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What makes a Fender, A Fender?

Cygnus X-1

Cygnus X-1

May 8, 2008
248
22
Bethlehem, PA
#1
Hey guys, After reading the massive thread titled "If you have a Squier do you have a Fender". I got to thinking, What makes a Fender, a Fender? Is it the sum of it's parts (i.e. pick ups, type of wood, finish, truss rod etc)? The origin of it's country? Staying true to what it's original designer had planned? The sound? I mean really, what is being referred to?

Of the four well known Fender icons Stratocaster, Telecaster, Precision and Jazz, what is it that makes them what they are today as opposed to what they were in the past? Also, is it only applicable to the ones made in Corona? or do the ones in Ensenada keep hold of the old traditions while the newer MIA models show improvements in technology? What is the consensus of the Crafted in Japan and Korean models? Do they really count as real Fender's?

*I know I asked this in a past thread, but it was a post within a thread and got lost somewhere.
 
#2
Tough question. There are so many variations on the classic designs that you can define it as narrowly or as broadly as you like. I consider my Sadowsky primarily a J bass although it certainly isn't a true Fender.

I think basically you should have a bolt-on maple (or maple/rosewood) neck, 34" scale, accurate pickups (P or P/J for a P, J/J for a J) in the traditional locations, traditional headstock and bridge.
 
#4
I think the "Fender" name on the headstock makes it a Fender...plain and simple. Assuming the bass hasn't been modified since coming from the factory.

What the instrument is worth depends on where it was made and what year.

I don't think the sound of the instrument determins whether it is a Fender. You could have 10 different jazz basses and they would all differ a little in their sound and feel.
 
#5
I was going to say if it is made in a Fender factory by Fender employees....then it is a Fender.

But then I started to think, well my Japanese Fender Jazz '62 RI was not made in a "Fender" factory. But I consider that a Fender.

The only ones I would question is the Jazz 24 and Jazz 24 V. Those are basically morphs of a Cort designed basses and built in the Cort factory in Korea.

So good question....hard to answer!
 
#7
Parabolic Box said:
If it's distributed by FMIC with Fender on the headstock, it's a Fender.
Click to expand...


The one on the right was not distributed by FMIC. ;) Nor was it built in Corona Ca.

Still a Fender.

IMG_0546-1.jpg
 
#10
savit260 said:
If it's got Fenders name on it, as applied to the instrument in the factory it was built , on an instrument produced by FMIC, or any previous incarnation of Fender Corporation, then it's a Fender IMO.
Click to expand...

Bingo!

Of course you can define it as widely or as narrowly as you like, but you would only be creating your own categories that have nothing to do with reality.

The second part of your question is more difficult, and you will get different answers from different people. There is no consensus and there never will be one, and it's akin to debating how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.
 
#15
Suprise Panda! said:
ok edit*: If leo fender made it, it's defiantly a Fender, unless its a Musicman or G&L
Click to expand...

Then the new FMIC Fenders wouldn't be Fenders. Technicaly, it would be Leo's employees. I don't think Mr. Fender built too many guitars himself. :)

See post #3


How about this. If the company that sells, distributes, advertises, and markets the instrument under the Fender corperate trade name, can trace it's roots directly back to Leo Fenders original company in Fullerton Ca., then it's a Fender.
 
#18
I don't think it's a tough question at all. If Fender intends for a product to be packaged, branded, and sold as a Fender product, it's a Fender product. MIM Fenders, Fender Rhodes pianos (bearing the Fender name), and Fender T-shirts (even though they are certainly not made by Fender at all!) are Fender products. If Fender decided to rebrand their SWR amps to have a Fender nameplate on them, they'd then be accurately called Fender amps. SWR amps with the SWR logo are accurately called SWR amps. Don't confuse a brand (Fender, SWR, etc) with a product (amp, T-shirt, Jazz Bass, etc).

Hope this helps.
 
#20
savit260 said:
If it's got Fenders name on it, as applied to the instrument in the factory it was built , on an instrument produced by FMIC, or any previous incarnation of Fender Corporation, then it's a Fender IMO.
Click to expand...

so that makes my Squier VMJ a Fender then because there's a small Fender logo on the headstock along with the Squier Logo... hmmm and there's a Fender logo on the back of the headstock as well...
 

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