Hating on anything but Fender

[Kmonk]

I think it's an ignorant statement for them to make. I'm an admitted gear snob. I like my MIA Fenders, My Spectors and Alembics but I also believe that people should play what they like and can afford. Nobody should be criticizing anyone else's gear.

 

[Pilgrim]

So I was watchin some lessons on stuff on YouTube about tone and such, in the comments one guy says the most important lesson to learn is stick with Fender Jazz and P bass and don’t have the urge to be different by getting Ibanez or other.

What do you guys think about that hate, is it justified? Are we not past the”you gotta have a Fender to be in the band” stuff or what

Here's my take: I'm not a big Ibby fan, the only one I have is a nice semi-hollow, but I know there are plenty of great players and pros that play Ibby. I have a '63 P, three Gretsch basses, a Gibson EB-0, a Dean, a Univox hollowbody, a Squier Bronco, and a Lotus P/J fretless. I play the one that moves me that day.

If someone were giving me grief about not playing a Fender on a given evening, my response would be on the lines of "When you're the bass player, you can choose the bass." I don't think the conversation needs to go much farther than that.

 

[Koshchei]

So I was watchin some lessons on stuff on YouTube about tone and such, in the comments one guy says the most important lesson to learn is stick with Fender Jazz and P bass and don’t have the urge to be different by getting Ibanez or other.

That you will spend your entire life trying to please the band and get the right tones.


Then someone replied asking if he was talking about the Soundgears, that they don’t understand why anyone likes them.

Then more guys came on hating Ibanez like my SR505 which I love, also love my Jazz bass but what the heck

So I’m thinking of how many bands out there play Ibanez and other basses,there a countless, I’m looking at my SR505 like She is my baby lol, I also have a 4 string vintage modified jazz with dp123s in it, but I just love the Ibanez, well I love both.


What do you guys think about that hate, is it justified? Are we not past the”you gotta have a Fender to be in the band” stuff or what

It’s a very narrow mindset espoused by a very vocal subset of the music community. I ignore it, personally... anybody telling me what gear to play had better be paying me. Otherwise, I’m doing it for my own selfish reasons, which means my gear and my line.

 

[gln1955]

Reading through this, it seems a lot of the underlying hate for non-Fenders comes from recording engineers who are too lazy to do their job. You can't take a couple minutes to make any bass sound good in the mix? Maybe you are the one who needs to go, not the bass.

 

[TuneIn]

SR's are nice, and hate doesn't matter. Only tools conform.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

I like fender, but don't hate other brands. It's true that you see fenders more often in real world though. I can say that as I'm a sound person at a busy music venue where we have 4-7 bands a night, and fender is what I see the most. It's also true that I see more fenders in the studio than other brands. That doesn't make the youtube guy right by any means. The argument that a passive bass is more preferred in the studio is somewhat true, but that's because some active basses' EQs are not as quite as the good quality EQs used in high end studios. There are great basses with very clean preamps, so it's not true for all basses.

 

[QweziRider]

That you will spend your entire life trying to please the band and get the right tones.

That's a good one! Yeah, my bands get what they get out of me and they'll like it. They're just lucky I have all the right tones already.

Ok, I'll be nice now.

 

[chadface]

So I was watchin some lessons on stuff on YouTube about tone and such, in the comments one guy says the most important lesson to learn is stick with Fender Jazz and P bass and don’t have the urge to be different by getting Ibanez or other.

That you will spend your entire life trying to please the band and get the right tones.


Then someone replied asking if he was talking about the Soundgears, that they don’t understand why anyone likes them.

Then more guys came on hating Ibanez like my SR505 which I love, also love my Jazz bass but what the heck

So I’m thinking of how many bands out there play Ibanez and other basses,there a countless, I’m looking at my SR505 like She is my baby lol, I also have a 4 string vintage modified jazz with dp123s in it, but I just love the Ibanez, well I love both.


What do you guys think about that hate, is it justified? Are we not past the”you gotta have a Fender to be in the band” stuff or what

 

[aprod]

So I was watchin some lessons on stuff on YouTube about tone and such, in the comments one guy says the most important lesson to learn is stick with Fender Jazz and P bass and don’t have the urge to be different by getting Ibanez or other.

That you will spend your entire life trying to please the band and get the right tones.


Then someone replied asking if he was talking about the Soundgears, that they don’t understand why anyone likes them.

Then more guys came on hating Ibanez like my SR505 which I love, also love my Jazz bass but what the heck

So I’m thinking of how many bands out there play Ibanez and other basses,there a countless, I’m looking at my SR505 like She is my baby lol, I also have a 4 string vintage modified jazz with dp123s in it, but I just love the Ibanez, well I love both.


What do you guys think about that hate, is it justified? Are we not past the”you gotta have a Fender to be in the band” stuff or what

A Squier is not a Fender so you can't make an informed judgement. I own both Ibanez and Fender and prefer my Fender.

 

[OptimalOptimus]

This is wh

Reading through this, it seems a lot of the underlying hate for non-Fenders comes from recording engineers who are too lazy to do their job. You can't take a couple minutes to make any bass sound good in the mix? Maybe you are the one who needs to go, not the bass.

yeah making pop music, or country or rock ... in metal you have all kind of brand and number of strings ... but I guess there is less session player since they are band playing as a band instead of a singer in need of a cover band to complete his bland songs.

Music should be about art but it is about conformity and doing what everyone else is doing ... at least we need less and less pro studio and do it our selves

 

[Sam Dingle]

none of this brand poopie matters. im a fender nerd because I don't have the time to mess with other stuff to find what I like. i spend too much time on my upright to bother wondering if there is a better bass sound. is boring but is what it is.

None of us are at this level, but there is something to be said about what tracks well in a studio setting for other artists. if you go into a pop session a sound guy will be more comfortable with a fender, or expect to hear that sound. Look at sean hurleys video on it. same goes for flatwound strings etc.

But no, I never got a 2nd look at the basses i brought to a gig, fender or not. Only by bassists. I think the mind set of "buy a fender and learn how to play" is a cool one, simple one, but don't be upset if you play something else.

 

[Sam Dingle]

Screw that noise.
It would be nice if people today could choose what they like instead of being "pressured" into what youtube says is cool. Then again, Its always been like that, if you didn't have the cool sneakers/accessories, you were a loser.

I've played in a few bands since 1999 (when I got my 1st Ibanez SR405.) Nobody ever questioned it. The 405 was the one that never got sold, but since 99, I've had the sr405,SR885,SR735?, sr505 and they all played perfectly like an Ibanez SR should. I've heard people say all sorts of different things like that "there is no Ibanez sound", or "that sterile Ibanez sound" or "clackey"(yes, because of 1 bass player from 1 band).. or "boomy bass" and everything in between. Yea, you'll hear many descriptions, as there are sooo many Ibanez players. and yea, a lot of beginners start on the low end (inexpensive) of Ibby basses. So lots of players think beginner bass=Ibanez. But guess what? they make very high quality professional bases as well. (you just don't see a lot of beginner youtube bassists makin vids with those models). And TONS of intermediate models.

AND, the Ibanez of today is waaay better than the great Ibanezs of yesteryear. Tone wise, I would choose any Ibanez SR505 (or higher) over ANY fender Jazz. While I do enjoy classic tones of a pbass, The Ibanez crushes a Fender Jazz Bass.

Playability? heck Ibanez crushes any fender. I LOVE the SR string spacing, but if people enjoy spacing where ya need to know the bus schedule to get from E to A, well Ibanez make SEVERAL other models besides the SR. I bet a lot of the IBBY haters didn't even know that. But, I digress.
YMMV of course..

100% Check out Roland Guerin playing the BTB series. Killer. I personally don't like the thin neck of the SR's and the body of the normal BTB, but that single cut is NIICE

 

[FunkHead]

So I was watchin some lessons on stuff on YouTube about tone and such, in the comments one guy says the most important lesson to learn is stick with Fender Jazz and P bass and don’t have the urge to be different by getting Ibanez or other.

That you will spend your entire life trying to please the band and get the right tones.


Then someone replied asking if he was talking about the Soundgears, that they don’t understand why anyone likes them.

Then more guys came on hating Ibanez like my SR505 which I love, also love my Jazz bass but what the heck

So I’m thinking of how many bands out there play Ibanez and other basses,there a countless, I’m looking at my SR505 like She is my baby lol, I also have a 4 string vintage modified jazz with dp123s in it, but I just love the Ibanez, well I love both.


What do you guys think about that hate, is it justified? Are we not past the”you gotta have a Fender to be in the band” stuff or what

My band once played a gig for an ex Bass Player and his wife. long before the gig, My guitarist asked if it'd be ok for the guy to sit in for a few songs. I said "of course".
This guy came out of his house with an SR Ibanez MIJ P-J bass in CAR. I plugged him in and he went to town on it. He sounded absolutely fantastic. I even offered to buy it from him and he quickly declined.
I like Fenders too but Bass is Bass. Especially when mixed with your band in a live setting. You just set your EQ for the room and play. It's really just that simple.

 

[Boogiepop]

This is a complicated question, but I definetely think that people listen with their eyes. My experience is that you have to at least be prepared for questions if you show up with a more modern looking bass. Same with five strings etc. It’s just what people expect a bass to look like in most genres and they get nervous if they see something different. The look of an instrument is at least as important as the sound for this reason I think.

I had no idea thus was an issue.

I won't tell my Ibbys.

B.

 

[devnulljp]

I don't think I've ever played with anyone who knew or cared what brand my bass was. Certainly never lost a gig over it.

 

[I-play-bass]

I once had a music teacher (Juno winning music teacher) who disregarded any instrument that did not say Fender or Gibson on the headstock. He forced myself and the other bass player to play a 2000's American Jazz bass that you could shoot arrows off the neck. I brought in my Warwick to a practice once, to see if he'd let me use it. We played it that practice, it sounded fine, the other bass player loved how it felt, then the music teacher told me to leave it at home and go back to the Jazz.

He ended up stopping us mid-performance once on a gig (we were a highschool rock band) and told me I need to tune the bass, as it's out. I quickly checked, I was tuned in fine, and had to let him know in front of a crowd of 1000 students that "This neck is so bowed that every note I fret is out of tune". He remained unflinching in that being our #1 bass. I had asked to use the back up bass several times already at this point (a 78 Fender P bass) and he refused/ignored my requests.

It was after Bob Ezrin the producer visited our band and mentioned how he thought the P bass would be a better fit for us did the Music teacher suggest we switch to that bass. When I expressed how happy I was that he would finally let us play the boat anchor ( it sounded great though) he then went on the say "Well how come you never told me that you guys wanted to play that bass instead?". Myself and the other bass player (who was the guy's son) were flabberghasted.

When I left the following year, the music teacher became passive aggressive toward me, and spoke about how I "Didn't know a bass from a large mouth bass".

Real winner, that guy.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

So I was watchin some lessons on stuff on YouTube about tone and such, in the comments one guy says the most important lesson to learn is stick with Fender Jazz and P bass and don’t have the urge to be different by getting Ibanez or other.

That you will spend your entire life trying to please the band and get the right tones.


Then someone replied asking if he was talking about the Soundgears, that they don’t understand why anyone likes them.

Then more guys came on hating Ibanez like my SR505 which I love, also love my Jazz bass but what the heck

So I’m thinking of how many bands out there play Ibanez and other basses,there a countless, I’m looking at my SR505 like She is my baby lol, I also have a 4 string vintage modified jazz with dp123s in it, but I just love the Ibanez, well I love both.


What do you guys think about that hate, is it justified? Are we not past the”you gotta have a Fender to be in the band” stuff or what

To each his own. I’m certainly not in position to denigrate anyone’s opinion on what they like or love as a bass.

After over 50 years of playing bass playing Fenders, there is no doubt there are other Basses out there other than a Fender that can serve the purpose. That said I’ve been very pleased with the sound, durability, and price of Fender products. Further, I’ve never had any complaints from any band mates, or sound engineers that they sound off.

 

[Scarysharkface]

There is much ignorance in the world.

John

 

[Doctor Intrepid]

I once had a music teacher (Juno winning music teacher) who disregarded any instrument that did not say Fender or Gibson on the headstock. He forced myself and the other bass player to play a 2000's American Jazz bass that you could shoot arrows off the neck. I brought in my Warwick to a practice once, to see if he'd let me use it. We played it that practice, it sounded fine, the other bass player loved how it felt, then the music teacher told me to leave it at home and go back to the Jazz.

He ended up stopping us mid-performance once on a gig (we were a highschool rock band) and told me I need to tune the bass, as it's out. I quickly checked, I was tuned in fine, and had to let him know in front of a crowd of 1000 students that "This neck is so bowed that every note I fret is out of tune". He remained unflinching in that being our #1 bass. I had asked to use the back up bass several times already at this point (a 78 Fender P bass) and he refused/ignored my requests.

It was after Bob Ezrin the producer visited our band and mentioned how he thought the P bass would be a better fit for us did the Music teacher suggest we switch to that bass. When I expressed how happy I was that he would finally let us play the boat anchor ( it sounded great though) he then went on the say "Well how come you never told me that you guys wanted to play that bass instead?". Myself and the other bass player (who was the guy's son) were flabberghasted.

When I left the following year, the music teacher became passive aggressive toward me, and spoke about how I "Didn't know a bass from a large mouth bass".

Real winner, that guy.

As a Canadian I totally want to know who this is! I know you can't say, but I still want to know! Good story.

 

[Charlzm]

Well I just recall hearing things like that before as well, about producers getting whacky when someone comes in with something other than a P,Jazz or music Man.......just little things I hear or read here and there, but wondered how much that holds up.

Thanks for your reply.

I can attest to that. On my band's first album, we used an outside producer (friend fo the band) for one track. I showed up with my Warwick Katana German NT (J Bass style pickups but active) and my multi-fx unit (which included a carefully chosen and assembled patch for this song) and... he wanted me to play a P Bass through an older Ampeg 15" combo.

I compromised and used the combo, but he mixed all the highs and a lot of high mids out of my sound later.

Grrrr.... will never record with that guy again, though he's a nice guy.