Is Fender Aggressive?

[ShoeManiac]

...Roscoe Beck is a J with enhanced pups and electronics...
Summary:
I love Fender basses. Everyone who is associated with Fender marketing should be fired. Immovable object gets moved by economic impact.

Incorrect on this part. The RB 4 and RB 5 are substantially different from any standard J bass.

-Assymetric neck shape with a six bolt neck joint
-Used pau ferro for the fingerboard material before many other Fender instruments
-Pickups and switching system were custom designed by Bill Lawrence for this instrument. Very few basses have features including coil switching, phase options and pickup selector switch
-Custom Gotoh bridge with string through body option (not a widely available option when this bass launched in the 90's)

 

[chris_b]

As the title indicates, I am curious as to whether you think Fender aggressively pursues bass players?

I'm not sure if Fender are "pursuing" bass players at all. They are giving the bass world what it apparently wants, Precision and Jazz basses.

Fender has had nearly 70 years to ingrain a tonal range into our ears.

I think it's successful bands and bass players who have done that. Over the years, Fender has actually tried to change things only to see most of them not sell.


IMO we're seeing bass players driving Fender.

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

Not true. Fender had the Heartfield line in the 90's. They also had actives, the Roscoe Beck (which was IMHO the very best 5 I've played to this day...never got one but I loved it)

+1. The Roscoe Beck 4 and 5 were awesome basses. I regret not buying one. Another fantastic Fender signature model was the Victor Bailey Jazz Bass. I never tried the 5-string model, but a local store had a 4-string version, which I compared to the standard U.S. made Jazz Basses they had in stock, and for me, the VB Jazz Bass was my favorite. I should’ve snagged it.

I’m personally more of a P-Bass player, and IMO Fender has been producing great P-Basses, whether they’re MIM’s or MIA models, for many years now. There’s lots of good instruments available at different price points.

 

[graphics1988]

Fender changes sh!t, Fender buyers don't buy it (cuz its not a P or J), Fender discontinues it.
Plan B.....change some colours.

 

[BioDriver]

In a word, "absolutely." Look at how aggressively they stalked Flea, who had played Wal, Spector, Modulus, and EBMM until the late 2000s. They even managed to get Justin Chancellor to use a P bass despite the fact that he's only played Wal until he started using Warwicks with Fear Inoculum.

Of course they're not the only ones guilty of this practice - Warwick immediately comes to mind as well (Juan Alderete, Steve Bailey, Jack Bruce, etc) but Fender is by far the biggest offender.

Fender changes sh!t, Fender buyers don't buy it (cuz its not a P or J), Fender discontinues it.
Plan B.....change some colours.

And then there's this BS. As someone who's fun size, their basses are just too big but God help them if they make a smaller body.

 

[graphics1988]

In a word, "absolutely." Look at how aggressively they stalked Flea, who had played Wal, Spector, Modulus, and EBMM until the late 2000s. They even managed to get Justin Chancellor to use a P bass despite the fact that he's only played Wal until he started using Warwicks with Fear Inoculum.

Of course they're not the only ones guilty of this practice - Warwick immediately comes to mind as well (Juan Alderete, Steve Bailey, Jack Bruce, etc) but Fender is by far the biggest offender.



And then there's this BS. As someone who's fun size, their basses are just too big but God help them if they make a smaller body.

Yep exactly - they deviate even a little and its blasphemy - look at their reply to the MM (i think) The Dimension - it got slammed. I couldn't help myself but to buy one of the USA HH IV models - i love the thing! Sits around 9lbs, neck is awesome, fret ends are good - maybe the shape and electronics butthurt some people? I felt all they needed to do was tweak it a bit - maybe keep them under 9lbs and it would have taken off. Nope. Discontinued.

...also i need to know - "what" is fun sized? haahahaha ..maybe that's ME TOO?!!! I tell people im like Vin Diesel ...minus the muscles and good looks.......ok, i have his haircut.

 

[Bassdirty]

Is Fender Aggressive?

No.

Maybe I don't 100% understand the question.

The answer is still No.

 

[cataract]

I accidentally broke a pot on my Jazz (trying to remove a knob) so rewired it one vol / one tone in series & yeah, I’d say it’s pretty aggressive

 

[Killing Floor]

Incorrect on this part. The RB 4 and RB 5 are substantially different from any standard J bass.

-Assymetric neck shape with a six bolt neck joint
-Used pau ferro for the fingerboard material before many other Fender instruments
-Pickups and switching system were custom designed by Bill Lawrence for this instrument. Very few basses have features including coil switching, phase options and pickup selector switch
-Custom Gotoh bridge with string through body option (not a widely available option when this bass launched in the 90's)

Wow! You're right! These are nothing alike. Now ask your SO or your colleague at work if they're different. The pickups are different, the pick guard is different, even the...oh, wait, nope. Same bass. I should have said more clearly that neck bolt plate doesn't constitute a fundamental change in product, sorry I missed that structural bracing difference that honestly Fender should be applying to all their products but their marketing group missed that it's useful. Maybe I should be more specific in my statement. If you can identify minor and trivial differences between these 2 basses you are a bass player. That's cool, I'm a bass player too. Let's prattle on about the esoteric differences between these 2 nearly identical Fender Jazz basses. But If you're a marketing professional or a product line manager for a legacy instrument company and (this part hurts to type) your market is aging (ouch, dang) neither of these is going to have much appeal to a 15 year old kid wanting to learn to play. Yeah, I love Fender. And yeah, this product has a horizon. I could do this all day.
Show me a teenage kid who thinks this is the next big thing and I'll show you a teenage kid drinking a malted in a diner who thinks streaming isn't as cool as a juke box. Fender made great basses and guitars, they still do. But their revenue is stagnating and they literally have no idea why. I hope they figure it out because I love them anyway.

 

[JimmyM]

Jeez, you guys act like there are no other companies out there to buy from. Whine whine whine. Meanwhile, Fender's having a record sales year this year.

Just like I always say...let a TBer run Fender for a year and they'll go from the biggest MI company out there to bankruptcy within a year. If you guys know so much about running a company, why aren't you doing it and kicking Fender's ass?

 

[LBS-bass]

Fender is the giant in the market; they have more models and sell more instruments than anyone else. So they can afford to do more signature models, etc. I don't know that I'd call that aggressive; it's just marketing.

 

[BioDriver]

Yep exactly - they deviate even a little and its blasphemy - look at their reply to the MM (i think) The Dimension - it got slammed. I couldn't help myself but to buy one of the USA HH IV models - i love the thing! Sits around 9lbs, neck is awesome, fret ends are good - maybe the shape and electronics butthurt some people? I felt all they needed to do was tweak it a bit - maybe keep them under 9lbs and it would have taken off. Nope. Discontinued.

...also i need to know - "what" is fun sized? haahahaha ..maybe that's ME TOO?!!! I tell people im like Vin Diesel ...minus the muscles and good looks.......ok, i have his haircut.

I'm 5'5" and decidedly shorter than average, so I endearingly refer to myself as fun size (like the smaller packs of candy).

Also, if you think the music community is bad, look at the watch community, especially the Rolex one. They got butthurt a few years back when they changed the steel from 316L to 904L

 

[TortoiseBass]

Meh, if Fender wants to make a signature bass, they can make it, more exposure for bass guitar, more choice for customers, and more money for Fender. Lately they are starting to mix it up a bit which is great as the flagship basses haven’t changed much for 50-70 years. Personally, I don’t own a Fender but I know what a Fender is, and I love the sound. So unless they do something stupid, I’m all for it.

 

[ShoeManiac]

View attachment 3991272View attachment 3991285
Wow! You're right! These are nothing alike. Now ask your SO or your colleague at work if they're different. The pickups are different, the pick guard is different, even the...oh, wait, nope. Same bass. I should have said more clearly that neck bolt plate doesn't constitute a fundamental change in product, sorry I missed that structural bracing difference that honestly Fender should be applying to all their products but their marketing group missed that it's useful. Maybe I should be more specific in my statement. If you can identify minor and trivial differences between these 2 basses you are a bass player. That's cool, I'm a bass player too. Let's prattle on about the esoteric differences between these 2 nearly identical Fender Jazz basses. But If you're a marketing professional or a product line manager for a legacy instrument company and (this part hurts to type) your market is aging (ouch, dang) neither of these is going to have much appeal to a 15 year old kid wanting to learn to play. Yeah, I love Fender. And yeah, this product has a horizon. I could do this all day.
Show me a teenage kid who thinks this is the next big thing and I'll show you a teenage kid drinking a malted in a diner who thinks streaming isn't as cool as a juke box. Fender made great basses and guitars, they still do. But their revenue is stagnating and they literally have no idea why. I hope they figure it out because I love them anyway.

Cool story, bro. Tell it again.

Maybe I should be more specific in my statement. If you can identify minor and trivial differences between these 2 basses you are a bass player.

Yes. Because sculptors, painters, doctors and photographers are all clamoring to buy basses to pursue their art.

 

[Samatza]

Looking at their web site I'd have to say yes. They have so many models that cover every price point, they want you to start on an entry level and stay with them as you can afford better gear.

Being that they are widely used you'd have to say they're getting a lot of business. They had a successful design that started decades ago and have capitalised on it since. Let's face it, companies are in it to make money, no company survives on good will. They try and provide what the market wants and yes, sometimes they get it wrong but often they do get it right.

Getting famous players to use their product exclusively is all part of the marketing effort, they've been around a long time so love them or hate them as a company they have a big chunk of the market.