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Roadworn Basses Opinions

#161
To me, hating fake wear and/or calling it fake-old is kind of funny. Although I don't disagree with the term "fake-old," what qualifies as fake-old?

Consider this: I take good care of my instruments. I have many basses that I have bought new. Basses I bought new 20 years ago still looks almost like new because I take good care of my gear. I also have a friend who is a guitar player. Try as he might to "be careful," his instruments fairly quickly pick up dents, dings and chips. A guitar he has may be newer and yet look older than a bass of mine. Are his guitars fake-old because he causes them to wear faster than I do? Should I be more careless with my instruments so that I can get some of the visual "mojo" that his instruments have? Or should I just buy a roadworn instrument? (Full disclosure: I do own a roadworn instrument.)
 
#163
As so many say these things play and sound so good, I'd get one and just abuse it til it becomes my own.

But what gets me is the exposed wood areas always look fresh and new, without the years of sweat soaked in.

Think of it as a great new bass that you don't have to worry about scratching or dinging up.
 
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#164
rootsnfifths said:
I have played many types of basses since 1979 and these Road Worn series basses really knock me out.
It is a shame so much negative energy floods these Posts. I would actually like to hear what others think about theirs or how they have modded them.

Instead I am reading why my bass is fake and I am dumb for falling for Fender's shallow marketing.

To shift gears here I own 1 RW 2-tone sunburst Precision and 2 RW sunburst Jazz basses. Why 2 Jazz basses? I loved the 1st one so much I decided to get a second to make into a fretless. That project never happened but may someday. That 1st one is special. It is lighter and more resonant than any Road Worn I have played anywhere. It was used, played hard and still has the original strings on it (which sound more flat than roundwound).

The RW P really was purchased because I fell in love with the tone on one I tried in a shop. Been using it for 50% stage and 100% studio. It wears Sadowsky Black label flats right now.

I have a fiesta red Road Worn body on the way to me as I speak for a project. I am slapping a Nate Mendel P neck on it and most likely Fender original '62 pickup in it. I was originally going to put a Road Worn Jazz neck on it but now am going for a CS Pino thing. I own 10 or 11 (have to count again) basses right now and I just keep going to the Road Worns so I decided to do a parts bass based on one.

Keep rockin your Road Worns.
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Yeah, the relic bashing is ridiculous...you don't like it? Don't buy it!

I'm happy to talk about how I modded mine :) I have a set of mods I've worked out over a long period of experimenting. I spent a lot of time and money trying out different components. I've played a bunch of real 60's vintage Jazz Basses and found the same qualities in the ones I liked: They were all very lightweight and had a resonant quality to the wood that makes notes jump off the fingerboard. It's definitely an acoustic thing that gives the tone a unique quality. The trouble is I could never afford one of these rare beasts AND they have two inherent problems I can't deal with - 1. They have single coil pickups. This is part of the deal with a Jazz of course, but I play mostly in clubs and the electricity is always dodgy, so the hum drives me nuts (I always favor one or other of the pickups so they don't cancel out). 2. Because these vintage basses are so light they usually have pretty bad neck dive due to the heavy tuners that were used. That's a total deal breaker for me, I want to concentrate on the music and not on holding up the neck and having it strangle me with my own shirt. So it makes no sense at all to drop major coin on a vintage Jazz and then swap out the pickups and hardware. That's why the Roadworns are the perfect platform for me.

I essentially buy them for the wood, which is REALLY similar to the vintage instruments. Then I put Dimarzio Model J or Area J pickups in them. The Area J sounds very close to single coil tone to me but is dead silent. The Model J is not really vintage sounding, but the adjustable pole pieces are brilliant at dealing with uneven tone from string to string, something that can happen with very light basses. Both my current RW Jazzes have these and and they sound incredible. Then I put Gotoh Res-o-Lite tuners on them, which are direct replacements for the stock tuners...no drilling or mods at all, and they totally fix the neck dive and make the bass balance perfectly. I do a few other mods before the bass is fully "Sparkified" but the tuners and pickups are the biggies and they make these basses fantastic working instruments.

So I get the vintage feel of the wood that I want in a bass I don't need a second mortgage to buy and don't worry about taking to a skanky bar for a blues gig. What's not to love about that? As far as how it LOOKS I happen to dig it, but that's way down the priority list for me, and I have yet to have a bandleader hire me (or not) based on what finish was on my bass. They seem to be a little more concerned with whether I have the chops and feel for the gig :)
 
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#165
tmdazed said:
as was stated before , its buying authenticity, and yes , I have played a few before , both guitars and basses, and they play like a typical fender, tree stump necks and poor setup and intonation , at least the ones I have tried. as far as no one caring if I think its a poser move , you both quoted and replied , so obviously someone does. Dont take it personally , believe me , most people care about other opinions as much as you do
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It's not personal and I'm not angry or anything. I don't actually own one, and the basses I currently have are all like new, but I may own one (or something similar, most likely a Sandberg) in the future, and I'm cool with that. To me, it's about the sound and play-ability of an instrument foremost, the looks are lower down on the importance scale. It is a factor, of course, for example I typically can't stand green basses. It's cool you tried them, however setup and intonation at the store is generally poor on all instruments, not just Roadworn's, I try to not make a judgement on the instrument based on something that was just taken out of a box and placed on a hook. I tried an MIA Select recently at the local GC that was truly awful, but I don't blame the bass, I'm sure with a proper set up, it would play great.

I guess I just don't get why you and the other relic haters, care so much about the finish on an instrument and somehow assign a term like "poser" based on the look. Did a guy with a relic'd bass pee in your bushes or something? Did someone try to sell you, or someone you know, a relic as a genuine old instrument (very skeezy, and the only legitimate concern to me)? If a 16 year old kid, who is just starting to play buys a real 60's Jazz or Precision, that has real mojo, is he a "poser"? Are only people that bought a 60's Jazz or Precision then, and played it for 40 years truly "authentic"? The bashing and vitriol that goes on in threads like this over nothing more than the way an instrument looks just baffles me.

As far as caring about anyone's opinion, I don't care the least little bit about their feelings on what I play, it's just not on my radar. I quoted and replied because I truly don't understand the mentality of the "relic's are posers" people. To each their own ,however.
 
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#166
In a way it's no more posing than for instance wearing genre typical clothes on stage and then go back to wearing other clothes at the day job. If a relic'ed instrument fits the look of the band, why not?

If the OP asks for opinions surely it must be OK to give them , even if they are negative. Those who like the relic'ed instruments seem a bit touchy sometimes - it's just people's opinions, and you know what they say about those, everyone has one. ;)
 
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#167
I didn't like the concept of factory made road worn guitars until I tried a RW Precision in my local guitar shop. I got curious after my guitarist bought a RW Telecaster, which sounded amazingly good. Well, the RW is one of the nicest bass guitars I've ever layed my pathetic little hands upon. It was so heavenly light, the neck so heavenly nice, and it sounded heavenly good. No more "Bah! Made in Mexico", "Bah! Pretending to be vintage", "Bah! Not the REAL thing" from me. I just want one, I need one. I no longer care what the Bass Guitar Credibility Police might think about it.
 
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#168
FretNoMore said:
In a way it's no more posing than for instance wearing genre typical clothes on stage and then go back to wearing other clothes at the day job. If a relic'ed instrument fits the look of the band, why not?

If the OP asks for opinions surely it must be OK to give them , even if they are negative. Those who like the relic'ed instruments seem a bit touchy sometimes - it's just people's opinions, and you know what they say about those, everyone has one. ;)
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You are correct. the OP did ask for opinions though I like to think it was about the sound a feel. I may come off as a bit touchy, but it's only because relic bashing has gone on, ad nauseum, in several threads here on TB. It's a bit like a broken record, it's gets tiresome after awhile. Oh well...maybe I'll go practice...:D
 
#169
sPiKi said:
Well, the neck is definitely deeper than the Jazz but not as wide as the American Std P. It is really comfortable to play. I'm not sure of the exact measurements (not overly concerned about the last mm) but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot in it between the Dirnt and the Jazz. I was gigging last night and played about 2.5 hours straight through without a break and there was no cramp or tiredness at all in my left hand. I'm back out tonight and the Jazz is getting left behind again, lol. The other thing worth noting about this is that the lack of belly cut is not a problem at all. Remains very comfortable to play.
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Very cool. And I gather the forearm contour is good, too? That's one thing that has always kept me away from '51 style P-Basses and some Telecaster basses. The crease that those slab bodies cause in your forearm is just a killer.


Co0O said:
I didn't like the concept of factory made road worn guitars until I tried a RW Precision in my local guitar shop. I got curious after my guitarist bought a RW Telecaster, which sounded amazingly good. Well, the RW is one of the nicest bass guitars I've ever layed my pathetic little hands upon. It was so heavenly light, the neck so heavenly nice, and it sounded heavenly good. No more "Bah! Made in Mexico", "Bah! Pretending to be vintage", "Bah! Not the REAL thing" from me. I just want one, I need one. I no longer care what the Bass Guitar Credibility Police might think about it.
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I felt the same way until I tried one. My favorite musical instrument dealer had an in-store event with Fender a few years back. And it was around the time that they had introduced the Road Worn series. I was turning up my nose to the concept just like a number of people in this thread have, too. The proof was really in the playing. I heard some other people play some of the instruments that the Fender reps had brought and thought they sounded alright. And I got a chance to speak with the guys from Fender, and they were cool enough to explain the ideas behind the Road Worn series, and how it was developed. Then I tried the Fiesta Red Road Worn Jazz they had on hand. The only thing I could hate on was the color, because the bass sounded and played great. Sometimes getting your hands on an instrument is all you need to do in order to change your own mind.
 
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#170
fuzzychaos said:
You are correct. the OP did ask for opinions though I like to think it was about the sound a feel. I may come off as a bit touchy, but it's only because relic bashing has gone on, ad nauseum, in several threads here on TB. It's a bit like a broken record, it's gets tiresome after awhile. Oh well...maybe I'll go practice...:D
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I do several things that get hate here ... exotic wood tops, sunburst and tortoise, mixed cabinets, effects pedal board, I wear a hat on stage, I play J and not P ... you name it, someone here will hate it. Getting a roadworn bass wouldn't make much difference. :)
 
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#171
Hi,

I bought a RW Jazz 4 weeks ago.
I bought the "kaputt" (which means destroyed and defective) bass because:
it was the best feeling and sounding bass I had in my hands for a long time.
The bass is finding you, they say. It found me. I had to buy it.

I am not in for the mojo looks - I had preferred a brand new looking bass.
But - I could not resist to this particular instrument.

My band was excited about the sound and the diversification of sounds
just moving the finger position.
I am no great player, but so I can support the character of the song in an easy way
because the bass is very sensible to hard/soft playing, finger position, ...

Looks are just looks, a fool who cares about looks I think...

Sorry for my bad english post..

Go on and play the idea of your music!

Volker
 
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#173
sPiKi said:
2014-05-02%2017.37.48.jpg



Well, I had it for about four weeks now and I am really really happy with it. Up to getting it, my go to bass was my American Standard Jazz. Nice and light and a great tone. I had an MIA P which I didn't play very much at all. It just didn't impress that much in live gigs. But then I had seen the Dirnt and was intrigued by the description of the pickup and just what the RW finish would feel like, especially the neck.

I bought this used and saved about £400 and it has been worth evey penny. It has taken me a couple of gigs to just get 'my sound' but the jazz isn't getting a look in these days :).

I know the whole thing about relicing/road is divisive but this feels great to play and looks as cool as anything - very rock n roll as our guitarist put it. It really has to be seen up lose to appreciate the quality of the workmanship & appreciate the job they have done with the relicing. Neck is definitely more comfortable than the MIA P and the frets are great, nice and smooth and very similar to my MIA J. Like MD says in the Fender video it really is more like a white wash and the grain of the ash comes through very nicely.

As far as tone is concerned, its your classic P sound only with more punch and growl - the pickup is LOUD! Had to lower the pickups & tweak the EQ on my V4BH & VT pedal, cutting the mids a bit but overall tone is very impressive with a nice clang on the low E & a good balance across the four strings. I had to adjust the intonation on the E marginally but that was it.

A couple of people have admired my 'tele bass' and this is an aspect I like about this bass, that it doesn't look like a gimmicky signature guitar (I don't really care for Green Day, although do like MD's playing). Did I buy purely on looks? Definitely not. Does it look good? It really looks the business.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/due26j7ddszmkxa/rnkCNAaV2V
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Thanks for the mini review. I'm slightly jealous! I love the tele bass look with the split P pup. It looks classy to me. I heard that the old model Dirnt could be on the heavy side, so how is yours? And is it a full slab body? Thanks again.
 
#174
I get that this thread is asking for opinions, but there's been a rule against relic-bashing in this forum for quite a while. Making fun of owners or calling them posers isn't going to fly, and moderators will infract...so pretty please, don't.
 
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#175
Could care less on negative opinions of strangers. Would be a shame if this kept folks away from what appeals to them or what I just discovered at Bass San Diego , Nash PB63

I find it the best instrument I've owned in over 45 years playing out. Kinda dig that it's beat up and don't have freak out when I bang it against something which always seems to happen. More importantly the neck feel and body resonance are best I've find on way more expensive Basses. And really like the way it looks

Band, wife, friends all are in agreement. Like someone else said, it called, I answered and couldn't be happier.
 
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#177
Most people on here can't afford an authentic Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Monet, etc... And I bet a lot of the "haters" have some prints of masterworks hanging on their walls. How is that any different? You want to enjoy it too, but you don't want to (or can't) spend thousands and thousands of dollars on one, so you get the next best thing.. a replica. You'd think that was a completely foreign idea to some of the people on here.
 

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