New Fender Select Basses

[Brendan5]

I'll agree with meh

 

[u84six]

For that price, you might as well get a custom made Lakland.

 

[Flaked Beans]

For that price, you might as well get a custom made Lakland.

....or twenty SX basses!

 

[sigmafloyd]

Really surprised the J isn't active. I see the target audience for this being more of the modern crowd. Not my cup of tea. I need to go look at a few roadworns to cleanse my eyes

 

[OnederTone]

I liked them better when they were called the FMT series.

I know it's not the *same* thing, but it's not a "classic" J or P. They are WAY over priced and will have the same future as those FMT's...

I was about to say Fender has forgotten who their market is... but no... they haven't. They're marketing this to the guy with $3500 and says "it's not a Fender". Just like Gibson they are going down the Harley Davidson "Wild Hogs" marketing route... have been for a long time. They sell an image, an icon... Sure it's probably still a good instrument, but it's a collectors/owners piece... not marketed toward Bobby Barband or Ricky Rockstar.

NTTAWWT. I'm not going to deride anyone that owns a $3500 instrument and never plays or only plays casually... their GAS fuels an interesting and lucrative used market.

 

[mr.black]

Jacksons the big name mfg whose been doing compound radius necks for decades. For both guitars and basses. This is a big change for fender.

Fender = Jackson now. same company.

 

[VWbug]

I like my Fenders. Natural finish Ash, black, Sunburst etc, but I'm not feeling those. To each his own I guess.

 

[Herrick]

They look nice but not with white pickguards.

 

[gigslut]

Is that fotoflamed? For the money I'd expect some naturally figured wood.

 

[dwh87]

Is that fotoflamed? For the money I'd expect some naturally figured wood.

This pic gives you a rough idea of the thickest Fender are using

 

[lowendgenerator]

Looks like Fender is trying new things, just for the sake of trying them. I have to wonder if Fender reps troll TB and check what's trending lol. Foto-flame, compound radius, even calling their standard string retainer "stealth"?

For $2300, I'm buying an army of used basses.

 

[Sleeq]

The stealth retainer (bass) is the one on the A string, just like the American Deluxe Series.

 

[pie_man_25]

...Foto-flame, ...

What exactly is "foto-flame"? is it an artificicial finish that mimics the ribbon-pattern of curly maple? 'cause from the fender site it really does look fake, though some other photos look pretty darn nice.

I suppose I should elucidate - from my understanding, wood flames becuase the sheer weight of the tree causes the trunk to stop growing in a direct upward direction, so the wood/grain grows in a more "ribbon" like manner - kinda like ribbon candy. Am I accurate in my understanding of flame maple as opposed to "foto-flame"?

 

[Bassmunnky]

Yes...it DOES remind me of the Foto-Flames...I have one...pretty cool, but it was $300 Bucks.

It's in Sadowsky Metro territory...Hmm, I dunno.

 

[audiomitch]

What exactly is "foto-flame"? is it an artificicial finish that mimics the ribbon-pattern of curly maple? 'cause from the fender site it really does look fake, though some other photos look pretty darn nice.

I suppose I should elucidate - from my understanding, wood flames becuase the sheer weight of the tree causes the trunk to stop growing in a direct upward direction, so the wood/grain grows in a more "ribbon" like manner - kinda like ribbon candy. Am I accurate in my understanding of flame maple as opposed to "foto-flame"?

Xhefri's Guitars - Fender Foto Flames

"The “Foto Flame” is an thin piece of photographic film of some very highly figured wood laminated to the guitar"

 

[roadkill2309]

I'm guessing that Fender's feeling the bite from outfits like Sadowsky and A-C, and are trying to compete in the higher-end market. Lots of interesting stuff going on with the custom shop as well.

I like these new axes, but they need one more string.

I Aldo think that Fender's splintering it's product lines too much now.

 

[mr.black]

i'm sure foto-flame in the end is a "greener" process to help alleviate some of the deforestation happening. but the price should reflect this and come in much lower.

 

[One Drop]

It seems that someone mentioned that these look like the old Foto-flame instruments, but now there is confusion and talk assuming these are the same instead of real wood tops.

 

[Basso54]

Bleh. I'll import a couple of Japanese Fenders rather than spend that kind of moola.

 

[Munjibunga]

It seems that someone mentioned that these look like the old Foto-flame instruments, but now there is confusion and talk assuming these are the same instead of real wood tops.

These are real wood tops, not foto-flame. Weird how that got started.