• 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.

Do You Play a Fender Because It's Expected?

#22
In my current band I play a Fender because that is what is expected for the sound of the music and look of the show. I have one that sounds really good and that is the fundamental requirement. It's the same reason the guitarist plays a Gretsch Electromatic guitar and also a Stratocaster - they fit the music perfectly.

The producer saw the Alembic and said "Great looking bass, I'm sure it sounds great too - but can you go home and bring a P-Bass because that will at least look the part".
Click to expand...

Why does he have to "look the part" for a studio recording ? Alembics have very versatile tone controls and I am certain he could dial in an appropriate sound so that is just ridiculous.
 
#23
At the moment I don`t own a Fender but I have owned a good few over the years and as soon as I can afford it I`m getting another Jazz bass. I played Fenders because I liked them. I could not give a monkeys whattsit what is "expected" I play what I like playing.

A side note to this. I was in the studio having a jam with 2 other guitar players the other week who I didn`t know. After being in a while a though suddenly struck me. Nobody was playing a Fender or Gibson! I had an Ibanez and the guitarist`s had a B C Rich and a Westone. Strange.......
 
#24
For 20 years all my Fender dabblings were short lived due to quality issues. After Modulus and Music Mans for over the latter half, I found my gen last year in a 57AVRI P-Bass. It is my go-to electric if I don't need a 5er. That specific one speaks to me. No one has ever "expected" anything besides the band leader specifically hiring me to play upright, electric, or fretless, or a combination. The make or model has never come up as an expectation.
 
#26
For me it is some of both.

In 1974, I played my first Jazz with rounds, and decided I would never be without one.

Then, I can not tell you how many auditions I have had with quality people / bands who are not otherwise familiar with basses and are just plain comfortable with a guy playing something with Fender on the headstock. Just the way it is.

I have more than once had to refer to my Sadowsky as a "Fender knockoff" just to calm the uninformed.

My newest strategy is to install one of Roger's marvelous new preamps into a 1996 Jazz Deluxe. Makes the uninformed comfortable while still getting the state of the art tone. Go Roger!
 
#28
I play Fender types because they are easier to mod and they come in enough variations to scratch most itches. Since they are the prevailing standard, they are not just plentiful, they predominate in the marketplace, making them easy to find and usually not too expensive. There just isn't anything that I want to do on a bass that I can't do on some Fender or Fender-like bass.

I've already spent too much time thinking about this.
 
#29
At first I played a Fender because that's what I was familiar with and trusted the brand to give me the sound I wanted. Then I got a Hofner for a while. Then I went back to a Fender. I have since evolved to playing other brands but I prefer the classic J or P body shape.
 
#30
I have a Fender because I love it and the tradition behind it. Granted I'm a little weird because my Fender is a Steve Bailey Jazz Bass VI. My current practice regimen runs the gamut from Jazz, to Funk, to Afro Cuban to Death Metal and can get appropriate tones for each just by moving my plucking hand.

C/S,
Rev J
 
#33
Misterwogan said:
Engineers keep a stock of EQ curves for Fenders and can't be bothered starting from scratch when something else turns up.
Click to expand...

I play an Ibanez Precision copy. I would probably own a fender if I had enough money to spend on one.

But

If I ever turn up into a studio and the engineers is too lazy to even bother using something else than a preset on the EQ because"he can't bothered to do is job", I will gadly recommend to fire is lazy ass and get a real engineer.

If the producer want "the fender sound" I won't argue and play one. But not because a guy can't be bothered to do his job.
 
#35
MrPierre said:
I play an Ibanez Precision copy. I would probably own a fender if I had enough money to spend on one.

But

If I ever turn up into a studio and the engineers is too lazy to even bother using something else than a preset on the EQ because"he can't bothered to do is job", I will gadly recommend to fire is lazy ass and get a real engineer.

If the producer want "the fender sound" I won't argue and play one. But not because a guy can't be bothered to do his job.
Click to expand...

What they might do if they're feeling really energetic, is to sample your Ibanez and then apply a Match EQ so that it sounds identical to a record Fender.
 
#36
No I never caved in to peer pressure. Lol. I have owned a Fender Jazz and Precision awhile back, great basses. I no longer own any Fender gear, nothing against them it just worked that way for me over time.

As for the Stu Alembic bass, I haven't witnessed it. Interesting.
 
#39
Were I live, for some reason, Fenders aren't the holy standard, at least not since like 10 years. I do love Fender basses, but I find it hard to play only one type of bass always, so I keep a good Fender and a good Ibanez with me at the time.

I wish in the future I can switch from Fender to a new Yamaha BB2024x or something like that, perhaps an ESP, but for the time being, Fenders are "affordable" (they cost double where I live), sound excellent, are comfortable, easy to set up, nice features, nice look, etc... It's a "you can't go wrong with Fender" situation. Besides, I really, really like them! I will probably always have a Fender around.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back