I just don’t get it

[Wambemando]

The same exact love/hate thing exists in the World of Gibson Les Pauls. Kind of a bummer to see it in the bass community... but I'm not surprised.
That being said, my Fender Ultra Jazz Bass is a fantastic instrument. I won't need another Jazz Bass for the rest of my life.
I hope everyone enjoys theirs as much - no matter the brand!

 

[BazzaBass]

Sadowsky makes a better Fender style bass than Fender ............how about that !

So you want a Fender Copy? Why can’t Sadowsky create their own bass.

 

[Matt R.]

you again huh

 

[Killing Floor]

Jaco didn’t need a Jazz Bass

 

[Killing Floor]

Or any bass

 

[retslock]

The thing about Fender is that they got some things right and some things not so right and that’s only my opinion. Everyone has their opinion too. I love the Precision and the Stratocaster but don’t care for the Jazz and the Telecaster. There’s no mystique as far as I’m concerned. It’s just a company making musical instruments. Other companies make great stuff and even though Sadowsky has a great reputation, I don’t want one. How ‘bout that.
As long as we all have likes and dislikes, all kinds of stuff will be bought and sold. It’s no big thing.
Do what pleases you and get on with playing music. I don’t know how many times I’ve said that here on TB. I guess I should accept that Bassology is a TB thing but not my thing - music is.

 

[Wambemando]

Or any bass
View attachment 5032720

True.

 

[Killing Floor]

There’s no mystique as far as I’m concerned. It’s just a company making musical instruments.

My Fender Spark-O-Matic brings a little mystique.
And it’s kinda jazzy(master) so totally not a thread derail.

 

[retslock]

My Fender Spark-O-Matic brings a little mystique.
And it’s kinda jazzy(master) so totally not a thread derail.
View attachment 5032728

Unusual and I’ll bet it sounds great. I love the wood but I just don’t like offset body shapes and that’s ok. I hope you love it and get great enjoyment playing it. It certainly looks like it has the goods.

 

[retslock]

Fenders are mass produced consumer goods, with very limited options. Sometimes, you want something with a color other than white or sunburst, or you want a different wood, or a roasted neck, or stainless frets, or..... At a boutique or custom builder (or even making your own with Warmoth wood), the options are virtually unlimited. And, with some training, you can make a bass (at least at what you are about) that's better than Fender - by focusing on what's important to you.

At McDonald's you get the same burger that billions of people have eaten. But there are chefs that can make something that's quite a bit better, even though it's still meat on bread. And yes, you can, at home make a better burger from ingredients you buy at the grocery store, if you work at it a little.

Now you’ve got me thinking about hamburgers. Sadly in Australia the hamburger joints are disappearing. They were very often run by Greeks and you could get the BEST hamburgers that were twice as big as McDonalds paltry imposters. I lived on them as a teenager. As well as the beef you got bacon, cheese, egg, lettuce, beetroot, onions and tomato sauce (ketchup to you). A meal by itself. I miss them.

 

[jdjk7]

I was just wondering why so many people spend so much money on a Fender Jazz made by someone else and look for that vintaged sound or feel they have a better Fender than Fender. Before you chime in yes I have tried some of the boutique basses ( no names ) and in some cases other than the ergonomics of the neck I just don’t get it. On the vintage sound, amps and cabinets today are not tuned like the old acoustics, ampegs, peavys, fenders of old. Imho no SS head will never sound and feel like a SVT or old Fender Bassman ( all tube amps)

Personally,



carrots

No, but...

Leo Fender, I think, got it fairly right. Fender Musical Instrument Corporation, however, has historically tended not to get it right, particularly in the past decade or so. Read any of the "Fender Custom Shop" horror story threads and you will hear tales that should by now have resulted in an extremely high staff turnover rate at the Custom Shop. Basically, Fender doesn't care enough about the quality of their products because people will buy their products regardless.

Now... if you want vintage Fender, your best options are either to buy a vintage Fender (however many thousands of dollars that might go), OR... buy not-Fender. I.E. buy your 'Fender' from someone who has done the research, builds to the specifications you know and expect, and generally doesn't have brand identity to shield them from a shoddy final product.

 

[Eminor3rd]

I was just wondering why so many people spend so much money on a Fender Jazz made by someone else and look for that vintaged sound or feel they have a better Fender than Fender. Before you chime in yes I have tried some of the boutique basses ( no names ) and in some cases other than the ergonomics of the neck I just don’t get it. On the vintage sound, amps and cabinets today are not tuned like the old acoustics, ampegs, peavys, fenders of old. Imho no SS head will never sound and feel like a SVT or old Fender Bassman ( all tube amps)

Congratulations, you’re a meme.

 

[Geri O]

Yall play Fenders? I'm lucky to be able to afford a Squire.
It's funny seeing people argue over champagne and caviar when I'm making do with a PB&J.

You’ll get there.

 

[5StringBlues]

thingy

 

[Geri O]

So you want a Fender Copy? Why can’t Sadowsky create their own bass.

Sadowsky can certainly make their own bass. You know better than that.
They also know that they’ll sell more Jazz-style basses than their own.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

I pretty much agree. Fender loyalist here. No matter how good, I just don't like the headstock shape on anything else, except EBMM.

I’m with you .. should I get to play a Moollon, I should wear a blindfold ..

 

[PhatBottomBass1]

Hmmmmm?

 

[logdrum]

The charm and the irritation of a Fender made instrument is the imperfection and flaws. The 72 I inherited is meh honestly, but my Japanese Fenders are awesome, nothing fancy but very well put together, but yeah they could have better pickups and EQ and why do they only have 20 frets. When I improvise by myself, I do get the best inspiration with the Fender instruments. I bought my Fenders used, so maybe there's just mojo. I think the newer Fender basses are really good and if you want it to compete with Sadowsky, their active basses are not bad at all.

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

What if I spent less ($150 and it was probably less than $300 when brand-new) for a FSO with almost identical specs and most people can't tell the sound difference in a blind test?

 

[BeMoreFrench]

So I've had an MIA Fender Jazz V, passive from 2010, it was sounded really good, and then got a boutique custom made passive jazz V in 70's pickups spacing.

As far as I know, Fender did not make any passive jazz V in that spacing other than the Marcus Miller signature, and they were insanely priced at that time even on the secondhand market cos... Fender discontinued them.

So had no choice to have one made by a boutique luthier, I've been able then to choose the preamp I wanted that John East was making, the J-Tone 01 that was just... perfect for that bass, and Lollar 60's pickups, because I wanted someting more "raw" and vintage for soloed bridge or neck pickups. Marin Cano did exactly what I wanted. If Fender could have make it in the CS, it would have cost me twice at least !

EDIT: also, about that stupid misconception about SS amps that will never sound the same as an SVT: Marcello Giuliani (Erik Trauffazz bassist) always asks for an AMPEG 8x10 on stage, but doesn't care for the amp if there's no SVT available as he uses a... Markbass LM amp head to travel ! and since he's a vintage P bass with flats and foam nazi, believe it or not, he gets the sound he wants !





And guess what ? if there's only an old metallic sounding Hartke cab around, he'll make it sound ok with flats and foam still, true pros get the vintage sound they want with ANY amp or cab around