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Fender Lame-o American design experience Fail

Kirk Bryant

Kirk Bryant

Aug 23, 2004
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5,735
Aloha, ..Or., not nearly as tropical as it sounds!
#1
So I did a search and was surprised I couldn't find a thread on this. As some of you know Fender has instigated a so called "design experiance" well my experiance sucked. There are so many things lacking....this rant may go on for awhile....so get the popcorn and pull up a chair.
Well I wanted to design a vintage Precision bass. Essentially a Sting bass like the 57 I used to own.
Sounds easy enough let's get started!
BODY:, oh yea no earlier 50s body available. Obviously NO EARLY 50s PRECISION which by default means NO TELECASTER BASS. STRIKE ONE!
They have decreed that only P and Jazz types are acceptable.
That should be two strikes but there are so many others it doesn't matter. ( I didn't want a slab body but it didn't matter cause you can't have one!) Ash is a $100 upgrade!! WTH really it's one of the cheapest woods you can buy. Sorry. STRIKE TWO,
PARTS:, ok a pickguard is a part and the only "part" available. No single ply available. Oh yea that must be a Tele "part" right! STRIKE THREE
Maybe the stuff I think are "parts" are in the hardware section......fair enough. That comes later.
FINISH: Fender in their infinite(sic) wisdom has deemed 9 finishes "worthy" 2 are non traditional: Silver Burst and Sunset Metallic. A quick google search found about 100!!!!! Nine options HOW COOL!!!!
STRIKE FOUR!
NECK: there 2 Precision necks, 50s and 60S. Only maple board on the 50s and only Rosewood on the 60s. AGAIN ....WTH!
STRIKE FIVE
There are 2 Jazz necks 60s Rosewood only and 70s Maple only? All the necks both P and J have a Lacquer finish except the 70s, thank God! The 70s Jazz has Pearl blocks and binding no black B&B available. Sigh....obviously there is no Tele style Precision cause that's a "Tele" part, I guess they forgot it was used on a PRECISION bass first! And the Black B and B neck... Oh yea I can buy a Squier for that neck huh.
STRIKE SIX!
BRIDGE: simple enough, bent plate or high mass. Done.
PICK UPs: 3 P PUs available I want old school. Vintage 58' WTH again they don't even know that the split coil came out in 1957. Ok I wanted a damn Single Coil PU anyway, remember Fender it was the first Pickup you put in a Precision!
Good Lord. STRIKE SEVEN
HARDWARE FINISH well that's easy cause the options are ...oh yea Nickle only there aren't any options, why bother having a freaking tab to select huh.????? A customized neck plate ohhh cool! Strings.....are hardware, again WTH?
STRIKE EIGHT. Boy this is making my head hurt, where's my ibuprofen.....
CASE: can't really find fault there soooooooo we leave on a high note. No really I just had to take some ibuprofen cause this exercise really did give me a headache.
I am deeply saddened by this monumental FAIL on Fenders part. Don't get me wrong I own about 8 Fender basses and love them but I wish I could laugh this off. It's just absolutely mind numbingly idiotic. Good luck Fender.
 
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#2
I don't get it, you can get anything and everything you want at just as good quality from other vendors, so who cares? Go to Warmoth and get whatever you want.

I really don't get the anger at the manufacturer for not currently making exactly what you want. They don't exist to satisfy just you, you know.
 
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#4
I Hear you Kirk. I was there when they just opened it. It was described to me as a sort of bridge between Custom Shop and off the shelf. It's true character is much closer to off the shelf than anything truly custom. They said at the time that the options would expand in the coming years- but I have a feeling it will be what it is. Sounds like the only way for you to get what you want through Fender would be the Custom Shop.
 
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#5
For giggles I looked to see what a precision special aka P/J would cost out at. Nope, no P/J pickup configs, no jazz neck available for P bodies.
Not sure if they have a handle on what type of customer would be using this.

Then again, *** do I know? Doing a parts build with stuff sourced from all over, and coming in way cheaper than anything they could conceivably offer.
Not mad at them. More like seriously amused.
 
#7
I understand your frustration, but I think it is due to Fender not properly communicating the point of the design experience program.

Fender will build you the bass you want, but you have to purchase it by custom order through the custom shop. And at a significant price premium. it's kind of like buying a custom built house.

The design experience program is more like buying a semi-custom built house. For a few dollars more than the list price of an off the shelf model, you can choose from a few additional colors and trim options.
 
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#9
Bholder nowhere in my post did I say I'm angry, I'm not. If you are referring to my caps as being angry, no, shouting, maybe a little. Lol. As I said I am sad that they went to this much trouble for so little. As for building my own I have several. I mix and match Fender and Other Parts all the time. I have Bart's and a Fodera pre in my PLyte, I have a Blocks and bound Maple jazz neck RoadWorn P, I have a real 60s P body with a Jazz neck and Audere 4 band pre. I have a "59" AVRI Precision, I have a MIJ "Cowpoke PJ, etc. I'm really pretty well set. So this service is not something I even need as I am capable of creating my own vision of Fenders I want to play. Again no anger at all. I am serene and happy! I'm happy with the basses I have and really don't "need" anything else. There maybe a few basses I would like to own but need...no. Well maybe a nice 5 string fretless but that sure as heck won't be any kind of Fender clone. Have a great day. Kirk out.
 
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#10
I like electriclady's take on it ..let's have every Squier part and option on the menu and call it $699. Out the door with any combo available. They would still make lots of money. Heck I might consider buying one myself. But as I said I have already customized most of my basses already.
MCF Again not frustrated or angry
Again guys I have known about the custom shop for decades. I get it. I already own a half dozen custom made basses. I've been here on TB over ten yrs. and have been playing since 1962......ouch ...sigh...that hurt. Now get offa my lawn. Lol
 
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#16
I sometimes get the feeling the Design Experience was semi-abandoned once the people at Fender realized it could diminish some of the mystique (in some respects well-deserved) that their Custom Shop has built up over the years.

Why would you want to sell somebody something very close to a Custom Shop design for considerably less money? Isn't that what the Signature models were supposed to do? Give you a heavy dose of Custom Shop mojo without actually taking you quite all the way there? As in: not your own design - but still built to Custom Shop quality standards.

One-off orders can also be a royal PITA unless you're set up for them. I'd suspect Fender hadn't anticipated just how much of a hassle doing this would turn out to be once things started rolling. And if that is what happened, it wouldn't be too surprising if the initially available options were far fewer than originally expected. And the promised additional options never materialized.

I remember when I tried it out. Same experience as the OP's. It dawned on me pretty quickly that there were far fewer available customizations than I thought would be there. And when I compromised and muddled through, all I wound with was something very similar to already existing models - but at a higher price.

The J-Bass I specc'ed came to $1800. With the compromises I had to make (due to lack of certain options I would have wanted) it ended up being not much different than one of their nicer $1400 American Standard models. For the same $1800 I could also have just bought an Adam Clayton Signature and gotten even closer to what I was originally trying to design. Which made small sense since I could always go the "Warmouth & other 3rd-party" route as others suggested, and get exactly what I was looking for with regards to body, finish, neck, frets, hardware, and electronics. It wouldn't have been much (if any) cheaper doing it that way, But at least it would have gotten me what I actually wanted.
 
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#17
I could make this:

index.png
 
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#18
When they first started the design experience, they had white blonde as a finish option, and noticed that I could build a Jazz bass exactly like the '97 MIA Jazz I had about 10 years ago: White blonde over ash with a maple board. They have since removed White Blonde as a finish option, and just have Vintage Blonde, which is the yellow/butterscotch finish. The only way to get a White Blonde ash bodied Jazz bass from Fender is either an American Deluxe or call the custom shop.

Also, why does the Design Experience cost $150 more than a comparable MIA bass? If I select all of the basic options that you can get with a brand new MIA Jazz, it costs $1549.99. That makes no sense.

They should offer more colors, optional matching headstock, more options for necks (P necks on Jazz basses, for instance), and a couple more body options. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Fender player through and though, but the design experience is not well thought out at all.
 
#19
No I did not just start this for a rant or to rag on Fender I love Fender as evidenced by the 8 Fenders I already own.
I am already a member of the GOML club thank You, bone.
Mellowinman I like your bass, silver burst with tort is a great look!
Yes Jimmy black and maple is a classic for sure.
And while I was there I made a few I liked but my point is it could have been so much more.
And thank you 40 hz, I fully agree with pretty much everything you said. Especially the aspect of the price point which I found prohibitive. I just had an idea to see how many Squiers I can buy for $1800.00 and how many new (relatively speaking) basses could be made by swapping out parts to create some interesting combinations.
Forgot to say ssabass , I agree.
 
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#20
Deleted member 269102 said:
For giggles I looked to see what a precision special aka P/J would cost out at. Nope, no P/J pickup configs, no jazz neck available for P bodies.
Not sure if they have a handle on what type of customer would be using this.

Then again, *** do I know? Doing a parts build with stuff sourced from all over, and coming in way cheaper than anything they could conceivably offer.
Not mad at them. More like seriously amused.
Click to expand...

You can get jazz necks on P-bodies. I'm building one right now for S&G's...
 
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