I'm sure that if Fender offered a fanned fretboard, it would make both the people who want one happy.
Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
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.
Fender fanned fretboard. Bets accepted...
- Thread starter Avezzano
- Start date
I'm sure that if Fender offered a fanned fretboard, it would make both the people who want one happy.
Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
Maybe indeed. Do you want to devote a production line to that assumption? It would not be cheap to offer fanned fret necks, and would require re-tooling and new fretting equipment.
I'm not saying that it can't be done, I'm just suggesting that it's an expensive niche market (in terms of production costs) and Fender is not in the biz of servicing niche markets. I also don't think people would look to Fender for that kind of unusual neck setup. Hence my "both people" snark.
IMO in today's market expensive moves like that are quite unlikely.
Still Great fun to play! I'm about to have my cheapy Japanese bass neck rebuilt into fretless with quality truss rod. I enjoy classics.Nah Fender INVENTED 5 string.
Bill Wyman he converted a cheap Japanese bass to fretless as early as 1961 and used it with his first band, the Cliftons. The first commercially available fretless was Ampegs AUB-1 in 1966
You know what I mean.
I'm guessing the Dimensions weren't discontinued on a count of them being such hot sellers.
songwriter21
I have an obsession for wood. The musical kind.
I felt that the move from Deluxe to Elite was a downgrade. The Elite's truss wheel was cool, but I loved the USA Deluxes, and thought they played so much better. The Elites felt like tanks to me. Then earlier, the P5 Deluxe with that big humbucker in the bridge was pretty badass, along with the groundbreaking Roscoe Beck series.
Fanned fretless is a big NO for me. Don’t make it harder than it is
WOW look at that. It's beautiful!
AND good luck with the Japanese conversion I hope it plays well.
I tried them at NAMM many years ago when the were first being introduced. I found them easy to play but didn't hear a tonal benefit to them. To me it's just clever marketing but to others it's that thing they want badly.
All good, that is the word on the street....but I don't think anyone (at least in this thread) said that Fender made the first fretless bass only the first five string.Ah, ah: now this is interesting! So, if we want to consider the Fender V as a real 5 string "ancestor" (not for me, anyway) it comes out that at Fender they did NOT invent the fretless! It was Bill Wyman...
Oh, yes: the exact term was "innovation". Ok, whatever!All good, that is the word on the street....but I don't think anyone (at least in this thread) said that Fender made the first fretless bass only the first five string.
I want a MIM P-5... fortunately I got the Squier version before they discontinued that. I'm actually angry about this... grrrr.
Various sources say (I don't know how conclusively) that Paul Barth's fretless bass - variously branded Bartell (his own company), Lancer, Contessa, St.George, Acoustic (“Black Widow”) and Hohner - predated the Ampeg by a year (1965). Certainly coeval with it, at least.Nah Fender INVENTED 5 string.
Bill Wyman he converted a cheap Japanese bass to fretless as early as 1961 and used it with his first band, the Cliftons. The first commercially available fretless was Ampegs AUB-1 in 1966
But, to reinforce your later post, it is true no-one here ever claimed the fretless bass was a Fender invention.
As for the 5-string bass, there is a connection between the Fender V and Jimmy Johnson's first BEADG bass: one specific reason why he ordered from Alembic (besides them having established a name as makers of custom boutique instruments) is that they had already made custom fivers. Only, they came tuned EADGC, just like their Fender predecessor (but with 9 more frets, so they were authentic extended-range instruments relative to the traditional 4-banger). As far as I've read, Jimmy's own bass came like that from the shop but, being a GHS endorser, he'd managed to have the string company make a 120 low B that he installed on the bass after reworking the nut slots (he did some work at the bridge end as well).
Back on topic: if Fender managed to put out an all-new, or radically redesigned model that combined some retro-futurist lines (in the same vein as some Duesenberg, Reverend or Italia models), a fan-fretted board could be visually integrated without sticking out like a sore thumb. I could see it being made for a limited time, like the Rascal and, depending on the sales performance, it could lead to more mass-produced things.
Last edited:
I got curious about fanned frets a few years back, so when I was in a music store I decided to play an Ibanez model that had them. I expected, as I imagine many do, that it would be hard to get used to, but it wasn't.
I think it's a question they never asked because they never really knew why they should be asking. And I still think it isn't clear to many what the advantages of a multiscale instrument are. Most people are content to play a standard instrument and probably think this is something that would be hard to play.
What I like to me is important dear .. what you and others are drooling for not so much and you’ll see that Fender will remain as is as well as Dingwall; they deal with different sectors of the same market and are perfectly happy.
This thread doesn’t make much sense unfortunately.
Ciao Avezzano .. ask Dingwall to make you a fanned Sadowsky
I think you're halfway right. All those things also filled a need. They were innovative but also smart.
Again, I think a company like Fender is in a good position to sit back and watch where the market heads. If they see money there, they'll do something. It might be something more like buying out Dingwall.
Barth's is listed as 1965 fretless bass I have no reason to doubt that, do you know off hand if was it "commercially available"?
An interesting read on the Fender Jimmy Johnson fiver connection, thanks for that and for the record I am not opposed to a Fender attempting to introduce a tasteful extended range/fanned fret bass as you eluded too, I doubt I'll ever see one, I do however think they would attempt to get boutique-esk price for them (tooling or re-tooling) pricing many out of that option. Cheers!
What I like to me is important dear .. what you and others are drooling for not so much and you’ll see that Fender will remain as is as well as Dingwall; they deal with different sectors of the same market and are perfectly happy.
This thread doesn’t make much sense unfortunately.
Ciao Avezzano .. ask Dingwall to make you a fanned Sadowsky
Your opinion count exactly as mine: for one. I appreciate your smart remark. Take care.
P.s.: maybe there will be no need to ask Dingwall, probably Sadowsky will do that by himself. Who knows...
Last edited:
It is wrong to use Mercedes in this comparison. They really do make everything on wheels under their own name.
