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Oh. It's not a Fender...

#81
I think that most (just IMO) start out on a classic 4-string Fender J or P. Then, some decide to go on a journey dicovering a whole new world of exciting and utterly expensive boutique basses - I know I did.

But somehow, most (again, IMO) end up playing a Fender in the end - I know I did...

I don't regret my journey one bit, though. I had some great times and adventures in the company of Celinder, Sadowsky, AC, MTD, Atelier Z, Lakland, Yamaha, Mørch, etc... (and to be honest, I still have some of them, but they just don' see so much action as they did back in the day... :-)
 
#83
I'm a Fender guy, but I'd LOVE to see people play something else. Seriously. All I ever see being played are Js and Ps, with the odd Sandberg here and there.

Would love to have a little chat with someone that strays from the mainstream, but... over here in Europe, that seems to be kinda rare.
 
#84
kimb76 said:
I think that most (just IMO) start out on a classic 4-string Fender J or P. Then, some decide to go on a journey dicovering a whole new world of exciting and utterly expensive boutique basses - I know I did.

But somehow, most (again, IMO) end up playing a Fender in the end - I know I did...
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+1 - it's no slight to other manufacturers...it's just the way it worked out for me, as well. As I'm older, now, I don't play out or need as much, and have had a enjoyable ride with performing - my needs are more basic, and certain Fender hybrids simply do it for me. Somehow there seems a shift in priorities, and discretionary funds allow only for a P-Bass and a J-Bass......or so my wife tells me :D
 
#85
The funny thing is that I can easily see the argument from both sides of the fence, cause in my 'Boutique' days, I wouldn't dream of bringing 'just a Fender' to a gig...

So, with regard to the OP, back then, I wouldn't say: "Oh, it's not a Fender...". I'd say something like: "Oh, it's just a Fender"! ;-)

Today, none of the above statements make any sense to me. :-)
 
#86
namraj said:
TBF to most people it is an unknown brand with a funny name.
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You are absolutely right about that. I hear a lot of people claiming that folks buy Sadowsky in large part because of the name recognition. I've only ever had one person (outside of TB) recognize the brand and say good things about it. Everyone else takes a look and shrugs it off...

Pretty much all musicians know, recognize and appreciate my Fenders when I've brought them out...
 
#87
Several years ago I had a cheap/gippo Bently acoustic guitar. It played and sounded OK for a $25 guitar and from a distance it kinda looked like a typical Martin acoustic guitar. Up close you could obviously tell it was a cheap guitar and people often asked why I played such a piece of junk. Then one day by accident I found some water slide decals in a model car hobby shop that had a similar font to what Martin uses on their guitars. I carefully cut them out and applied them to the headstock as "Martian" not "Martin". In the 2 years I played my "Martian" nobody noticed my special spelling. If they did nobody mentioned it.
 
#89
GlennW said:
I think most of y'all are missing the BIG THING here.

Instead of being hung up on the guy thinking it was a Fender, marvel at the miracle he knew it was a bass.

That's progress, folks.
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+1, my G&L L-2500 confuses a some people because it has more than 4 strings so it must be a guitar, "Don't you have a bass in your band" one guy asked. He obviously wasn't listening too closely as I like getting down on that low B.

I love my 62 P, my first proper bass, my only bass from about 1969 until 2005. I now have 8, admittedly they are all Fender, Musicman G&L or clones of these. I just happen to like the look shape and feel of the fender style but have played a lot of very nice others, just never owned any. I think 8 is probably enough as my bass rack is now overflowing.
 
#90
ster said:
Yup, happened to me a few years ago when I had my Spector Euro.
"How come you don't have a Fender? He asked. After I explained that there are many other great basses and some cost way more that Fenders. He looks at me like I have no idea what I'm talking about and then says, "But Fender is the Cadillac of guitars." I just walked away.
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Fender is more like the Ford F-150 of basses, it gets the job done.
 
#92
Not in my area. Most guys are 'brand' aware and a handful play very high end basses (i.e. Kubicki, Ken Smith, Spector, Roscoe, Carvin [ok, not that high end], Lakland, CB, Dingwall, etc.). There's probably more folks who play 4 strings and they kinda get wide eyed when they see someone playing 5+ string basses. I get asked questions all the time and folks want to try out my Laklands.
 
#94
ster said:
Yup, happened to me a few years ago when I had my Spector Euro.
"How come you don't have a Fender? He asked. After I explained that there are many other great basses and some cost way more that Fenders. He looks at me like I have no idea what I'm talking about and then says, "But Fender is the Cadillac of guitars." I just walked away.
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Tell him you prefer Mercedes to Cadillacs? :)
 
#95
Fender have been making musical instruments long before Lakland, EBMM, MTD even born. Who in this world doesn't know fender? infact, nowadays stringed instrument maker follow fender basic design. just my $0.02
 
#96
KingRazor said:
Fender is the Chevrolet of guitars.





:hiding:
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I love my Fender basses, but this statement is in some ways actually pretty accurate, IMHO. It's a classic brand, regardless of the quality of the alternatives. I think Fender's quality trumps that of GM's by a long shot, but I will concede that there are better built basses and guitars out there, any musician would have to be a fool to say otherwise (and there are plenty of fools out there of course). But playing a Fender is in many ways very much like driving a 2010 Camaro, or a 1968 Camaro, or a '57 Bel Aire, or a 1978 Corvette, etc. etc. There were better built cars even back in the '50s, but the '57 Chev Bel Aire is itself an icon, whether as a rebuilt hot rod or as a 4-door sedan. No question there were and are better alternatives to a Corvette or a Camaro, but they look hot and many people drive them. No shame in it either, if you ask me.

I drive a Kia, for what it's worth. :)
 
#97
There is no limit to ignorance. I own Fenders, have owned Fenders. Also Gibson, Rick, and oh no, a Greco Beatle bass copy. Own 3 G&L's.

My G&L Legacy is my go to bass right now. I get "that really sounds great" all the time. Then, "G&L, never heard of it." Then the explanation.

Also there are the Fender snobs. "Is that a USA?" "Oh, Mexican huh?"
 
#100
Other bass players just tend to ask me 'what the hell kind of fender is that?!'
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