Why does everyone use Fenders?

[drTSTingray]

I think a lot of these were Leo's updates to the original design to overcome known issues or improve on the original designs. The six bolt neck attachment improves joint rigidity and the truss rod adjuster is just common sense - who would tolerate a car where you have to remove the engine to top up the oil.

All that said I also like Fenders - the reasons for their widespread use are complex but it does not follow its because they are the best - indeed they clearly aren't in the same way a Ford is more popular than a Rolls Royce but it's pretty obvious they aren't the best.

 

[lpdeluxe]

I contributed earlier to this thread but I thought I would add a little.

I own a Fender '51 P reissue, a Fender Classic '50s, a Fender AVRI '57 P, a '99 StingRay 5, and a Godin A5 fretless. Out of all of these I play the '51 single-coil the most. Why? First, it occupies a particular spot in the aggressive/passive spectrum: for a lot of material, the split-coil Ps and the StingRay are too aggressive, and the A5 is too passive. Second, I love the "vintage" frets: the medium jumbo types on most basses feel like speed bumps to my hands. Third, the whole aesthetic of the post-war industrial design of its looks give me an insight into the thinking of Leo Fender: let's make this thing easily manufactured using tools you would find in a garage wood shop, using semi-skilled labor, to make an instrument that will take over the world. [What does it look like? -- sorry, I don't understand the question. ] Fourth, it is the perfect bass when a couple of guitar players are in my living room jamming: it was designed at a time when a huge bass amp was 15 watts, and it sounds great at low levels.

When I want to step out, there are the split-coil Precisions (and I favor the Classic '50s -- see avatar -- because its poly finish is much less susceptible to dings than the gorgeous sunburst lacquer on the AVRI) and the SR5. If I want to pretend to be Jazzbo, I pull out the Godin (strung with nylon tape-wound flats).

I'll note that three were designed directly by Leo, the fourth is based on the StingRay 4-string designed by Leo, and the fifth is not that far from his designs.

 

[Blues Bass 2]

I've been using an SX Jazz 5 for a while with my band and before that a Carvin B50 with the Jazz pickups . I've had Fender Jazzes and both the Carvin and the SX sound very close to the Fenders in a good way . For me I can pick up a Jazz , plug it in , crank both the volumes up and back the tone off a touch and have a tone I like and can use right away . Put some DR Fat Beams or Dunlop nickles on it and be happy .

A couple weeks ago I was in our local Music Go Round store and there was an Ibanez BTB 405 that just looked very cool . I picked it up and played it for a while unplugged and fell in love with the feel of the bass , it played great and just felt right . I plugged it in and could get a ton of different sounds with it . I talked my wife into letting me buy it and took it home and cleaned it up and set it up and all was good . Last week at practice I brought it and spent some time dialing it in to fit the bands sound , a lot of our covers originally had Fenders so it was different with the BTB . At one point I asked one of our guitar players what he thought of the sound and he said "I like the sound of Fenders , I guess I'm just used to them ". This was the closest thing to a knock on my tone in the ten years I've been with the band .

I totally get why Fenders are the go-to bass for the majority of music and love them myself but I'm going to go against convention this time and make the BTB work with our band . I still have my SX Jazz if it comes to that but I'm pretty sure it won't .