Fender vs MM vs G&L

[charic]

Fender and MM are probably bought more often purely because of the "resale" value

[andydye]

They all sound v different too, I've had a variety of each...

Fenders - USA std Jazz and P basses - passive, very organic/natural sound, fattens up nicely when rolling the tone back; just felt normal somehow...

MM - Stingray 4 & 5, active, humbucker, the most organic/natural sound I've heard from an active bass, none of that sterile/hifi sound you get from some active circuitry but could still do that slap sound, and it was [i]that [/i]slap sound you wanted to hear too; excellent QC!

G&L - L2000, L2500, L1500 - very active, something in the treble really pissed me off, sounded very dated, treble-aside they're huge sounding basses though, they also hated dead strings! Brillinatly put together though!

[Dingus]

The thing about G&Ls is most of them won't sound like Fenders ; the L Series basses with the proprietary humbucking pickups may be great sounding basses ( something that we all seem to agree ) but they won't sound like a Precision or a Jazz Bass , which is what a great many bass players are looking for in a bass. Testament to that is the SBand JB Series basses that G&L feel obliged to make to cater to that market . Fender are great basses too . If you can find a good one it will serve you for a lifetime and do a great job in so many musical situations . Same with a Music Man . All three brands make basses for working musicians to use as tools .

[4 Strings]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1358768383' post='1944547']
All three brands make basses for working musicians to use as tools .
[/quote]

Absolutely agreed there is definitely something very workaday (and so, for me, attractive) about the older G&L1000s.

Just that Fenders seem more apt to find their way into the wardrobes of middle aged collectors.

Funny how a new, say, sunburst US Standard Fender will attract the comment 'hmm, nice', an identical looking bass with the numbers '1968' underneath will attract 'ooh, beyootiful' despite ithaving a couple of worn, buzzy frets and scratchy sounding
controls.

[Dingus]

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1358771321' post='1944615']
Absolutely agreed there is definitely something very workaday (and so, for me, attractive) about the older G&L1000s.

Just that Fenders seem more apt to find their way into the wardrobes of middle aged collectors.

Funny how a new, say, sunburst US Standard Fender will attract the comment 'hmm, nice', an identical looking bass with the numbers '1968' underneath will attract 'ooh, beyootiful' despite ithaving a couple of worn, buzzy frets and scratchy sounding
controls.
[/quote]

I am with you on that one . I think the new USA Fenders are probably the best they have ever been if you want a bass to take out and play . If you want an antique with plenty of romance and mojo ( i.e knackered ) then pay a fortune for a ( often very beautiful ) vintage one , but I would buy a Custom Shop one for the same money myself .

[gareth]

I like G&L's

They are after all the last leo creation

Whether they are the best of his basses I would say not - that'll be the precision, then the jazz, then the ray

G&L's are well made and I have tried a lot of them - all Fulerton USA made - L2000, L2500. L5000, L5500, L1500, SB1, SB2 and the L1000

I think everyone should try a G&L

They are good value and if you do not like them you should be able to sell and get your money back

[4 Strings]

So, as everyone likes G&Ls why do Fenders outsell them 100-1?

[jezzaboy]

Brand loyalty, Fender`s marketing compared to gl, not considered cool and cause no bugger knows about them basically.

Edited January 22, 2013 by jezzaboy

[neepheid]

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1358851038' post='1945897']
So, as everyone likes G&Ls why do Fenders outsell them 100-1?
[/quote]

Got in there early, first electric bass (as we now understand it), >60 years experience, at one time was so dominant that people would refer to the electric bass as "Fender bass". There's a lot of pedigree there to be argued with. Just as well I'm just an argumentative so-and-so

You could say this of any other manufacturer. They've all got to fight against it.

[neepheid]

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1358851642' post='1945908']
Brand loyalty, Fender`s marketing compared to gl, [i]not considered cool and cause no bugger knows about them basically.[/i]
[/quote]

And there's the rub. I'm sure G&L would be delighted to become the pre-eminent brand in the world, but I suspect that they also feed off of an air of exclusivity, of being a little club of cognoscenti, and these two things are pretty much polar opposites.

Suffice to say that to those in the know, G&Ls are fantastic instruments. Those of you that don't know, trust me, you're missing out, but we don't really care - too busy having fun knocking down walls with MFD pickups

[b]OMG![/b]

[Dingus]

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1358851038' post='1945897']
So, as everyone likes G&Ls why do Fenders outsell them 100-1?
[/quote]

Marketing , distribution and , above all , brand profile .

[4 Strings]

..and we bass players aren't above that?

[BigRedX]

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1358862851' post='1946172']
..and we bass players aren't above that?
[/quote]

No. Of course not. If we were Fender would have gone out of business before the end of the 80s.

[4 Strings]

You are of course, right. I'm disappointed. Anyone want to buy a Fender Jazz?

[Dingus]

Fenders are great sounding and well- designed basses . There's far more right with them than there is wrong with them . Get a good one and you have got everything you need to play bass guitar in most musical situations . You can't fool all the people all the time , and Fender basses are ubiquitous for good reason .

[uncle psychosis]

Personally I think G&Ls marketing is a bit crap. Just little things, like the name "Tribute". To me, that implies "copy" or "not quite as good as". I'm not saying they're *not* good, but the name has negative connotations in my mind.

Certainly, their availability/distribution isn't very good---I've only very rarely seen them in shops. They also compete at a funny price point, where there are a *lot* of alternatives. That market must be hard to succeed in.

[Machines]

They do TRY to market their items in reasonable places, but it is not clear who they are aiming their product at. Fender and Musicman's target market is quite obvious in their advertising, but G&L seems to float. I do see them in a few shops but they're generally overlooked by most people who probably think they're Fender copies .

[4 Strings]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1358864837' post='1946222']
Fenders are great sounding and well- designed basses . There's far more right with them than there is wrong with them . Get a good one and you have got everything you need to play bass guitar in most musical situations . You can't fool all the people all the time , and Fender basses are ubiquitous for good reason .
[/quote]

But that's the point, their design is further developed in the MM and G&Ls and everyone who owns one of those seems to agree they are better made and better sounding, but are outsold 10:1 by Fenders, hence the original question. (Don't have a G&L but my MM gets used way, way more often than my Fenders)

[Dingus]

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1359396239' post='1954137']
But that's the point, their design is further developed in the MM and G&Ls and everyone who owns one of those seems to agree they are better made and better sounding, but are outsold 10:1 by Fenders, hence the original question. (Don't have a G&L but my MM gets used way, way more often than my Fenders)
[/quote]

I take your point , but whatever good qualities those two brands may have ( and in my opinion they have many ) , they don't sound like a Fender Precision Bass or a Fender Jazz Bass and that's the sound that most musicians want to hear . A Music Man will always sound like a Music Man , and is all the better for that , but it wont sustitute for a Fender if you want that Fender sound . Neither will a G&L , unless you get one of the Fender - style ones , of course .

[Pinball]

I've had a whole bunch of nice basses

I have always struggled with Jazz basses so can't comment on jazzers but I love MM's and G&L's and at the moment my favouorite precision sound comes from a G&L SB2 and my favourite humbucking bass is currently my Fender Dimension Standard.

I hope that doesn't confuse matters more 😎

[Aliwobble]

I've never owned a Jazz or a P.  Every time I've gone bass shopping the I would start by picking up a Fender, but end up leaving with a Warwick, Schecter, or Ibanez because it felt like so much more bass for the money.  I had the option of picking up a mint second-hand G&L L2000 (USA) recently, and while it was absolutely a quality instrument, I could not see it really doing anything my current basses couldn't, so it stayed on the shelf.

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

If what you are looking for is the tone of a P-bass there’s nothing better than a ... ehm ... P-bass, Mexican, American or Indonesian whatsoever ...

Edited August 13, 2019 by Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Try a P-bass with flatwound strings correctly set-up .. you will see that in some cases less is more !