rockstarbassist
Inactive
If your engineer says "I need a Fender to get good bass tone!" you need to hire a new engineer... 
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Who agrees?
- Thread starter Ryan Mohr
- Start date
Agreed wholeheartedly...except for one little thing...
If you plan on being a bassist for hire, like if you're a studio musician or you do a lot of gigs for a lot of different bandleaders, I think you do need to have a Fender or two in your collection. Doesn't have to be a really expensive one, nor do you have to bring it wherever you play, nor does it mean you can't be a studio musician or a pickup musician for hire without one. But somewhere along the line, the vast majority of studio bassists/pickup musicians will be asked to play a Fender at some point. It's happened to me several times over the years. Now you can dig your feet in and refuse, but if you do, then you risk not getting called again unless you totally kick ass. Me, I don't need that kind of pressure
I definitely agree, in your situation having a Fender makes sense and it would pay for itself. On the other hand, if you have a day job and play part time, you are free to pick and choose gigs and whatever brand of bass you like. It all depends on the player's circumstances.
rockstarbassist
Inactive
IMO I'd just get a USA Lakland. Smokes a lot of what Fender is putting out new, nowadays.
It's the only "Fender-style" bass I'd own (again).
It's so not about that with most engineers, although I have heard about it happening with some lesser-talented engineers. It's more about the appropriate tone for the job. If an MTD works, it works. If a Fender works, it works. If a $150 Beatle bass copy works, it works. My feeling is that I'm getting paid to make whoever's in charge's dream bass sound come true, and I'll play anything they want me to and I'll play what I want in less demanding circumstances. But I will say this...I've been in many situations where a neck/thru active bass didn't work. I've never been in a situation where a Fender didn't.If your engineer says "I need a Fender to get good bass tone!" you need to hire a new engineer...
rockstarbassist
Inactive
Great, bro! Make sure you have my number handy when they ask you if you know someone who will play a Fender
BTW, I don't know of any situation where the person in charge wouldn't take a Lakie Fender copy or a Sadowsky in lieu of an actual Fender. Believe it or not, they're actually chasing a sound, not listening with their eyes.
BTW, I don't know of any situation where the person in charge wouldn't take a Lakie Fender copy or a Sadowsky in lieu of an actual Fender. Believe it or not, they're actually chasing a sound, not listening with their eyes.
I guess this is what I'll never get about people who say you need "A Fender" handy if you do studio work. i can understand chasing a particular tone, but the idea that any Fender (or Fender-style instrument) will do is confusing to me. A P with flats sounds nothing like a J with rounds and I can't believe an engineer or artist would take either one.
I've been told that what was needed was "a Motown sound" or "a gospel sound" and even once a "Simon Gallup tone", but I've never heard anyone say that any Fender would do.
Not trying to be argumentative, but as a guy who has primarily played in bands and has only worked/recorded as a sideman a handful of times, this doesn't make sense to me.
Well most people doing session work will have at least one of each. Unless of course they have a big name and FU money built up enough to call their own shots (and even most of them will play whatever bass the producer wants them to play).
But what can I tell you? I didn't invent the recording industry and I can't speak for everyone why they like Fenders so much. But they do. So just be glad the Alembic Series I and II didn't become the standard
But what can I tell you? I didn't invent the recording industry and I can't speak for everyone why they like Fenders so much. But they do. So just be glad the Alembic Series I and II didn't become the standard
Well most people doing session work will have at least one of each. Unless of course they have a big name and FU money built up enough to call their own shots (and even most of them will play whatever bass the producer wants them to play).
But what can I tell you? I didn't invent the recording industry and I can't speak for everyone why they like Fenders so much. But they do. So just be glad the Alembic Series I and II didn't become the standard
That makes a lot more sense to me. I could understand if someone said, "you need a P and a Jazz and sets of flats and rounds for both." But the blanket statement of "you need a Fender or some version of a Fender copy" is nonsensical.
Conventional wisdom in the bass session industry says buy as many basses as you can afford, but if you can afford only one, make it a Fender of some sort. Yeah, the Jazz and Precision don't sound alike, but you'll probably go over better with Fender-centric producers/bandleaders if you bring the wrong Fender instead of no Fender at all. I'd say own a Jazz or a PJ if you can only afford one, string it with rounds, and be prepared to pull out a foam mute if they want a dead flats tone, and there are very few gigs you can't do.
Agreed. Outside of studio work and Talkbass, the brand of bass doesn't really matter much.
Take a quick look on just about any online recording forum/discussion group, and you'll see many people complaining about how difficult they find it getting good bass sounds.
Or more specifically, how difficult they find it getting bass guitar sounds that 'work' well in the mix.
in fact, I think they often have those problems because they cling to starting points based on received 'wisdom' and preconceptions NOT based on their own experience, and often not based on what really DOES work
But high on that list, of ideas people cling to that don't usually work, is that idea that the Precision is THE defacto best choice recording bass.
In my experience there are those few, rare, truly amazing Fenders that record like a dream.
but they are very few and far between, and these days insanely expensive even IF you can find one.
But the great majority of Fenders don;t record all that well without lots of help or modifications or both.
I don't think at ALL that Fenders "just work in the track" automatically.
In fact, I find some high end boutique basses record MUCH better and work with much fiddling.
Yes.
Give WIll Lee or Neil Jason just about anythign to play and they'll make it record well.
And yes, Neil's early 60's Jazz will make almost anyone record well.
But both thsoe things are unusual.
The typical guy in a rock band has a Fender that doesn't record well and plays it in a way that isn't helping his cause.
But hand him my Status and all of a sudden we have a bass track.
So, no, I don't agree with the original quote on the whole.
It's a kind of blind reverence based on wishful thinking rather than everyday experience.
Or more specifically, how difficult they find it getting bass guitar sounds that 'work' well in the mix.
in fact, I think they often have those problems because they cling to starting points based on received 'wisdom' and preconceptions NOT based on their own experience, and often not based on what really DOES work
But high on that list, of ideas people cling to that don't usually work, is that idea that the Precision is THE defacto best choice recording bass.
In my experience there are those few, rare, truly amazing Fenders that record like a dream.
but they are very few and far between, and these days insanely expensive even IF you can find one.
But the great majority of Fenders don;t record all that well without lots of help or modifications or both.
I don't think at ALL that Fenders "just work in the track" automatically.
In fact, I find some high end boutique basses record MUCH better and work with much fiddling.
Yes.
Give WIll Lee or Neil Jason just about anythign to play and they'll make it record well.
And yes, Neil's early 60's Jazz will make almost anyone record well.
But both thsoe things are unusual.
The typical guy in a rock band has a Fender that doesn't record well and plays it in a way that isn't helping his cause.
But hand him my Status and all of a sudden we have a bass track.
So, no, I don't agree with the original quote on the whole.
It's a kind of blind reverence based on wishful thinking rather than everyday experience.
Well I guess that all depends on your tastes, doesn't it? If you like the more modern approach to bass where sustain and full range ringing tones are prized, then yeah, I could see wanting an active bass with a neck-thru-body or a graphite neck and preferring that. But I would so greatly dispute your claim that most Fenders don't record well and Precisions don't work at all. I would actually say that most Fenders DO record very well and the Precision absolutely works well for many types of music. Otherwise so many people wouldn't use them. I've yet to do a recording where I couldn't get it done with a Jazz, Precision, or PJ. I haven't always used a Fender on everything but it does work a lot more often than it doesn't.
I'm all about people making their own choices for what they like and it doesn't bother me that others may not like Fenders at all, but I must admit that the blind reverence thing Fender-haters talk about steams me. I don't do anything out of blind reverence, and I'd like to think that most people who are good enough to play professionally don't, either. If I thought a Status worked better for what I wanted to do, I'd use a Status. Yet so many pro bassists who don't like Fenders often make condescending statements like "blind reverence" like we're all under some sort of mass illusion because we like Fenders, and they hold the keys to the bass universe because they play something else.
I can afford any basses I want and I have several non-Fenders, including a couple active neck-thrus I paid a pretty penny for. 99% of the time I go to my Fenders or Fender copies because I like them better for 99% of what I'm recording. Period. Hell, most of my "Fenders" are cheap copies (I have a cheap bass fetish currently), and I'll still go to them before the actives. And it really bums me out when other bassists, especially professional bassists who should know better, throw out little digs at us like we're morons who don't know any better. Play what you want and like what you play, but don't tell me you're smarter for using something else besides a Fender. You're not. Sorry. You may be smarter for other reasons, but not that.
I'm all about people making their own choices for what they like and it doesn't bother me that others may not like Fenders at all, but I must admit that the blind reverence thing Fender-haters talk about steams me. I don't do anything out of blind reverence, and I'd like to think that most people who are good enough to play professionally don't, either. If I thought a Status worked better for what I wanted to do, I'd use a Status. Yet so many pro bassists who don't like Fenders often make condescending statements like "blind reverence" like we're all under some sort of mass illusion because we like Fenders, and they hold the keys to the bass universe because they play something else.
I can afford any basses I want and I have several non-Fenders, including a couple active neck-thrus I paid a pretty penny for. 99% of the time I go to my Fenders or Fender copies because I like them better for 99% of what I'm recording. Period. Hell, most of my "Fenders" are cheap copies (I have a cheap bass fetish currently), and I'll still go to them before the actives. And it really bums me out when other bassists, especially professional bassists who should know better, throw out little digs at us like we're morons who don't know any better. Play what you want and like what you play, but don't tell me you're smarter for using something else besides a Fender. You're not. Sorry. You may be smarter for other reasons, but not that.
No need... the people who are complaining by and large weren't buying anyway. They just want to be heard.
I'll let the highlighted parts speak for themself.
I know we'd like for audio samples to prove something but unless you have a machine playing each bass, there's way too much left to chance to allow for any truly meaningful conclusions being drawn IMO.
I truly believe that if one wanted to and had decent ability they could make ANY bass sound good. I also believe, based on what I've seen time and time again, that you could hand some people the nicest basss ever built and they could still sound like crap. So what would audio files of either of those people conclusively prove about a particular bass? IMO nada.
My experience tells me that you'll play a bass you like better than one you don't. That doesn't say so much about a bass as it says about you. There are so many variables as to make the exercise useless... unless someone was buying a bass for the person in the clips
Well there's plenty of bass makers out there who will listen to them so they need to quit boring us with their whiningNo need... the people who are complaining by and large weren't buying anyway. They just want to be heard.
Sorry, Jimmy... you didn't prove that either. Did you show it doing an Alembic impersonation? How about A Ric 4001? Wal? Musicman Stingray? Elrick? If those were what someone wanted, how did either bass compete tonally?
All this talk of recording---every time this comes up, people bring up classic recordings and engineers. I've done a few (maybe a dozen) studio gigs---every time I've used a Fender. But, compared to the thousands of live gigs I've done, twelve isn't enough to convince me that ONE bass is the be-all-end-all. Don't get me wrong, I love my Fender, but music is a performing art and these arguments should place more emphasis on that--if it's going to be fair. We all aspire to make that classic record, or to play that show that everyone talks about for generations, but I'm just trying to be NickyBass NOW. I'm trying to enjoy making music in the present. Especially in today's climate, we need to really enjoy what we do, and enjoy the tools we use to do that. If a certain bass makes me happy (happier?) on the bandstand, then I need to play that one.
No need... the people who are complaining by and large weren't buying anyway. They just want to be heard.
Probably true with some, but I definitely put my money where my mouth is.
Leave it alone. He's going to bother you with annoying messages.
Sorry, Jimmy... you didn't prove that either. Did you show it doing an Alembic impersonation? How about A Ric 4001? Wal? Musicman Stingray? Elrick? If those were what someone wanted, how did either bass compete tonally?
