I don't get the whole putting a Fender decal on a non Fender bass thing

[SpondonBassed]

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1491983897' post='3276875']
I think if you're intentionally trying to recreate something that is above and beyond your budget, sticking a Fender decal on it when it's an intentional Fender repro (like a Nash or Limelight) is just good attention to detail and keeping the style correct. If you don't want a Fender repro but want a jazz/pj/Precision at a similar price then new Fenders (MIM/MIJ etc) or Maruszczyk are in that prt of the market, so just get what YOU want (it's your money after all). It's just another option on the table and if doesn't interest you, then it shouldn't bother you either.

If you were making a spitfire airfix model, you make it look as close to a spitfire as possible. You're not doing it to deceive anyone because everyone who actually knows anything about it knows it's not an ACTUAL spitfire and you wouldn't ever try to sell it on gumtree etc as an actual spitfire.

I much prefer that to [u]when people put on a decal that is styled just like a Fender decal but incorporates some tenuous dad-joke like "pretender gaz bass" or someone's surname etc. It makes me cringe like hell[/u] (sorry if that's you but it's just really not my thing!).
[/quote]

I can't think what you mean... [cough][b]R0ck1nb3tt3r![/b][/cough]

I agree. To justify that particular example by saying imitation is the sincerest form of flattery is just b0110x.

[SpondonBassed]

[quote name='inthedoghouse' timestamp='1491989512' post='3276940']
Misplaced vanity - as if anybody cares
I gigged for a while with a pro band in the 80s using a nice Squier and nobody said a word or gave me a funny look
[/quote]

...and did you look like Blakey back then too?





Heeheehee

[inthedoghouse]

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1492013624' post='3277212']
...and did you look like Blakey back then too





Heeheehee
[/quote]
Quite possibly Perhaps that's why I never had any luck with the clippies

Edited April 12, 2017 by inthedoghouse

[scalpy]

[quote name='darkandrew' timestamp='1492010746' post='3277179']
Has anybody put an Audi badge on their Skoda?
[/quote]

Nope but they've put M badges on their old 318 or Porsche wheels on their vintage bug. The car market is even more guilty of this than the music instrument industry!

[SpondonBassed]

[quote name='scalpy' timestamp='1492019899' post='3277288']
Nope but they've put M badges on their old 318 or Porsche wheels on their vintage bug. The car market is even more guilty of this than the music instrument industry!
[/quote]

Reminds me of when one of my mates from teenage bought what looked on the outside to be a Ford XR3i. Something about the decals was not quite right. I lifted the bonnet and saw carburettors... I kept shtum for a bit but had to tell him eventually that he'd been had. The look on his face was as if I had somehow been responsible. He didn't speak to me for ages after.

[Dan Dare]

[quote name='scalpy' timestamp='1492019899' post='3277288']


Nope but they've put M badges on their old 318 or Porsche wheels on their vintage bug. The car market is even more guilty of this than the music instrument industry!
[/quote]

Not just cars. Everything gets cloned these days - £50 Chinese snide "Rolex" anyone? Nothing new in music, either. My first fiddle, a European factory cheapo, had a fake Strad label in it.

[Cato]

As long as no one tries to sell a Squier as a Fender I don't see the harm.

I'm a Squier owner and proud, they're cheap guitars that are dead easy to mod, my Jazz is a modded VM70s.

Having said that I'd be put off buying a second hand Squier if someone had rebadged it.

But that's just me.

[Rich]

My 'P bass' is a total bitsa with not a single actual Fender part on it apart from the neckplate and some Tele knobs. The neck itself is off a Squier Jazz -- and yes, I have put a 70s Fender P logo on the headstock. For me, it just completes the look of it. Simple as that. The knowledge that anyone might think it a dumb idea will keep me awake tonight for approx 0.001 of a second.

[Grangur]

[quote name='darkandrew' timestamp='1492010746' post='3277179']
Has anybody put an Audi badge on their Skoda?
[/quote]
But using a Fender logo is more akin to using a Ford badge.

I saw someone on here ages back go to a lot of trouble to build himself a really classy bass. It was all handmade. Then he put a Fender logo on it. So there was a beauty of a bass pretending to be mass production. I never understood that.

[Twigman]

I've made 2 Fender shaped basses that have bare headstocks....my surname is Gibson....hmmmmm - now that would be confusing.

[fleabag]

Think of your own font, then get two Gibson decals made up.

You've every right to call your handbuilt boutique basses Gibsons. Then you can fall asleep after gigs explaining to the pedantic nerds who point out that your bass isn't a Gibson. Laugh a minute

Edited April 13, 2017 by fleabag

[the boy]

I can never understand why people don't get it. For me it very obvious why people decorate their basses in this fashion. This is show business. It's all about creating an image, a look or a vibe. We don't criticise folk for sporting a hairdo or guyliner. Putting a decal on the headstock is exactly the same. It's the finishing touch to an impression you are creating. I'm fine with it. It's none of my business. I played a few gigs with a band a few years ago and they wanted a look. I reliced an old Squier and put a fender decal on. It looked awesome and was exactly the vibe the band wanted. It's no big deal.

Other people can't afford fenders but gain confidence when they sport a fenderesque instrument.

Live and let livery I say.

[SpondonBassed]

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1492029540' post='3277385']
Not just cars. Everything gets cloned these days - £50 Chinese snide "Rolex" anyone? Nothing new in music, either. My first fiddle, a European factory cheapo, had a fake Strad label in it.
[/quote]

True. The perverse thing about second hand goods sales is that the fakes can sometimes command a higher price than an equivalent "unknown" brand just [i]because[/i] they are fakes even though they are known to be dodgy copies by the purchaser and advertised as such. It tends to happen with older goods and antiques.

Did you keep your Strad clone?

Edited April 13, 2017 by SpondonBassed

[SpondonBassed]

[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1492060854' post='3277509']
I can never understand why people don't get it. For me it very obvious why people decorate their basses in this fashion. This is show business. It's all about creating an image, a look or a vibe. We don't criticise folk for sporting a hairdo or guyliner. Putting a decal on the headstock is exactly the same. It's the finishing touch to an impression you are creating. I'm fine with it. It's none of my business. I played a few gigs with a band a few years ago and they wanted a look. I reliced an old Squier and put a fender decal on. It looked awesome and was exactly the vibe the band wanted. It's no big deal.

Other people can't afford fenders but gain confidence when they sport a fenderesque instrument.

Live and let livery I say.
[/quote]

Hahahahahahahah - "Live and let livery" very good my friend.

I don't get why folk who don't get why other folk don't get it say they don't get why folk don't get it. Excuse me while I sit for a moment, I've got dizzy for some reason.

[CamdenRob]

I wouldn't do it myself and I can understand why Fender wouldn't be overly happy about it but meh... life is short, do what you want.

[Dan Dare]

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1492062932' post='3277513']


True. The perverse thing about second hand goods sales is that the fakes can sometimes command a higher price than an equivalent "unknown" brand just [i]because[/i] they are fakes even though they are known to be dodgy copies by the purchaser and advertised as such. It tends to happen with older goods and antiques.

Did you keep your Strad clone?
[/quote]

I didn't. I gave it to a friend whose kid wanted to learn the fiddle.

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='kodiakblair' timestamp='1491982661' post='3276863']
Not a thing I'd do myself but I imagine a decal saves answering the " Why haven't you got a Fender ?" question.
[/quote]

Number of times I have been asked why I haven't got a Fender (in my entire bass-playing career) = Zero.

[Twigman]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1492071444' post='3277593']
Number of times I have been asked why I haven't got a Fender (in my entire bass-playing career) = Zero.


[/quote]
Ditto

[goingdownslow]

After seeing players snub cheap basses I put a Fender decal on the £99.00 Redwood JB1 Jazz Bass (Dawsons) I use as the house bass for the jam nights I host. Players are made up to use it. It sounds better than some of the Fenders others players have brought along. It has 'Made In China' on the back of the headstock. What can be wrong with that?
I've never owned a Fender either.

[attachment=242921:Redwood Fender.jpeg]

Edited April 13, 2017 by goingdownslow

[Geek99]

i have played lots of fenders and I dont think any were better than the bitsa of jap pieces that the bass doc made for me. I'm not ashamed to haev a fender decal on as they are fender spec parts and it looks good. I woud never sell it as a fender in any attempt to add value so I really dont see the issue. If it makes you happy and you dont try and trick anyone financially I really dont see a problem

[Prime_BASS]

Made my own decal with my username and it's common for most folks to say "what is a prime bass?"

It's only the same as folks making Honda Type R/focus RS-ST/ Audi RS replicas with big standard models.

Looks better to most folks who aren't in the extreme echelons of knowledge

[nash]

For me it's a bit like buying a t-shirt from Primark and banging a Nike badge on it. They might look the same, they might even be made in the same factory but the money spent to make them are from two different sources.

And if you can't be arsed to talk to people about your non Fender bass then don't talk to them about it. Punishers are quite easy to deal with really.

[Paul S]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1492067575' post='3277550']
life is short, do what you want.
[/quote]

Amen, brother.

[SpondonBassed]

[quote name='Prime_BASS' timestamp='1492079574' post='3277720']
Looks better to most folks who aren't in the extreme echelons of knowledge
[/quote]

Good on you!

With a slight edit to your quote thus - "Fender... Looks better to most folks who aren't in the extreme echelons of knowledge" - may I suggest you run that right up the Fender marketing flag pole and see how many salutes it gets.

Hahahahahahaha. My lower echelon is itchy now [scratches arse]

[mcnach]

[quote name='nash' timestamp='1491982186' post='3276861']
Can anyone enlighten me?

I see it often, Squiers, bitsa, Nash, Lime Light and some that have a headstock shape that's not even close.

I Squier rebadge for example. I think so what if it's a Squier, big deal. If it plays and sounds nice then that's all that matters and then credit where credit is due if it's a good bass.

I just don't understand it.
[/quote]

Yeah, not my thing either... but some people love the look of an instrument and that includes the logo. Live and let live

I've just ordered a new neck for an old Squier Jazz of mine. I asked for a copy of the original Squier logo to be put on it