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Pick the actual Fender

Which bass is the actual Fender?

  • Bass1 is the Fender

    Votes: 67 59.3%

  • Bass2 is the Fender

    Votes: 46 40.7%
  • Total voters
    113
#42
I may mess around with it some more at some point, when I have time. But, for right now, I learned what I wanted to know. To wit, when I set the basses like I like them (volume all the way up, tone rolled all the way off), even a bunch of other bass players have a really hard time picking out the genuine Fender body and pickups over the stock Yamaha.

I think I will either sell this Yamaha or return it (still in my MF 45-day return window), but I like it enough that I'll probably look to pick another one up later, when I spot one in a color I like better. This one is a solid red color, but I couldn't find pics of this color anywhere on the Web prior to ordering it, so I had to go sight unseen. And my only choices were this or the orange, which I knew I didn't want. At some point, I'll probably pick up a black one or the one that is red in the middle and black around the sides. I can never remember which one is called Cranberry, and which one is called Wine. I think this solid red one is Cranberry, and the red-black burst is Wine.
 
#43
johnk_10 said:
not IMO. a vintage fender or an AV RI is. and since your's has a warmoth with a heavy steel reinforced neck, it doesn't sound like one to me. no offense, but for some reason, your's doesn't sound very good.
Click to expand...

No offense taken, of course.

Question: What kind of neck do vintage Fenders have? I'm guessing they didn't have graphite reinforcing rods like they do now.
 
#45
I'm always surprised by the votes in these threads. What seems obvious to my ears is usually not to others. It's hard to say why, but there are many ranges of experience here, along with many ranges of computer speakers to reproduce the sound. I definitely would not take this as a definitive vote against anything.
 
#47
lowfreqgeek said:
Rather than adjust gain on the amp, you should leave it alone for and then normalize both recorded files via a recording software. Better yet, bypass the amp altogether and record direct, then normalize.
Click to expand...

I've been pondering on this. If I take a bass and set the input gain so that it just flashes the clip light occasionally, I would expect the the bass to then sound a little different if I turn down the input gain and turn up the Master to compensate so that the output volume is the same.

Is that not correct? If it is correct, then when you compare two different basses, why would you not do what I did and adjust the input gain for each bass, the same way you would if you were really going to play the bass?

Oh, and as far as turning the tone all the way up (the volume WAS all the way up on both), I did it with both tones turned all the way down because that (with flats) is the "Fender P" sound I was trying to compare the Yamaha to. That seems like the classic Jamerson tone I hear on, for example, My Girl.
 
#51
electracoyote said:
Sounds like two non-descript basses with flats, nearly identical.

What makes the difference which is which? If my basses had no character, it wouldn't matter how much I paid for them or what is written on the headstock. It may as well be a couple of SX's for all practical purposes.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. If you're going to put flats on and roll the tone off, you take all of the character out of the sound.
 
#52
johnk_10 said:
not IMO. a vintage fender or an AV RI is. and since your's has a warmoth with a heavy steel reinforced neck, it doesn't sound like one to me. no offense, but for some reason, your's doesn't sound very good. i think it was muddy and unbalanced, and when i think of a p bass, those terms don't come to mind. maybe it was the way that you recorded it.



correction.ALL '62 AV RI's have rosewood fingerboards. the '57AV RI has a one piece maple neck.
Click to expand...

I agree with him. I thought #2 was the fender because the first one sounded way muddy and because my strongly based perception told me that Fender is always better (I really need to correct.)

The Yamaha sounds really good and balanced. However, I have no offense to you, I am sure that the first clip does not represent the fender sound well. Did you adjusted some controls when you recorded?
 
#53
StuartV said:
Oh, and as far as turning the tone all the way up (the volume WAS all the way up on both), I did it with both tones turned all the way down because that (with flats) is the "Fender P" sound I was trying to compare the Yamaha to. That seems like the classic Jamerson tone I hear on, for example, My Girl.
Click to expand...

Now I understood why it sounds very different from the fender tones I used to hear. I am now curious for the yamaha when the tone is all the way up... hm..
 
#54
Wish I could help you. But, I returned that Yamaha to MF right after that thread.

And I ditched the Warmoth neck on my P and put on an Allparts neck per JohnK's recommendation.
 

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