Telebass

Hi Glen, enjoy yourself here!

Welcome! Dig in!

...And I've still yet to find (referring to an earlier post) a neck-diving Fender, P or J. Maybe I'm just lucky...

Welcome!

Welcome! And yes, GAS is incurable...

Howdy ffrom Cornwall!

Welcome!

They were, and are, the bass equivalent of a Ford. And you can get some pretty spiffy Fords these days, too!

Welcome! Get a Samson wireless.

The ultimate bass is simply the one you like playing the best, through the amp that you like the sound of best. The 'ultimate' bass is like the 'perfect' tone - a myth.

Welcome, and what he ^^^ said!

Welcome! And joining a band is the fastest way to learn! Den (just 56...)

Welcome!

Welcome! The enjoyment is the best thing about bass!

Welcome!

[quote name='mrcrow' post='402923' date='Feb 7 2009, 04:57 PM']serious bass men wont fall or stick in the fender rut or gulley when they can have much better engineered instruments albeit at a cost..which does say something about the whole scenario how much do you pay for nostalgia and marketing[/quote] It's got nothing whatever to do with being a 'serious' anything. I like Fenders because they are what they are, and heartily dislike most others because they simply don't do it for me - most of them look like furniture, not musical instruments. But that is, of course, my opinion, and is worth what you paid for it... Very few people would call Marcus Miller anything except serious. There's your statement blown away. If you really need a hand-crafted, exotic wood bass, well and good. But the best of them is not neccessarily better than anything else. There is not, and will not ever be, some 'ultimate bass', or indeed anything else. They are all just different. I entirely agree with BBC (in principle, if not in, er, tone!). Keep it simple. It works. No need to knock it if it don't float ya boat. They do a really good job for me, and my tone gets compliments. You cannot buy tone, you have to make it yourself, and if you can do that with a simple instrument, you are one step ahead. Den

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='402778' date='Feb 7 2009, 01:21 PM']The 3 nicest basses I have ever played are Fenders. I don't want to look like a space man when I'm playing so I hate all this carbon fibre sh*t. I also refuse to put batteries in a bass guitar. Batteries are for TV remotes and my girlfriends rampant rabbit. I also don't want to sound like a guitar. Just a dull thump suits me. Quirky basses f*** me off. The people who play quirky basses often have quirky hair. And probably wear trainers with a suit, just to look quirky. Just because you've got no personality and your parents ignored you, don't try and make up for it with a silly quirky guitar. Spikey metal basses. What a load of sh*t. Everyone knows the mettallers at school were the geeks who played dungeons and dragons. Having said that, a lot of those goth birds take it up the arse, so maybe their on to something? Still, get a hair cut, take of your cape and get a f***ing job that doesn't involve breeding snakes or working in the IT department. I genuinely couldn't give a f*** what its says on the headstock of a bass, I just think Fender got it right. Other manufacturers (like those c**ts at Warwick) seem to think "how can we make a design different from a fender?" as opposed to "How can we design a great bass?". I played a Burns the other day. That was alright. Different but still comfy and doesn't make you look like a c***. Although I do look (and act) like a c*** naturally. Fender copies. Fair enough. Don't see the point though really. I know Vintange do some decent cheaper copies. Wouldn't get one of these expensive ones though. Most of them take batteries. f***ing hate batteries. I've stopped using pedals because of them.[/quote] +1! Mostly...

Good score!

[quote name='YouMa' post='402335' date='Feb 6 2009, 08:16 PM']Fender are a cultural icon,[b]they are expensive for what they are[/b]. But so are harley davidsons.[/quote] In 1975, a new Precision was at the £250 mark, and they were, of course, all USA-made then. So I don't think all the intervening inflation makes them anything but rather a bargain. Because, for sure, a current American Standard is built way better than anything Fender did in 1975. My '75 was good, but no better than the MIM I play now. As for my opinions as to wether they are the standard, or indeed, any good at all? regardless of the reason why, they are the standard by which nearly all other basses are judged, and the reason for that is that no-one challenged them significantly for the better part of 25 years. And the man who did was the man who built them in the first place...

A great deal, depending on who does it, and how big a setup you go for. Full bore, with a fret dress, you might think you were playing a different instrument!

Even the setups are little or no different, in my experience.

You must get away from the "not a proper Fender" way of thinking. The Mexican Fenders I have are every bit as good as the USA Fenders I owned years ago, maybe better. It really doesn't matter where they are made any more. Even having the choice, I sometimes gig my Squier. Why? It's a damned good bass, by ANY standards.

The truth is, they are not that variable any more, indeed any more than MIA...the only Fenders that are truly consistent, in my experience, are the Japanese-built models. As someone who has seen and set up many different instruments in a guitar shop context, I can assure all that when properly set up ( and that is something that IS vaery variable out of the box), all Fenders and Squiers are as good as anyone elses, simple as that. And on top of that, the quality of both is ever increasing.

Greetings! Get a better P-Bass. Everyone needs one. But then, I'm biased...

[quote name='sixshooter' post='398743' date='Feb 3 2009, 11:39 AM']I would also be keen to know if anyone has got, or tried the Custom Shop 55 reissue Bass?[/quote] I tried one at the 2004 London Guitar Show. Wasn't a patch on my Sting, and the Custom Shop has never got the placement of the pickup cover correct on these (OK, that's really small niggle, but...). In fact, you can't install the pickup cover on any current SCPB without reshaping the pickguard slightly - they simply haven't got the pattern right.