I own a 2005 Fender American Jazz and it has the s-1 switch which is probably one of the best features on it. There are no "bad" years for fender imo. Everyone just has a different opinion.
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Fender-years to avoid?
- Thread starter BullHorn
- Start date
The reason that people tend to revere older basses, and see them as some kind of "they don't build 'em like they used to" holy grail is because most of the truly horrendous ones, of any era, have already been filtered out of the system by years, or decades, of users throwing the bad ones in the junk or parting them out.
The further away from the manufacturing date you get, the more filtering has been done for you so the more likely you are to get a good one. Except, that once a particular year or era has gained a reputation that people only talk about with wide eyes and hushed tones there will still be a few dogs sneaking through disguised in the emporer's nrew clothes
The further away from the manufacturing date you get, the more filtering has been done for you so the more likely you are to get a good one. Except, that once a particular year or era has gained a reputation that people only talk about with wide eyes and hushed tones there will still be a few dogs sneaking through disguised in the emporer's nrew clothes
I've never owned a Fender and maybe this is a dumb question but what makes one Fender a great bass compared to another that is not considered a great bass ? Weight ? Quality ? Will two Fender's with the same pickups sound drastically different ?
Boombass76
Commercial User
Yes! The CAN sound pretty similar, but they definitely have the potential to sound totally different too!
So, always try them out before buying or be prepared to go through quite a few 'ebay items' to find the one that suits your needs perfectly...
I found my perfect 70's P bass after having bought 6 or 7 70's Precisions on ebay that all sounded different. Some more than others, but no two sounded exactly the same.
Not to sound all defensive over my gear, but I own a 2005 Jazz bass and I use the S-1 switch all the time. It's especially useful on a jazz since in certain situations the average passive J-bass has a hard time sounding "full" in a rock mix. It is also a much easier way to cut volume as it acts as a master volume, defeating the second volume.
I get absolutely no hum out of my bass. I've never had to replace anything in my bass, and I've had it as my main bass for 5 years now and I haven't even needed to adjust the truss rod (and I live in Florida, a wooden instrument's hell).
I think people just wanted to whine about SOMETHING when Fender introduced the S-1. I'll admit, I haven't tried it on a P-bass, but if anybody wants to sell me their S-1 P-bass guts, I'll buy. The only problems I have with the switch itself is it gets a tad sticky... But if you just tighten or loosen the knob you'll rid yourself of that problem.
I get absolutely no hum out of my bass. I've never had to replace anything in my bass, and I've had it as my main bass for 5 years now and I haven't even needed to adjust the truss rod (and I live in Florida, a wooden instrument's hell).
I think people just wanted to whine about SOMETHING when Fender introduced the S-1. I'll admit, I haven't tried it on a P-bass, but if anybody wants to sell me their S-1 P-bass guts, I'll buy. The only problems I have with the switch itself is it gets a tad sticky... But if you just tighten or loosen the knob you'll rid yourself of that problem.
I have a 2006 Sunset Orange Transparent P-Bass It is defiantly the nicest Modern P-Bass I have every played . It has a nice light swamp ash body which you can not get on a new American Standard . I am not too crazy about the present colors on the American Standard's .
When Fender upgrades the American Standard in a few years are people going to bash the current models ?
The S-1 switch is good idea on paper I thinks works better on the Jazz then the P-Bass but it was less then popular so it was discontinued.
When Fender upgrades the American Standard in a few years are people going to bash the current models ?
The S-1 switch is good idea on paper I thinks works better on the Jazz then the P-Bass but it was less then popular so it was discontinued.
Good and bad from all eras. Play them yourself to see what you like.
/thread
The above is the bottom line with fender.
But for my years of collecting.
All the early pre-CBS basses are ex. 1952-1965.
The CBS basses, 1966-1980 were very good.
1966-1973 bass were almost as good a pre-CBS.
I never played a bad bass from 1966, or 1970.
The basses from 1974-1980 is where the QC got worst.
Yes, there were great basses made in this period, but also a lot of bad ones.
By 1980 Fender bass were no way near as good as before.
So bad in fact, this is why they came out with there "Reissue"
line in 1982.
Fender went back to making bass just like they did in the early 60's.
Also in the early 2000's Fender slipped a little again.
But as of 2008, Fender again came back making quality basses.
The USA American Std. of 2008 are find basses again.
Also the new 2010 "Roadworn" basses are great for the money.
I did not go into Custom Shop, or Artist models.
But I will say, the CS "Pino" P-Bass is as nice as any I've ever
played, regardless of year.JMO.
Trying to count back I think I've owned 14 different Fender basses, although none of them vintage. IMO it's hit or miss with any year, but some years do seem worse than others. My 2005'ish Jazz S-1 was the worst Fender I've owned. It had nothing to do with the S-1 system, it was just weak sounding bass. I love my 2008 P bass and can honestly say it is probably my most favorite bass I've ever owned. There was also a 1997 Am Std Jazz I had back in about 1999 that is the only bass I have sold that I would like to have back.
I don't know what it is about Fender basses that makes me keep coming back to them. I have no loyalty to Fender as a company and I think their instrument construction in general is average at best. A "good" Fender bass is like a nice worn-in pair of jeans.
I don't know what it is about Fender basses that makes me keep coming back to them. I have no loyalty to Fender as a company and I think their instrument construction in general is average at best. A "good" Fender bass is like a nice worn-in pair of jeans.
Really? My 2003 MIA Jazz Bass was my main for several years before I sold it. I eventually got tired of the whole concept of the Jazz Bass, but while I owned that one, it was a reliable instrument.
Every time I go to GC and try a few out I come away with the same ratio of good Fenders to "poop" Fenders: ~1/6. Not sure why this is but I'm inclined to believe it's silly to avoid certain years when you're going to try before you buy anyways.
It's just a 'tone' thing. Fenders are interesting in the simplicity of the instruments, thus it can also be their undoing...thus these debates. Primarily, it's all about tone & feel.
By 'range' I mean the low 'B'. For me, it's still something to get used to. I love playing it and the tone & vibe are great. Hopefully you will do as well out of the box.
I have owned several 1970's era Jazz and Precisions and always had good luck. I probably wouldn't buy anything made after 1979 or 1980. The economy was pretty bad at that time and manufacturers were looking for ways to cut costs. Fender started building more guitars over seas. It was also around this time that companies such as G & L, BC Rich, Guild,Musicman, Aria and Ibanez became popular. More competition made it necessary to produce basses with lower quality parts in order to keep the prices within range of most buyers.
I see a few people knocking the 80's era, and generally you don't hear much conversation about the decade's instruments. At least until CBS sold in '84?, there were a few bright spots in the early part of the decade. One of the best basses Fender ever made, IMO, was made in the early 80's - The Precision Elite line. It was a top of the line instrument with proprietary design components unique unto itself, many of which were never revisited again (TBX active tone circuit, Schaller "fine tune" bridge with top thumbscrews, Schaller lite tuners, special designed split coil humbuckers w white concealed pole covers, bi-flex truss rod, 4 bolt neck WITH pitch adjustment, knobs, etc). Also had a walnut body/ebony fretboard/gold hardware option. Of course, having proprietary components makes it damn near impossible to find replacement parts for it. Here's my Elite II:
Attachments
The thing is, they weren't considered junk by everyone. Many people didn't have their head up their butt and actually checked out the basses in question and found them not to be as horrible as all of the anecdotes and conventional wisdom.
For example, a bassist who has discomfort wearing a heavier bass does not make that bass bad... there are plenty of folks who have no problem with it. And since everyone doesn't prefer the sound and feel of pre-CBS basses, not being one doesn't automatically make that bad either.
So if someone wants to be told what Fenders to avoid, I'd say all of them. Otherwise I'd say for any bassist genuinely interested in nice basses, check out any of the years. I have not found any particularly years to be substandard. I'm a discriminating bassist but I can still see the forest and the trees.
This is a great point!
Also, I always try to snag one with some solid wear n tear to the finish, or slight modifications. You get a better deal, and usually the "beat up" ones are the best players! They didn't get that way from being stored under a bed. The ones that are "closet condition" or look like they should be hung on a museum wall aren't usually the best players.
I learned that a while back from a buddy of mine who owns a successful vintage guitar shop. Now I have a slightly modded 62 P and a slightly modded 75 P and they're the nicest Fenders I've put my hands on. And I didn't pay over $1000 for either of them...
Frankly, I love my 07 fender Precision. I have to admit though, that I replaced the S-1 switch with a regular knob, so not to be reminded of it.
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What I find funny is that you do see much about people talking about 83 - early 90's.
I'm not sure why.
