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Something isn’t right about this Fender???
- Thread starter Kukulkan61
- Start date
In Fender related TalKBass lore "The Hamburgler" is right up there with "Router Hump".
Not directly addressing the OP, but when first reading this thread, I found it hard to believe they'd put the fotoflame on the neck.
So I googled, and found this page, which for those who don't know much about the Fotoflame, this has some decent info, even tho not directly talking about basses.
Just thought it interesting, so figured I'd share.
The link is: Xhefri's Guitars - Fender Foto Flames
And as for the "Hamburgler":
(From the same page linked above.)
So I googled, and found this page, which for those who don't know much about the Fotoflame, this has some decent info, even tho not directly talking about basses.
Just thought it interesting, so figured I'd share.
The link is: Xhefri's Guitars - Fender Foto Flames
And as for the "Hamburgler":
(From the same page linked above.)
- Oct 18, 2012
- 6,683
- 5,538
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Fender, Spector, Ampeg, Curt Mangan, Nordstrand Pickups, Korg , Conquest Sound
Looks ok to me but priced too high. I saw several of these (different colors) sell last year for $550 to $600.
IIRC there weren't too many produced. They were announced as "fotoflames" but many consumers thought this would be a brilliant new thing. Or that Fender would use fire to amplifiy the wood grain. They didn't realize that no wood was involved, but a thin paper sheet with a fotography of woodgrain.
Truth is they used the same technique as the one that is used in producing cheap kitchen fronts. When consumers understood what Fender was doing they became very unpopular and buyers felt somehow betrayed and Fender stopped the series. I guess apart from the finishing technique, these instruments are as good as the other MIJ Fenders. Very good.
But I wouldn't buy one. For me it is a very obscure and short chapter in the Fender history.
Funny somehow that the finish doesn't seem to last. Kitchen producer tell their clients since 3 decades that it is just fine and only early versions of this technique had problems. But consumers still complained when I was last looking for a new kitchen 10 years ago. If you boil water or heat is exposed (some people cook in their kitchen
) the thin paper-front soaks the humidity and disintegrates and is losing contact with the material underneath and comes down.
Truth is they used the same technique as the one that is used in producing cheap kitchen fronts. When consumers understood what Fender was doing they became very unpopular and buyers felt somehow betrayed and Fender stopped the series. I guess apart from the finishing technique, these instruments are as good as the other MIJ Fenders. Very good.
But I wouldn't buy one. For me it is a very obscure and short chapter in the Fender history.
Funny somehow that the finish doesn't seem to last. Kitchen producer tell their clients since 3 decades that it is just fine and only early versions of this technique had problems. But consumers still complained when I was last looking for a new kitchen 10 years ago. If you boil water or heat is exposed (some people cook in their kitchen
) the thin paper-front soaks the humidity and disintegrates and is losing contact with the material underneath and comes down.
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It's got a skunk stripe - fotoflame necks don't. Also, the flaming isn't perfectly symmetrical. It's real.
Hamburglar. That's in the you-learn-something-new-every-day category. Enlightening!
Again where I'm confused is that I know Fender had a short run of the Foto flame basses but I thought the whole bass was Foto Flame finish body and neck, the bass that this post is about just has a Foto flame neck with a normal finished body...
Definitely a legit, MIJ, fotoflame bass. You can see the foto flame logo on the top of the backside of the headstock.
I would say more than a short run for six strings. I've seen telecasters in vintage white with fotoflame necks, and strats with fender vintage burst bodies with fotoflame necks.
I've only seen a few MIJ basses with fotoflame and never in person, just pics on the Internet that pop up from time to time. In the six strings I've seen, it's obvious that those are fotoflames without looking for the logo. It's high contrast, but lacks the depth and brilliance of true maple flame.
I would say more than a short run for six strings. I've seen telecasters in vintage white with fotoflame necks, and strats with fender vintage burst bodies with fotoflame necks.
I've only seen a few MIJ basses with fotoflame and never in person, just pics on the Internet that pop up from time to time. In the six strings I've seen, it's obvious that those are fotoflames without looking for the logo. It's high contrast, but lacks the depth and brilliance of true maple flame.
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Smooth_bass88
vaxx!
- Oct 31, 2006
- 12,123
- 16,797
- Disclosures
- have been on nationally released albums, charting on the Billboard 200
I remember these. It's the real deal (at least the neck is). The only problem is the price. I wouldn't pay over a grand for a Japanese Fender. That's nuts.
I have a FujiJen Pbass and it is so awesome. They usually are $700 -$800 at most though. And totally worth it, especially if you can get an old one.
It's the same bass throughout the gallery. To state it simply, they look different because of different exposures and color balances. The more neutral white is likely the more accurate of all the pix.
On another note, it looks like it might have originally been sunburst or red (based on the crappy pix, it's hard to tell what paint color is poking through all the little chips in the white).
On yet another note, it's a $600 bass, absolute tops, and you'd have to really want it to pay that. It's an $800 bass tops in tip-top original shape, and this is a refin. If it's a home rattle can refin (which, by the look of it, it very well may be), it'd be a stretch even at $400 IMO. IIRC, they didn't come with free matching cases at the time; you had to buy a case separately. (In other words, the type of case that is "original" could be all over the map, so it's not really a factor in the value).
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That's what always worries me about Fender's x white colors. A lot of the MIJ Mustangs that were listed as Vintage White were definitely Olympic White. There shouldn't be that much variation on one color for a mass production instrument.
I think Fender didn't do their research when it comes to "white" in regards to their own history. Olympic white is super white with an almost bluish tint. Over time, the clear coat develops a patina, and it looks a little more cream. Fender has the "vintage white" color which is somewhere between parchment and cream, and I think they based that off of the look of aged Olympic white. Now, they don't know the difference. Also, Olympic white had a sparkle in the paint like Lake Placid Blue had. What they call Olympic white now isn't what it used to be at all. It's more like what Fender calls Arctic white. They've confused themselves, which in turn confuses the consumer. I won't even get into the faded Sonic Blue. That's just a really weird one.
The faded Sonic Blue turned me off of the P/J Mustang (in that color, anyway). I saw someone changed the pickguard on theirs and the blue finally came out.
