(I will now taking this to the next level of absurdity)
Now I understand copyrights ,branding, and all that but let's look at it another way just for the hell of it.
Now I'm not trying to be controversial or anything, but in a way it seems funny to me that it is considered bad taste to stick a "Fender" decal on a Nash jazz bass (for example), when , other than buying the parts, bolting them together, and whipping them with a belt buckle, it has everything"Fender" about it(Total design, Dimensions, specifications, etc..) and very little " Nash" about it.
It's actually more offensive,for lack of a better term, to see someone else's name on the bass when the instrument itself is for all practical purposes identical to Leo's bass. Nash basses are really just cosmetically abused but otherwise identical copies of fender basses. Think of how many guitar companies got their start by humping the corpse of Fender.The mind boggles.
Now I say this not to put down , be critical of, or show disrespect to Mr. Nash, or Mr. Sadowsky, or Suhr, or Lakin or Lull etc etc.. It's just for the sake of discussion.
That's where the money comes in I suppose. As long as the Fender Corp gets their money in the form of licensing fees, anybody can produce and sell Fender basses with their own name on it.
It seems to me that This whole issue of the desire folks have to put "Fender" on their non Fender basses has to do with our society's fixation with branding.
Folks seem to feel better about themselves if they can associate their personal belongings to a popular and respected brand. A Warmoth or Nash parts bass doesn't perform any better with a sticker on the head stock but some folks seem to feel better having one on there.
While there are unscrupulous people who will try to make money by counterfeiting vintage guitars with criminal intent, I don't believe that is the biggest motivation for this trend.
So I suppose, In my opinion, I don't have a problem with you if you get your jollies dressing up your bass to look like a Fender. I wouldn't waste my time doing it myself ( I guess I don't see the thrill in pretending to have a "real" Fender since Fender hasn't "really" been "Fender" for nearly 50 years ).
I do have a problem if you try to misrepresent your bass to sell it to some poor innocent kid, or some other scummy purpose. Otherwise, whatever makes you happy.
I agreed with most everything but the last sentence. That "whatever makes you happy" mentality is what has wrecked havoc upon the American culture for generations now. That's the kind of short-sighted irrational vanity that leads to people needing to stamp Fender all of their guitar crap. If people stopped saying "I do whatever makes me happy" and started saying "maybe I should consider the long-term consequences", then a rational coherent thought might crap out of this thread. On the micro scale this thread represents that "I do what I want to make me feel good" mentality and it stems from the macro scale of it being ingrained in the American culture. That's largely the basis for the apathy of the Fender decal counterfeiting - "I do what I want and it doesn't affect anyone else right now - and I promise it won't, so you can butt out".
All apologies for getting vastly serious but this thread is a pile of butt nuggets.
