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Has anyone gone fenderless??

Do you use Fenders or Brand X

  • I have only Fenders

    Votes: 66 11.4%

  • I use both Fenders and non Fenders

    Votes: 257 44.3%

  • I have never owned a Fender

    Votes: 149 25.7%

  • I sold all my Fenders for Brand X

    Votes: 108 18.6%
  • Total voters
    580
#23
For a good number of years in Nashville I didn't have a Fender. It was in the 80s and 90s when everyone was putting heavy bridges and active EMG pups on their Fenders, so essentially they ceased being Fenders. I started using whatever I liked and no one cared. I just learned how to get tones that worked out of whatever I had. I do have a couple of Fenders these days, but my Carvin SB5000 gets the nod for a Commercial Fender-ish Sound these days. A lot of times people tend to "listen with their eyes" here, especially if you are a Nashville Newbie.
 
#24
Strat Hater said:
I have a P and 2 J's (one being a Squier) Just wondering if anyone had dumped all of their Fenders for another brand and why.

Seems like many people say there should be a P and a J in the stable because they are the most sought after tones. But has anyone forsaken this and do you miss the Fender tone, or do you do quite fine without it?
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Everytime I get a Fender, I ship it off just about as quickly. The Fender sound never did much for me. I like watching others play Fenders so I don't have to...LMAO
 
#26
two fingers said:
I did the opposite. I kind of "came home" to Fender basses. I tried everything from pointy basses (in the 80s) the 6 strings and everything in between. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, my Fender Roscoe Beck signature V is not your granddaddy's P bass either.
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Your Grandma had it wired!
I am old school and pretty much think southern California history is all I need to know about basses. I recently bought a Spector but it is a P/J, and very well made, but just cost more to hear the same tone signature.
Mr. Leo Fender, and the Ball family pretty much covered the spectrum of what I want to hear or play. I understand that I am a dinosaur and don't wish to influence younger better slap hip hop whatever players. Just saying, if it isn't a Fender, G&L, or music man then it is not in my happy place. No matter though. That's just me. I have tried Dingwall, (awesome B string), but they have a P pickup version now. The funny thing is folks keep coming back to Leo's designs. Most of us like those sounds! P's J's and hum buckers, Hmmmm, there has to be more to life?
Not yet, for recording, or... By the way I am just another bar band hack and never owned a Gibson, Warwick or other non Leo design . What a dude! And thanks to the Ball family for carrying on the innovation!
 
#27
Strat Hater said:
Seems like many people say there should be a P and a J in the stable because they are the most sought after tones. But has anyone forsaken this and do you miss the Fender tone, or do you do quite fine without it?
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Owned a 70s Jazz for about a year back in the 80s. It mostly collected dust, so I sold it and have never looked back. I sound the same whatever I play, pretty much, so the whole idea of a "stable" doesn't do much for me. Vive la difference. ;)
 
#28
There's Fender and Gibson. And then there's everything else. If you took a sample of the many genres of popular music over the past 60 years and look at the name on the headstock of both basses and guitars, Fender and Gibson will show up the majority of the time. There's a reason for that.
 
#31
I picked up bass after playing sax, keys, and guitar for a while, so I'd had plenty of time to tool around on multiple friends' basses before I ever bought one for myself. Fenders just never did it for me. I didn't (and still don't) much care for the Precision neck, but had a hard time getting tones I liked from the Jazzes I played. My first bass was a vintage Epiphone Embassy (essentially a Thunderbird with turbo neck drop), and it became something of a contrarian point of honor to build a collection of non-Fenders I really like.
 
#33
Mr_Music90 said:
I've noticed that most basses that are for sale on Ebay, are Fenders... I wonder why. (and no, I'm not a Fender lover)
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Two general reasons are a) there's 800 billion of them and b) Fender resale value is pretty good.

My main Fender has been my L2K that I bought in 2000. Else, my last Fender was a 70's jazz bass that I had in the mid 80's. I just recently bought a modern player jazz which is better in absolutely every way than my original jazz was.
Ironically, the MP jazz only cost $500 but its current resale is probably more than my L2K and it's an MIA lol.

LS
 
#34
snyderz said:
I haven't 'dumped' any Fenders. They have just come and gone over the years. I'll probably end up with another whenever the urge hits....
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Exactly my experience. I have nothing against Fenders and have owned several over the years. I tend to like having "interesting" basses. I'll often buy that quirky bass instead of the Fender next to it because I know at the end of the day, if/when I want a Fender, I will have no trouble finding one.

Have had a few Marcus Millers. Really enjoyed them. Will likely at some point try a Precision Deluxe V. But at the moment, 6 basses, no Fenders (unless Leo era Music Man counts)
 
#35
I like the sound of Fenders and respect the quality of 2008-present USA Fenders in particular, but compared to my Elrick, they are all significantly less comfortable to play, and offer me no tonal advantage. They are thicker, heavier, bulkier and more prone to dead spots and a "hump" in the neck at around the 15th fret, and the new ones are not inexpensive. I like the iconic appearance, but don't see another good reason (for me) to own one. I understand the appeal to many, but my taste is elsewhere.
 
#36
Never liked Fenders. I try them at the store every once in a while to see if my tastes have changed, and so far they haven't. The sound is very vintage, which can be great, but for me the kicker is how they feel. I just can't stand the bodies, they feel enormous to me. And the necks are also uncomfortable. They do sound good, but it's not my cup of tea. No interest (yet, at least) in ever owning a Fender. I'll leave that to someone else, and stick with my Ibanez. They're definitely my Fender, as I only have Ibanez and never really like much else I play, certainly not enough to drop the money asked for whatever the improvement is.
 
#39
I was briefly without one and it was aweful ;)

Seriously though, if you do a lot of freelance work it really pays to have a Fender. Not only because they do sound and play great(if you find a good one), but the appearance of a Precision or Jazz does inspire confidence at the outset. There is something special about the passive sound of a Fender that just sits right in the mix studio or live. I will always have one!
 
#40
I don`t own a Fender at the moment. My ESP Vintage4 covers both P and J and my Guitar Workshop fretless from 1984 has the same P and J pups. It has a Schecter neck and an ESP body. They are both Fender shape. I am however tempted by a Fender Japan 62 RI fretless. Just not sure why I don`t have a Fender..so maybe I should.
 

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