I LOVE/HATE - CAN'T STAND/CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT A FENDER

[SanDiegoHarry]

Call up Sterling and tell him you want a different finish and pickup configuration that he offers. In addition to that, tell him you want your Stingray to be a neckthru. See how willing ole Sterling is then. Getting a bass made-to-order is not the same as a custom shop.

LOL - Remembering the 19MM 5-string Stingray follies of a few years back...

 

[Stranger Danger]

I have a Fender, it's just called a Musicman. Lol

 

[Mostresticator]

Until I play something better than my Passive Fender J Bass, I'm a Fender guy. BUT I've only played so many basses... and there are that many more out there try.

 

[Lowness]

Fenders are just easy.

Easy to play. Easy to listen to. Easy to maintain, all at a reasonable price.

 

[Pet Sounds]

I have most of the main classic basses: Fender, Hofner, Ric, Music Man. I have owned Gibsons. But really the only basses I play out are Fender P-Basses (and my Lakland Duck Dunn; same difference). They just seem to feel best in my hands and get the job done best for the genres of music I play.

 

[BioWeapon]

To be completely honest...
The n1 reason I don't like Fender is because of the looks. I find the style overused and abused in general and prefer others for that.
That being said, if I found a 5er with a tone I really liked that felt good, I might buy it and make it my own.

 

[mellowinman]

Fender IS retro.I don't like retro.
When I look at Fender styling,I HEAR some 50's Rock 'n Roll playing.
They're traditional colors make me imagine a car from the 50's'
Shiny paint and chrome.
Candy Apple Red.Surf Green.

Paisley.?Why?

Everywhere I go.Everywhere I look.
Paint,pickguard and chrome.
Even their natural walnut finished Jazz isn't walnut.
Their Fender VI wasn't an actual six string contrabass.BEADGC tuning.

They can't make what I want.They won't make what I want.
It's not in THEIR best interest to make what I want.
Not without paying up the wazoo for a custom shop job.
Other companies DO and HAVE made what I want.

I don't hate them.I'm just not drawn to them.
They're so...................common.

Fender.
No thanks.

This needs to be a poem.

Fender is retro
I don't like retro
Retro is retro
When I look at Fender styling
I hear 50's Rock 'n Roll playing
Their traditional colors
Dream me a car from the 50's
Shiny paint and chrome
Candy Apple Red
Surf Green

Paisley? Why? I scream
Where are the promised finishes?
I don't know

Everywhere I go
Everywhere I look
Paint, pickguard and chrome
Even their natural Walnut finished Jazz isn't walnut
And it doesn't play Jazz
It is cruel to my hallucination

Their Fender VI was not a six string contrabass
It had no natural place
BEADGC tuning
The bain of my heartlessness

They can't make what I want
They won't make what I want
It's not in their best interest to make what I want
I want what I want
I need what I need
I want what I need with the greatest of speed

Not without paying up the wazoo for a custom shop job
Playing a kazoo in an unwieldy mob
Other companies DO and HAVE made what I want
And life journeys forward in sadness
As we long for a strange friend

I don't hate them
I'm not drawn to them
They are
They
Are they?
They're so...................common
The instrument of the homeless
And the indigent
And the obscene

Fender
No thanks

 

[Jeff Scott]

...I would bet you a an American Jazz against a Jetglo there are many more anti-Fender rants.

No doubt, especially based on the fact that Fender has a much higher physical presence in the world than Rickenbacker. It would be interesting to find a correlation of number of hate posts in relation to the number of instruments that have been produced to see what the percentages come out to relative to that figure.

 

[slobake]

I love my Fender 50's. It is not even one of their top basses but it my favorite. Common? Maybe so, but it is up to each of us to decide if our playing is common or not.

 

[nightwulf]

If they've got an A neck, I love a jazz...B neck I can deal with, but I HATE C and D necks...but the sound is AWESOME...

 

[rogerbmiller]

I voted love for carrots. Used to hate them now play them a lot. But not just one [insert evil laugh.]

 

[000_Unknown]

They sound great but have ZERO sex appeal..

 

[Ric5]

I'm not really a "Fender" guy ... I am a bass guy ... Fenders are a small part of that

 

[Watchootognbout]

This needs to be a poem.

Fender is retro
I don't like retro
Retro is retro
When I look at Fender styling
I hear 50's Rock 'n Roll playing
Their traditional colors
Dream me a car from the 50's
Shiny paint and chrome
Candy Apple Red
Surf Green

Paisley? Why? I scream
Where are the promised finishes?
I don't know

Everywhere I go
Everywhere I look
Paint, pickguard and chrome
Even their natural Walnut finished Jazz isn't walnut
And it doesn't play Jazz
It is cruel to my hallucination

Their Fender VI was not a six string contrabass
It had no natural place
BEADGC tuning
The bain of my heartlessness

They can't make what I want
They won't make what I want
It's not in their best interest to make what I want
I want what I want
I need what I need
I want what I need with the greatest of speed

Not without paying up the wazoo for a custom shop job
Playing a kazoo in an unwieldy mob
Other companies DO and HAVE made what I want
And life journeys forward in sadness
As we long for a strange friend

I don't hate them
I'm not drawn to them
They are
They
Are they?
They're so...................common
The instrument of the homeless
And the indigent
And the obscene

Fender
No thanks

 

[mojomike001]

I've got several Fenders, several Squiers, and several Fender parts basses. (To me they are Fenders as well). I also have several non-Fenders. All I can say is that whatever happens, I'd never be without a Fender. No doubt that if I had to strip down to just one, it would be a Fender.

 

[Rio Haride]

Not that up for Fender. Just like the versatility of Jazz Bass, and Lake Placid Blue colour.

 

[LowEndWooly]

I'm in the fender band c(amp).

Although, I do like my customization.. so, I've been putting together basses (I just started building bodies, too) that are based off of Leo's designs and concepts.

Right now, I'm making a '54 style P bass body (butterscotch or Amber tinted) with maple and a spalted maple top. Reverse Mustang pups in the neck, Nordy BigMan in the bridge. Single ply matte black '54 pickguard, Moses graphite jazz neck. I couldn't be any more excited.

 

[jjk2007]

I'll be getting my new MIM deluxe jazz 5 tomorrow. It will be my 3rd attempt at owning and keeping a Fender for the long run. I've found I just can't do passive, or 4 strings. My first Fender, a very early Geddy Lee lasted about a year (although mostly confined to its case), I then got one of the newer modern player 5 strings....a good bass for the $$ but definitely not an Am jazz or anything. Once again being passive just didn't do it for me. After doing a little research, and getting a great deal I now have the MIM arriving tomorrow. We'll see if the 3rd times the charm!

 

[bassbenj]

I've got several Fenders, several Squiers, and several Fender parts basses. (To me they are Fenders as well). I also have several non-Fenders. All I can say is that whatever happens, I'd never be without a Fender. No doubt that if I had to strip down to just one, it would be a Fender.

I've got a MIM Fender Jazz Deluxe V and a Squire PJ 5er. They are OK, but I don't jump up on down over them. I've got a bunch of SX Fender clone bar basses that I like a lot as well, but I don't know if they count as Fenders or not.

To me Fender basses either Jazz or P-bass are reasonably OK, but I'm not jumping up and down over them. In 5 string mode I pretty much reserve my jumping up and down for my three G&L L2500 basses. Those are "Leo" basses but not Fender basses. I Like my OLP Stingray clone a lot too. Also a late Leo bass. So I voted Fenders are OK but not my favorite.

Now if I had to strip down to just one bass it would never be a Fender. For one reason, I'd want to choose a 6 string so it could do it all. Fender doesn't believe in basses with 6 strings (did the usual thing which is produce a positively killer item (Steve Bailey 6er) and then immediately discontinue it.) Why do they do that all the time and still manage to keep such a following?

For me if I could only have one bass it would probably be my Modulus Q6. I presume I don't have to tell you why I'd choose that even though it's certainly not the ultimate "old school" bass.

 

[BBox Bass]

I like my Fender guitars, but have yet to play a bass that felt comfortable. In particular, the 5-string necks I've played were too wide and/or chunky for my little hands, which is probably why I gravitate toward pencil-necked Ibanezes and Peaveys. Having said that, I own a few Fender clones and parts basses that feel and sound good to me. I'm quite fond of an old Peavey Milestone P-body I refinished and mated with a 4-string SX neck that I converted to a 5. The neck was chunky, so I had my tech shave it down and it's quite nice now.