- Aug 5, 2005
- 7,243
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- Endorsing Artist: J.C. Basses
Not missing anything at all. Fender is also the name of a part on a car, and that's what it feels/sounds like whenever I pick one up.
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Am I missing something about Fenders?
- Thread starter stepswork4me
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TB is a great place. You can learn so much stuff here. YOu can also lose yourself if you are not careful. No matter how much you see others loving Fenders, you don't have too.
I couldn't stand Fenders for the longest time. I thought they were mass produced, junk that looked and sounded all the same. I couldn't understand the attraction. Until I started listening more. I found out a lot of tones I like, were coming from Jazz basses. So I checked out a Geddy, and I'm hooked. This bass flat out rules. And just for the bonus, everyone you'll play with will just feel all warm and fuzzy inside when you pull out a Fender at an audition or whatever.
I understand liking another type/style/brand of bass if that fits what you're doing. I really do.
But I don't understand "not getting" Fenders. IMO, there is not a more beautifuly designed--and in the case of mine, constructed--purpose-built device on the planet. I've run across many Fender basses that, if they don't get you hot, you are missing something.
Open your mind a bit and broaden your horizions. You don't have to love 'em or become devoted to 'em, but you should be able to appreciate them for what they are and what they do. And what other work of art creates other works of art?
But I don't understand "not getting" Fenders. IMO, there is not a more beautifuly designed--and in the case of mine, constructed--purpose-built device on the planet. I've run across many Fender basses that, if they don't get you hot, you are missing something.
Open your mind a bit and broaden your horizions. You don't have to love 'em or become devoted to 'em, but you should be able to appreciate them for what they are and what they do. And what other work of art creates other works of art?
Hard to say. If you don't feel like you are missing anything when you play them then you are not missing anything. Profound I know...
Ehh... hard to say. Couldn't stand them myself for a long time.... like, 10 or 12 years. I was all about the active basses but with the band I'm in now I kept finding my active basses were not "sitting" in the mix, they were overpowering it no matter how much EQ tweaking I did. I liked some of them a lot, but they just weren't working when it came to "Final product" mixing.
The p-bass however........ *sigh* just fits in so well with minimal tweaking required. It sounds too good to pass up. So yeah, I finally just got a Fender after messing with an SX P-bass (which is a good back up bass to be sure).
One day you might find yourself needing and wanting one. You never can tell.
The p-bass however........ *sigh* just fits in so well with minimal tweaking required. It sounds too good to pass up. So yeah, I finally just got a Fender after messing with an SX P-bass (which is a good back up bass to be sure).
One day you might find yourself needing and wanting one. You never can tell.
Fender instruments could be considered the base line for all electronic instruments.
The Strat - surely the most popular and copied electric guitar.
The Precision - undoubtedly the most popular and copied electric bass.
The Jazz - probably close behind the P in popularity and imitation.
They all work well, they're all incredibly dependable, they're easy to service, their component parts can easily be repaired or replaced, and they can easily be customized to suit the owner's taste. Moreover, you can make those mods less expensively than you can to any other major brand bass because of the ubiquity of parts.
If you WANT to play a Fender of any type, buy one and tweak it until it does what you want it to. If you don't want to play a Fender, then you'll probably never find one that suits you...because you don't want one to suit you.
The Strat - surely the most popular and copied electric guitar.
The Precision - undoubtedly the most popular and copied electric bass.
The Jazz - probably close behind the P in popularity and imitation.
They all work well, they're all incredibly dependable, they're easy to service, their component parts can easily be repaired or replaced, and they can easily be customized to suit the owner's taste. Moreover, you can make those mods less expensively than you can to any other major brand bass because of the ubiquity of parts.
If you WANT to play a Fender of any type, buy one and tweak it until it does what you want it to. If you don't want to play a Fender, then you'll probably never find one that suits you...because you don't want one to suit you.
OP, you've picked up many Fenders (i'm assuming in music stores.) Have you tried a Fender in a jam setting? I think SD nails it with his post.
Yes, the tone of a Fender can be a bit underwhelming playing solo - my Stingray sounds better soloed. It's when I play with others, and the Fender is in the mix, where the magic occurs. YMMV.
If everyone had this attitude then we would never have these posts to read! But the quote is so true.
9/10 Fenders I've played in a store had a terrible set up or bad strings- giving them a "dead" feeling. When you get them set up nice and get warmed up playing on them, they're a dream.
When I was starting out, I thought Fenders looked cool but were really lame due to the lack of features (passive electronics, only 20 frets) but over the years I eventually figured out that I could also do well without the features I thought I needed and the "lack" of features didn't keep Fenders from sounding great, particularly in a band situation.
I still don't own a "genuine" Fender because due to my lack of cash, I'd rather have a bass that's more versatile and can do both the band thing and the more "extreme" things I like to come up when I play alone in my bedroom. If I were a pro with lots of cash, I'm sure I'd own a bunch just for gigging and recording.
Their poor lefty offerings are still inexcusable, though.
If I were a pro with lots of cash and in a somewhat bass-centric band, I probably wouldn't use a Fender in it, though, I think I'd rather have something more unique.
I still don't own a "genuine" Fender because due to my lack of cash, I'd rather have a bass that's more versatile and can do both the band thing and the more "extreme" things I like to come up when I play alone in my bedroom. If I were a pro with lots of cash, I'm sure I'd own a bunch just for gigging and recording.
Their poor lefty offerings are still inexcusable, though.
If I were a pro with lots of cash and in a somewhat bass-centric band, I probably wouldn't use a Fender in it, though, I think I'd rather have something more unique.
I was beginning to think I was the only one. I am not a big fan of fender too. The last MIA Jazz I played was a dismal to me. It was NOT bad at all but wasn't like I expected. The neck was thinner than I thought, it had a little warp which I think the GC should be blamed. The specs wasn't the best in the world for the price and they lack frets. It plays like "rotten eggs." Not a big deal. I know there must be bad ones and good ones and I just happen to meet a bad one.
I disliked Fenders for my entire 23 years of playing. I wasn't exclusively into actives or 24-fret neck or anything (my main axe for a long time was an early 80s Gibson Thunderbird). But Fenders just put me off for some reason. And unlike some guys here, I definitely *did* find QC issues with 'em that drove me 'round the twist.
Maybe the point made earlier about your tastes changing over time, or maybe it's the fact that a lot of the songs in which I like the bass tone are made with Fenders of one stripe or another, but I came to believe that it'd be good to have a Fender in the toolbox for recording with. So, I went and bought one. And ended up really liking it. Full disclosure: the possibility of me spending my hard-earned gigging $ on a Fender would never have come to pass without the newer American Standard series. They seem to have fixed the QC issues.
I love precision basses. They are simple to use, sit well in the mix, and are comfortable to me. At the moment, though I don't own a Fender P. I play a Certainbass p and have a modded sx p as a backup. The reason-roughly same playability, very much the same sound, and the price tag was lower.
That's my beef with Fender: with respect to their standard series, they make very simple basses, from cnc-made parts, cut from commonly available wood, with simple circuit electronics, and insist on charging $1,200. I can't justify those numbers when I can buy an SX made with similar woods, and buy a couple hundred dollars worth of parts to mod and get a great bass. Alternatively, I can call a guy like David Certain, Dan Atkinson, etc., etc. and get exactly what I want for less money with someone putting the bas toegther by hand and overseeing quality control on each bass.
That's my beef with Fender: with respect to their standard series, they make very simple basses, from cnc-made parts, cut from commonly available wood, with simple circuit electronics, and insist on charging $1,200. I can't justify those numbers when I can buy an SX made with similar woods, and buy a couple hundred dollars worth of parts to mod and get a great bass. Alternatively, I can call a guy like David Certain, Dan Atkinson, etc., etc. and get exactly what I want for less money with someone putting the bas toegther by hand and overseeing quality control on each bass.
a big +1
I can't stand the tone of a Precision soloed. But I take one to every gig and have it tuned to Eb. When the Eb set comes along and I plug it in and hear it in the mix, it blows away whatever I was playing before.
The SD QP's don't hurt a thing either.
My feeling is that maybe if I were only a 4 string player I could be a fender user, but the Fender Jazz 5 string neck I had was as thick as my Benavente 6 string. ... I don't even want to imagine what a Fender 6 string neck feels like...
- Aug 5, 2005
- 7,243
- 92
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: J.C. Basses
I played the Steve Bailey sig at NAMM this year, and it was a rather comfortable neck. String spacing was probably around 17.5mm, though, which is a little wide for my tastes. Much better than I thought it would be.
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