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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
#101
Over the years(a lot of them) I have had 8 Fenders. I loved the 2 Jazzes and 2 Precisions. The only one I have left is a precision that will probably be gone soon. My main basses now are a G&L SB-2, Steinberger XM or XL, and a Kubicki. But have nothing bad to say about my J's and P's.
 
#102
My first bass was a Hondo P bass copy. Changed pickups on it, added a j bass pickup and replaced the stock one with Seymour Duncan's, pulled the frets out of the neck and landed up replacing the neck with a Phil Kubicki neck, put on a Leo Quan bridge and then finally got rid of it. That was in 1984 and over the years built a few Warmoth copies, but never owned a real American Fender. Today the best sounding and playing instruments for me are my Fbass BN5 and my Fodera E5S. With each of these I can get reasonably close to a vintage tone but with the added bonus of many modern improvements. I do not diss Fender as they set the standard of recorded and live bass, just never got to owning one.
 
#103
Well, I have 2 basses: one that I haven't been using anymore -a P bass that is not a Fender- and a Fender Jazz bass. I chose "I only have Fenders" since Fender is all I ever play. Although, I sometimes wish the Fender J was replaced by the Warwick Rockbass that I played many months ago. :hiding:
 
#106
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?
Click to expand...

I've never owned a Fender, and at present have little interest in owning one, at least for what it would cost to get one.
 
#107
I'll pick up a Fender every now and then when a gig or group needs one. But I've been playing since about 1970, and I never was a big fan of Fender basses. Every so often I'd hear one that sounded fantastic. But they were few and far between. I really think it takes a combination of player, technique, instrument, and amp to get a Fender bass to really sing. And apparently I never was able to put that combination together for myself.

My main bass is still the Gibson Ripper I bought new back in 1973. It was love the first time I played it. And after all this time there's virtually nothing I want to hear that I can't get out of it with little or no effort. I own several other really fine basses. But that funky old Ripper is still my main 'go-to' instrument.

I have no quarrel with Fender. They can make a fine instrument too, although I think they're getting somewhat overpriced lately. Especially now that you have to spring for the "Select" series in order to get a level of quality that used to be their only level of quality back in the 60's and 70's. (Or maybe it's just me that thinks so?)

FWIW, the closest I've come to an ideal Fender bass was a G&L JB-2. If I ever need another "Fender" I'll most likely buy one of those. Once you get beyond the original design of the P and J basses ("It's amazing how Leo Fender got so much so right the first time!" as the saying goes), I think Leo's best work still came after he separated from his old company.

However, if I were buying a new bass tomorrow I'd probably be getting one of the new Gibson EBs before anything else. Guess that means I prefer the Gibson sound - even if I never really liked the way any of them looked. (With the possible exception of their Victory Bass.) For absolutely elegant looks on or off stage, nothing says WOW! more than a Fender Precision or Jazz. Especially when it has that classic sunburst/tortiseshell combination. Something about that look just says "thoroughbred" to me.
 
#109
IMO as an professional bassplayer there is always a need and use for the classic Precision and J-bass tones. Those "timbres" are just so darn established, that it's almost compulsory to have them in one's sound palette.

But as far as I'm concerned, I'm not convinced that it's absolutely necessary to have that magical "Fender" logo on your headstock. There are many builders who can offer the classic tones with better playability, IME and IMO.

I wouldn't mind having a couple of Sei or AV Jazz and P-basses lying around... ;)

As a side note: I own an American Standard J and a Warmoth P-bass. I'm keen on my Warmoth, but would like to upgrade the Fender to some better J-bass...

So yes, I could go Fenderless. But I wouldn't go Precision-less or Jazz-less.
 
#111
I am currently Fenderless.

Sort of. I currently own three Sadowskys, two Benaventes, and I have a Nordstrand on order -- but all are five string Fender Precision style basses.

Nothing against Fender. The actual Fender Precision V is on my wishlist. But I'm trying to keep my collection fairly low, and the advantage to the other builders is that you have so many options. F'r instance, here's one of my Benaventes:
l.jpg
 
#112
I have my Geddy Lee Jazz which hasn't been played much lately. I've been playing Roscoe's for the last few months, trying to swim with the big fish. They are amazing, but have stretched me financially so we'll have to see how it goes. If we need a new fridge or floor...

I did "make" myself play/own only the Geddy for over a year and it was fine. Covered all my gigs from jazz to church to a "Sinatra-esque" recording session. We'll see. If we need a new fridge or floor I may have to change my vote.
 
#116
Never owned a Fender bass (or a copy of one for that matter). Never had any desire for one either.

First (and only for 29 years) was a Ric 4001.

I've owned a few Strats & Teles over the years, but never cared much for them either. In fact, the only Fender I've ever owned that I actually enjoy playing is my Stratacoustic...which according to everthing I've ever read online, means I'm the only one who does.
 
#118
Has anyone gone fenderless??

My whole bass playing life, but I almost bough a 5er many years ago on Mountain View. Fell in love with this blue beautiful Fender, was gonna pout it on layaway, but some famous bassist (think it might have been the Doobie Bros bassist, not 100% sure, it's bee a long time) came in and liked it, so he bought it before i had the chance.

I might grab one of the CV Jazz deals, but no rush. I love my current basses.
 
#119
I've owned and sold a few basses over the years but the only one I wouldn't get rid of now is my Geddy sig Jazz. Nothing to do with the name(s) on it but just feel so comfortable playing it. Oh, and that sound.............Never played a bass that sounds like what I have in my head. Saying that, my VM Squire fretless is a lovely piece of wood too. Mind you, that's also a Fender kind of thing. Ok, I'm a Fender kind of guy. But, it's not the name, just what it does. And sounds. And feels like. But in the end, I'll not bother playing all the other stuff because I have owned/played them all. The Fender Jazz is what I love to play. It suits me.
 
#120
I've currently 4 J basses.
Two fretted -one of which is strung piccolo- and two fretless.
My main bass strung with roundwounds and her sister who sports flats. I started
non-Fender but basically a P bass and went all the way to Modulus Q5s with 35 inch scale lengths and lots of knobs only to come all the way back to passive Fender style four string basses.

I still secretly covet a Fodera however.....
 

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