What novel idea. Maybe a whole lot of people in this thread and on this site will take a page from your book and do the same...you know, so they'll know what they're talking about.
Mike
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Fender MIM road worn 60' J bass
- Thread starter SanDiegoHarry
- Start date
Mike
They ARE fake, but actually beat up? No. Cheap? I wish--but sometimes isn't the girl with the fake jewels the one you REALLY want?
Gonna play one or more RW basses this weekend, I hope. I'll reserve judgement until I've played a few, and A/B-ed them with some familiar instruments.
I'd bet Fender has very few finish seconds, no matter what finish, but I am just guessing. All IMHO.
ALL factories have finish flaws or seconds..in the case of the road worn do they really have to be corrected to perfection like a US standard jazz ?...no it is a beat up road worn finish. Obviously the consumer is paying to have someone distress/wear the finish. I am sorry but for almost the same price as a new American Standard Jazz (with case) the roadworn mexicans are overpriced. If you like the roadworn bass and feel it's a good value..buy it. I just feel Fender is overcharging for a "novelty" instrument. Here are the prices @ Musicians Friend US Standard $1499 (includes case) Mexican Standard $659.00 (gig bag) Mexican Roadworn $1249 (gig bag). I wonder if Musicians Friend will have any scratch n' dent sales on the Roadworn Fenders ?? Someone at Fender probably got a huge bonus check for this marketing plan.
Jim Carr
Dr. Jim
- Jan 21, 2006
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I totally agree. I'd just guess they have very few "second" finishes of any kind go out the door. Again, a guess.
Since anything in manufacturing can go wrong, why not the process for "road wear", too?
Again, we agree they are not cheap. Aren't all new finishes novelties?
We can hope.
Good luck finding one. Right now they're almost as rare as chicken lips around here.
So far I've only found the one I mentioned in an earlier post.
There seems to be plenty of RW Strats around though.
I have played the Roadworn Jazz. It has a nice feel and the sound is good...compared to a New US Standard.. the US plays and sounds better IMHO. Value wise which one will hold their value...only time will tell. (I would bet that The US will) The Roadworn would be a better value if it was priced well under a $1,000. It is a "novelty" that seems to have a lot of interest.
Jim Carr
Dr. Jim
- Jan 21, 2006
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Calls to numerous music stores in DFW, TX area and Lexington, KY yielded zero Road Worn basses in stock. 
Anyone find one in the last couple of days? Where?
Anyone find one in the last couple of days? Where?
Calls to numerous music stores in DFW, TX area and Lexington, KY yielded zero Road Worn basses in stock.
Anyone find one in the last couple of days? Where?
The only RW I found was a Precision in Red Bank, NJ as of Friday 3/6.
You nailed it perfectly! I guess this falls in line with the instant gratification that so many want these days.
Jim Carr
Dr. Jim
- Jan 21, 2006
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Yeah, by Cracky! Back in the 60s, IIRC, we bought SVTs or an Acoustic 370 for bar gigs, even though it was idiotic and we were more hair than player. We were gonna be stars. We were young and svelt. We were hip. We were posers, too, but we didn't use credit cards for instant gratification. Oh no. For that we paid cash! 
At this point I'd like to mention that I don't believe I ever seen so much discussion nor the prevelent display of a high-horse mentality over a finish on a bass. Perspective, people. On the plus side, I guess it's a positive thing that you guys have found something that makes you feel good about yourselves. I suggest you start a club.
Mike
Mike
Jim Carr
Dr. Jim
- Jan 21, 2006
- 16,223
- 7,614
- 76
- Disclosures
- fEARful Kool-Aid dispensing liberal academic card-carrying union member Musicians Local 72-147
How about a "Fake Relics are for Posers Club" We're both, in right?
Wait, we'd have to own one to join, so we'd be...uh-oh...
Just ordered a Fiesta Red Jazzbass after gigging my 50s Road Worn P-Bass.
I hope I can post some HQ pictures wednesday!!!
I hope it is as good as my P-Bass.
Theo
I hope I can post some HQ pictures wednesday!!!
I hope it is as good as my P-Bass.
Theo
Disagree with this quite a lot actually. Kids (40+ and otherwise) will love these, for the people who want to look like they are insane on stage and have owned the same instrument for as long as a piece of string, but actually haven't, and tend to behave in a well-mannered fashion on stage (and wipe the sweat off thier J before it goes back it's case, with the tags in the little compartment inside...?). They'll sell, I'm sure of it.
They solved this problem before the roadworn series was even but a twinkle in fender's eyes. they're called CS relics, they're done by hand and apart from the big logo on the reverse of the headstock, they're pretty hard to guess as re-makes, but the only problem with these are the $3-4k+ price tags, hence the MIM "conveyor belt" knock up style line.
Like I said, I think a lot of people will love these things.
But I don't like them very much at all. I love vintage guitars (real ones, specifically Fenders) so a relic has always been a little bit more "fake" to me than "affordable". but I can see why someone might want one, they look damned close to the real thing, in fact I think without the decal on the back, a lot of experienced repairers wouldn't know the difference (which is probably why it's there...)
But having checked out these ones, I have to say "shoddy" comes to mind. Does anyone remember when there was a really cheap series of electric guitars that were supposedly "relic'd" but had actually just had areas masked off before finishing and no clearcoat applied?
I've seen a lot of the relic'd areas on these guitars (mostly on the neck) to be of a very similar quality to what I just described, with work a good company could fix it up better, but the stock necks do look really fake. I have to say though, I was quietly impressed with the body work which did look well done (despite the same ruthless rockstar playing each guitar for the years prior to sale...)
I think the price would be justified if the quality of relicing was more of a high standard across the whole of the instrument instead of just the body and some of the hardware, and i've yet to hear anything bad about how they play.
Still don't agree with the princple of relic'd instruments myself, but if other people like them then
whaddevva! Variety makes the world more fun!
We've got 5 of the strat/tele models in the store and so far everyone who has seen them says the same thing. "You want me to pay how much for a MIM Fender?....Seriously?" I'm not predicting 0 sales on the Road worn series this year but I think the #'s will be much lower than whatever Fender is expecting. There 25-30% across the board pricelist increase probably won't be received too well either
There 25-30% across the board pricelist increase probably won't be received too well either
Well, i can't argue with that part, they're not helping themselves though, but, i'm sure their whole range must be suffering from this to some degree.
Yes, very much so. I think the Road worn series is a great idea don't get me wrong, but the pricing is about $200-$300 too much. I think it would've been smarter for Fender to price them lower for the release of the series and then based on the response raise the price through the year(like they normally do). Raising prices due to success seems more disireable than lowering prices due to failure imo. At this point I should go on record saying I think the faux aging of instruments like the road worn/relic series is just dumb, you are actually paying extra for someone to scratch/sand/dent your guitar.
Calling someone a poser for liking the finish on a guitar is just being a jerk. If I own one someday in my life I promise you I won't tell people that I toured every smoky dive bar in the U.S. for 26 years. It's not that big of a deal, get over it.
Since most people haven't even picked one up, isn't the quality discussion up in the air? FWIW, the 50's/60's MIM basses these are based on have been VERY well recieved here for at least a year now. As far as a position in the club, well.....I'd be honored. Let me know when the meetings are and how mad to be when I get there.
Mike
