The secret is you gotta take the goods parts from various Fenders and Frankenstein 'em together 
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I’ve gone Fenderless
- Thread starter El Trueno
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Watching the True Fender Fanbois posture and seizure is fascinating. I'm really happy you guys like FMIC! I stand with the OP. I have 3 FSOs that FMIC would never ever ever ever ever ever build-, a true tele shape fretless 5, a dual pickup 56 5 (with Nordstand stacked SCPB's), and a fretless P5 with cocobolo fingerboard. Why? Because FMIC lacks imagination and cojpnes.
All my disappointments with FMIC products would take a different post.
All my disappointments with FMIC products would take a different post.
Stingray is a Fender. you still have one. 
You do you.
Sorry about your bad luck. There may be some clunkers out there, regardless of brand, but I`ve found my 3 Leo`s (2 Fenders & 1 G&L) and I love `em!
Sorry about your bad luck. There may be some clunkers out there, regardless of brand, but I`ve found my 3 Leo`s (2 Fenders & 1 G&L) and I love `em!
I guess I'm not technically Fenderless either then. I have a one-off unicorn FSO, and a pre-EB Music Man Sabre, with a Joe Dart coming in November or December..... but I don't have anything that's Fender-badged.Stingray is a Fender. you still have one.
Congrats on the Sandberg! I have the Oliver Riedel model which has the same pickup layout and it’s great.
The idea that everyone SHOULD own a Fender is outdated (if it was ever true). So many great options out there.
Yeah, could someone please let my wife know this is standard practice these days? Not really a yuppy but we can look past that point.
Thrilled you’re playing what you like. Choice is a good thing, as is having a forum to post an opinion. Best wishes/
That must be in your head. I don't see this at all.
Coming from someone who owns two Fenders currently (have owned SEVERAL in the past), I can absolutely see the rationale here. I'm actually going to be parting out my Jazz bass soon and closeting my custom-built P-bass. I'll readily admit the tone is always a big focus for me, but the aesthetics are a factor in my choosing those two basses.
I think a lot of folks just got used to the flaws or dealt with them since "Nothing sounds like a P, but a P" is a common sentiment. You did name some FSO builders, so I guess your beef is with the quality and not the basses themselves? If so, seems like Fender upping their game could resolve the beef you have with them.
I love my reverse P+J Ibanez basses, but the old P orientation was something I pined for and felt only the P-bass could get me. Lo and behold, I come across an Ibanez with the SDGR neck and a traditional p-orientation pickup. Even with the stock pickup and "bass boost" preamp, the Ibanez has the character and feels WAY better to play (action lower, no buzz, smooth frets, etc.). I'm keeping an eye out for something that does "the Jazz bass", but in an Ibanez SDGR package.
I think a lot of folks just got used to the flaws or dealt with them since "Nothing sounds like a P, but a P" is a common sentiment. You did name some FSO builders, so I guess your beef is with the quality and not the basses themselves? If so, seems like Fender upping their game could resolve the beef you have with them.
I love my reverse P+J Ibanez basses, but the old P orientation was something I pined for and felt only the P-bass could get me. Lo and behold, I come across an Ibanez with the SDGR neck and a traditional p-orientation pickup. Even with the stock pickup and "bass boost" preamp, the Ibanez has the character and feels WAY better to play (action lower, no buzz, smooth frets, etc.). I'm keeping an eye out for something that does "the Jazz bass", but in an Ibanez SDGR package.
Fenders are like Harleys. The most appealing part about Fenders are that there are so many available parts from Fender and off brand. So my three jazz basses won't sell for $ for the worth to me because they're essentially parts basses.
dear fender:
your EBs cost too much for what they are.
thanks for caring,
JRA
your EBs cost too much for what they are.
thanks for caring,
JRA
IMO many brands do Fender better than Fender. G&L is my personal favorite.
People don't spend piles of money on Fenders bc they're anything special.
They spend piles of money cuz of this:
People don't spend piles of money on Fenders bc they're anything special.
They spend piles of money cuz of this:
I hear ya..... BUT!!!! Its not really a FENDER thing. The search for the #1 isn't about what name is on the headstock. Its actually a mental struggle from within that drives us crazy. And there's another struggle between the conscious and sub-conscious personalities. The conscious having been influences by every external input under the sun. The sub-conscious guides us to what honestly feels or sounds good. And its actually worst than all that. I have a (3) that I would consider "perfect". Yet I couldn't describe to you what makes them perfect. Because they're different. Each has a different neck material. 2 are thick - 1 is not. They're different colors. Different fret and fretboard profiles. Different colors. ALL 3 are Fenders. 1 is a "P", the other two are "Js"...... Don't know why, but my brain says these 3 are the ones. You may pick em up and say they're junk. My point? Its not the "F" word that offends you. As I have the same stories about EBMM / G&L / Ric / Ibanez. Enjoy the journey.
Because they don't have to. Many people are willing to pay a premium for the brand, regardless of quality.
As somebody looking for quality instruments at reasonable prices, you clearly are not their demographic. I'm sorry it cost you so much time and money to figure that out.
Over the years, I neither yearned for Fender basses nor shied away from them. I figured if I found one I liked, fine. If not, no worries.
The thing that concerned me about Fender is that they didn't really try to make their basses better while others took what they had done and moved beyond them in terms of both quality and innovation. When Fender did do something new or different, it seemed like they were late to the game with some fairly uninspired attempts to stay relevant.
Any company that continues to make basses that require neck loosening or removal for truss rod adjustments while watching everyone else make basses with easy truss rod access at the heel has to be in denial at some level. Or that watches tons of Fender players add J pickups to their P basses before finally introducing P/J models of their own. Or that sees numerous improved bridge designs made to fit Fenders hit the market before introducing their own redesigned bridges on some models.
I think some of the frustration with Fender is that people have wanted so much more for them than they have wanted for themselves. Wishing greatness for a company that doesn't really want to rise to that level is tough. Sort of like being the devoted fan of a dysfunctional pro sports team.
I've found CIJ and MIC Squiers that I really like and I would never put a Fender decal on them. I want people to see them for what they are and for being worthy basses on their own merits.
I've been handling commercial hardwoods for over 45 years and I can honestly say that the wood selection in the good overseas Squiers is better than the average US Fenders and certainly better than the MIM basses. Fender should be able to high grade the North American market for flatsawn maple neck shaft and alder body wood, but I don't consistently see that level of material quality in the US basses. Fender's piece matching and assembly of body blanks for clear and burst finishes is noticeably inferior to the body blank process at Ernie Ball, to name one competitor. And many of the Fender maple fretboards I've seen have been of very ordinary quality.
But a couple of years ago, I found an early version Fender American Deluxe Precision P/J with the big Bill Lawrence style double Jazz humbucker in the bridge position and I really like that bass. It's well made, plays well, sounds good. I'm happy. It's a Fender living among Yamahas, Laklands and others and it holds its own and is always fun to grab and play.
The thing that concerned me about Fender is that they didn't really try to make their basses better while others took what they had done and moved beyond them in terms of both quality and innovation. When Fender did do something new or different, it seemed like they were late to the game with some fairly uninspired attempts to stay relevant.
Any company that continues to make basses that require neck loosening or removal for truss rod adjustments while watching everyone else make basses with easy truss rod access at the heel has to be in denial at some level. Or that watches tons of Fender players add J pickups to their P basses before finally introducing P/J models of their own. Or that sees numerous improved bridge designs made to fit Fenders hit the market before introducing their own redesigned bridges on some models.
I think some of the frustration with Fender is that people have wanted so much more for them than they have wanted for themselves. Wishing greatness for a company that doesn't really want to rise to that level is tough. Sort of like being the devoted fan of a dysfunctional pro sports team.
I've found CIJ and MIC Squiers that I really like and I would never put a Fender decal on them. I want people to see them for what they are and for being worthy basses on their own merits.
I've been handling commercial hardwoods for over 45 years and I can honestly say that the wood selection in the good overseas Squiers is better than the average US Fenders and certainly better than the MIM basses. Fender should be able to high grade the North American market for flatsawn maple neck shaft and alder body wood, but I don't consistently see that level of material quality in the US basses. Fender's piece matching and assembly of body blanks for clear and burst finishes is noticeably inferior to the body blank process at Ernie Ball, to name one competitor. And many of the Fender maple fretboards I've seen have been of very ordinary quality.
But a couple of years ago, I found an early version Fender American Deluxe Precision P/J with the big Bill Lawrence style double Jazz humbucker in the bridge position and I really like that bass. It's well made, plays well, sounds good. I'm happy. It's a Fender living among Yamahas, Laklands and others and it holds its own and is always fun to grab and play.
Never be normal!
As a tinkerer and assembler of parts-basses, I can get behind that. I gravitate towards things that aren't exactly "off the shelf". And, if it looks like it's a stock instrument, I want there to be something going on "under the hood" that will set it apart from it's rank-and-file brethren.
Well, except for my CIJ Fender Aerodyne. It was my first-ever bass and, except for a Drop-D tuner, it'll stay in it's stock condition for as long as I have it...neener-neener!
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