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Things You Wish Leo Had Done Differently...

#141
Well, right, I get your point as well. Although I think we're just saying similar things...

If Leo was the inventor of pizza, let's say, and he made the first plain cheese pizza in 1951, then added pepperoni in 1954, sausage in 1960, etc, he was basically doing things differently from his original design for the sake of improvement. Essentially his basic cheese pizza set the standard for pizzas to come. But even he felt things needed to be adjusted, though.
That's all I'm trying to say... and now I'm hungry :meh:
 
#142
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This is 10 years into Leo's mastermind,I have no complaints...
 
#143
I'm not crazy about the 7.5" fretboard radii of the early Fenders, especially on Jazz basses without raised polepieces under the A and D strings, which creates issues for string-to-string balance. For feel and balance, I prefer more modern flatter fretboards, as on my G&L JB. I also agree with those saying 21 frets should have been part of the original recipe.

I think the early Fender guitars might have more serious issues than the basses. For example, the slab bodies of vintage Telecasters are uncomfortable IMO, and the three saddle bridge makes perfect intonation nearly impossible. (Now that I think about it, the first Precision basses had these issues too.) These issues were corrected with the Strat, but IMO the location of the Strat's pickup selector switch makes it too easy to hit while playing. The location on Les Pauls makes much more sense, but wouldn't look good on a Strat. And of course the original Strats should have come with five way switching and a RWRP middle pickup.
 
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#144
rojo412 said:
Well, right, I get your point as well. Although I think we're just saying similar things...

If Leo was the inventor of pizza, let's say, and he made the first plain cheese pizza in 1951, then added pepperoni in 1954, sausage in 1960, etc, he was basically doing things differently from his original design for the sake of improvement. Essentially his basic cheese pizza set the standard for pizzas to come. But even he felt things needed to be adjusted, though.
That's all I'm trying to say... and now I'm hungry :meh:
Click to expand...

We kinda are. But the detail that I neglected to include is that there was likely some interaction between where he went with future designs and what players wanted due to changes in the music.

Think about it, would the Les Paul have been put back into production if Rock hadn't come along? That said, the fact that ALL of his designs are still being sold AND played says that they all are right for some people playing some genres.

Leo's greatest contribution to all musicians, IMO, was listening to feedback on what players wanted and his skill at turning those desires into instuments that more could afford (because they could be "manufactured" and didn't need to be "crafted") . We need more Leos.
 
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#145
Gasman said:
I wish he'd centered the G string pole piece under the G string on the Stingray, which is the cause of the "weak G string" problem on the Ray, IMHO.
Click to expand...

mcnach said:
If only it were that simple, people would not argue in multipage threads regularly! :D

some perfectly aligned polepieces still have the "weak G" and not every Stingray has a weak G, including some of those with not perfectly aligned polepieces.
Click to expand...

This is one reason I got rid of my short scales. I played a Pbass one day and I couldnt believe how much more stronger and fuller the G string sounded. IME even the G on my medium scale Tele sounds stronger.
 
#148
I kind of wished Mr. Fender had released a six from the start. Like the bass vi but with longer scale of the precision. Simply a guitar that is tuned one octave below a standard guitar, standard bridge and 22 or 24 frets. This instrument would of fit the title bass guitar far more accurately and would of prevented all the discussions about whether players should use a 4, 5 or 6.
I think that all the music that has been played on a standard 4, bass vi and the Danelectro six string would of still been possible but there would of been more possibilities from the start.
 
#151
dabbler said:
We kinda are. But the detail that I neglected to include is that there was likely some interaction between where he went with future designs and what players wanted due to changes in the music.

Think about it, would the Les Paul have been put back into production if Rock hadn't come along? That said, the fact that ALL of his designs are still being sold AND played says that they all are right for some people playing some genres.

Leo's greatest contribution to all musicians, IMO, was listening to feedback on what players wanted and his skill at turning those desires into instuments that more could afford (because they could be "manufactured" and didn't need to be "crafted") . We need more Leos.
Click to expand...
He was an engineer, but just just as importantly, a tinkerer who was willing to listen. In some ways, that may have turned out better than if he'd been a musician himself - he wasn't trying to make what he wanted, or thought sounded good, he was trying to please others. And yeah, I think folks forget how important manufacturability was back then, with everything done by hand.
 
#152
dabbler said:
We kinda are. But the detail that I neglected to include is that there was likely some interaction between where he went with future designs and what players wanted due to changes in the music.

Think about it, would the Les Paul have been put back into production if Rock hadn't come along? That said, the fact that ALL of his designs are still being sold AND played says that they all are right for some people playing some genres.

Leo's greatest contribution to all musicians, IMO, was listening to feedback on what players wanted and his skill at turning those desires into instuments that more could afford (because they could be "manufactured" and didn't need to be "crafted") . We need more Leos.
Click to expand...
Well, we've got Steve Wishnevsky ...
 

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