Why 70s Fenders Sucked

[Pug the Pig]

I wonder if I can use the ''of course those 70s Fenders suck" argument to wrestle someone right down on the price....hmmm..

 

[brianrost]

I knew when I posted that title it would end up like this, but otherwise you guys wouldn't have clicked on it. Let's face it, there are two types of people in the world, the lucky ones who own one of the great 70s Fenders that slipped through factory QC and those who got all of the other ones

Interesting to read that Fender had to buy back vintage examples of its own product in order to regain the insights needed to craft the reissues.

How about Ampeg having to hire outside companies to build their Baby Bass and B15 reissues

 

[gelinas666]

Hit and miss for them I found.. Most of the ones I owned ,I had to relocate the Bridge to line up with the fretboard or pickups.. I have '74,'75,'78 P Basses and a '78 J Bass.. The '78 J Bass was a mess.. The neck was a disaster ,needed a new trussrod,which I had replaced and still wouldn't straighten to a reasonable level for playing without popping out the first fret maker. Replaced it with a high end Warmoth neck and with some other mods ,it plays amazing now!

 

[obimark]

Here's a great interview with Dan Smith who was hired away from Yamaha by Fender to turn the company around in the 80s. Fascinating reading where Smith describes all the reasons that 70s Fenders deservedly got their reputation for being lousy, why they went to Japan, how Fender was almost liquidated by CBS and more cool stuff.

No tort or flatwounds mentioned.

Fender basses are ALL hit or miss. There are very good ones and very bad ones in any year or model.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Fender basses are ALL hit or miss. There are very good ones and very bad ones in any year or model.

Yes, but here is some pretty#_-_# good evidence of what people say about the CBS era. Not some ancedotal evidence of someone owning one or two examples.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I remember my first informal bass teacher, a guy who was a couple years older than me in high school, had newish 70's natural P-Bass. I had a Ric 4001, this would have been 1978 or so. I just remember thinking what a piece of crap that P was in comparison, neck loose in the pocket, sharp fret ends, finish blems, badly matched two piece body, etc. I'm sure there were some nice Fender basses produced, but that was my first impression of Fender. I find it humorous that the 70's Fenders are now considered desirable, but maybe all that's left are the good ones.

 

[Pbassmanca]

Every era had hit or miss, and obviously some more than others, like the 70's. Had a 71 Jazz that was a dream in all respects. You never know till it's in your hands.

Ain't that the truth! I've played a few early - mid 70's Fender basses that were fantastic, and a couple that would've made good firewood.

 

[sawzalot]

The article is a great read. This isn't really a post about whether you think your 70's Fender bass is good or not, it's about manufacturing and how finance/marketing people that are completely disconnected from the product/customers can screw up a company. Glad Fender got rescued then but I think FMIC is heading down the same road today.

 

[DD Gunz]

I am willing to take custody of all of these crappy 70's Fender basses you guys speak of.

 

[ZachM]

Of all the vintage P-basses I've tried out, my favorites have been from the 1972-1976 period. But I've also played a good number of them that, while maybe it would be harsh to say that they "just sucked", where not worth the price they commanded by any means. I certainly think quality control was a bigger issue during that period than the previous era.

 

[pigpen1]

The 70's necks were still my favorite....

I prefer 70's pickup spacing and pickups as well. But has usual what I like is 180 opposed to the current 1960's love. Currently running Aguilar AG-4J-70's pickups in 2 or 3 basses. Soon to be all 3. While they might not be 100% period accurate, its close enough and I love the sound.

 

[Liam Wald]

I don't think that it was just Fender. The 70's was a very low point in overall manufacturing in the USA. Just look at the auto industry during that time to get a sense of it. Pretty much everything being made was crap.

 

[guy n. cognito]

The article is a great read. This isn't really a post about whether you think your 70's Fender bass is good or not, it's about manufacturing and how finance/marketing people that are completely disconnected from the product/customers can screw up a company. Glad Fender got rescued then but I think FMIC is heading down the same road today.

Exactly. That lesson has been missed by many that either want to laud or criticize Fenders from that era.

 

[Runnerman]

The article is a great read. This isn't really a post about whether you think your 70's Fender bass is good or not, it's about manufacturing and how finance/marketing people that are completely disconnected from the product/customers can screw up a company. Glad Fender got rescued then but I think FMIC is heading down the same road today.

Exactly. The company I work for now is heading down the same path. Private equity has no soul and cares nothing for the values of the employees or customers for that matter.

 

[lermgalieu]

Good article

 

[Gilmourisgod]

The whole obsession with vintage electric instruments, beyond the aesthetic of "mojo", escapes me. In general terms, the quality and playability of modern instruments is far superior to all but the tiny minority's of older instruments, modern technology applied to what is 50's era manufacturing processes is going to result in better products overall. 50's cars look cool as hell, but it's hard to argue they were great technically compared to modern vehicles. Crappy brakes, gas guzzling, filthy engines, and few safety features. They worked with what they had. Things do improve. If you want the best basses ever made, buy a brand new one. I'm not ancient, but I have lived long enough to see that even the low cost import basses are better on average than what people used to accept as high end. It's just not that hard to produce a decent quality instrument anymore.

 

[micguy]

So, bottom line, it appears that most 70's Fenders sucked, but those owned by Talkbass members are fantastic (except the ones they sold).

 

[toomanyslurpees]

I have one Pbass, it has a S78 serial but I think it's from '80... It's as good as Pbasses get for me, I like the baseball bat neck and it's the right weight for me... Two things people often mention to justify saying every 70 Pbass sucks... I have a 70s fretless Pbass neck on a jazz body, it's as good as they get, another baseball bat but it also has a georgeous figuring in the wood and an equally nice dark rosewood fretboard... the quality of these two stands up just fine against my Stingrays...

 

[MobileHolmes]

Yes, but here is some pretty#_-_# good evidence of what people say about the CBS era. Not some ancedotal evidence of someone owning one or two examples.

Yeah, what's important is the rate of duds, which seems substantially higher in the 70s

 

[phillipkregg]

I wasn't aware that 70s Fenders were known to have issues...

Over the past few years "70s winding" and "70s positioning" for jazz pickups have been trendy, but I've never liked either. Standard 60s winding and positioning has always sounded much better to my ears.

However, I've always liked the look of 70s instruments with the maple fingerboard and block inlays.