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Why does everyone use Fenders?

#422
Double Agent said:
They have recently had both a 24-fret model and a 6-string model available in fretted or fretless. Both have been discontinued. Since it is unlikely that they would have discontinued models that sold well, one can only assume that these models did not sell because people don't want this kind of bass from Fender. They have taken chances with design in the past, but people don't want it. People want Fender to be old-school and nothing else. The Jaguar has sold well because isIt will be interesting to see if the Dimension basses have any kind of staying power or if they just become another footnote in Fender's history.



I see where you're coming from, but many disagree with you about this point. I have jumped off the P/J wagon and my last two P-basses have only had the one pickup and they were much more satisfying than the P/Js I've owned in the past. P-bass pickups and Jazz pickups are incredibly different from one another. Because P-bass pickups are so much stronger than Jazz pickups, you have to get an overwound Jazz pickup to balance with the P-pickup and it should probably be hum-cancelling since you can't RWRP a P-pickup to cancel the hum from Jazz pickup like you can with two Jazz pickups. The end result is a pickup that doesn't sound much like a Jazz bass anymore. Maybe that isn't a bad thing if you aren't dead set on the Jazz bass tone, but many are and that is why they add a Jazz pickup at the bridge as opposed to a humbucker like the older American Dlx models.

There are other electronic issues where adding a Jazz pickup to a P does take away from the P-bass a little bit when both pickups are maxed out even when the Jazz pickup is balanced with the P. Bottom line is, I think Fender has it right. Those who want a bridge pickup will likely by happier in the long run with a regular Jazz Bass than a P-bass. Those who don't need a bridge pickup and don't want it are fine with P-basses as they are anyways. No need to reinvent the wheel. Just my $0.02.

Of course, Fender did just release the American Dlx Jaguar bass, which has a P/J setup, so what do I know.
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For the record, for me personally it wouldn't have to be a PJ set up. I think I just said that because I've been thinking of buying my brother's old P bass which has a PJ set up. I'd probably be happy with a humbucker for a bridge pickup.

I'd like to have a Fender P Bass because that sound would be a nice addition to my arsenal. As a player, I always like to have two pickups basses because I bound around between front pick up and both pickups in conjunction quite a lot. I'd like to have that classic P Bass tone while still being able to switch to the crisper sound of both pick ups for slapping when the song asks for it. It's something I can do on literally every bass except most P Basses. I don't get it.
 
#423
batmilk said:
Not to hate on Fenders at all, I love the way they look and sound and would definitely love to have one...

But in the world of indie rock/alternative rock/shoegaze/etc, it seems like every single bassist uses some kind of a Fender (and almost always uses a pick).

I'm going to be starting a shoegaze/dreampop band with some friends and I play a 5 string Warwick Corvette, and I can't help but feel somewhat out of place, not that it will bother me much, but I just don't understand the fascination. I also can't use a pick to save my life, so that's another thing.

Is it actually a specific tone these guys want or more of a fashion statement?
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If you tried hard enough and spent the money and put whatever you wanted in it, you couls get a Fender P to sound very unlike a Fender P for for the record. But, for certain types of music, IMO, nothing beats a Fender P or J. Theyre just great basses all around. I love my P and P/J. They are both Squiers, and I have modded the heck out of them, but they are both beloved by me. On the flip side of that coin though, I use an Ibanez ATK 300 primarily with my band. It fits the music so well that if and when I do use the P bass, I have to use it for new songs that we are writing, the older songs dont sound the same at all when I use the Fender/Squier.

I know a lot of my heros use/d Fender. But a lot of them didnt too. A lot of them used Modulus, Carl Thompson, Warwicks, Schector, Ric's, the list goes on. The point is, whatever bass you choose to use with your band is what its going to be. I wouldnt worry yourself, not really saying that is what youre doing, with what others are using in other bands of the same type genre. You can successfully use any bass you want. Sure some may perform and or sound better, but its all in the eye of the beholder.

I just think part of the reason why so many guys use Fender is because they are popular, have stood the test of time, play and sound awesome (usually) and are very diverse. So it just depends.
 
#424
People play Fenders because

1. They're cheap, or at least have basses at all kinds of different prices.
2. They're decent, Your average Fender has good QC, and does everything your average player needs it to do.
3. And most importantly, they're everywhere, they caught on early, got popular just as electric bass was becoming a thing, and now you can barely go to a shop or a gig without seeing one, or a copy of one.
 
#428
Fat Steve said:
The Joe Osborn is a Jazz copy, and the Bob Glaub is a P copy. They're still just high end boutique copies of Fenders.
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I had no idea!! You've turned my world upside down!
E03D411E-4B46-44A7-82B6-D5E2791BDD6B_zpshoo0ygff.jpg
 
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#432
I grew up playing Fenders.
I still have several that I used for the first two decades of my career (such as that was/is!)

I don't play Fender anymore, though the basses I do currently use "get mistaken for Fender" all the time by people unfamiliar them:
"I didn't know Fender made a Sadowsky...what's that?"


I've never walked in to a gig with any of my current basses and had a producer, engineer, potential band mate say "what the heck is that, get a real Fender,"
but, as I said, none of my basses really look very "un-Fendery."
That never happened during my G&L decade+ either, but, again, those "look pretty Fendery."
 
#433
I have a P-bass and I like it a lot. But, I also have and play an EB-2, a Ric, and a Thunderbird. Not to mention the Japanese hollowbody and the upright. None of those look like a Fender at all. Nobody has ever objected to any of them. Well, once. When the P was strung with round-wounds, I was asked to get it under control. It can be pretty aggressive with rounds.

Maybe I'm only in the phone book when the Fender comes out. I'll check the next time I take it out to a gig. It would be a pretty good trick if it works. Pull out the P and exist. Put it away and disappear. I like it.
 
#435
Why does everyone play Fenders? Well covered here. The first bass I ever had was a Fernandes P copy. The next bass I spent any money on (like a year later) was a BC Rich Mockingbird. It had a neck problem, and when I took it back, the only thing in the shop that was in the same price range that I could exchange it for was a Japanese '75 RI Jazz. I didn't even like it. So blonde and maple-y. I took it because I sort of had to. I've had that thing for the last 20 years and I've played umpteen gigs with it and I still don't really like it. None of the electronics are original. I just used it out of necessity and here we are, still together after all these years... like my parents. I hate it, but I can't part with it.

That said, I'm all over Gibsons now for tone and style. And yet, there's that old blonde reissue that I still grab off the wall and take to shows and play when I'm just sitting on the couch. I dunno, man. It is what it is.
 
#436
I can't take credit for this - but I think it was on TB somewhere - a member referred to Fenders as the staple food, you know - like the "burgers" of the bass world.

I thought it was an excellent analogy - I mean who doesn't like a great burger once in a while? Even if you if you don't eat red meat, I have had some killer seafood or veggie burgers....

Nothing fancy, just good solid satisfying pub grub. Like burgers and Fender basses - if you find a good one - always a great choice.

BassHappy
www.innertainment.net
 
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