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Leo Fender did it best....
- Thread starter Gbonus Uralias
- Start date
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- fender leo leo fender
For my money, this is the best looking, sounding and playing bass I have ever laid hands on. And yes, I have a Fender J Bass and have played a few Ps as well.
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
Yep ... every bass he designed has dead spots
I can sit and comfortably play my Precision and my Strat all evening without either digging into my ribs or my arm. An excellent ergonomic design and way cool shape!
Fender is not the best,it depends on personal preference and taste there good if your a follower but if your a leader thear is a lot better,just saying
Toby Deluxe IV , Great sexy body shape, comfort on body , light weight, no neck dive , great built , so-so tone with faily low price .
Best "post jazz" shape, love how comfortable and ergonomical these feel, amazing neck too.
I'm not nitpicking on Leo's "inspiration" for certain aesthetical choices (or any other), the choices were good and anybody inventing something new tries to put together the best ideas from past "specimens". That's normal and I would never dare question his level of invention (putting together good ideas from others into a new magic whole is invention for sure). And also, aesthetics aside, he set some sound and build standards which became an industry reference upon which much evolution took place. He did it again with Musicman (don't really know how deeply involved he was in "luthiery" vs electronics decision making), he tried a followup to the P bass and made it, improving some stuff and even exploring new posibilities with the addition of active electronics. He also nailed the tones, Jazzes, Ps and Stingrays have a sound that's full of personality, VERY distinct and identifiable. Unfortunately, the subsequent successors in owning the Fender name didn't go too far in evolving upon Leo's great basis (still it saw crazy comercial expansion, their goals were definitely met). OTOH both Ernie Ball and G&L have kept improving and adding new successful offerings thru' time (some real risky, mind the Bongo), trying to remain as "state of the art" as possible while not losing the original personality in their products, with a much higher QC and general attention to detail. Their "flexibility" in being able to do so is probably due to them being much smaller companies with way less massified brands than Fender. We're talking a real giant, with a much heavier corporate side of the business (in comparison), more of a slave to plain sales figures, cost cutting agendas, etc., therefore more often likely to embrace the "if it's not broken don't fix it" approach.
Personally I'm a Musicman 5ers guy. But I love me a good Fender Jazz or Precision tones, which are superb. Unfortunately many other things are not in line with what I've grown used to from Musicman (playability, MANY construction details, general authority and oomph of the sound, low B). The great thing about it is Leo's Fender basses are such a staple that there's many manufacturers, even boutique brands, who are constantly making their take on those classic designs with virtually an infinite number of new options and improvements for us to choose from. Such is this man's legacy.
Who did it best? IDK and it's a question nobody can answer without incurring in lots of simplification. Leo Fender was certainly the father, gave the industry a decades long push (that still lasts), the Henry Ford of electric guitar&bass design and manufacturing. It's 2017, we give for granted any invention that's been around long enough, but we have to think almost a century ago none of it existed and a young man was trying something to push the limits, with no reference to look up to.
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Michael Schreiber
Commercial User
"Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man."
It feels as ergonomic as can to me. Excels every other bass, for my needs, so far.
So, I dare guess, that half a century ago, the guys at Ric did design it for people who, for example, prefer untapered necks.
While there are better sounding (imo- matter of preference), more ergonomic basses out there today, more expensive basses out there - you cannot argue the fact that Fender basses have the greatest legacy of any bass instrument out there, while maybe not the "best", more of our best bass players in existence have owned, played and recorded on Fender basses, more so than any other brand. So yes, in a way, it's the "best" basses out there and Leo has left us quite a legacy. Fender basses are the standard against which all other basses are compared to. Heck, we may be bringing our upright basses to our next gig and on this website making our NUBD posts (New Upright Bass Day) if it weren't for him, there were other brands that came out with electric basses in the early days but it wasn't until Fender basses came along that helped make them acceptable. Maybe another brand would have taken it's place, maybe not, we can't change history.
Are there better basses out there? Sure, I believe that myself but that is all subjective and a matter of personal taste, opinions are going to vary wildly on the "best" bass.
I'm not even a rabid Fender fan either, I love quite a number of bass brands but got to give the man his dues.
Are there better basses out there? Sure, I believe that myself but that is all subjective and a matter of personal taste, opinions are going to vary wildly on the "best" bass.
I'm not even a rabid Fender fan either, I love quite a number of bass brands but got to give the man his dues.
I didn't like it at first, either. In fact, I had no interest in G&L at all, Fender either, for that matter, but after hearing so much about the L2000 I finally saw one at Robbie's Music in Totowa....Tobacco Burst with matching headstock...and it looked so good I had to try it.Sorry I never cared for that G & L headstock but I sure wouldnt mind having one, I'm sure it would grow on me
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I prefer other basses over Fender. I do think it is strange that Leo Fender's fans stop liking his work as much after he left Fender. I would have thought MusicMan then G&L would have been the best. It would be like Jack Kirby leaving DC to rip off his own work for Marvel and having the Marvel characters be more famous than his original creations with DC...oh wait, that analogy doesn't work :-D
The thing is, it gets the job done. It's been getting the job done for years and will continue to do so.
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
And although Leo didn't create the Thunderbird it can be hot rodded by bolting on a Fender neck.
Let's not forget the last bass guitar he designed at Fender. The mighty Mustang!
There's a pot for every lid, and there are new lids born everyday.
Summing-up (or trying to arrive at consensus of) the aesthetic and functional appeal of all the iconic body shapes of the electric guitars is impossible because of the infinite and personal tastes, experience and knowledge.
Us musicians celebrate these differences and nuances in the same way we discuss and describe our music itself.
I'm fascinated by the association and affect of design. Sometimes it's just the vibe, sometimes the function and it is incredible when they're represented and crafted to perfection. When someone's design innovates and stands the test of time or propegates mimicry even in the form of improvements you just gotta honor it.
In a certain way, Leo Fender didn't write one hit song. He created 4 "genres"... Tele, Strat, the P and the J. but he never gave up. Stingray, G&L.... I'm wondering if grade school students should study and examine him along with other famous inventors. Thoughts?!?
Summing-up (or trying to arrive at consensus of) the aesthetic and functional appeal of all the iconic body shapes of the electric guitars is impossible because of the infinite and personal tastes, experience and knowledge.
Us musicians celebrate these differences and nuances in the same way we discuss and describe our music itself.
I'm fascinated by the association and affect of design. Sometimes it's just the vibe, sometimes the function and it is incredible when they're represented and crafted to perfection. When someone's design innovates and stands the test of time or propegates mimicry even in the form of improvements you just gotta honor it.
In a certain way, Leo Fender didn't write one hit song. He created 4 "genres"... Tele, Strat, the P and the J. but he never gave up. Stingray, G&L.... I'm wondering if grade school students should study and examine him along with other famous inventors. Thoughts?!?
