I went onto Fender's website today to design a bass. I picked a jazz bass. Added everything I wanted to it, and made it how I wanted it to look. I may end up actually purchasing one down the road. SO, have any of you fellow TB'ers used the designer, and purchased your "dream bass"? I'd like to see some pictures for some ideas. I wouldn't copy your bass design, I'd feel guilty. I was just interested in your body color/pickguard combination and how things look together. Any basses welcome, 4 string, 5 string, Precision or Jazz, I'd like to see it all. Thanks!
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So, I've been thinking....Fender Bass Designer
- Thread starter Donavan321
- Start date
I tried to design a bass using Fender's site. So few real options it wasn't worth bothering.
If you wait long enough, Fender will cobble those pieces together and call it a new model sooner or later.
just search the for the fender american design thread. lots of pics of basses that have already been recieved and people seem extremely happy with the end product. youll have the anti-fender trolls pop in and say something but the majority of people on that thread rule
That was my experience as well. Wouldn't let me change the pickup locations, or use jazz pickups with a P-bass body, or put a tele headstock on a jazz bass, or any of the other things I'd want to do.
Wow, great replies guys. Based on what I'm hearing it sounds like it's not even worth investing into when I can just buy something else and mod it from there. I'm looking for the Geddy Lee jazz look(maple neck, block inlays, binding) I just love that look to death. Any suggestions? Chinese, American, Japanese, Mexican, Korean. Doesn't matter to me as long as it looks and sounds good.
You can't go wrong with a Japanese Geddy. The beauty of Fender is there are so many parts available to tweak what you have, which they recognise themselves, so if the Geddy base floats your boat, then grab one and adjust to taste.
Yeah, I noticed that too. You would think if it was a true "designer" you'd have a LOT more options to pick from. I'm a huge fan of the 70's pickup spacing.
Yeah, I LOVE the Geddy Lee jazz, especially since I cover a lot of RUSH. I love bright crisp tones. I only use Rotosound bass strings, I swear by them. I wouldn't be opposed to buying a Geddy Jazz. I'd even settle for some of the squiers that use the "geddy style" neck.
i think if you visited the american design thread youd get different opinions than that on this thread
My problem was that I like the vintage necks, but you can only put the vintage reverse tuners on them. It does it automatically when you choose a vintage neck style. So much for customizing!
That's really a shame. Those reverse tuners really irritate me! You'd have to install standard tuners yourself on a vintage neck and that can be a very tedious experience, we should be given a choice.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of Fender basses. 3 of my 5 most-gigged-with basses are Fenders with minimal mods. But the "design experience" is sort of like ordering at Taco Bell. It's all the same 9 ingredients, put together in limited ways.
If you can't move anything, or even omit parts like pickguards and tone controls, it's inadequate. I'd love to have a natural finish 5 string P with no pickguard and two band active EQ. No dice. Or a neck-humbucker tele bass with lefty headstock, no pots and an on/off switch. Nope. 12-string bass VI (bass-XII)? Nope. J bass with the neck pickup moved back an inch? Not going to happen. Split pickup maple neck Mustang with block inlays? No. Two pickup Strat with a humbucker at the neck? Dream on, kid. The list goes on.
I think so too. A vintage Precision Bass from 68 or 69 has the 70's type tuners with the Fender logo on the back. I would love it if those were an option, or the lollipop tuners they used for a few years in that era. I would think that the whole point of the Fender Design Experience would be that they customize for you so you don't have to do it. I guess that's not the case, though.
I'd love to have a vintage styled jazz bass(binding on neck, old pickup spacing, lollipop tuners, the whole 9 yards.) That would be THE bass for me. You'd almost be better off scoring a vintage Fender bass from Ebay or your local Craigslist(they do pop up at good prices occasionally, especially when the person selling it gets it from their buddy OR their roommate leaves it behind and they just want it gone for CHEAP)
It's a basic designer thing they have online. Most of what you guys are asking for is custom shop stuff, which the online design thing is not nor do I suspect it ever will be. I ordered a p with j neck (black, black, maple) that should arrive in a month or two. Not to be the bass of my dreams, nor an investment, but to get a p bass I will actually play with some specs that satisfy my wants. They really aren't that much more $ than a regular MIA.
Exactly. I wish I could do more weird combinations of things with it.
I mean, what if I want a slab P-bass with the pickup reversed and moved towards the bridge? Or a jazz bass with pickups moved away from the bridge, a reverse tele headstock and lollipop tuners? Or a tele bass with the fat humbucker in the bridge position instead?
It's a good idea, but it's just too limited.
