I’ve gone Fenderless

[El Trueno]

I don’t flip bases like pancakes but I’ve never had a Fender that was bad. I had one that was too heavy for me but it played great and sounded great.

Why is it important to you to announce you don’t own a Fender?

I’m never buying a pizza from Pizza Hut again. Should I start my own thread?

Why is it important? I just got tired of wasting thousands of dollars on sub par instruments. The point is I just wish Fender would do something about their QC issues. I would love to have a Fender that’s every bit as good as it should be for the price point but I’ve lost faith after consecutive disappointments.

 

[FRoss6788]

They’re all over the place, you’re just unlucky.

 

[USAJO]

Why is it important? I just got tired of wasting thousands of dollars on sub par instruments. The point is I just wish Fender would do something about their QC issues. I would love to have a Fender that’s every bit as good as it should be for the price point but I’ve lost faith after consecutive disappointments.

Well then I’m happy for you. You never have to be disappointed again. I don’t think Fender would ever be able to produce a bass that you don’t have an issue with at this point so congrats on your decision as well as having forum to vent on.

I have zero complaints with my Fender guitars and basses. To quote Joe Walsh “I guess I’m just lucky that way”

 

[FRoss6788]

Well then I’m happy for you. You never have to be disappointed again. I don’t think Fender would ever be able to produce a bass that you don’t have an issue with at this point so congrats on your decision as well as having forum to vent on.

I have zero complaints with my Fender guitars and basses. To quote Joe Walsh “I guess I’m just lucky that way”

Completely agree.

 

[eweise2]

I'm at 50% success rate with Fender so I don't consider them when buying a new bass. I've got a Sandberg on order. I've heard good things so we'll see.

 

[ajkula66]

Like I said, I sold my last Fender today. Today was a good day.

After eleven complete or partial connection failures between Fender basses and yourself, I'd tend to think that there's a higher power that insists on you playing something else. Not kidding.

I'm Fender-less myself, BTW. Not counting one that I bought to flip a couple of years ago - which was an *excellent* piece but also a pricey Limited Edition Custom Shop - it's been that way for many years. I do have some fond memories of some of my old Fenders, but no intent of buying another FMIC product anytime soon, possibly ever.

My $0.02 only...

 

[FirewalZ]

Like others have said, Fender goes through high and low periods of time where they are delivering consistently or not. My American Pro 1 is super solid, while I didn’t like the pups, everything else was tight and spot on. I’ve heard differently however on the Am Pro 2’s, which tell me they’ve recently gone back into a down period.
Good news is, when sales and reputation start to suffer, some new leader will come in and once again have a “new” idea to refocus on consistent quality, he/she will get accolades and a big bonus. This will work for several years until they go back into the same cycle and this will repeat all over again

 

[rogerbmiller]

Fender certainly ramped up production like crazy during the pandemic and as a result QC suffered. As well, like any mass producer of instruments, the rule of large numbers dictates that in any year of manufacture there will be a lot more dud Fenders out there compared to other brands as they are one of the biggest manufacturers of basses. Sounds like a combination of these phenomena and some bad luck. Still, it is understandable how this can sour someone on a brand. I have had this same experience with other brands and it is not a good feeling: you are conditioned to think something is very good and very useful and yet it is not. No fun at all and buying gear is supposed to be fun, IMO.

Personally, I prefer to play non Fenders but I do own a few Fenders as there is a time and a place for them. That said, for everything I do, I can more than get the job done with a host of other instruments. I have recorded most of a new record in the classic rock / Americana vein and most of the tracks were recorded on a Music Man which works perfectly.

I have never bought a Fender brand new. Instead I got mine used from GC in the past when they were a dime a dozen and I could return the ones I didn't like. And like the OP, my favorite J hands down is my 86 MIJ.

Anyway, you have to follow your gut and preferences as a player. If Fenders don't do it for you or you find they are lacking in quality, there are plenty of great FSO substitutes out there as well as completely different basses.

 

[Dark Horse]

Interesting.

Well, glad you found what you liked.

I’ve owned well over 300 fenders, and honestly, only one or maybe two were actual “duds”. There were plenty that needed setup work, some that had small issues that I’d change/work on (these were often personal taste things), but most were anywhere from “just fine” to “outright great” instruments.

Sorry you had bad experiences with them.

 

[WG Plum]

I've never owned a bad Fender. That's because I've always played multiple basses in person until I found one that I really liked. I've never bought, that I can remember, a Fender sight-unseen.

 

[DCGuy]

Had and played lots of Fender guitars and basses. Never had a problem that a competent setup couldn’t fix. And I’m pretty picky. IME once they’re dialed in they are as reliable as they come.

 

[Yahboy]

I didn’t know what to call this thread. ‘Dear Fender’ was an option but I thought about it and came to the realization that if anybody from Fender actually read this thread they wouldn’t give two hoots about it anyway. So it is what it is, today I sold my last Fender. Finally, and it gives me much joy and satisfaction to declare that I have gone Fenderless. Allow me to elaborate, and - disclaimer - I may upset some Fender fans here.

When I began my bass journey it was clear. I needed a Fender. The Precision Bass. The Jazz Bass. What more could I ever need? My first was a Mexican made Precision. It sucked, big time. The finishing was horrible, the sound was lame. Ok, fine, I’ll try an American made instrument. The Performer series came out. I bought a beautiful Lake Placid Blue Performer PJ. It arrived and I drooled over my American Fender. I plugged her in. No sound. Nothing. Not a peep. Returned it to the store who refused to change it but said they’d let their tech fix that up for me. A few days later she came back home. Nice P sound. Nice fretboard. I like it. I tried the J. Disappointing. Very disappointing. Unusable. Ok, next I’ll drop a few more coins and go for the Pro model. Hmm. Not bad despite the bridge/pole pieces/strings/neck not being aligned. It actually sounded fine. But no, my OCD can not deal with this. If I carry on like this describing every issue with all of the 11 Fenders I’ve had, I will bore you to sleep.

I’m trying to be brief. Seriously. 11 Fender Basses:
1 Mexican made Mustang
2 Mexican Made Precisions
1 American Performer PJ
2 American Professional ii Precisions
2 American Vintage ii Precisions
1 American Professional ii Jazz Bass
1 American Vintage ii Jazz Bass
1 CIJ Jazz Bass

Now to be fair, the CIJ Jazz was very nice. The tone, the growl, the construction, fit and finish. It was just a boat anchor. Even so, it’s the only one I was sad to let go. Two of the Am Pro ii units were kind of ok - if they retail at around 500 bucks, which they do not.

Perhaps the most disappointing were the American Vintage ii units. Given the price tag I would expect a LOT better than what I got. I kept my first AVii Precision for a few weeks and could not deal with the QC issues, although I loved the tone. So I got another. SSDD. The biggest ill fitting neck pocket I have ever seen in all my days. I got the Jazz. Heartbreaking. How can this company allow instruments to leave their low paying mass producing factory in such poor condition? Seriously, pay people enough to actually give a damn what they send out the door. I could go on and on. I could cry and bitch and moan all day long. What good would it do? You know what Fender? There is a company called Reverend (my saviors) that do give a damn what goes out the door. Reverend make quality instruments with a very reasonable price to match. Sire is another company. I would say from vast experience that the American line of Fenders should be at a Sire price point. And Reverend is custom shop all day long. Yamaha is another great example of a company that make fine quality instruments without having to remortgage your house to finance the purchase.

Yesterday I sold a barely used AVii Jazz for a thousand bucks. Today, a barely used AVii Precision for less than a grand. I feel guilty that I have ripped the buyers off.

Seriously Fender. You suck. You suck big time.

For those of you that own the perfect Fender I am truly happy for you, but I feel those people are very few and far between. This is not a debate, I just wanted to get this off my chest in the hope the pioneering company of the electric bass realizes that their legacy is in serious danger of dying out and do something about it. Unless it’s Japanese made, I will never consider another Fender. Gullible consumers and future rock stars beware of these frauds.

Like I said, I sold my last Fender today. Today was a good day.

Can't agree more , the early year fender mexi std J and 4 units Player P i bern own are all has terrible build quality issues.

Lucky me able hand choose and pick a nice Vintera 50P by myself at guitar store in 2022. Only drawback are poor nut slot cut and neck dive. But Gotoh GB640 solve the neck dive issue well.

If you able find a good one, just keep it.

 

[Yahboy]

After long years i play and own different kind of Jazz bass, the cheapo Bacchus 1SRM are the BEST !!! Entire quality pair to Am Performer Jazz. The only down side are Low cost machine head , massive voice ceramic J pickup and low cost pot.
Love the playing feel , love the 12 radius fretboard, love the rock solid roasted maple neck, love the [email protected].
After swap the machine head with CIC Squier Classic vibe set , CTS 250K volume/volume pot, Fender Vintage bridge, EB Cobalt flatwound and Custom overwound single coil pickups set , this baby play wonderful and sound beautiful to me.

This overwound J set give me a nice upper mid , snappy modern J tone , and solo neck sound has nice P bass-ish tone quality ( since i am a P guy ).

No shame with my others bass guitar

 

[Yahboy]

Another wonderful J i been own are Cort GB74JJ ! All great, just the neck lack solid stable.

 

[5StringBlues]

That's nice

 

[MAJOR METAL]

I know what you mean. I'm all hollow body now. All the solids are gone forever...........

 

[Guitalia]

I agree with the first part of your statement, but I also will posit that for the better part of at least two decades, it WAS true. Getting your first Fender was a rite of passage, especially if your first bass was a Teisco-ish, Getting a Fender bass and a Bassman or Showman amp was like landing on Boardwalk in Monopoly.

Fender attained its dominance in the 1950s due to (1) lack of competition, (2) primitive recording technology, and 3) timidity/sloth of recording engineers. At that time the only quality bass competition to Fender was Gibson, who marketed their bass much less aggressively than Fender and whose design had some "quirks" (that endpin). By the time Ric introduced the 4000 in 1957 and Magnatone their Mark VI bass in 1959, first place was Fender's to lose.

And by that time recording engineers had figured out how to integrate the Fender sound into their recording technology and preferred to stick with the devil they knew. With a Fender bass they knew they could just set the console on auto-pilot; no additional tweaking necessary.

So by the time those of us in the sixties started playing, Fender was the iconic brand, and obtaining one for those from less affluent families was like finding the Grail.

Excellent summary. As you say, "And by that time recording engineers had figured out how to integrate the Fender sound into their recording technology and preferred to stick with the devil they knew." Reinforcing your point, the sheet music provided to session musicians for recording dates (scores for movies, pop singers, commercial jingles, etc.) often specified two separate bass parts: one for "bass" (I.e., upright bass) and the other for "Fender bass."

 

[DeltaPhoenix]

I had a nice MIJ Squier P as my first bass. It was a solid bass but I wanted something “cooler”. I have gone through a pile of basses and generally had an aversion to Fender basses. Today I have a FSO that I love a bunch (Dingwall Super J 4 string).

I do own an American Professional II Telecaster and that is one sweet guitar! I recognize Leo’s humongous impact on today’s guitar and bass players. I respect the history of the brand.

 

[El Trueno]

Congrats on becoming 7ender-less OP! I totally understand where you're coming from. Thankfully, we live in a time when 7ender isn't the only manufacturer making FSOs. Their competition is blowing them out of the water in terms of quality, especially with what's coming out of Mexico!

I own 2 Rickenbackers and 2 7enders (1 of which is a Squier). My Squier is my first ever bass and I will never get rid of it. It's also my piccolo bass, which I sometimes treat more like a guitar than a bass. Plus, I have modded it to my specifications as its original parts stopped working over time. For example, I replaced the original VVT preamp with a volume-tone-pickup selector preamp.

My other 7ender is my American Pro II Precision Bass. It's behind my 2 Rics in the rotation because it's not as versatile tonally. I tried selling it, but I decided against it because I feel the need to have a P Bass in my inventory for tonal variety. I have also noticed how the bridge and the pole pieces aren't perfectly aligned and I find that annoying too! I had to move the strings over slightly on the bridge to align them with the pole pieces.

Care to share a picture of your 7ender-less bass inventory?

It took a while but here’s a pic of my current inventory

 

[Geogio]

An FSO is essentially a Fender by design. My "Precision" bass is a South Korean Cort rescue. I brought it up to my standards. It has 1.75" wide neck like original P's, the passive EMG swap works great and it's what... almost 30 years old.
I have horse traded Hondos and Fernandez guitars and they were good quality.
I also have horse traded into a 2-year-old USA Fender Fretless and I'm very very happy with the quality of that one.

I had a Mexican Jimmy Vaughn strat once and it was a nice guitar after I got done with it. When I first popped off the pickguard there was wood shavings in the cavities that had been sprayed over and I had to remove that muck with a chisel before the copper foil was applied. But overall the strat was quite functional after I dialed it in.