fender

I felt the same way about Fenders for a while. All the ones that I played at guitar center had a real crummy setup, and Im not too keen on those Fender strings either... I think they come string with a .110 E

Anyway, one day they had a brand new American Deluxe Jazz Bass with a perfect setup. I played it for about 45 minutes, then I picked up the stingray that I always play when Im there, and I realized that I liked the Fender a lot better. So now I love Fender basses.

They also have a very traditional tone, and you cant go wrong with the passive electronics! They also stay in tune better than most basses, and are built like tanks. These basses never fail.

Blah Blah Blah... I love Fenders...

 

Maybe you were playing it wrong?

I should be careful -- that same comment got lo-end mad at me once.

 

I just don't like the Fender designs, that's all.

 

I'm into the fenders too. If I had the money, I'd go pick up a jazz bass right now. One of those through my ampeg sounds awesome! I think you cant really go wrong with a fender. If you pick up a squier though, that's where you could get into trouble. I;ve never like squier affinity p-basses and a friend of mine has a squier p-bass where the neck began warping not even a year after he bought it. That's enough to keep me away from squiers.

 

I also REALLLY want a RB5. That will be my next purchase for sure.

As for the string starter who doesn't like Fenders, I offer this piece of advise:

Don't buy one.


When it comes to factory bolt-on basses, Fender is the standard by which all others are measured. There isn't a maker out there that isn't making their own version of a p-bass or jazz bass. Sure you have the later Leo evolutions like the Stingray and L-2000, but even those are really extensions of the P bass.

A lot of what Sadowsky is really doing is building a better Fender that Fender can.

As for the look. It is pretty standard. Nothing to write home about except that it is classic and traditional. As for feel, well ask any bass player in the world to describe a bass neck and there is a decent chance he or she will say "kinda like a P bass" or "it has jazz neck." So there is something to the feel of a Fender.

As for the tone. Well it is traditional as well. Comfortable on the ears.

My only beef with Fender is consistancy. With the MIA, MIJ, MIM and MI?, there a bunch of varying quality stuff out there with a Fender name stamped on it.

 

I have never been a fender fan. I think alot of people play them because there are so many out there. I dont like the electronics in any of them as for built like a tank most basses are. I have always liked spectors, status and some warwicks.To me the sound of fenders are not as full as other high end basses and most of them come with sub-parr
hardware but I know alot of people that live and die by them just not my bag, I preferr a more refined sound.

 

I have a Precision and a Jazz Bass, and I love them so much, I use the P-Bass for pickin' style and the Jazz for slapin', maybe it's your style or the AMP, I'm sure you use a poor amp to test it.

 

Fender basses rocks!
i'm a P lover!

 

Jazz Bass owner here. Mine sounds great and I think that it is also very versatile.

 

Odd.

I gigged with a defretted Squier P-bass for something like 7 years, off and on, until the truss rod snapped (yes, while playing. Made a horrible sound).

Still, 7 years on a bass that cheap....maybe I just had a really good one.

As far as Fender. I don't think you can go wrong. There are better basses out there, but a Fender will always doo the job.

FF

 

i think fenders are OK but way too popular.i have a $200 squier p-bass.my friend has a $700 fender bass(not sure what exact model) its a p-bass too.it wasnt much better.not near as worth the $500 more it was.the only differences i really noticed were that it sounds a bit better,and the action was lower without fret buzz,and came with better strings.so what im trying to say is that im looking for a fender that is actually worth how much it is.

 

you might dislike fenders,
but i'll bet you that 50% of the CDs you own have a fender p-bass or jazz bass on them.

 

Yep. Perhaps even more than 50%.

 

well to me...i think that all of Leo Fender's creations were very awesome!

Fender, MusicMan, G&L!!!

All are very respected.

i also played an American Deluxe Jazz Bass at my friend's house, it had dead strings but still sounded great. But i couldn't get a good growl out of it

it also had a slightly bowed neck...i thought the graphite reinforced neck was put there for a reason??

 

No, that would be the self-adjusting graphite reinforced neck

They can still be bowed forward or back, depends on the way it's adjusted.

As someone who spent years avoiding the Fender sound I'll say this... I wish I hadn't.

It's not the most refined sound or theslickest feeling bass or any of that stuff, most people I know don't buy it for what it isn't. What it is is one of the easiest ways to a means.

 

I have played a lot of basses in the last 23+ years and I always come back to my P's and J's!
Oh! and my 79 musicman!
Fender player till death does us apart!

 

Yep, if you want to calm down a pissy engineer, just show up with a Fender or two. They're usually familiar enough with the Fender sound to be able to EQ it to sit in a mix properly without much hassle. It keeps everybody happy.