I really don't like fender....

[Oric]

I love basses in general. I have a Fender and a Squier, and I love them both, but I'm willing to play just about anything. I'm very variable on everything from setup to string spacing to action... as long as it's playable, and has good pickups, I'm good. The one company I'm weird about is Gibson- I really can't decide whether I like their basses or not.

 

[OlafR]

I was a 7ender basher once, but now that I have mij '94 MIJ 7ender JB-62US, that's over. This bass looks cool, plays flawless and sounds JAZZ BASS. I can even say that it will win from an American Reïssue.

 

[The BurgerMeister]

i love most jazzes i play, but i have a hard time finding a precision that i like.

all in all, i love Fender.

 

[Vincent P]

My hatred of Fender started in college when I bought a '74 jazz bass at a local shop. That was the worst built piece of crap I'd ever owned (only my first bass, a hofner copy, was crappier). Only the E string was audible and the neck could be swivelled easily in the neck pocket no matter how tight the hold-down screws were. Wood was poor, fret work was poor. It was basically unusable...

I'm a diehard Fender Jazz owner. Yes I have picked up a few at my local music store that just didn't have the sound or feel I thought was for me, Fender makes many models to choose from. I will tell you though, if I picked up a bass that had the defects you discribed. I would have left it hanging there. Conversly, the music store I frequent would have looked after me if still within warranty or offered assistance if outside the warranty.

 

[bassbully]

Hey, I thought about this and do have a love /hate relationship with Fender. Love the basses hate the prices!

 

[Alistair R]

I Love Fender.

 

[Godbody]

OP one last time...

To the four or five ppl who realized this wasn't a Fender bash thread, your posts were super interesting. I think there's legitimate reasons to own yet dislike any brand of instrument, and its comforting to know other ppl (especially Steinberg owners) are as conflcited as me.

 

[cassanova]

I've got something of a love hate relationship with Fender. I like the tone and playability of the MIA P and Jazz deluxes but not the American Standards or passive series basses Fender offers. I also do not like their customer service. I had a very bad experience dealing with them when I needed to replace the neck on an old MIM Deluxe Active Jazz V that I used to own.

 

[artdrtr]

Okay, I'll play... (holding up my '08 P burst) "From my cold dead hands!"

 

[gibsonbassist45]

thats ok i guess? but why do we care???
oh yeah and IMO,i could always tell by looking at a fender bass that i would love it like crazy,its a wierd thing i cant understand totally.but still. i dont own one, but most of the ones ive played fit with me nicely.

 

[hatemetal]

i love my fender jazz i love it even more now that i put DiMarzio's in it I dont think ill buy anything but Fender

 

[One Drop]

OP here....

For the record, I'm well aware that my feelings make me a hypocrite. The reason(s) I don't care for fender are their nonexistent customer support, and, mostly, their advertising. Didn't Fenders used to be the best of the affordable instruments? Now you can't even find em cheap in the pawn shops. If they tried to continue that philosophy with Squire, they failed miserably, cuz I'm a punk, and even I find Squires unplayable.

BUT, I love my Jag cuz its so adaptable. I can go from blistering, rubbed-raw solos to a ballad with a few switch flicks. The neck is the fastest I've ever felt. Its three pounds lighter than my last bass. I love how resonant the nitrocellulose is, and I look forward to hearing how it'll sound in 10 years. I'm conflicted that a company I can't identify with can build such a superior product at a reasonable price. Why can't it all excite me so much?

Have you personally had problems with Fender CS? I've not heard it being either non-existent or anything but decent these days.

As to their policies regarding price, they are still affordable, and offer different ranges for different price points, from MIM to the Custom Shop. In the past, they were never cheap, but in the realm of the affordable for a gigging musician. They aren't out of line with the prices of other builders, IMO, and are not relatively more expensive now than in the past. Furthermore, Fender has no control of prices on used instruments, in pawn shops or anywhere else. That is a result of demand only, not any philosophy of theirs.

Fender makes many basses as well built and as useful as the Jag: the fact that none of them exite you that much isn't really their fault, though I can understand it might be a source of irritation to you.

Finally, are the Jags really finished in nitro? I wasn't aware of that.

I know I sound like a Fender fanboy, and I admit to loving different Ps and Js from different era (I also think the jaguar is awesomely cool looking and sounding), but I can't help coming to the conclusion that most Fender hate comes from the fact that they are so dominant in the industry and that they exist as a sort of benchmark for many bassists, and a kneejerk dismissal, a kind of a reverse snobbery or a desire to stand out from the pack results.

I say this because if they are simply unsuitable to a given player, i.e. they don't like their tone, playability, or model offerings, one would think this would be grounds for indifference rather than hate.

Why not just love them for the Jag and find other basses for your other needs and wants?

PS Gibson, Fender and to a lesser extent, Warwick seem to be the only brands that incite these weird tribal feelings, and all kinds of misinformation and hand-me-down opinions in their wake. I'm not referring to the OP here, just making a general statement.

 

[Bass Viking]

I know I sound like a Fender fanboy, and I admit to loving different Ps and Js from different era (I also think the jaguar is awesomely cool looking and sounding), but I can't help coming to the conclusion that most Fender hate comes from the fact that they are so dominant in the industry and that they exist as a sort of benchmark for many bassists, and a kneejerk dismissal, a kind of a reverse snobbery or a desire to stand out from the pack results.

I say this because if they are simply unsuitable to a given player, i.e. they don't like their tone, playability, or model offerings, one would think this would be grounds for indifference rather than hate.

I have a problem when fanboys say "every bassist should own a Fender". (this is not directed at you). It's an attitude that is bogus but fortunately is something I've only encountered on the internet (so far) and it wouldn't stop me from possibly owning a Fender someday.