Why So Many People Playing Fender Basses?

[Chickenwheels]

In my experience if you play any instrument for a while you’ll get used to how it feels and it’s neck shape. My fretless Yamaha’s fingerboard felt really flat when I first got it but now I’d never notice it.
Technique is very important, too. Players who hook their fretting hand thumb over the top of the fingerboard (like Will Lee) usual prefer skinnier, thinner neck shapes. If you play Double bass you would struggle to play like this. Learning a more traditional left hand technique makes moving between different neck sizes easier, in my experience.

 

[AngelDeVille]

I don’t own one.... but a few G&L’s have tempted me...

 

[jamro217]

In the early days of the electric bass, Fender was far and away the most popular choice. Iconic to the point of having the electric bass credits on many LPs called "Fender Bass" regardless of what brand instrument was used. The few changes over the last sixty years to the Precision Bass render one manufactured in 1957 virtually identical to one being made today. The last half century or so of production for that Jazz bass has kept it very close to the original. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you don't like it, mod it.

 

[nostatic]

Fender pays everyone who plays one. You didn't get the offer in the mail?

 

[JimmyM]

I play mostly Fenders and Fender-inspired basses despite having a pretty decent little collection of cool non-Fenders. Why? Because even though I've tried to make the other basses I have work instead, the other basses are specialty basses that do some things well and other things horribly, while I can use my Fenders for literally anything. I'm very aware of all the other basses out there, I've played many of them, and I do not give a crap what anyone else uses or what they think about my usage of them. It's completely irrelevant to me. All I care about is getting it done, and that's what a Fender does for me. Don't want to play them? Then don't.

 

[DigitalMan]

I play a Fender Bass (among others) and accept the consequences of being compared to a sheep by people thinking important thoughts.

 

[Corporate Boy]

Interestingly I got an itch to play fenders earlier this week. Previously I have been playing a Warwick Thumb 5 BO Fretless. Don't get me wrong the Warwick tone is beautiful and is exactly what I was looking for, except I extremely hate playing that bass standing up due to the neck dive I have never been able to correct. Wrestling your bass and playing fretless just doesn't work for me.

Sooo... I had an old MIM Jazz bass laying around that I setup to be fretless. It sounds good and ergonomically fits my style. I haven't touch the Warwick all week.

I know it all come down to personal preference, but recently I have come to the conclusion that Fender survived the "evolution" of the survival of the fittest because of price, tone and ergonomics. It hits the largest spectrum of people.

However... since I got on the recent Fender kick I started to look at upgrades I can do with my bass. Granted, every bass can be changed and customized, but cheaper Fenders i believe are meant to be upgraded. There are just sooooo many different ways you take them. So i was thinking lots of people use Fenders, but really they are stock instruments that play good off the shelf, but are meant to be customized.

 

[Anemic_SluG]

I play Fender because when I was a youngster my Dads friend said “get him a Fender” so he did, even though a BC Rich Mockingbird was calling my name. But now playing anything else feels weird, Fender is just home base for me. But still thinking about buying that Mockingbird.

 

[Acoop]

What I think, you're asking is, why are Fender basses the standard in the industry? ... Solid and simple, is the best explaination. ... P-bass, J-bass, Tele and Strat. ... What other band has that proven history under it's belt?

 

[Yahboy]

Brand and psychological factors。

 

[elgranluis]

I tried a C neck Squire today and found that I have the effect of having those longer fingers because the C neck is thicker but more narrow. It felt so much better than those thin wider necks.

Are you sure you did not switch the terminology around ?

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Because TB is a rendezvous point for all undercover Fender paid agents disguised as bass players. That's why 90% of posts are about Fender basses and Rumble amps.

 

[NoBlackTShirts]

Why So Many People Playing Fender Bass's ?
change is scary to some folks..

"Fear of change" is a dishonest expression used by dishonest people who want to manipulate you.
.

 

[elgranluis]

And to answer to the title : the majority of basses ever built are either fender or Squiers. You see more simply because more of them exists.

 

[NoBlackTShirts]

34 posts and no one has said it. I’ ve had a funky day so I will. The name of the Fender import line is Squier. Not Squire.

He misspelled "basses" too. For some people writing just isn't their thing.
.

 

[mariner]

Try shopping for a decent lefty that doesn't break the wallet. Any place you search there's only a handful of brands and Fender has the most options and flavors.

 

[flashgod]

Because Leo invented the bass and most of the music we hear was recorded with Fenders. It’s a traditional thing. Since I started playing bass 30 years ago, I am on a quest to find my personal ideal bass. Meanwhile I have from 10 Basses only two original Fenders left. At the moment I think my ideal bass is a clone of the Fender Aerodyne: Jericho Alpha Blacker

I don’t know if I want the quest to be over...

 

[Muddslide]

It is great that there are so many options out there...for every taste and style.

However, I imagine if you looked at what bass got played on the most recordings and by the most people since the advent of the electric bass almost 70 years ago, a great percentage will be Fender Precisions or Jazz Basses.

Agsin, it's really great there are so many options and innovations out there. I'm not much of a traditionalist when it comes to music or anything else, but I'd be perfectly content (and could express myself fully and to my total satisfaction) if the only bass I ever played henceforth was a Precision.

It's just a marvel of engineering, and while Leo's original design has been expanded upon, IMO, it has never truly been bettered.

 

[soulman969]

Why? My first pro bass was a new '66 Jazz Bass like this one.

The second was a used '63 PBass like this one.

So off and on I've been playing one or the other for over 50 years. Both are solid effective basses that have been used on thousands of recordings and gigs and are probably just as popular now as they were then. The two I have now are as good as any I've ever owned including the first two. They get the job done.

 

[Kukulkan61]

I have Fenders and Squier and combos of both in builds, I can play all the necks comfortably from the Jazz neck profile of my Lakland D Dunn P to my Fender 50s roadworn P with the wide board and the ones in between ..