Opinions

[bullshark]

Reminds me of a Lace Helix bass.

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That headstock style fit the body design much better than what Fender did.
I'm gonna make a wild guess and state that the bean counters over at fender decided that retooling for a new headstock style was too expensive considering sales figure for an entirely new design are unknown. But that decision might end up killing the model.

 

[Bassdirty]

That headstock style fit the body design much better than what Fender did.
I'm gonna make a wild guess and state that the bean counters over at fender decided that retooling for a new headstock style was too expensive considering sales figure for an entirely new design are unknown. But that decision might end up killing the model.

Possible.
My guess is that they still wanted the "Fender headstock" brand recognition, so folks think FENDER even from a distance.



T$

 

[Gervais Cote]

I had the opportunity to play a Fender modern player jazz bass that looks similar.

Very versatile sound, perfect for modern heavy rock and cuts in the mix with ease but not the vintage Fender tone I was looking for and too heavy for my weak body.

Best thing for you would be to bring your favorite bass with you for a side by side comparison and see if it inspires you.

Here is the modern player I tried :

 

[Polfuste]

I like the body, but i think (as others) that Fender should have re-worked headstock to fit better with this new body. This bass sounds like anybody would have add a Fender neck to a custom made body. Don't get me wrong: no problem with that and some custom bodies fit very well with Fender neck, but not this new Fender body IMHO.
Certainly cheaper to not change anything on the neck, but it's not like that Fender will create a new classic bass, and it will probably get this new attempt down to bass history dust.

 

[jd56hawk]

I like the body styling, but the headstock doesn't go with it.
Something closer to a Backlund guitar would be better. Stick with the Jetsons vibe.

Fender really dropped the ball.
Seriously, Black-and-Gray Burst and Two-Color Burst?
Shouldn't a Meteora come in Interstellar Cloud White, Fireball Burst and Deep Space Blue?
Other than that, they should've listened to me when I suggested the right headstock.

Forget about Fender and buy something special.
Reverend Thundergun, one of the best-kept secrets in the bass world.

 

[DWA2469]

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I'm kinda obsessed with this bass. It's kinda so ugly it's cool and I'm really liking the Haymaker pickup tone. Am I crazy? (Probably) Thoughts? Opinions?

Anyways, here's a tone demo:

I say if you have the means buy it!

 

[Dincrest]

The Fender Meteora bass in the first post...

I can't say it's my thing, but I love that its body shape is something unique and different to what I normally see out in the wild. The only thing I'm not fond of is the mustard yellow finish, but that's just a matter of taste. I think a shade of red/orange with black-burst edges would look pretty cool on it.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

View attachment 7492449

I'm kinda obsessed with this bass. It's kinda so ugly it's cool and I'm really liking the Haymaker pickup tone. Am I crazy? (Probably) Thoughts? Opinions?

Anyways, here's a tone demo:

Not crazy. But will you love it tomorrow? Nah! Go for it, but play one first.

 

[Ricky Rioli]

I'm gonna make a wild guess and state that the bean counters over at fender decided that retooling for a new headstock style was too expensive

A less wild guess would be that Fender likes putting its protected headstock on instruments as a form of branding

 

[ravlin]

My $0.02, no way. It looks like they raided the parts bin rather than designing something cohesive.

• Headstock looks out of place
• Pickup placement not to my liking
• body is cute but that's a custom case
• Never met a fender preamp I liked
• I could carry on with complaints but nobody wants to read about it.

 

[Jim McCaslin]

It looks like a Thunderbird went through a midlife crisis, cut off its mullet, lost weight and got some "augmentations". And then dressed up like a Fender.

 

[mikecd1]

Similar setup to the Am Dlx Zone bass with a better preamp. The double jazz pups do sound nice. Didn't see any under 8.5 lbs and the price tag puts it in market with lots of other nice basses. I'll bet these go on some price dives in the future.

 

[RhinoBass]

Our opinions do not matter. If you like it, buy it and play the snot out of it. If anyone tells you they don't like it, tell them that I said they can go [fill in the blank as you see fit] themselves.

 

[Wyvern]

That wasn't Fender's call.

It was all up for grabs, IP, tooling etc.

All they wanted was Leo's name, that's it.

 

[T McClure]

It was all up for grabs, IP, tooling etc.

All they wanted was Leo's name, that's it.

Sure, but the factory was closing either way whether Fender bought the rights to Leo's name or not. It was there for anyone to buy, but no one did because no one wanted an unprofitable factory.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

It's not Fender's job to keep G&L alive. That was G&L's job, but Fender somehow gets the blame.

 

[jd56hawk]

The Fender Meteora bass in the first post...

I can't say it's my thing, but I love that its body shape is something unique and different to what I normally see out in the wild. The only thing I'm not fond of is the mustard yellow finish, but that's just a matter of taste. I think a shade of red/orange with black-burst edges would look pretty cool on it.

They should have used G&L's Andromeda finish.
It's a no-brainer.

 

[FRoss6788]

It's not Fender's job to keep G&L alive. That was G&L's job, but Fender somehow gets the blame.

Every time.

It’s a pastime for some here.

 

[Wyvern]

Sure, but the factory was closing either way whether Fender bought the rights to Leo's name or not. It was there for anyone to buy, but no one did because no one wanted an unprofitable factory.

G&L wasn't profitable because it was all word of mouth, yes the instruments were great, leagues better than Fender IMHO, but they didn't endorse artists and get their name out there. The Layman knows Fender, but they Don't know G&L. Exposure sells, even if the product is woafully mediocre.

Fender could have used the staff, building and tooling for their own instruments or Stuck the Fender Logo on G&L instruments, it would have been profitable in the long run.

If it was any other company I wouldn't blame them for only wanting a name, however Fender lives on Leo Fender's contribution to their company, its morally grey to let Leo's final contribution to the world die with the factory they could have saved.

So that's my reasoning.

 

[Guitalia]

G&L wasn't profitable because it was all word of mouth, yes the instruments were great, leagues better than Fender IMHO, but they didn't endorse artists and get their name out there. The Layman knows Fender, but they Don't know G&L. Exposure sells, even if the product is woafully mediocre.

Fender could have used the staff, building and tooling for their own instruments or Stuck the Fender Logo on G&L instruments, it would have been profitable in the long run.

If it was any other company I wouldn't blame them for only wanting a name, however Fender lives on Leo Fender's contribution to their company, its morally grey to let Leo's final contribution to the world die with the factory they could have saved.

So that's my reasoning.

My guess is that Fender bought G&L solely to prevent any other company from acquiring the right to use Leo Fender's name to promote their products. They'd probably buy Musicman for the same reason if they could.