Fender bass guitars

[Conan]

[quote name='bubinga5' post='1235822' date='May 18 2011, 03:18 PM']is he singing his opinion of Fenders??[/quote]

Sorry! My mistake - I inserted the wrong link, Duh. Now corrected.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI5QCem2fx4&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI5QCem2fx4...feature=related[/url]

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='PaulWarning' post='1236910' date='May 19 2011, 01:48 PM']I once had a MIM Jazz, the pick ups were awful[/quote]

That's cos the electrics are completely different from the MIAs.

As are the woods etc. contrary to popular myth, mex bodies tend to be made of at least 4 bits, and of cheaper wood.

Whether this matter to you or not is entirely subjective.

You cannot set up an MIM and then call it an MIA with a different sticker made a few miles away.
Because it is an entirely different beastie, £500 different? That's for you to decide...

[tauzero]

[quote name='chipmunk_jr' post='1234504' date='May 17 2011, 04:20 PM']Every band you seem to see live, there bass players seem to play fenders. I've played a couple and I cant see what all the fuss is about???? Ive played much nicer basses for a lot less money.[/quote]
It's because bassists have no imagination or ambition. If they did, they'd be lead guitarists.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='tauzero' post='1237047' date='May 19 2011, 04:17 PM']It's because bassists have no imagination or ambition. If they did, they'd be lead guitarists.[/quote]
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=66328"]Hey![/url]

Edited May 19, 2011 by BigRedX

[JayPH]

[quote name='risingson' post='1236058' date='May 18 2011, 06:01 PM']I wouldn't pay a single bit of attention to the guys in Liverpool Dawsons, they don't know what they're talking about! I popped in a few days back and tried a number of Fenders they had in. Played a Marcus Miller Jazz in there, the intonation was so bad by the time you got to the 12th fret of the bass it was almost a whole semitone sharp, and the Jaco Squier in there had a neck bow so bad it was very difficult to play. When I pointed this out by demonstrating this to him, the assistant told me that 'you have to put a bit of work in yourself to get the bass you buy set up properly'. He also went on to explain that there was 'no way of swapping out the preamp in the Marcus Miller', and when I pointed out that there were indeed companies like J-Retro that sold the MM plate mounted preamps that you can just drop in as replacements, he seemed totally baffled by it.

I don't expect the setups on basses in stores like that to be perfect, but I would at least expect a store assistant to be aware that if you're going to be paying upwards of £900-1000 on an instrument then it should be in their interest to pay a bit more attention to how that bass guitar plays. Instead he tried to fob me off with a barrage of misinformation. Not good at all.[/quote]
I won't argue with you mate because I am definitely not qualified to. I've been out of the game too long. I do remember having a Copy strat guitar years ago though. it was a Hondo, yeah that household name

Anyway, this thing was the dogs bollocks. I knew some very acomplished guitarists back in the day and they all reckoned it was a beauty. I think this might also be true if you get a decent MIM or MIJ bass that has been setup properly.

As a footnote my USA Fender Jazz Bass wasn't set up very well and I took it to Frets in Liverpool. I used to go there when I was younger and he knows his onions. He told me it was too early to set the bass up properly because it would likely change and that once it had settled after a month or 2 to take it back and he'd set it up nice and let me know if it's as it should be.

Might it be the case that the basses were set up to begin with but have altered over time with temp changes and such? Maybe they should be checked out every month or so?

[4-string-thing]

[quote name='tauzero' post='1237047' date='May 19 2011, 04:17 PM']It's because bassists have no imagination or ambition. If they did, they'd be lead guitarists.[/quote]

I hope this is irony, cos I've always found just the opposite!

Bass players are always forward thinking and looking to try new equipment ie, graphite necks, composite bodies, new cab designs, class D amps etc etc.

Guitarists can't seem to get beyond a strat, tele or les paul through a valve amp, all 50's technology!

[Robert Manning]

[quote name='4-string-thing' post='1237496' date='May 19 2011, 10:11 PM']I hope this is irony, cos I've always found just the opposite!

Bass players are always forward thinking and looking to try new equipment ie, graphite necks, composite bodies, new cab designs, class D amps etc etc.

Guitarists can't seem to get beyond a strat, tele or les paul through a valve amp, all 50's technology![/quote]


Very good point!

[tauzero]

[quote name='4-string-thing' post='1237496' date='May 19 2011, 10:11 PM']I hope this is irony, cos I've always found just the opposite!

Bass players are always forward thinking and looking to try new equipment ie, graphite necks, composite bodies, new cab designs, class D amps etc etc.

Guitarists can't seem to get beyond a strat, tele or les paul through a valve amp, all 50's technology![/quote]
Um, yes and no. [b]Some[/b] bass players are willing, indeed eager, to try new equipment. The fact that guitarists are even more benighted than bassists is something that I thought we accepted as gospel anyway.

[Steve Dixon]

I can only say why I play Fenders... won't hazard a guess why they're popular with lots of others, but some of these things might apply

it's a balance of:

[list]
[*]I like the Fender Jazz sound.. both pickups on full - it works for me
[*]they're relatively cheap
[*]they don't need a lot of maintenance or fiddling with... keep the same string gauges and you can go for decades without having to mess with the truss rod, intonation etc
[*]they're strong - you have to work flippin hard to damage a Fender bass... it's not like a Gibson where you look at it funny and the headstock snaps off
[*]they're simple - just good simple engineering... they're like the AK-47 or Zippo lighter of instruments - popular because you can rely on them not to go wrong - which is down to good engineering. compare the fender bridge to the Rickenbacker 4003's... if you had to travel the world with ONE instrument, in a gig bag, that you take with you everywhere, and have to rely on it to plug in and WORK every night, what would choose for reliability in place of a Fender? A Gibson? A Rick? A super duper fancy wood boutique active jobbie? nope, you'd probably have the Fender because they take a beating & keep on ticking
[*]heroes - many of my bass influences played Fenders - if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me. At the very least I can't blame my gear
[/list]


well, that's me. you can do what you like

[Lozz196]

+1 - aside from the fact that I use Precsions rather than Jazzes, I agree with all of the points above.

[Raggy]

Totally agree.

A Precision Bass works just right for me.

[bigjohn]

[quote name='Dave Vader' post='1237023' date='May 19 2011, 03:58 PM']That's cos the electrics are completely different from the MIAs.

As are the woods etc. contrary to popular myth, mex bodies tend to be made of at least 4 bits, and of cheaper wood.

Whether this matter to you or not is entirely subjective.

You cannot set up an MIM and then call it an MIA with a different sticker made a few miles away.
Because it is an entirely different beastie, £500 different? That's for you to decide...[/quote]


Apart from the MIMs that are made using US electrics (I've got one and have owned another) and the MIAs that are made from the same bodies, necks and hardware as these MIMs - such as the original Highway Ones. I really can't see how they're different apart from being assembled a few miles apart.

All of the MIM woods are machined and the hardware is made in the US even if they're not the same as the parts that go into US Standards.

Not sure if they use cheaper alder for the MIMs, but I'd imagine you're right about the cuts.

It's a bit of a minefield that one!

[Ross]

Honestly? I quite like the way my fender sounds and plays. Each to their own.

I also hate the way a lot of other basses look.

[RhysP]

[quote name='4-string-thing' post='1237496' date='May 19 2011, 10:11 PM']I hope this is irony, cos I've always found just the opposite!

Bass players are always forward thinking and looking to try new equipment ie, graphite necks, composite bodies, new cab designs, class D amps etc etc.

Guitarists can't seem to get beyond a strat, tele or les paul through a valve amp, all 50's technology![/quote]
You've only got to read this thread & the many similar ones to see that this just isn't the case - bass players by & large are just as bad as guitarists when it comes to luddite mentality.

[Vibrating G String]

[quote name='hillbilly deluxe' post='1234959' date='May 17 2011, 01:39 PM']KIORA !
Please,nobody mention overpriced boutique Fender copies................Aww sh!t.[/quote]
You mean the Custom Shop Master Builts?

[Vibrating G String]

[quote name='Fat Rich' post='1235240' date='May 18 2011, 01:21 AM']Heinz beans are affordable though, how can Fender justify charging £2K plus for a couple of planks of wood screwed together, some bent tin and a few bits of plastic? It's not like their R&D costs are high because their designs are 50+ years old.[/quote]
I don't think they care about justifying it, just not laughing out loud as people pay for it.

I also think they would never have such an expensive upper line if their old 2 and 3 hundred dollar guitars and basses didn't get inflated to the tens of thousands by selling them to Japanese posers with too much money in the 1980's. Just think, if cocaine was as popular in Japan as it was in the US a new MIA could be about $600.

[Vibrating G String]

[quote name='kerley' post='1235297' date='May 18 2011, 02:00 AM']Why people pay a premium to have a bass made in USA is the question. Are USA builders/workers any better than Korean? No they are not, however they may be allocated more time to ensure the product has better finished/QC but that could also be done in Korea. But as Fender is a USA product for USA people who are some of the most nationalistic going it won't change soon...[/quote]Having experience with Korean and American suppliers I'd say the Koreans are miles above for a fraction of the price.

[Vibrating G String]

[quote name='Monckyman' post='1235323' date='May 18 2011, 02:19 AM']As has been said by a previous poster, for me, it was about the sound I grew up with, and the basses used on the music I heard.
There were no Wals overwaters Status Yamaha Aria Gibson(I think) basses on all those massive motown tunes. Just Fender.[/quote]
I'd wager that if you could re record some of those basslines with a Wal and mix them in most "experts" would never notice. Yamahas have been duplicating exact fender tones for decades.

[Vibrating G String]

[quote name='Slipperydick' post='1235406' date='May 18 2011, 03:08 AM']Back in around 1991 or 92 I can remember speaking to someone at a Fender distributor who told me that the then new Mexican Strats and Precisions were assembled in Mexico from USA parts, but that it was only a temporary arrangement, so it was a good time to buy.

Any truth in it, or was it just a sales pitch ? My early Mexican Precision plays and sounds great, mut admit the neck aint a perfect fit in the pocket though.[/quote]
There has always been some overlap in the 2 factories which are just a few hundred miles apart. I've heard some Fender apologists claim that even the plastic knobs are better on the US models. From what I've seen the wood source is the same for both factories and they don't sort out inferior tonewoods to send down south. There can be a lot of Mexican parts in a US bass and still be called made in the USA.

[flyfisher]

[quote name='4-string-thing' post='1237496' date='May 19 2011, 10:11 PM'][quote]It's because bassists have no imagination or ambition. If they did, they'd be lead guitarists.[/quote]

I hope this is irony, cos I've always found just the opposite!

Bass players are always forward thinking and looking to try new equipment ie, graphite necks, composite bodies, new cab designs, class D amps etc etc.

Guitarists can't seem to get beyond a strat, tele or les paul through a valve amp, all 50's technology!
[/quote]

Could it be that guitarists are more concerned with their playing skills and technique rather than constantly looking for some 'magic bullet' technology to do the job for them?

[Steve Dixon]

[quote]Could it be that guitarists are more concerned with their playing skills and technique rather than constantly looking for some 'magic bullet' technology to do the job for them?[/quote]

I think your generalisation was probably as wide of the mark as his

in my experience, guitarists seem to be no less interested in finding a fantastic tone than bass players - I don't think there's much difference, in terms of intent

here's what I think...

broadly, there was a cutoff somewhere around the late 70's where guitar sounds kinda stopped evolving much... from 1960 to 1980 you have a massive broadening of the timbral pallette available to guitarists... you went from plinky plink strummy pleasant tones your grandma would like, to mega continent-flattening Marshall-stack skyscraper stand up next to a mountain and chop it down with the edge of my hand MASSIVE fire-breathing HUGE glorious absolutely blasphemic guitar sounds...

and then that evolution pretty much stopped.. from 1980 to 2010 you don't see the huge changes in guitar sounds that the previous 20 years brought...

so a current day guitarist will tend not to look for the most cutting edge technology, because well, the 'guitar sound' evolution has slowed to a bit of a trickle... a Les Paul through a JCM800 will do the job in a typical rock band today as well as it did 25 years ago

if you look at electric bass, there wasn't that much of a huge timbral leap at any one time... there were no Jim Marshall types inventing amplifiers that sounded radically different to what had come before, and there were no Jimi Hendrixes of the bass who totally reinvented how people percieved the instrument (not even Jaco)... so the evolution of electric bass has been more a steady process of refinement than a bunch of revolutionary leaps.. that's why certain bass players like all the new tech.. there appears to still be room for evolution

anyway, to relate it to the topic... a Fender through an SVT (for example) is an archetypal sound just like a Les Paul through a JCM800 or a Strat through a Fender Twin.. there's room at the cutting edge, but there's also something to be said for stuff that's been proven to work great

Edited May 21, 2011 by Steve Dixon

[icastle]

[quote name='gsgbass' post='1239920' date='May 22 2011, 04:29 AM']Fender offers quite a few models and variations to choose from. That sure doesn't hurt much.[/quote]

Not many models when you think about it:
Strat or Tele for guitarists and a choice of Precision or Jazz for bassists...

[chrismuzz]

[quote name='flyfisher' post='1239049' date='May 21 2011, 10:07 AM']Could it be that guitarists are more concerned with their playing skills and technique rather than constantly looking for some 'magic bullet' technology to do the job for them?[/quote]

Guilty as charged!

[GarethFlatlands]

[quote name='flyfisher' post='1239049' date='May 21 2011, 10:07 AM']Could it be that guitarists are more concerned with their playing skills and technique rather than constantly looking for some 'magic bullet' technology to do the job for them?[/quote]

I'm the other way around in terms of tone shaping, my guitar rig has a very nice amp and an ever changing pedal board. My bass rig is a crap Peavey combo that I can hear myself thorugh and not much more, a Sansamp DI to make it sound less crap.

And as for Fenders, they look cool. They sound alright too but it's mainly the looks.

[Robert Manning]

[quote name='hillbilly deluxe' post='1235499' date='May 18 2011, 11:58 AM']MIM = Mexicans in Mexico
MIA =Mexicans in America.[/quote]

indeed true!