Thoughts on Roadworn Fenders

[THand]

Back to pickups. Is that the weakest point of this bass?

Huh? Who said the pups were weak?
The weakest points are, IMO:

1. you may not like the RW look
2. Getting used to reverse tuners
3. it should come with a hard case. Tweed, please.

Really, you know what you won't like about the pups? I will tell you..You won't like that you don't need to mod/replace them, so the modder in you will be unfulfilled.
Solution: Find a RW at a discount....buy the Road Worn, and use the savings to buy an SX. Let the SX get a few mods while you get used to the idea that the RW is fine like it is, lol.

 

[Johnny Alien]

The only issue I have with the RW series is that there is no 60's Precision Bass.

 

[bassgod76]

Huh? Who said the pups were weak?
The weakest points are, IMO:

1. you may not like the RW look
2. Getting used to reverse tuners
3. it should come with a hard case. Tweed, please.

Really, you know what you won't like about the pups? I will tell you..You won't like that you don't need to mod/replace them, so the modder in you will be unfulfilled.
Solution: Find a RW at a discount....buy the Road Worn, and use the savings to buy an SX. Let the SX get a few mods while you get used to the idea that the RW is fine like it is, lol.

-I agree about the way it looks. Not huge on the belt-sanded relic'd body.
-My Jaco is a 60"s RW neck, so I'm used to the reverse tuners.
-I'm a gig bag kinda guy, so the RW bag works for me.

 

[Jim Carr]

The only issue I have with the RW series is that there is no 60's Precision Bass.

+1

I agree. Yet, because it would likely harm sales of the '62 AVRI P-bass, I doubt we will see one anytime soon—though there are 3 Jazzes that roughly sit in the same category: 1) RW 3tsb Jazz, 2) AVRI '62 stack pot Jazz, and 2) the MIM '60s classic Jazz—so maybe it can happen. And this is leaving out all the CS stuff.

I think my dream 60's RW P would be have a 1.75 nut neck with a rosewood fingerboard, have the same essential hardware as the 50's P, but with the proper tortoise shell pickguard, and of course come in nitro 3tsb, Oly white and ???.

 

[Jim Carr]

Just played a friend's Fiesta Red RW P-bass. Totally killer with stock strings! GAS is a terrible thing...

Great tone and the 1.75" width nut just seems so right!

 

[qwench]

Oh man...and Olympic White Road Worn 60's Pbass with a rosewood board...that would be sweet...perhaps not "period correct" but thow a matching headstock and they would sell a truckload...well...one for sure

here are the pics i posted of my new jazz...truly a fantastic jazz...does what it is supposed and way too much fun to play!!

 

[Sleeq]

Here's me messin' around on a RW 60's J; it was nice sounding and playing but I don't like the color combo.

 

[mcblahflooper94]

Road wear it yourself, then it'll mean more to you. Look at the Bass of Doom. Do you think Jaco asked for Road worn?

 

[ShoeManiac]

The merits of to relic or not to relic have been discussed ad nauseum. To the point where the mods are on alert on that particular topic, and rightfully so since so many people have very strong opinions on the subject.

My take? I've had a Road Worn Jazz bass for about a year now. Originally, I was skeptical about the process. But the value of the Road Worn basses is about much more than the aesthetic. The wood has been pretty well kiln dried, and it makes for a lighter bass. And the nitro finish gives you a more open tone. My modern Fenders with poly finishes don't sound like my Road Worn Jazz. Plus, the neck feels amazing.

These basses are a tremendous value. I think they play at least as well as the Fender American Standard series. If you can get one used in the TB classifieds, count yourself lucky.

 

[PersonalTraynor]

Link Removed

 

[PersonalTraynor]

^ Played on a rented road worn Fender.

 

[pacojas]

Road wear it yourself, then it'll mean more to you. Look at the Bass of Doom. Do you think Jaco asked for Road worn?

ack!!!

play one, be amazed, eat your words!

 

[Johnny Alien]

Road wear it yourself, then it'll mean more to you. Look at the Bass of Doom. Do you think Jaco asked for Road worn?

Jaco probably played the bass that spoke to him the most regardless of finish. As should anyone else.

 

[bassgod76]

Jaco probably played the bass that spoke to him the most regardless of finish. As should anyone else.

+1 I don't get those who discount this line of instrument without trying it.

 

[bassmastan]

Oh man...and Olympic White Road Worn 60's Pbass with a rosewood board...that would be sweet...perhaps not "period correct" but thow a matching headstock and they would sell a truckload...well...one for sure

here are the pics i posted of my new jazz...truly a fantastic jazz...does what it is supposed and way too much fun to play!!

ESP makes one in a cream, and it is P/J

 

[mcblahflooper94]

Jaco probably played the bass that spoke to him the most regardless of finish. As should anyone else.

My point exactly.

 

[TRichardsbass]

I had the priviledge of playing a RW P and RW J at Bass Specialties the other day (there were several, by the way.) My reviews:

P Bass - hated the paint it was that orangy one. Feel of the body was a little artificial to me. Neck was great. Felt like many of the older Ps I've been able to play. Smooth, and a classic P shape (which for me is a little chunky. Overall, a very good P bass

J Bass - neck was superb. Smooth, thin, and fast. Paint on body was okay. The sound was I think better then the P, and I was able to coax some old J style sound out of it, including the Joe Osborn signature single coil solo sound on "Aquarius".

Overall, great playing basses. Everyone here knows my thoughts on Relic instruments though....

 

[Jim Carr]

When released in late 2007, they were priced too high, now they are under $900, which is more like it.

Road Worn basses have a gimmicky look, but sound and feel like vintage basses. No one is fooled into thinking they are really old basses, though one person asked me if mine was a Road Worn (I said yes).

In sound, quality, and look, the hardware and pickups, frets, etc. are pretty spot on for a vintage replica.

IMHO, in buying a RW Fender bass, one is not paying "extra" for a beat up bass, though no doubt there is labor cost involved in the "sanding and dinging," rather, one is still paying a reasonable price for a nitro finished bass of better quality woods and hardware that feels and sounds like a vintage bass for a tiny fraction of the cost of a vintage bass.

The relic finishes are nearly identical on each one, but they wear very quickly on the back of the neck, the right arm body contour, and around the bridge pickup where fingers often contact the top—creating an individual character at the same rate a pre-CBS Fender bass does.

BTW, the three-tone sunburst finish on every MIA '62 AVRI bass is pretty identical from one to the next, too—and we consider that a good thing.

 

[plankspanker13]

Love the feel of the RW series. Every specimen that I have picked up and checked out at stores just feels right; buttah. The sound is rather awesome too, particularly on the J, as other have already elaborated, here.

The trouble with me is that I like a clean-looking instrument, and, as far as I can tell, I don't have toxic sweat, so gaining the RW series kind of wear on a new instrument would probably take me a decade. My proclivity has been to change my main player every few years, so I don't really get to put much mojo on an instrument. The one that came closest was my first USA G&L JB-2 (a 2-tone "tobacco" sunburst), which played roughly 200 gigs and a few studio sessions, and still looked nearly mint. The fellow TBer who bought it knows that he got a winner, and has displayed it proudly, in the G&L Club thread.

I'm doing my best to put some mojo on a Squier CV 60's J. I have <$400 into it, and by the time that there is enough mojo on it, the bass will have paid for itself many times over. Even if I decided to accelerate the mojo by doing my own RW processing, the instrument would still end up costing less than half of a Fender RW; such is the value of the name on the headstock, in the retail and resale sectors.

 

[THand]

When released in late 2007, they were priced too high, now they are under $900, which is more like it.

Road Worn basses have a gimmicky look, but sound and feel like vintage basses. No one is fooled into thinking they are really old basses, though one person asked me if mine was a Road Worn (I said yes).

In sound, quality, and look, the hardware and pickups, frets, etc. are pretty spot on for a vintage replica.

IMHO, in buying a RW Fender bass, one is not paying "extra" for a beat up bass, though no doubt there is labor cost involved in the "sanding and dinging," rather, one is still paying a reasonable price for a nitro finished bass of better quality woods and hardware that feels and sounds like a vintage bass for a tiny fraction of the cost of a vintage bass.

The relic finishes are nearly identical on each one, but they wear very quickly on the back of the neck, the right arm body contour, and around the bridge pickup where fingers often contact the top—creating an individual character at the same rate a pre-CBS Fender bass does.

BTW, the three-tone sunburst finish on every MIA '62 AVRI bass is pretty identical from one to the next, too—and we consider that a good thing.

+1 & would like to add that it is also a tiny fraction of the cost of a Custom Shop bass...and as a CS is out of the reach of my budget, Fender isn't cutting their own throats by offering these.