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Stigma for not playing Fender
- Thread starter dwagner
- Start date
I saw Jeff Healey in the 80s and sure enough he was playing a Squier.
Never once in 39 years of working have I seen that.
In my case the joke would be on them because my traditional-looking P & J basses are mostly Warmoth & Allparts builds with pickups by Lollar or Aero.
What Sire though? The Ps and Vs are going to be close enough that the soundman's probably not going to tell it's not a Fender unless the bandleader calls it out.
I know of the stigma against non-Fenders, but have never encountered it personally. I imagine it's equal parts:
- Fender = known quantity a soundman can quickly set up
- Fender = quality but unassuming workingman's bass, unlike those highfalutin' coffee-table lawyer basses
- Not MIA = Not in mah town! They took muh jawb, they ain't takin' muh church/bar!
Luckily, as I said, I have little to worry about. My church bandleader plays a Seagull with a Tak as his backup, and the bassist plays a Squier, so the Tecate Taylor acoustic I show up with doesn't get so much as a sideways glance. The guitarist/bandleader for my bar band (where I play bass these days) does personally favor the USA brands, but his primary's a Mexi Charvel, and he's no brand snob; if it feels good and sounds good, rock the house. I showed up to the audition with an Ibby BTB, rocked the first gig with a Yammie TRB and now I'm playing the Sire, and he's had nothing but praise for how any of them looked and sounded.
> worship music. You play a Fender Jazz or a Fender P and those are your choices. You show up to a big church with something that's not a Fender and you'll get some looks.
Then in my book that is not a church. That is a cult.
Then in my book that is not a church. That is a cult.
I've yet to see a Dingwall in Boston at a metal gig. I'm sure there are some Berklee kids using them, but I've never seen one at a metal show. Metal shows for the most oart around here are in an estimation of order of incidence, Fender P or J, Gibson, T-Bird, Ripper, Grabber, or something sufficiently old school Gibson, Newer secondary brands like Schecter/ESP/Ibanez, Old school hotness like Aria/Washburn/Westone coffee table like things and then Pointy stuff like BCR.
I mostly play in country bands (thats New Mexico for you). I showed up to rehearsal once with an American Special P and they said "At least you have the right bass." I just sat on a 10 song country album with a Reverend WattPlower, and no one would know it wasn't a P bass.
But I get what you're saying. Of course no one questions our amps.
But I get what you're saying. Of course no one questions our amps.
I always use this statement on post like this. "80% of an audience is not going to know what type of bass you are using but, 95% of an audience can tell if you are playing the wrong notes or are out of tune"
Good grief. It's worship music. You play 3 songs in some variation of [vi IV I V] and the bass is barely in the mix... nonexistent in the online mix.
Sounds like someone is taking themselves a little too seriously.
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That's never happened to me in my 40 years of being a professional freelancer.
(...but then again, I was using Leo's *next* basses...MusicMans.)
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The Fender culture definitely does not exist in my church. Everyone is fairly young on the teams (18-40ish), and we all run a pedalboard or something like a Line 6 Stomp. I've seen the main bass player use I think 4 different basses now, and only one was an actual Fender P bass. Between all of us on two campuses I've seen Fender, Yamaha, G&L, Ibanez, Sire, Wilkins, and several Fender inspired basses I wasn't able to fully identify at a distance. Then there's me who has used G. Gould, Modulus, Rickenbacker, Yamaha, and an occasional appearance by an old SD Curlee. No one has ever asked me to use something different, to change my tone, or really anything else for that matter. If anyone out in the congregation or whoever watches online can tell a major difference between all of them when the bass isn't usually mixed as well as I'd personally prefer, then I'd actually be shocked or the only question out of my mouth would be, "Oh, you must play the bass too!" I think WE can hear it, but to the average listener I really doubt it.
About 25 years ago. I was in a '60s pop band and owned an American Standard Precision Bass and a cheap but very cool turquoise Hofner copy, a real eye-grabber. The guitar player told me the sound man wanted me to play the Fender, which turned out to be a lie. The guitar player was the only one who wanted me to play the Fender! I kept playing the Hofner copy in that band, regardless.
Yeah, I have sometimes encountered a pro-Fender bias, especially among FOH operators, studio engineers and producers—but lately I feel like that’s diminished a lot. There’s less work for everybody in the music business and therefore less money; accordingly, brand diversity among basses is gaining wider acceptance.Eleanor Roosevelt said:
I never really cared what anyone else thought of my bass. That Orange is interesting. If I like the sound and it it comfortable I'd play it.
As a matter of fact, that particular Explorer bass more than likely says "Hondo", "Arbor", or "Force 10" on the headstock
....and I agree with you.
