Fender decals on not-really-Fender basses

[1SHOT1HIT]

My reliced Fender P bass is definitely a fake relic - but I made sure that the original 2006 serial number is clearly visible and unobscured. It suffered from a big ding that killed the resale value, so I just went all in and had some fun relicing it. The hardest part was getting the cigarette burn on the headstock because today's cigarettes have some kind of anti smoldering chemical added. I felt bad because I offered the leftover ciggs to my neighbor and he declined saying that he stopped smoking. A couple days later I saw him smoking again. Hope it wasn't me.

I hope so too, but I seriously doubt your the cause, he woulda smoked again I'm sure. It's no easy thing to quit.

More impressive is that I assume your not a smoker and for the sake of authenticity, subjected yourself to the filth of these nasty things. I smoke I can attest to that
Nastiest thing I ever started.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

thats funny i got my RW jazz and the first thing i did was cigarette burn the headstock! then reliced it more, a fake relic? yup i dont care. i like it that way, own too many basses and dont have the years left in me to allow it to wear on its own...and so i am a proud relic poser and i dont care! but i also have a custom Pbass (with no headstock logo) and i WILL own a Squier VM soon, and neither of them will sport a fender waterslide decal, thats just me though.

I was told to "bring a real bass next time" when someone saw my beat up bass. Little did he know......

 

[1SHOT1HIT]

This should be fun. Here's some players with "fake," "poseur," "fraudulent," "dishonest," "phony," "uncool," "self-conscious" logos on their guitars:

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Forgive my noobism, but this confused me here, are these not Fender's or what?



Edit::::::Besides the obvious, obviously

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I hope so too, but I seriously doubt your the cause, he woulda smoked again I'm sure. It's no easy thing to quit.

More impressive is that I assume your not a smoker and for the sake of authenticity, subjected yourself to the filth of these nasty things. I smoke I can attest to that
Nastiest thing I ever started.

I think I went with Camel unfiltered because a guy that I used to work with smoked those. He looked exactly like Cancer Man from the X-Files plus a cataract. I really don't know how the guy stayed alive. His nutrition was cigarettes and a big bag or two of Cheetos every day, oh and coffee. There was a film of orange dust in his cube from the Cheetos.

 

[1SHOT1HIT]

And I just want to be clear, I am simply arguing for the guys that decide to do it.

I own three Squiers one is getting refinished, the other two both CV's a J & a Sonic Blue P still and always will sport their Squier logos proudly. No need to change them.

The standard though was beyond choice and had to be stripped, relicing poly is pointless.
So the only natural choice was to just start from scratch. Really regret even messing with the neck to be honest, and had I known better it'd still have it's Squier logo as well.
But I'm beyond that bridge now and need to figure it out.

Really kinda like Squinder and just may put that.

 

[1SHOT1HIT]

I think I went with Camel unfiltered because a guy that I used to work with smoked those. He looked exactly like Cancer Man from the X-Files plus a cataract. I really don't know how the guy stayed alive. His nutrition was cigarettes and a big bag or two of Cheetos every day, oh and coffee. There was a film of orange dust in his cube from the Cheetos.

That sounds gross, I couldn't imagine actually being around it.

I will quit these bastards one day, I've done much worse and quit far stronger it's just a matter of time, I will prevail though. My kids depend on it.

 

[ModulusQ5-122]

Something that keeps getting missed...the person who creates the fake swears up and down that they'll be honest about it when they sell the instrument. BUT.......

...isn't it thoughtful of them to create a fake that makes it so easy for the next owner to cheat a buyer?????

...WHY don't they feel any responsibility to future buyers? Do they make a habit of setting up others to cheat people?

I do not, and never will, see how that is a responsible or defensible position. The fake is created for no other reason than ego. Labeling a bass as something that it is not is creating a fraud.

Lol dude that is completely absurd. Yep that's it, I'm in the business to set others up to cheat people. That's exactly what I had in mind when I rebadged my squier. It says made by Fender and made in Indonesia on the back of the headstock, along with a squier s/n. If you are stupid enough to purchase it as a USA fender then you are just...well, stupid. There are a lot of other differences in USA fenders and squiers. I'm sorry you can't tell them apart.

 

[Artobass]

It's simple, if you place a logo onto something that it is not...it's fake...it's fraud. Simple as that. The arguement with Squier is just the same. A Squier p bass is not a Fender P bass and we all know this. If it was a Fender then Fender wouldn't have put a Squier logo on it. If you build a bass ...leave the headstock blank or put your name on it, Don't slap a Fender Logo on it. Again, it's fake and it's a fraud.

 

[48thStreetCustom]

Forgive my noobism, but this confused me here, are these not Fender's or what?

None of them have the proper logo on the headstocks.

Zappa's "Gibson" was custom made by some guy in Austin. Steve Morse has a strat neck on a tele body. Clapton's blackie was assembled with parts from 6 different guitars. Dweezil's strat burned by Hendrix at Monterey has a new new custom neck on it. Gilmour's strat had a Charvel neck with a Fender logo. Eddie Van Halan put a neck with a Kramer logo on his Frankenstrat in the 80s.

Look, I was being a bit of a jerk and a wiseass with my post. The point I was trying to make is that several people here have tried to cast aspersions on the character of people who change the logo on their guitars ("If you have a Squier and replace the logo with a Fender decal, not to sell it as a scam, but rather for personal enjoyment... you possibly have unresolved mental health issues") and say that their only intensions could be criminal ("If and when that guitar is sold that same person now becomes a counterfeiter. It is just that simple").

 

[1SHOT1HIT]

None of them have the proper logo on the headstocks.

Zappa's "Gibson" was custom made by some guy in Austin. Steve Morse has a strat neck on a tele body. Clapton's blackie was assembled with parts from 6 different guitars. Dweezil's Hendrix strat from Monterey has a new custom neck on it. Gilmour's strat had a Charvel neck with a Fender logo. Eddie Van Halan put a neck with a Kramer logo on his Frankenstrat in the 80s.

Look, I was being a bit of a jerk and a wiseass with my post. The point I was trying to make is that several people here have tried to cast aspersions on the character of people who change the logo on their guitars and say that their only intensions could be criminal.

Lol, I love that you posted them, I had no idea about all of that. That's funny

 

[1SHOT1HIT]

A Squier p bass is not a Fender P bass and we all know this.

If it was a Fender then Fender wouldn't have put a Squier logo on it.

Run this by me one mo gan

Tell me again how Fender wouldn't have put the logo they decided to put on it, on it if it was a Fender.

I could see saying that, it's not the same as a US Fender and there's a reason it's a Squier but this argument that Squier isn't fender is really making a few of you look pretty, well you know.......

It is Fender that's why it says Fender on it. it may very well be a cheap line, or a lower quality Fender but that doesn't change the fact that it is indeed still a Fender.

Yes I get what you mean, but you really have to try harder to argue your point than to try and just flat out discredit Squire from being a part of the Fender line, when it clearly is made under Fender's name.

 

[jmlee]

I had a buddy who put the raised metal logo off a Studebaker on his Rickenbacker hard shell. Had us fooled for years.

 

[FrednBass]

I don't get why so many people are busy taking care of other people's lives.
Anyone can put anything on his/her guitars, why bother?


Of course, talking about selling a Squier as a Fender just to earn a few more bucks is different.

 

[Bert Slide]

When I was in Jr. High in the late 70's the thing to do on Fri. night was go to the roller rink. My friends and I were all good skaters and the skates to own at the time were Rydell speed skatetes, low-cut black with two white stripes on each side. Most of my friends had these but I couldn't afford them and my parents wouldn't get them for me so I had to make do with upgrading my cheapo faux leather skates with better wheels. I actually used white medical tape to put the racing stripes on them so in a dark rink and from a distance it looked like I had the cool Rydell speedskates.

Fast forward to about six years ago when I was married with two stepkids in gradeschool. Their school had a skate night several times a semester at a local rink. After getting frustrated with the rental skates I got on ebay and found a NOS pair of Rydell's from my era for $80. Finally 30 years later I had the skates I always wanted as a kid.

Moral of this story? I dunno. Maybe that good things come to those who wait and if it makes you feel better to have what the cool kid's have even if you have to counterfeit it then go for it. Just don't try and resell a counterfeit as an original. I never tried that with my fake speedskates and of course and it would have taken a VERY uneducated buyer to fall for my bad counterfeits anyway.

 

[pineapplerobot]

I had a buddy who put the raised metal logo off a Studebaker on his Rickenbacker hard shell. Had us fooled for years.

Bet response yet. I have an old VOLVO badge that was on my first car, I put it on my Franken cab (Vintage looking Seismic with 2x12 Jensen green backs rewired with higher quality wiring) that I got for $199 used (purchased it mostly for the speakers but the thing is great) and I still get asked at shows by clueless people "That's a Volvo?!?! I had no clue they made cabs!" Yeah. I guess I'm a faker and a con-artist as well!

 

[PrietoBass]

...this argument that Squier isn't fender is really making a few of you look pretty, well you know.......

It is Fender that's why it says Fender on it. it may very well be a cheap line, or a lower quality Fender but that doesn't change the fact that it is indeed still a Fender.

On this last argument you are mistaken on so many levels that it makes you look pretty, well you know......

In a nutshell, there is a difference between "Fender", the parent company, and "Fender" and "Squier", the instrument lines. And you have multiple models, etc within each line, but, each line is different enough in terms of cost, assembly origin and other variables that "Fender" (the company) clearly labels one line as "Fender" and the other line as "Squier".

In some ways, it's still basically the same product... but, here's something for you folks that you'll learn in Economics 101: price discrimination. I'll sell as many grapes as I can for $1 each to fella A because that's what he's willing/able to pay. And I'll sell the same grapes (sans a few "features") to fella B at $0.50 because that's all that he's willing/able to pay. And to others I'll sell the same grapes at $2 each, with a few specks of pixie dust sprinkled in for good measure. It goes deeper than this, but I'm not in the mood.

So, you go out and buy a product from Fender's "Squier" line. Good Heaven's! It rocks! It slices! It dices! I mean, it sounds good!!! End of story.

But, good musician that you are in the endless quest for tone and all that stuff, you "trick" your Squier. You change a bit here, and a bit there... You swear: "this is JUST as good as --if not better than -- model X Dlx from Fender's "Fender" line.

You are SOooo convinced, that then, some mental magic trick happens. You slap a logo from the other line to make this instrument, which is from "this" line, "appear" as if it's from the "other" line.

You know, I'll concede the point that when that logo makes contact with the headstock surface of your instrument, a whole bunch of cool things happen. Your tone improves. Your credibility at auditions and gigs goes through the roof. Your "coolness" factor on stage increases by magnitudes of 10. You gain "acceptance", "validation", all of that.

Whatever floats your boat. Everyone saying that people can do with their lives and instruments what they want is 100% correct. But that is not the point of this thread. The POINT of this thread is to argue (in a civilized way, mind you) the point.

And to some of you, slapping a "Fender" decal on a "Squier" line instrument is Ok. To some of us is just cheap, and to some others it borders on blasphemy.

It's cool man. Where I trip is that to me, it's not about the instrument but about the musician, and I don't see the "magic" of making one instrument "pass" as another, not by normal evolution (upgrading parts, including neck) but by the magical, mythical moment, when that Fender logo makes contact where, IMHO, it doesn't belong.

This, however, is my opinion. I've seen some great, spirited debate on this thread. Let's keep it going, but don't get nasty and tempt the mods to shut it down. Let it run its course....

 

[Calaverasgrande]

Should I have a problem with this? In these forums, and in the classifieds, I have been seeing a lot of either Squier (not "Squire," you dorks!) basses or "Franken-basses" where the owner has done a fair amount of upgrading of parts (pickups, necks) etc., and then slapped a Fender decal on the headstock.

It isn't our fault that Fender mis-spelled Squire and is sticking by it.

 

[ggunn]

I had a buddy who put the raised metal logo off a Studebaker on his Rickenbacker hard shell. Had us fooled for years.

The bassist with a band that used to play around Baton Rouge back in the... well, a lotta years ago... played through a Fender Dual Showman. He redid the grill cloth on the head and cab in black fabric and replaced the Fender logos with chrome Chrysler ones; the size and slant were perfect.

This is sort of the reverse of the subject of this thread, but if Fender would be upset about Fender logos on non-Fender instruments, shouldn't they also be upset with the removal of their logo from a legit Fender product? Hmmm?

 

[1SHOT1HIT]

When I was in Jr. High in the late 70's the thing to do on Fri. night was go to the roller rink. My friends and I were all good skaters and the skates to own at the time were Rydell speed skatetes, low-cut black with two white stripes on each side. Most of my friends had these but I couldn't afford them and my parents wouldn't get them for me so I had to make do with upgrading my cheapo faux leather skates with better wheels. I actually used white medical tape to put the racing stripes on them so in a dark rink and from a distance it looked like I had the cool Rydell speedskates.

Fast forward to about six years ago when I was married with two stepkids in gradeschool. Their school had a skate night several times a semester at a local rink. After getting frustrated with the rental skates I got on ebay and found a NOS pair of Rydell's from my era for $80. Finally 30 years later I had the skates I always wanted as a kid.

Moral of this story? I dunno. Maybe that good things come to those who wait and if it makes you feel better to have what the cool kid's have even if you have to counterfeit it then go for it. Just don't try and resell a counterfeit as an original. I never tried that with my fake speedskates and of course and it would have taken a VERY uneducated buyer to fall for my bad counterfeits anyway.

Skating! Lol, I remember when that was the thing to do, I'm a bit younger than you and can officially say my age group was the very last of the Mohicans at least in my area.

They closed the rink down and with it went the fun, people were lost for damn near a decade nobody knew what the hell to do in the nineties at first. It was really quite sad how much we all depended on that place.

I don't remember what skates were cool but we had em, prob the same ones, they were low cut black but by my time your wheel color was anything you could think of as long as it was some form of 80's neon something. I don't remember stripes though, just that they weren't cheap and most kids couldn't get them.

 

[1SHOT1HIT]

On this last argument you are mistaken on so many levels that it makes you look pretty, well you know......

In a nutshell, there is a difference between "Fender", the parent company, and "Fender" and "Squier", the instrument lines. And you have multiple models, etc within each line, but, each line is different enough in terms of cost, assembly origin and other variables that "Fender" (the company) clearly labels one line as "Fender" and the other line as "Squier".

In some ways, it's still basically the same product... but, here's something for you folks that you'll learn in Economics 101: price discrimination. I'll sell as many grapes as I can for $1 each to fella A because that's what he's willing/able to pay. And I'll sell the same grapes (sans a few "features") to fella B at $0.50 because that's all that he's willing/able to pay. And to others I'll sell the same grapes at $2 each, with a few specks of pixie dust sprinkled in for good measure. It goes deeper than this, but I'm not in the mood.

So, you go out and buy a product from Fender's "Squier" line. Good Heaven's! It rocks! It slices! It dices! I mean, it sounds good!!! End of story.

But, good musician that you are in the endless quest for tone and all that stuff, you "trick" your Squier. You change a bit here, and a bit there... You swear: "this is JUST as good as --if not better than -- model X Dlx from Fender's "Fender" line.

You are SOooo convinced, that then, some mental magic trick happens. You slap a logo from the other line to make this instrument, which is from "this" line, "appear" as if it's from the "other" line.

You know, I'll concede the point that when that logo makes contact with the headstock surface of your instrument, a whole bunch of cool things happen. Your tone improves. Your credibility at auditions and gigs goes through the roof. Your "coolness" factor on stage increases by magnitudes of 10. You gain "acceptance", "validation", all of that.

Whatever floats your boat. Everyone saying that people can do with their lives and instruments what they want is 100% correct. But that is not the point of this thread. The POINT of this thread is to argue (in a civilized way, mind you) the point.

And to some of you, slapping a "Fender" decal on a "Squier" line instrument is Ok. To some of us is just cheap, and to some others it borders on blasphemy.

It's cool man. Where I trip is that to me, it's not about the instrument but about the musician, and I don't see the "magic" of making one instrument "pass" as another, not by normal evolution (upgrading parts, including neck) but by the magical, mythical moment, when that Fender logo makes contact where, IMHO, it doesn't belong.

This, however, is my opinion. I've seen some great, spirited debate on this thread. Let's keep it going, but don't get nasty and tempt the mods to shut it down. Let it run its course....

Okay I'm the .....well you know .... but you're claiming Squire and Fender are two different companies.

Fender owns Squire THEY OWN IT, it's their company, the darn bass clearly says right on the decal Squier BY FENDER.
That means its a Squire brought to you and made by FENDER.

Talk about economics did you not pay attention when they discussed outsourcing to foreign factories for cheaper costs?
They didn't strike up a negotiation with Squier, they bought them, they own the name, the company, and everything else.

When you buy a Squier who gets the money? FENDER.

When a Squire employee sues for getting hurt on the Job do you think they sue Squier? No why because Squier is no longer a company, it is only a trademark. They would sue Fender.

Do you think Squier is on their pay Stubbs? Well crap I don't know, but I'd guess since Squire is nothing but a name it's Fender on their pay checks too.

When you look online and Google Squire what comes up? FENDER.com

Why is this so difficult for you guys?
Fender is not a separate entity, they are one in the same, whether you want to accept it or not.
Fender does not own the rights to the Squier name only, they own the entire company you can go online, right now and read all about it.
They didn't merge, they kicked in the door, waven their 4-4,,,,and all Squier heard was papa don't hit me no more. And bought the hell out of them to stop them from undercutting their ability to target the budget line consumers with their cheap knock offs.

Yes once upon a time Squier was its own entity they are no longer, they are Squier owned and operated by Fender.

Listen I'm all for being proved wrong, I'll admit it and own the hell out of it, I'll even apologize genuinely apologize, if you can show how they aren't Fender.
Good luck on your search.

But just because you like to think its not Fender doesn't make it so, and telling me I'm wrong is nothing more than what it is. If your so correct show me where it isn't Fender.
I HATE guys that list them as Fender on Craigslist it drives me nuts but after I read up on it, they're right, they are Fenders.