THIS IS WHY FENDER IS HERE TO STAY

[gorneyg]

IMO every bass I've owned that's not a Fender sounds and plays better than any Fender I've played.
MY OPINION.

 

[marchone]

Jeez, I better get rid of these lousy Fenders I have. Who knew?

 

[Katoosie]

People really didn't like my thread. Yikes!

 

[Deleted member 165050]

People really didn't like my thread. Yikes!

I liked it. I even own a Fender at the moment

 

[arbiterusa]

Nothing lasts forever.

 

[Gothic]

Jeez, I better get rid of these lousy Fenders I have. Who knew?

You should but worry not friend, just send them to me. I'll... dispose of them properly. Yeah...

 

[BlueTalon]

No offense intended; but, you, kind sir, are suffering from a rather grim vision of your music scene, if you think the whole thing is strictly about the visual posing. In my world, there is just a little more to it.

But that's exactly what your story portrayed. Musicians who auditioned you and liked your playing, but who listened to your instrument with their eyes.

 

[arbiterusa]

But, Fender's name is so valuable, it would take some serious doing to mismanage the company to the point of bankruptcy - see Gibson

They're not quite there yet, but there was a reason Fender pulled it's IPO a few years back, and it's not because their finances were in such good shape that they were going to get picked up by a private equity firm instead.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

Yeah! Just like fax machines, VHS recorders, 8mm film projectors, british horse saddles, and Polaroid cameras!
If you are sarcastic, you are missing the basic premises entirely.
Fender might be the top name in this business, but the future for the business as a whole is definitely not carved in stone.

After the year Fender just had (breaking sales records), it's hard to imagine another company unseating them as the top guitar and bass seller.

 

[bucephylus]

But that's exactly what your story portrayed. Musicians who auditioned you and liked your playing, but who listened to your instrument with their eyes.

Pretty massive gap between first impressions and listening with eyes. Unless you just want to pick a quarrel over it. In which case, you win.

 

[BlueTalon]

Here's my two cents. You can't deny their historical importance. That said, other companies make better versions of almost everything. I have a Roscoe P bass. I love it.

If I were Fender, I would streamline my offerings and make each one "the best" and up my QC and CC. Just how many versions of a P bass do you need to offer? Or jazz bass? Or Stratocaster? Or Telecaster? Neck profiles, but width, it goes on and on.

Maybe I don't get the guitar business, but it seems like they could streamline offerings, reduce costs, increase quality.

I think you have it backwards. They already have streamlined offerings and reduced costs. They basically offer seven different flavors of vanilla and eight different flavors of chocolate. You can order a bass with any neck wood your heart desires as long as it's maple. You want a bubinga neck with a wenge fretboard? I don't think even the Custom Shop would do that. How about a 24 fret neck? Not gonna happen.

Fender needs to both increase its QC and increase its offerings. Because right now, if you are the least bit individualistic and specific in what you want in a bass, and you want a jazz or precision style bass, you're going to get it from someone other than Fender.

 

[jamro217]

Sorry, but no, musical trends are not really cyclical.
Polka, dixieland, roots blues, bebop, Dylan-ish singer songwriter, surf pop etc etc are nowadays very or fairly niche genres, from a general awareness as well as economical perspective. They were once huge, but have faded, not to really pick up again.

Even the biggest musical geniouses from the past, Mozart, Beethoven, Händel and so on are niche music today.

If anything, the current, "guitar free" (mainly solo artist) pop originating in the 80s seem to be very robust and much more long lived than guitar based genres!!!
From Stock, Aitken and Waterman, with Bananarama, Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley, via 90s Aqua, Ace of base, MC Hammer, to Max Martin artists, like Britney Spears, then JLo, Katy Perry, Sophie Ellis Baxter, KYGO, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and so on. Not much blues/rock roots there, and no need for any guitars or basses. It is THIS that is the current pop music, since decades, and I see no rejuvenation in guitar basses genres. Metal is there, but the complexity and dark themes will keep it an acquired taste.

Retro styles come back in fashion. What is old becomes new again. Maybe it's generational. You don't want to copy your parents, you want to do your own thing. Then you hear what your grandparents were into and go in that direction. Who knows? It does happen. Every forty years or so the music style returns. Maybe not to the same degree. If you're referring to what's on the charts, that's a different story. Whatever makes the most money for the suits is what gets the most attention.

 

[Gothic]

Still, quite the s#$t stirrer subject, though. If this thread was titled "THIS IS WHY YAMAHA IS HERE TO STAY" it'd barely get a couple of pages before fizzing out. And they even make recorders. And motorcycles!

 

[BlueTalon]

Pretty massive gap between first impressions and listening with eyes.

Not really. Listening with their eyes is exactly what gave them their first impression.

 

[AlexanderB]

After the year Fender just had (breaking sales records), it's hard to imagine another company unseating them as the top guitar and bass seller.

You do not get it?
Top seller in what (perhaps/probably) will be a real niche product in the future. Like what has happened to fax machines, floppy disks, polaroid cameras etc. Once used everywhere, today gone from the market.
Accordions, bagpipes, Hammond organs, analogue moogs did a similar thing.

 

[AlexanderB]

Retro styles come back in fashion. What is old becomes new again. Maybe it's generational. You don't want to copy your parents, you want to do your own thing. Then you hear what your grandparents were into and go in that direction. Who knows? It does happen. Every forty years or so the music style returns. Maybe not to the same degree. If you're referring to what's on the charts, that's a different story. Whatever makes the most money for the suits is what gets the most attention.

Then please mention ANY older musical style having a true revival (with any meaningful impact) in the last 30 years. I am waiting.

 

[AlexanderB]

Still, quite the s#$t stirrer subject, though. If this thread was titled "THIS IS WHY YAMAHA IS HERE TO STAY" it'd barely get a couple of pages before fizzing out. And they even make recorders. And motorcycles!

Well, Yamaha is a MUCH older company than Fender, and way more successful.

 

[Watchootognbout]

 

[bucephylus]

Not really. Listening with their eyes is exactly what gave them their first impression.

Brilliant. You win.

 

[RandalPinkFloyd]

Just my experience.

For example, when I auditioned for this act:


…the player, 1 of 8 that day, immediately after my audition slot brought in his rack with 5 or 6 high end basses - an F Bass, Smith, etc; and I thought, "oh well, it was a fun audition," and that I had a snowballs chance in h311.

But, I got that gig (a really good one), and later the drummer told me that I was the only bass player who showed up with a Fender, and just got on with the playing.

Now, the playing was certainly part of the calculation. But, I have heard time and again from bands in auditions that the Fender is what they are familiar with and looking for. On the audition, my goal is to get the gig. I can change things up later on, as appropriate.

Color me skeptical. The topic of Fender has never come up and none of my basses could ever be mistaken for a Fender. This idea of fender players saying a fender is demanded or that a fender player will get a gig over another bass is...well, hysterical and unfounded. Outside of TB, the only guys I see playing fender are the over 50 cover bands. Seeing how that's the majority demographic of this site, that may explain a lot.