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Is It Really Too Much to Ask?

AND....that is exactly the point of this thread...it shouldn't have to be a dream bass...they make all the necessary parts already across just about every single one of their product lines...somewhere in there is room for this to be a standard option

example: enough people slapped a Badass bridge on Fender basses...that eventually it is now standard equipment on some of their offerings (at Least heir version of it)....so why not a Jazz necks on a P bass?

Sounds like the Design Experience line - and obviously, that wasn't enough of a success for Fender to continue it...
 
To you, it does - but to others, not so much... I would be willing to bet that Fender marketing has already looked into it, and found it to be non-viable...

If it were non-viable other companies would not be making, marketing, and selling this very thing...

case and point: Lakland 44-64 Vintage P bass with a bound and blocked Jazz Neck

US-DD-TGM-R-100-dpi.jpg


and they sell the snot out of them...and it's available in 18 colors...not to mention a matching headstock
 
To you, it does - but to others, not so much... I would be willing to bet that Fender marketing has already looked into it, and found it to be non-viable...
I doubt it's that. It's probably more a question of them asking what makes a P a P, vs. what makes a J a J. At what point when you're cannibalizing your own product lines have you blurred a line as to what your product actually is? These are questions that marketing people ask themselves.

To me a P is the P sound, which means you could pretty much take that Fender P pickup and stick it anywhere on another body approximating it's position in a Fender P and have what I'd want from a P. But for others that neck would be the deal breaker. I don't think they don't know there's a market for what OP is suggesting, but I think they are wary of mixing it up to a point where their signature products are unrecognizable. From a marketing standpoint, they probably have a point, but I'm not sure it's a point that wouldn't have them selling more units overall if they ignored it.
 
Dear Fender,

I would like a 3 color burst "P" (without a damn J pick-up coming along for the ride) Bass - with a Jazz Neck!!

Is that really too much to ask?

Signed,

Frustrated Bass Player...

View attachment 3267536

This...but with a "Jazz" width nut (Bound and Blocked would be nice)

Seriously Every Fender I own has been modified by me because they don't make what I want....I have never been able to buy an "off the shelf" Fender that I didn't have to modify
Perhaps it has more to do with marketing or legal issues associtated with the individual names? Maybe the legal description of a P defines neck dimensions so the only way to put out a P body with a J neck is to modify it with additional equipment and call it something else like Deluxe P or P Special.
TBH though, that’s why i play a jazz bass. I prefered the slim neck and just adapted to the rest. That was also back when a P was the bass, making the J something of a novelty that some bands prefered for no other reason than it was not a P bass.
 
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Dear Fender
:laugh:

Seriously Every Fender I own has been modified by me because they don't make what I want....I have never been able to buy an "off the shelf" Fender that I didn't have to modify
00 images2b3.png

Seriously, OP: every instrument I own has been modified by me because they don't make what I want....I have never been able to buy an "off the shelf" instrument that I didn't have to modify.
 
Perhaps it has more to do with marketing or legal issues associtated with the individual names? Maybe the legal description of a P defines neck dimensions so the only way to put out a P body with a J neck is to modify it with additional equipment and call it something else like Deluxe P or p Special.
TBH though, that’s why i play a jazz bass. I prefered the slim neck and just adapted to the rest. That was also back when a P was the bass, making the J something of a novelty that some bands prefered for no other reason than it was not a P bass.

ah! but they market and Sell P bass Specials that already have a jazz nut width and yet the head-stock is clearly marked Precision bass (I know this because I own two of them)...again they already exist!!! unfortunately they also stick a Jazz pickup in the body...(Don't get me wrong I love P/J's and own quite a few)
 
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:laugh:


View attachment 3267944
Seriously, OP: every instrument I own has been modified by me because they don't make what I want....I have never been able to buy an "off the shelf" instrument that I didn't have to modify.

Nope My G&L's are stock, My Laklands, are stock, My Rickenbackers are stock, my ESP's are stock, and my B.C. Rich's are stock, My Trabens are stock (see a pattern here)....It is just Fender that I have to modify to get what I want because of the limited choices they offer off the shelf...
 
Perhaps it has more to do with marketing or legal issues associtated with the individual names? Maybe the legal description of a P defines neck dimensions so the only way to put out a P body with a J neck is to modify it with additional equipment and call it something else like Deluxe P or P Special.
TBH though, that’s why i play a jazz bass. I prefered the slim neck and just adapted to the rest. That was also back when a P was the bass, making the J something of a novelty that some bands prefered for no other reason than it was not a P bass.

and Yet they made more than one model Jazz Bass with P pickups in them...Which I own BTW
 
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Then Fender is obviously missing the mark and not paying attention...they are driving potential customers to Lakland (Which does offer a jazz neck on a P body) and is the very reason why places like Mighty Mite, Moses, Warmoth, USCG, and a host of other companies exist because Fender won't give them what they want...so they get it elsewhere
Don't tell me. Tell Fender.
 
ah! but they market and Sell P bass Specials that already have a jazz nut width and yet the head-stock is clearly marked Precision bass (I know this because I own two of them)...again they already exist!!! unfortunately they also stick a Jazz pickup in the body...(Don't get me wrong I love P/J's and own quite a few)
Which is what i said, perhaps they are legally prohibited from selling a standard P body with a J neck so they change up the included equipment and call it a Deluex P or a P Special. I also had a Deluxe P with a factory J neck. It was a very good bass but i’m too comfortable wirh a j body to be able to ever get comfortable with a P body.
 
Nope My G&L's are stock, My Laklands, are stock, My Rickenbackers are stock, my ESP's are stock....just Fender I have to modify
well, sorry you're having that disappointment. IME/my point: lots folks make fine instruments but none of them make one exactly for me.* that you are happy with some of them just the way they are makes me think you're pretty lucky. right?


* i evolve... or 'devolve'. :laugh:
 
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If it were non-viable other companies would not be making, marketing, and selling this very thing...

case and point: Lakland 44-64 Vintage P bass with a bound and blocked Jazz Neck

View attachment 3267941

and they sell the snot out of them...and it's available in 18 colors...not to mention a matching headstock

And the sales numbers are probably minuscule compared to Fenders - which is probably why Fender isn't doing that...
 
guys your all missing the point here...obviously I'm going to have to buy the parts I want and piece this thing together...however the entire point is that people have been putting Jazz necks on "P" basses since the inception of the jazz bass...so why Doesn't Fender offer one? (that doesn't also have a damn J pick-up installed)?

I get the point.. But none of us have that answer. Shoot them an e-mail and ask them.. or give them a call. Perhaps you might be able to speak with someone that is in product design and while you're at it, suggest they put a dual output on their Jazz Basses so they can be Jazz-O-Sound. Stereo Jazz Basses sound great.
 
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I doubt it's that. It's probably more a question of them asking what makes a P a P, vs. what makes a J a J. At what point when you're cannibalizing your own product lines have you blurred a line as to what your product actually is? These are questions that marketing people ask themselves.

To me a P is the P sound, which means you could pretty much take that Fender P pickup and stick it anywhere on another body approximating it's position in a Fender P and have what I'd want from a P. But for others that neck would be the deal breaker. I don't think they don't know there's a market for what OP is suggesting, but I think they are wary of mixing it up to a point where their signature products are unrecognizable. From a marketing standpoint, they probably have a point, but I'm not sure it's a point that wouldn't have them selling more units overall if they ignored it.

I doubt that's the case, because Fender has built quite a few FRS and LE models over the years... I believe that their market research has led them to believe that they would have to force their dealers to take the kind of basses that the OP is talking about, some of which would sell *in small numbers*, while others would sit on the shelves 'til being marked down to move out the door...

Of course, we're all just guessing here, but I'll bet if Fender thought it would be profitable, they would be doing it...
 
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