unlucky you are OP, but I've found it slightly different.

I was in Tasmania for a few weeks, and went to a handful of stores there. I tried 5-6 new American standard jazz basses. I loved every one. I actually spent an hour in the store just playing the hell out of one of them.

At my local store, their only jazz bass in a 74RI That bass has a neck bigger than a baseball bat, and the covers are too close to the strings. It has been the only MIA jazz I didn't like.

I've only had the pleasure of playing one BTB. It sounded very nice, but was too heavy, and I just can't get used to a 5 string.


But play what you like. I doubt other people care that much about the instruments you rock out with.
 
#36
Carvin makes a P-Bass now that will be built extremely well for less than 900 bucks. No extra cost for some color/finish options and the Active/Passive option is half price now, 80 bucks.

Game Set Match.

:bassist:
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back