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Who's never owned a Fender bass?

Have you ever owned a Fender bass?

  • yes

    Votes: 252 50.9%

  • no

    Votes: 243 49.1%
  • Total voters
    495
#41
godofthunder59 said:
I started playing in '71, I don't think I bought my first 7ender until 2009. I am pretty much a Gibson Thunderbird player. Btw Slade N I am a big Slade, Jim Lea fan!
Click to expand...

When I saw Slade in the 70s Lea played an EB3-L. Lea influenced me as well. Ever since his note on Born To Be Wild right after the siren on the the Slade Alive LP.....no doubt, the most explosive single note lead in ever played by a bassist bar none. Great band.
 
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#42
By the old vernacular, we're all playing "fenders" on the BG side.

My first electric bass was a "fender" made by Yamaha. I traded it in for an MiJ Fender fretless J and soon added a Fender P, because in those days (mid 80s) that's what all the serious players played. If I were starting today I would probably take a different path; there's just a lot more quality options available outside the Fender brand. In those days it seemed like Fender or boutique were the only real options for pros (notwithstanding music man and G&L of course, which we all considered Fenders).
 
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#43
Guinness20 said:
Never owned a Fender, only ever owned 3 basses. I nearly bought a American Deluxe Jazz when I was buying my first 'nice' bass but ended up with a Stingray 4HH, I definitely made the right choice.

I have got serious GAS for an all-black deluxe Duff McKagan signature PJ though! Think that will be my next bass if I don't get a better 5 string.
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As a PJ owner, it's a great voice, but you may be disappointed at it's output compared to a Stingy HH. More than likely you will have to turn up your amp a bit.
 
#44
Slade N said:
The recent post about brands that you've not held or played made me realize that I've not owned a Fender bass which is a bit surprising as they are so common and I would think most players do or would have. Ive played a small amount but not that many actually. This isnt hating on Fender btw.

So, who has not owned a Fender bass?
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I own a fender neck
 
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#46
moon-bass said:
I've owned hundreds of basses in my life. I've been on a decades long quest to find the perfect basses for me. Over the years I've owned dozens of Fenders.

In fact, the only new basses that I've bought have been Squire, Fender, and Sadowsky, which is a Fender clone of course. I've been thru almost every major bass brand that I can think of, and I keep coming back to J Basses. Even my Fodera is reminiscent of a high end J Bass.

That being said, I think the best value for Fenders is on the used market, in particular 70s Fenders. You may have to shop around a bit, but there are some outstanding basses from that era that can be picked up on the cheap. I always go for the "player" basses, not the collector basses. I don't care if it's a refin or has some play wear (mojo!!!!!). My theory is that if it's been played it will probably be worth playing.
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+1 on buying Basses on the secondary market if you can avoid doing over the Internet.
 
#47
dbsfgyd1 said:
When I saw Slade in the 70s Lea played an EB3-L. Lea influenced me as well. Ever since his note on Born To Be Wild right after the siren on the the Slade Alive LP.....no doubt, the most explosive single note lead in ever played by a bassist bar none. Great band.
Click to expand...
My replica of Jim's John Birch bass provided to Jim when his EB3 was stolen from Birch's shop while in for some work. That is Jim's original road case in the background. I also have one of Slades Hiwatt DR201 amps. Yeah I'm a big Slade fan :)
FB_IMG_1555414666479.jpg
 
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#49
dbsfgyd1 said:
When I saw Slade in the 70s Lea played an EB3-L. Lea influenced me as well. Ever since his note on Born To Be Wild right after the siren on the the Slade Alive LP.....no doubt, the most explosive single note lead in ever played by a bassist bar none. Great band.
Click to expand...
Jim never played a long scale EB3, his was euther a 64 or a 65.
 
#50
TheReceder said:
I would amend the question to "has anyone owned three or more basses and not owned a fender. I can see a lot of people that owned 1 bass and it not being a fender... 2-3 it's possible... but once you get around 5... that I assume would be a rarity. Me I'm A bit of an oddball... I've usually got between 15-20 basses and never owned a fretted P-bass.
Click to expand...

thats a good point....I currently own 7 basses have owned another 11 I think...none were Fenders..
 
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#52
dbsfgyd1 said:
When I saw Slade in the 70s Lea played an EB3-L. Lea influenced me as well. Ever since his note on Born To Be Wild right after the siren on the the Slade Alive LP.....no doubt, the most explosive single note lead in ever played by a bassist bar none. Great band.
Click to expand...
See
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20200624_184318.jpg
 
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#53
godofthunder59 said:
My replica of Jim's John Birch bass provided to Jim when his EB3 was stolen from Birch's shop while in for some work. That is Jim's original road case in the background. I also have one of Slades Hiwatt DR201 amps. Yeah I'm a big Slade fan :)
View attachment 3926824
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Sweet Piece! I'm not surprise Jimmy's bass needed some work. The guy play the snot out of it for all it was worth when I saw them. Can't imagine what was left of it after a year on tour, LOL!

I had a Hiwatt back in the 70's for the bridge pickup on my Rick. Best amp ever, and the only pice of gear I've owned that I regret selling.
 
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#57
When I started playing Bass(back in the before time). I had everything except a Fender. Hagstrom, Gibson, Custom builds and a Ric. I played the Ric the most. Wore it out actually. But as time moved on and my original interest became more important. I loved John Paul Jones Fender Jazz. I loved Geddy Lees Jazz bass. By contrast I loved John Entwistles Alembic. Stanley Clarks Alembic. Jaco's Jazz. As well as JPJs Alembic. As I matured I wanted to be free of active electronics in my instrument. The Jazz Bass was calling. I dumped everything around 2010 and went all passive. Started with a Squire. Then went MIM Jazz. Them MIA Jazz with a MIA Precision. Never warmed to the P. Kept the Jazz. Fell in love with the playability, sound and simplicity. Switched to exclusively playing 5 string. Fender American Pro series did not disappoint. Love them so much I bought 2.

So while many people will thumb their nose at Fender. As time goes on and you "mature". You will find what was old was actually the best.
 
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#60
dbsfgyd1 said:
J, what pickups/Electronics do you have on that baby? Really nice finish on the body BTW. A real nice looker!
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Nordies. NP4A and NJ4SE. It rocks bro. I had an NJ4 with 70's windings in it before, but I swapped it out recently for the inline split. I'm probably gonna try a standard NJ4 in it though. I mean, it sounds great, but gotta try. Also, then I'd have 2 singles for my next build even if I didn't like it in this one. Nahmeen?
 
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