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garrettowens said:ahem
!
Proud new owner of a Fender Aerodyne JBass!
Congrats! Post a picture if you want a member #.
My Aerodyne as it arrived from Sweetwater. I've since put a Babicz bridge on it, but I'll have to post an update later. Really like the tone of this with GHS Flatwounds on it!
So is it true that the Precision Aerodyne is not a real wood flame top, but just a fotoflame? I'd be very dissapointed in mine if it was.
Sure, it looks good, but if it's not real wood, isn't it kinda like puttting up cheap panelling in your basement?
Of course not, but don't you agree that having real wood on anything is more aesthetically pleasing than a vinyl reproduction?
It's interesting how we have so many different motivations to acquire particular instruments. I deliberately chose the Aerodyne model because it is lightweight and easy to do a 3-hour gig without the usual boat anchor drag that comes with heavier basses. I use it almost exclusively as a P-bass with the J pup off, so that satisfies a sonic desire to fit well in almost any mix. The fact that it looks cool was low on the list. This bass is my everyday player and most frequent gigging bass when I'm not playing an acoustic bass. It sounds terrific and is easy to play. That's enough for me. Maybe some of you are more interested in collecting than playing. Aerodyne isn't that great of a collector in my view; I replaced the pickups, bridge, tuners, and strings because they weren't (to my ear) top quality contributors to great tone. Yes, the basswood body is soft and prone to dents if you're not careful, and the shiny black surface shows finger smudges. But again - so what? Doesn't matter to me as all that is secondary to making great music. In the end, 99.999999% of people hearing music played with the Aerodyne could care less about the physical aspects of the bass. For me, it's the perfect tool for producing bass tones in a gig context. Just sayin.....
P.S. Forgot to mention I also preferred the Jazz-style neck even though I wanted the P-bass tone. Again, another + for Aerodyne.
P.S. Forgot to mention I also preferred the Jazz-style neck even though I wanted the P-bass tone. Again, another + for Aerodyne.
mertz44 said:
Wait, you didn't even know it was photoflame until now, so I guess you could answer that question yourself...
"I deliberately chose the Aerodyne model because it is lightweight and easy to do a 3-hour gig without the usual boat anchor drag that comes with heavier basses."
+1, and very happy with my decision.
+1, and very happy with my decision.
When they were still listed on Fender Japan's web site, they were listed as having a curly maple cap and alder back. Not fotoflame. Look at a few and you'll see they all look different.
Someone else mentioned 5-strings. There is a 5-string Aerodyne jazz, in Japan at least.
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Happy New Year.
Slightly off topic but I have a Fender Strat MIJ Photoflame that is a reissue of a '62. It looks and plays great. Does not trouble me how the finish was created and I never actually knew what the "photoflame" meant in terms of that.
For the record it used to sound kind of crappy until I put in 3 new Seymour Duncan pups and upgraded the 5 pos-switch and pots. Now it's also one of the best sounding guitars I've ever heard.
For the record it used to sound kind of crappy until I put in 3 new Seymour Duncan pups and upgraded the 5 pos-switch and pots. Now it's also one of the best sounding guitars I've ever heard.
