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Fender request...it happened again!

JimmyM

JimmyM

Apr 11, 2005
127,255
125,172
Plymouth NC
Disclosures
Endorsing: Yamaha, Ampeg, Line 6, EMG
#1
Did a gig yesterday in Michigan with Bowzer, Carl Gardner's Coasters, Sonny Turner and the Platters, and Charlie Thomas and the Drifters. All these guys know me well and love my playing. I brought my Turser Beatle bass for this gig since I knew I'd be mostly called on to play fat and not slap at all, and it's a lot easier on my chronically sore shoulder.

After soundcheck, one of the Coasters says to me, "Jimmy, how come you brought that Beatle bass? I wish you'd have brought one of your Fenders. That's your sound." I told him my shoulder bothers me when I play the Fenders and not to worry because my Beatle bass sounds great. Well, -I- thought it sounded great, but after the show, he says, "The Beatle bass sounds good, but it don't sound near as good as your Fenders. You need to bring one next time."

So next time I work with them, I'll bring a Fender or a copy. No big deal. I love Fenders and I'd still play them on every gig if my shoulder didn't get sore. But once again, even in this day and age, I had someone request it. Now I could get my "dander up" and let him know in no uncertain terms that I and only I choose what bass I play, and I could refuse to play a Fender like some of you have said you would. But by doing that, I would be alienating someone who would be hiring me to play more gigs in the future. And he's liable to call someone else next time, not me, and I would be missing out on a pretty good paycheck over a bass that you can buy for as little as $100. I'm certainly willing to spend $100 to insure that I can support my family and keep the high quality of gigs I get.
 
#2
A friend of mine just did a paid studio job recently and the engineer basically just handed him a Fender P bass when he got there to start playing. It wasn't even open to discussion for him to play his Stingrays.

I guess keeping the boss happy is the important thing. AND they do sound damn good.
 
#3
I played my '55 P backing the "Platters," Shirley Austin and the Shirelles, and Chubby Checker in '73/74. The sound seemed to be just the thing they wanted. BTW, my amp was a 200 watt Marshall Major (tube) head, and an Acoustic 301 18" folded horn (the big one). People Danced!
 
#4
Yep...P-bass is such a recognized, iconic sound that many artists want nothing else...

as paid musicians, who are you guys to argue? especially if you dig the tone, too :)


Jimmy,

have you tried looking into a different strap setup to help your sore shoulder? I didn't realise it was your shoulder that was buggin' you...I thought maybe it was your back...

have a poke around on here and the net...someone out there makes a strap that uses BOTH shoulders to bear the weight...

it's on the lines of those straps that university golfers use to loop their own clubs.
 
#5
I tried my own version of that strap using two straps I had laying around here. Didn't work out. It distributed the weight more evenly, but it put the bass in an awkward position unless I let one shoulder or the other take the brunt of it, which defeats the purpose, IMHO.

And I have bought over $200 worth of straps in the last year. I've been able to reduce the pain considerably with a couple of them, but not entirely. I think what I'm going to have to do is buy a custom strap that's like 7 inches wide at the shoulder. I tried to get one of those big Levy's straps they made for Tim Commerford of Audioslave, but they don't have them anymore.
 
#6
I tried my own version of that strap using two straps I had laying around here. Didn't work out. It distributed the weight more evenly, but it put the bass in an awkward position unless I let one shoulder or the other take the brunt of it, which defeats the purpose, IMHO.

And I have bought over $200 worth of straps in the last year. I've been able to reduce the pain considerably with a couple of them, but not entirely. I think what I'm going to have to do is buy a custom strap that's like 7 inches wide at the shoulder. I tried to get one of those big Levy's straps they made for Tim Commerford of Audioslave, but they don't have them anymore.
 
#7
Years ago when I used to play with "Cornell Gunther's Coasters" (the Vegas faction of "The Coasters" I guess), they didn't seem to care what bass I played (and actually seemed to dig my ultra modern Spectors).

Sonny Turner played around here regularly back then and frequently sat in. Funny thing was, his regular bassist used a Steinberger XL2 on everything.
 
#8
Not so sound hypocritical because in the past I have worked with Cornell Gunther's Coasters before I knew the whole story, but they are 100% phony, and Bowzer is working hard to put them out of business. Here's the short version:

A human piece of excrement named Larry Marshak claims to have acquired the names "Drifters," "Coasters," "Platters," and "Marvelettes." But he "acquired" these names under dubious means, he assembles several groups and puts them all out on the road at the same time for a fraction of what the actual groups charged, and has buried any of the original members that rightfully owned the names in litigation until Bowzer came along. Bowzer has gone to the politicians and has successfully brought "Truth in Music" laws in a few states now, which would stamp out these phony groups.

So when you see "Cornell Gunther's Coasters" or "Beary Hobbs' Drifters," or the Platters without Sonny Turner, or the Marvelettes, you are seeing completely phony groups. Right now there's a show at the Sands Hotel in Vegas with these groups. Once I found out the real truth about these groups, I stopped working with them. Some of the Drifters and Platters are nice guys and I feel bad for them because they're just musicians like me trying to make a living, but they're participating in something that's very wrong. Fortunately, there's a few of them that are complete jerkoffs (like that Dave Revels character with the fake Coasters), and it makes me happy to see them get slowly put out of business. So if you care about seeing the actual item, then stick with Carl Gardner's Coasters, Charlie Thomas' or Bill Pinckney's Drifters, and Sonny Turner.

Anyway, didn't want to preach, but since you brought them up, I thought I'd mention what's going on.
 
#9
I'd speculate that a portion of what the "boss" wanted was the sound, and a portion was the look. So perhaps you could work with Nino, Roger, or somebody like that to build an extra-light weight passive P bass with a pickup wound for an old-fashioned voicing? I see some of those Sads weighing in around 8 lbs, and I bet a few ounces more could be shaved off the back of the body, and by using titanium screws instead of steel.

Clearly it might not be as light as a short scale hollowbody, or as "vintage P-bass sounding" as the real deal, but I bet you could get close enough for the job at hand.
 
#12
Bongo, funny you mention that. I'm seriously considering routing out the body on my parts P under the pickguard considerably. I've looked into the chambered bodies and it only results in a 1 lb. difference. I'm thinking that if I rout completely under the PG, I can get a good 2 lbs. out of it.

Another thing I'm going to try is this strap that I just won on Ebay seconds ago:

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Big-Bass-St...3QQihZ013QQcategoryZ64421QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

5" wide, soft leather...sounds good to me. All the wide straps I've seen have hard heavy leather. Since it's Italia I probably won't have it for another month, but we'll see. The price was decent.

BTW, alfred, you are correct about Squiers. I wouldn't even bother taking the logo off. I have no problem showing up to gigs with cheapos. I bring a Jay Turser or an SX on all my fly gigs now because I don't want to smash up a good one in baggage.
 
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#13
I can't remember where I saw it but I think in one of the strap threads here there was a link to a system that basically suspends the bass from a strap around your waist.

Anyone else remember seeing that?

Jimmy, worth checking into at least.

P.S. Killer deal on that Italia strap!
 
#16
There is also an "endpeg" style one-legged instrument support, but it doesn't attach at the strap peg by the bridge, making the bass upright.

Rather, one holds the bass in the normal position, and a long slender adjustable "leg" extends from the bottom "waist" of the bass (several inches ahead of the input jack on a Jazz). Kind of turns your bass into a T.

It's a slender rod, like a thin black mike stand, but doesn't have a tripod or pedestal base.

I can't seem to find it on the web, but saw it a couple of months ago in Vintage Guitar Mag. I don't know what it is called, but looked easy to use. You still wear a strap, but keep most of the weight on the post unless you need to move. Then the bass moves with you normally. :cool:
 
#17
I've used a stap made by Reunion Blues for the last twenty plus years. It's smooth leather that's doubled and the rolled edge is the one that's closest to your neck (so no "sharp" or rough edge on the inside). Also it's wide at the shoulder and tapered on either end. Undobtedly the most comfortable and ergonomic strap I've ever owned.

Only thing is, I can't find any straps on thier website but it appears you can get them here.

http://www.dpguitars.com/ReuStr.html

Scroll down to the bottom pic.
Mine is similar to the first one on the left.
 
#18
Getting back on topic concerning Fenders. I attended the Bamboozle concert in the Meadowlands yesterday with my oldest daughter. I'm about to head out to the second day of shows in a few minutes.

Out of the forty bands that played yesterday, the vast majority of the players used passive four string P's and J's. In a distant second were three Ibanez players, followed by one lonely G & L guy. I anticipate I'll see and hear the same thing today. I myself was a Fender Precision guy for years before I moved up to five strings. The bottom line is that they work, get ton's of the right tones, sit well in the mix, and are recognizable and reliable. The fact that they are very affordable, and most likely will help you keep working, is just gravy. Just my $.02.
 
#19
Some older fenders have very light bodies and still sound good. I've got a '72 like that. You could look around for one of those or build out a P-bass with very light swamp ash, chamber the body, and use hipshot ultralight tuners to make a bass that balances well and is about 8lbs.

Theres a guy named Roger Sadowsky who will do the above operation perfectly :D But then it won't say "fender" on the headstock, so you may need to do a frankenbass buildout to keep certain bandleaders and engineers happy. Fender neck, custom body, ultralight tuners :bassist:
 
#20
I don't know the nature of the injury to your shoulder of course, and I'm no doctor, but I've had various injuries to body parts over the years. Is it something that can be helped with physical therapy? If that is cost prohibitive, there must be articles/books on simple exercises you can do with light weights to strengthen the shoulder. But if it is a tear or something of that nature - obviously see a doctor - if you have the insurance or $$$, of course.
 

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