I'm pretty much the opposite - I prefer passive pickups, like the MIA Jazz and P pickups just fine, etc. The Music Man stuff is nice though...I'd just rather have the Fender if given the choice.
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Why so much negativity towards Fender?
- Thread starter paf77
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I'm pretty much the opposite - I prefer passive pickups, like the MIA Jazz and P pickups just fine, etc. The Music Man stuff is nice though...I'd just rather have the Fender if given the choice.
- Oct 7, 2000
- 18,619
- 38,939
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Musicman basses
Well then read the things I've posted. I've been pretty clear about my own experience and what I've gathered from the experience of other. And I guess the use of the word 'you' in your posts makes me think that the not entirely respectful remarks you're making are aimed at me. Which I'm sure they are. But that's ok. I'm a big boy.
I gotta get out of this thread now because I actually stopped my Fender bashing a while back. I'm havin a major slip here. Feel like I got sucked into this one and kinda wish I hadn't. Fenders are great. Everyone should have one. Just hope ya find one quickly that doesn't suck. Just kidding. Just kidding. See ya.A perfect example from the last part of my first post in this thread. Did I say anything really negative to warrant your comment? I don't think so. I mentioned that in my opinion I can't tell much of a difference, if any, between an MIM and MIA bass. So where is the huge increase in price justified between the two? I would have ZERO issue with paying a premium price if there were an obvious step up between the two. But I just don't see/hear that being the case with the examples I have tried.
And to answer your question. If I put on a sub par performance then yes, I would deserve a lower wage. Just like if I put on a great performance then I feel I deserve a higher wage. Would you expect a premium wage for a mediocre performance?
Well then read the things I've posted. I've been pretty clear about my own experience and what I've gathered from the experience of other. And I guess the use of the word 'you' in your posts makes me think that the not entirely respectful remarks you're making are aimed at me. Which I'm sure they are. But that's ok. I'm a big boy.
Hey man, I understand...but I REALLY wasn't taking digs... just trying to find out if you were speaking from experience.
Now that I went back on the whole thread I see you've had some personal issues with them, and that's fine - you could have easily just said that...but I digress. I was simply commenting on this statement you made :
Your experience differs from mine. I'm relating mine, you are relating yours. They don't need to be the same.
Have a great evening... and a GREAT New Year.,
If you want to hear about REAL QC issues, talk to a Gretsch dealer from the "golden age" (late '60s): they'll happily tell you about bindings coming loose, necks that were twisted, and all manner of electronics problems. AND they were billy hell to work on. I had a '63 Chet Atkins Country Gent for years (finally sold it a couple of years ago): the ONLY access to the electronics was through a small oval hole in the middle of the back. The pickups mounted to the top, so no cavities; no f-holes, so no way in through there. When the pots froze on my Country Gent, I had a highly entertaining week working the old ones out and the new ones in. And the necks: they used a peculiar dowel-reinforced joint that was worth several high-end boat payments for the tech to rest the neck. Thank Leo for bolt-on necks.
But wait, there's more: towards the end of Pre-EB MM manufacture, Stingrays left the factory with unpainted parts, rusted hardware, and straight (!) truss rods. There are photos of a sliced-through Stingray neck from that era, and it's no internet fable. A friend had a gorgeous Stingray in natural ash that sounded like God's own Music Man...until the electronics died and couldn't be fixed. And, while waiting for something to happen under warranty for that, he tried to adjust the bow out of the neck, with the predictable result that the rod broke. It ended up in the landfill.
High-dollar Gibson 335s in the '70s were made of inadequately dried wood, which caused Gibson to strip them all and refinish them with opaque metallic paint.
Those are problems, friends, in contrast to distaste for a particular body shape or dealer set up or sound or price.
But wait, there's more: towards the end of Pre-EB MM manufacture, Stingrays left the factory with unpainted parts, rusted hardware, and straight (!) truss rods. There are photos of a sliced-through Stingray neck from that era, and it's no internet fable. A friend had a gorgeous Stingray in natural ash that sounded like God's own Music Man...until the electronics died and couldn't be fixed. And, while waiting for something to happen under warranty for that, he tried to adjust the bow out of the neck, with the predictable result that the rod broke. It ended up in the landfill.
High-dollar Gibson 335s in the '70s were made of inadequately dried wood, which caused Gibson to strip them all and refinish them with opaque metallic paint.
Those are problems, friends, in contrast to distaste for a particular body shape or dealer set up or sound or price.
Let me throw in my two bits, being new around here,
I judge the instruments that I buy on a individual bias.
Of the three basses I own one is a American Jazz deluxe. I didn't buy it because it was or wasn't a Fender, I bought it because the instrument spoke to me, it plays like a dream, it feels like a dream and sounds like a dream.
I would not buy an instrument based on a company name. I buy an instrument based on the instrument
Just my two bits
Bob
I judge the instruments that I buy on a individual bias.
Of the three basses I own one is a American Jazz deluxe. I didn't buy it because it was or wasn't a Fender, I bought it because the instrument spoke to me, it plays like a dream, it feels like a dream and sounds like a dream.
I would not buy an instrument based on a company name. I buy an instrument based on the instrument
Just my two bits
Bob
Which is why they continue to sell, because people want that passive sound and people will pay whatever fender wants for a fender J or P
You could probably part together a bass from Warmoth or All Parts using higher quality parts for less than what fender wants @ retail for their MIA basses, or you could make one from scratch for less as well, hell you could probably make 2 basses, a P and a J from scratch for less than you'd pay for an MIA fender, who has CNC machines and gets discount rates from lumber yards and the like for their parts.
+1
"Awwww, but ain't that America, for you and me..."
Always want something for nothing.
Go ahead Michael. What's to "approach?" If someone wants to down someone else over their personal taste and without solid reason does that not make them an a-hole, or at best a snob? I didn't point out any single person in this thread with that statement. I didn't put a single bad comment about anyone who enjoys owning/playing a Fender bass. I did comment that they weren't my cup of tea though.
Sure, provided you are capable of doing the tech work. I do it all the time. Part of what you pay for with ANY company making complete basses is "assembly".
Some people hate to do this stuff...me, I love it.
If you AREN'T doing the assembly and tech work yourself, however, more often than not a "bass assembled from parts" will
cost as much or more than one built in a factory, simply due to labor cost.
- Oct 7, 2000
- 18,619
- 38,939
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Musicman basses
Yep. But we also have our own inane unfounded beliefs that refuse to be broken by hard evidence. That's my issue.
But everything has been stated that needs to be... beyond this point it is all "spinning wheels".
People will believe what they wish to believe...
That's why there are so many religions.
ok this is what i think
i love my squier jazz bass (i strive one day to own a fender) so i go into guitar shops and play alot of jazz basses
so last week i went into my local guitar shop and i noticed lakland basses and i said to the clerck (who im friends with) are they really the next fenders and he said try one
so i did and i didnt see what the big deal with them was
i hated the active electronics, it didnt play half as good as my squier and it just lacked in some aspects
call me a over the hill old git (even tho im actually only 18) who will stick by his passive squier jazz, 1972 fender bassman and a fuzz pedal but i think most "expencive" basses dont have the same appeal as cheep ones
just because you bass is made of 30 diffrent woods, fancy pickups, 6 strings and a preamp made in some country in europe doesnt meen your bass is good or you can play
plus simple basses are more fun to play
i love my squier jazz bass (i strive one day to own a fender) so i go into guitar shops and play alot of jazz basses
so last week i went into my local guitar shop and i noticed lakland basses and i said to the clerck (who im friends with) are they really the next fenders and he said try one
so i did and i didnt see what the big deal with them was
i hated the active electronics, it didnt play half as good as my squier and it just lacked in some aspects
call me a over the hill old git (even tho im actually only 18) who will stick by his passive squier jazz, 1972 fender bassman and a fuzz pedal but i think most "expencive" basses dont have the same appeal as cheep ones
just because you bass is made of 30 diffrent woods, fancy pickups, 6 strings and a preamp made in some country in europe doesnt meen your bass is good or you can play
plus simple basses are more fun to play
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