New Fender series: MODERN PLAYER

[denchiq]

The Tele looks nice, but it's a "no go" for me unless it's modded. If Fender changed it up into something like what's pictured below, then it would have been an instant-buy for me. Unfortunately, they didn't...

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needs more knobs.
and the pickups are too large, you can hardly add any more
how's this to you:
http://www.glamorati.com/celebrity/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/harry-shearer-thumb.jpg

 

[etechstan]

So Fender is making Squier copies now?

I gotta agree with a few observations that these may be relabeled Squiers for the European market.

 

[Raedwald]

I remember reading reviews of the old Squier tele bass that said the tone wasn't great, partly due to the single humbucker placed slap-bang behind the neck. This one is the same, with a second pickup slap-bang in front of the bridge. So is this a case of looks-over-sound design?

I'm not an expert, more your ignorant-beginner-upstart-oik type, so feel free to correct me. But the industry standard placement for a dual pup setup seems to have them roughly sited around the midpoint between bridge and neck, so surely that must be the ideal?

 

[mikkejohansson]

I gotta agree with a few observations that these may be relabeled Squiers for the European market.

We already have Squiers in Europe as well.

 

[Spectrum]

Like I said earlier, the Squier VM Jag has the same pickup config, pearloid blocks in rosewood, a matching headstock, and stacked knobs. And it costs about half what this new Jag does, so I don't see the advantage, except in color choice and a bigger "Fender" logo on it minus the word "Squier".

As far as I'm concerned, Squiers are Fenders anyway, and Fenders US website even puts them all on the same page now, so in the US there are now five different Jag models to pick from. If this one comes over, maybe six soon. It's all good. More choices is better.

 

[Zeb Norris]

I remember reading reviews of the old Squier tele bass that said the tone wasn't great, partly due to the single humbucker placed slap-bang behind the neck. This one is the same, with a second pickup slap-bang in front of the bridge. So is this a case of looks-over-sound design?

I'm not an expert, more your ignorant-beginner-upstart-oik type, so feel free to correct me. But the industry standard placement for a dual pup setup seems to have them roughly sited around the midpoint between bridge and neck, so surely that must be the ideal?

The pup placement of the tele is like a Gibson EB3.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

I guess Fender is not ever going to go Modern after all

I don't think it is in their best interest to innovate. People want telecasters, stratocasters, precision basses, and jazz basses from them. I think Fender's following has a very low tolerance for innovation and modernization.

They are clearly capable of doing more than what they sell on the walls at Guitar Center. Tye Zamora has a pretty interesting Fender custom:

But you won't see that kind of thing from them on any kind of production scale.

It is amazing to me how easy it is for Fender to recycle their designs and give them sparkly new names.

 

[Altitude]

I dont see a bit of "Modern"

That's exactly what I thought.

As did I.

Same.

Why on earth would they call those "modern"?

 

[steveinohio]

I would buy one of those Teles. They look awesome.

 

[JoshuaTSP]

They're modernizing their old models.

Get your vintage on, with a twist of modern.

 

[chokeslam512]

I'm not sure where they get "modern" from any of these. Man they have it made, take an existing design, put a different pickguard on it and call it something completely different and watch the money roll in.

 

[timber22]

I don't care what they call it, "modern" or anything else. That tele is very interesting. I'd love to try it.

 

[Batmensch]

Why on earth would they call those "modern"?

Well,they had to call them something.
Quite frankly, I think y'all are obsessing on the "Modern" appellation (sp?) too much. Who cares what they're called, as long as you like the design, and I personally like the design of the Tele.

 

[jedw]

I remember reading reviews of the old Squier tele bass that said the tone wasn't great, partly due to the single humbucker placed slap-bang behind the neck. This one is the same, with a second pickup slap-bang in front of the bridge. So is this a case of looks-over-sound design?

I'm not an expert, more your ignorant-beginner-upstart-oik type, so feel free to correct me. But the industry standard placement for a dual pup setup seems to have them roughly sited around the midpoint between bridge and neck, so surely that must be the ideal?

I think ideal is the wrong word. But your right everybody copies the jazz bass positions. Personally i wish they didn't so much. Rickenbackers break this rule, and they sound fantastic (IMO) Of course those pickups are vastly different to the mudbucker style things in that tele bass. I'd certainly be interested to hear it.

 

[tomersg]

why people so concerned about the branding name? the "vintage modified" name was already taken..
its not "modern" enough? so buy Ibanez or something..

 

[LowB-ing]

So, did Fender hire our very own johnk_10 as their new bass designer, or are they just ripping him off?

 

[etechstan]

Rondo beat them to it at a third of the price.
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[KillerPenguin]

The Douglas Pisces must be the ugliest bass ive ever seen.

Also, we get it guys, you hate Fender.

 

[BigBigGuy44]

Rondo beat them to it at a third of the price.

...and a 12th of the quality!

 

[Slax]

IIRC someone on here made a tele bass identical to that one a few years ago...

hellooo Fender market researchers! *waves*

Yeah, sort of reminds me of the Fender CS Lotto that came out a few years ago for an absurd amount of money...