I get the feeling there is a generational issue here. Back in the day, (young man), virtually every player who you'd listen to and dig played a fender. There were the session players from the sixties: Jamerson, Kaye, Felder, Dunn and there were the guys from the seventies Will Lee, Jaco, Lee Sklar, Anthony Jackson, Tommy Shannon, Pete Cetera, Max Bennett, etc. (9/10 played Fenders, and originally more Precisions than Jazzes. IMO it was Marcus and Jaco that cause the Jazz bass to become more popular, but that's another story). Sure there were a few that didn't play fenders: Chris squire and Paul McCartney come to mind. By the end of the seventies the Alembic craze was beginning. Slap bass was in in vogue and boutique makers were emerging.
Interesting post - from a different perspective, in the UK we weren't allowed to import Fender basses until the early 60s (post war import restrictions), so there were few around. However as you will all know, the Briitsh were good at pop music - there was a big range of basses in use though - yes some played Fenders but many didn't - there were old EB2s and stuff around. Then the blues/rock era - two famous players who influenced bass greatly, Jack Bruce and Andy Fraser, played EB3s.
John McVie and Leo Lyons played Fenders though. The fact is they weren't as ubiquitous as you are saying, certainly in the UK. As you said, Paul McCartney didn't.
Back to the 50s, electric basses were the exception rather than the norm - virtually unheard of in jazz and even a lot of rock and roll still relied on upright.
I think you are right regarding the 60s and early 70s US heritage (but of course no-one knew who Jamerson and Babbitt were, least of all what basses they played).
So the heritage is somewhat different from what you say.
As an avid music fan (and bass fan) in the late 60s/early 70s, I used to watch out for modern music orchestras and jazz bands on the tv and loved it on the rare occasion there was an electric bass (usually Fender) rather than an upright, so much so it was a let down when there wasn't - and the let down was most of the time. Why? Because I could actually hear the notes more clearly.
As you've said, by the mid 70s onwards their role had been taken by active basses (or at least the Fenders were pre-amped in the studio to get the signal required) - now I loved this era - why? Because you could hear the notes even better.
I'm pleased so many people are happy with their Fender basses - I haven't had one since the late 70s - don't rule out buying another but the overall experience doesn't inspire me at the moment - just my personal perspective.
No hate for Fenders on my part, and I really quite like some of them - the only dislike I have is for the current fad of the view 'if you don't play one you're not a proper bass player' - which is, of course, nonsense.
