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Are You A Brand Loyalist?

#65
Nope, never will be and never had. In spite me (or thanks to) working in a music shop. Where you had to buy Fender accessories by the truckload otherwise you couldn't have that Custom Shop Precision signature bass. We had to keep and stock everything else that no one ever wanted to buy. That was the time I thought sod it, with the major brands. Strings as well. You had to buy a lorry of Rotosound sets, bass and guitar strings that no one would ever buy.

Once, way back, I did have a soft spot for Swedish made guitars/basses Hagström, since they were made here. Hagstrom has revived its name in name only these days. See what happened to brand loyalty when Fender was sold to CBS. Just beacuse it's a name it MAY have turned into crap without you knowing it. I e made in Asia or some other industries. Like a brand makes strings for another brand, given if they have production slack, and import/export grey import and whateveryouhave.

So sticking to a brand is totally futile these days.
 
#69
I buy whatever is cheapest. Or at least whatever is the most expensive I can afford.

This is how I ended up with two Hartke XL cabinets and a Markbass Nano amp. The Fender Standard Precision was bought on a day I had a bit more money than usual.

Something would have to be super extra desirable to me for me to actually save for it. I either want something now or I don't.

But no, I'm not loyal to any particular brand. Except Boss. I buy Boss pedals all the time to annoy people that think they're bad, even though they're not.
 
#70
I want to say no but I do own quite a lot of Fender gear:
79 StudioBass
73 BandmasterReverb
American Special Jazz
MIM 60th Anivers. P Bass
Franken Jazz with a Fender P neck
Highway One Stratocaster

The more I think about it Fender is the brand of most of my gear, its not that I have loyalty, Fender just makes(more like made haha, the amps they make these days are boat anchors IMO) the stuff I like.
 
#71
I will buy multiple products of the same brand if I like the products from that brand. But I will not buy something purely because of the brand name (i.e. I would never buy a Fender just because it's a Fender). It's a tough thing to earn as I'm picky, but once they have earned that loyalty, they gotta do something pretty stupid to lose it, which has happened...

That being said, the 2 biggies that have my loyalty are Ampeg amps and Wilkins basses.
 
#72
Fender basses, amps, cables, strings, replacement parts, etc. 35 years and running
So yes, I'm a loyalist.
Outof 70+ basses, about 60 have been Fenders and many have been new.

Prices get hiked but what can you do.
Fender could care less ahout me & you but it's my choice, my money.
 
#73
With basses not really, but with amps it appears so. First it was Eden, then Genz Benz, with 3 pieces (amps or cabs) from each. I have a 15/6 fearful that I need to get working again, and a Markbass LMIII I got used that is pretty nice.

I am thinking either Barefaced, fearless, or AudioKinesis 112 and a Quilter Bass Block next though.
 
#76
i was not for a long time, until I finally found what works for me.
Previous stuff i owned included:
Original Musicman
EBMM
Fender
Ric
Modulus
Guild
Pedulla
Ibanez
Mike Lull
Sadowsky


Tried:
MTD
Ritter
Roscoe
Pensa
Zon
Warwick
Dingwall
Hofner
Godin
Spector
Rick Turner
F Bass
Nash


So to put it mildly I tried almost everything I could get my hands on. When I was single, I would just take trips to bass stores with my friends all the time. Only bass I have never been able to try and really want to is a WAL Bass

However, yes now i am very loyal because I truly believe these are the two best companies in the business both in quality and customer service:
Lakland
Fodera
Nothing else really interests me anymore. However, I have my original vintage 74 Fender Jazz bass, if push came to shove that is the only bass I would own because it has the magic. And literally I am almost at that point. I legit own the fewest basses I have ever owned in 10 years. And I legit can't imagine buying anything else unless it is a Lakland or a Fodera.
 
#77
I gots 2 Modulus basses (Q5 and Bassstar Fretless.)
I gots 2 Eden Bass Cabs (210 XLT and D115)
I gots 2 Martin flat top boxes (HD-28 and Custom D35.)
I gots 2 Fender Amps ('72 Twin Reverb and '65 Vibro Champ - I also own a Fender Rumble.)
I gots 2 Fender Guitars (a Jimmy Vauhan Strat and a custom Maple topped Tele.)
I gots 2 turntables and a microphone....
 
#78
The inability to try out basses that are attractive to me lead me to own 3 Schecters because I knew what I was getting. Now I've got my first U.S. Spector I would totally get another one. But buying something that expensive over the net was a leap of faith. Nobody carries quality stuff. And I don't live in the boonies, I'm close to LA. I love the IDEA of a G&L, and I live almost up the street from their factory, but would have to drive a 1/2 HR+ to get to a showroom where I can try one out. Noone carries US Music Man, it's all imports. If I ever find a used Warwick it's always a cheap one for an inflated price. Maybe it's a good thing, if I could try out some of these high end basses I'd probably end up like some of you guys and have a house full of them. ;)
 
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#79
didn't plan it... just sorta happened... :jawdrop:
IMG_4711.JPG
 

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