Seriously, great artists never use crappy brushes. That's why all the great bass players play Fender. Leo got it right and nothing else needs to be said. A 4 string P-bass with flats and tort guard and all other basses are just posers... It's time we all came home!
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Does liking Fender instruments make you Unoriginal?
- Thread starter FatboyJ115
- Start date
Seriously, great artists never use crappy brushes. That's why all the great bass players play Fender. Leo got it right and nothing else needs to be said. A 4 string P-bass with flats and tort guard and all other basses are just posers... It's time we all came home!
Man, if you could only get real tortoiseshell guards anymore. That is why modern Fenders don't have any mojo. All that plastic 
I don't think any of that is specific to Fender basses. I've changed the preamp in my Modulus for instance.
I don't think I've ever seen a gen-yoo-wine tortoiseshell pickguard, like one that used to be part of a turtle.
I hear the "[Insert pro player here] could pick up a [insert worst possible brand here] and make it sound amazing!"
I don't agree with that statement, they might be able to make it sound better than several other people, but you can only polish a turd so much. If build quality didn't matter, no pros would buy/play nicer, more expensive instruments. It's a tool, and a nicer or better built one will open up more doors for you in the hands of someone who takes their playing seriously. As to the Fender stuff, it's like saying someone is unoriginal for driving a Ford or Chevy. It's an industry standard and some people just plain prefer it. There may be copies that are "better" out there, but for some people the price point and features are exactly what they are looking for. Play what you like, I'd say you're safer playing a Fender than some other instruments. Lot of people consider me a teenage metalhead just because I play a lot of Ibanez basses.
I don't agree with that statement, they might be able to make it sound better than several other people, but you can only polish a turd so much. If build quality didn't matter, no pros would buy/play nicer, more expensive instruments. It's a tool, and a nicer or better built one will open up more doors for you in the hands of someone who takes their playing seriously. As to the Fender stuff, it's like saying someone is unoriginal for driving a Ford or Chevy. It's an industry standard and some people just plain prefer it. There may be copies that are "better" out there, but for some people the price point and features are exactly what they are looking for. Play what you like, I'd say you're safer playing a Fender than some other instruments. Lot of people consider me a teenage metalhead just because I play a lot of Ibanez basses.
In order to be original you would have to create your own design, cut the wood, machine the parts and create an instrument unlike anything else being played today. If you play a Spector...is that being original? If you play a Fender copy, does that make you doubly unoriginal? I played a Steinberger in metal bands in the 80s. I was one of the few since most rock fans HATED the way it looked, but since I wasn't the only bass player ever to strap on a Steinberger I was just unusual for the genre I was playing in...not original. I have played multitudes of different instruments over the past 30 or so years, and I always wind up back on a Precision or Jazz bass. Here's to being unoriginal!
I think liking a Fender just because someone else does, or someone told you to, is unoriginal. If you like it b/c you do, than that is fine. I discovered Fenders via my heroes, but did not find out that I liked them until after playing various basses as a young'n. I always found my self coming back to the feel of P and J basses. In the early 80's, especially where I lived, Fenders were the most available bass, so it is what I went with.
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Like any other tool, it all boils down to personal preference. That said, someone who works with their bass every day to earn their daily bread is not going to pick up some iffy jankboat and depend on it to make a living any more than some kid just starting out is going to get a 10K coffee table custom to learn Smoke On The Water.
Since it is personal preference, it often comes down to what the players fiscal situation is rather than their actual need or what they would love to have if they could afford it. I've seen some very serious pros using middle of the road to even low endy basses and I've seen people who just learned Smoke On The Water with basses in the stupid expensive region of bassdom.
Another thing that I think figures in is a lot of players, and I used to be one of them, refuse to accept that it's them and not the bass, so they burn through a ton of different types, makes. variations, etc, looking for "the one". What I eventually learned when I finally found "the one" was while it addressed every desire I'd ever had regards play-ability, variety of tone, color, finish, and on and on, it was still my hands choking out the final product of our collaboration, and while I could now get tones I'd always been hearing in my head, it didn't make me a bit faster, or more accomplished. To that end it did help because I wanted to hold it more and play it more, and learn more. That lasted until the novelty wore off, and while it was my only bass for many years, the minute I had even a shaky justification to get another one I didn't bat an eye, I went and got one.
These days "the one" spends most of it's time cased and I've dropped any illusion of ever being anything more that what I am. I didn't put in the time to be anything else so rather than be frustrated or look for other things to blame for my place in the bass players food chain, I am content to be what I am and enjoy what it brings me. Somewhere along the way I also came to realize that a well set up Fender jazz may not be "the one" but it's potential far exceeds my ability to coax said potential from it, making it plenty good for what I am capable of, and thanks to modern manufacturing methods and the realities of our global economy, a real whippersnapper of an example of a Fender Jazz is also within reach of most any player's budget. Like anything else you can get silly and spend a crap ton on the high end sig models or clones and they will have a few little trinkets that set them apart and will always bring a "wow" when displayed in public, but a decent little made in Mexico J bass with a good setup and some decent pups, will serve all but the most discriminating players, and of course those who feel that even acknowledging the existence of Fender makes them somehow less unique.
But that's one of the many joys of life in this great country of ours. We are free to be as practical or as silly as we want and as long as we are not pushing our fun uninvited into someone else's fun, it's all good.
Since it is personal preference, it often comes down to what the players fiscal situation is rather than their actual need or what they would love to have if they could afford it. I've seen some very serious pros using middle of the road to even low endy basses and I've seen people who just learned Smoke On The Water with basses in the stupid expensive region of bassdom.
Another thing that I think figures in is a lot of players, and I used to be one of them, refuse to accept that it's them and not the bass, so they burn through a ton of different types, makes. variations, etc, looking for "the one". What I eventually learned when I finally found "the one" was while it addressed every desire I'd ever had regards play-ability, variety of tone, color, finish, and on and on, it was still my hands choking out the final product of our collaboration, and while I could now get tones I'd always been hearing in my head, it didn't make me a bit faster, or more accomplished. To that end it did help because I wanted to hold it more and play it more, and learn more. That lasted until the novelty wore off, and while it was my only bass for many years, the minute I had even a shaky justification to get another one I didn't bat an eye, I went and got one.
These days "the one" spends most of it's time cased and I've dropped any illusion of ever being anything more that what I am. I didn't put in the time to be anything else so rather than be frustrated or look for other things to blame for my place in the bass players food chain, I am content to be what I am and enjoy what it brings me. Somewhere along the way I also came to realize that a well set up Fender jazz may not be "the one" but it's potential far exceeds my ability to coax said potential from it, making it plenty good for what I am capable of, and thanks to modern manufacturing methods and the realities of our global economy, a real whippersnapper of an example of a Fender Jazz is also within reach of most any player's budget. Like anything else you can get silly and spend a crap ton on the high end sig models or clones and they will have a few little trinkets that set them apart and will always bring a "wow" when displayed in public, but a decent little made in Mexico J bass with a good setup and some decent pups, will serve all but the most discriminating players, and of course those who feel that even acknowledging the existence of Fender makes them somehow less unique.
But that's one of the many joys of life in this great country of ours. We are free to be as practical or as silly as we want and as long as we are not pushing our fun uninvited into someone else's fun, it's all good.
+1 on that Mike! I played a Steinberger 5 in a metal band way back when...playing a head-less instrument was SHOCKINGLY uncool and a FIVE? I got sooooo much grief for it, but at the time it was the bass I was sure was the future of music. I really have tried to play anything but Fender...the end result is, I DO play a Fender, I only own Fenders and I'm thinkin' I want one of their amps, too! I've also mostly written my own music for my various bands and always been called "original"...whatever that is??? "It's what you make it, man..." to quote d. boone, a TRUE original...you wanna be a real original? CLEAN YER BASS AND PRACTICE. There ya go~
After Fender Musical Instruments, Leo went on to co-found Music Man and G&L......
No, and I tried to indicate that my points were general and not universal truths.
But, I will say this. I likewise changed out the preamp in my Zon. Took me about 18 months to screw up the courage to enlarge the pot holes in the top. On a Fender, it would have been a no brainer. And then, I am still dissatisfied with the pickups, but do not intend to change them. If it were a Fender, I wouldn't even hesitate.
But, as I said, that may just be my crankiness. YMMV
I don't know everyone here but it seems like TBer's really like Fender or Fender inspired designs from boutique or higher-end bass companies. There is lots of love for the P bass 'round here. Fender still makes some of the most iconic basses of all time (there are other iconic designs from other companies, see the Stingray for example).
The only thing that makes one unoriginal is copying other people intentionally, or doing whatever other people tell one to do. Just get a bass you like and play it however you want. A lot of other things will contribute to your "originality", like your amp and cab, effects pedals, play style, music style, band mix, the other people in your band, etc.
You left out the part about forging the steel for the tuners and bridge and growing a genetically distinct tree from which to cut the boards.
just funnin'.Originality is in the mind of the beholder.
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I switched to playing black fenders when I stopped playing in metal bands. That crowd seems to give me some hate for having generic, lame, uninspired ect... instruments. But hey, my tone is way better than any of theirs. The nice thing about "generic" instruments is that they really let the player shine through. Pass the same jazz bass to everyone in this thread and have them play the same bass line.
No. The basses have been around for generations and have inspired thousands of copies. It is the Original. I don't like them, but millions and millions do.
