Fender Boxer Range re-released 2021 - The Jazz Bass Special !

[NancyJohnson]

2 minutes ago, Eldon Tyrell said:

Welcome to the world of marketing 😉

Thing is, people are just too gullible and easily suckered in.  They're not buying a piece of history.

[NancyJohnson]

3 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

 

They were different drinks though, Coke were trying to make their product taste more like Pepsi (which was the preferred choice in blind tastings).  Big mistake to just drop the original at the time.

Fooles.

[Cat Burrito]

When you consider the small resale value of the original 80s ones, I am amazed at how much they cost.

[Lozz196]

If they were to make these in black I’d be all over them, but those two colours, well nah.

[Dood]

39 minutes ago, Cat Burrito said:

When you consider the small resale value of the original 80s ones, I am amazed at how much they cost.

The 80’s ones are just about to go up in price! 

[AndyTravis]

1 hour ago, Eldon Tyrell said:

Great example. Applied to basses:

Stingray Special and Stingray Classic. BTW, I am still looking for a Classic in natural with maple fingerboard 😉

Yeah, I’m a big stingray fan - I’ve had about 6.

I would only buy an earlier 90’s one now.

[uk_lefty]

I've bought all the components to make my own bitsa PJ with black hardware! Significantly cheaper than one of these and left handed. If my bitsa is cr4p though and they do this in lefty I'd be tempted! 

[Grahambythesea]

On 13/01/2021 at 08:36, NancyJohnson said:

This is probably why I'm drawn to smaller luthiers, builders who are trying to innovate rather than making production line Morris Minors.  

Fender, Gibson (and a plethora of others) are all guilty of this ridiculous reliance on decades-old design.  It extends beyond Ps and Js.  Stingrays, Thunderbirds, Spector NS models.

Slap a different paint job on (and call it something funky), insert a pair of rebranded soaps along with some kind of preamp with a fancy name that slips off the tongue and sounds edgy (*must include the letter X or Z in the name) and boom, it's the 2021 model.

I knew I shouldn't have had a second coffee this morning.

The problem is not the designers but the buyers. Fender have brought out new designs, last I remember was the Dimension, but not enough people bought them to stay in production. Similarly Gibson have brought out to new basses, confusingly both called the EB. They both got slagged off on this forum. Whilst I’m not a fan of the later of the 2 with pointed horns, the earlier one which I have plays superbly and deserves a better response from bassists, most of whom probably haven’t played any of them. 

[NancyJohnson]

1 hour ago, Grahambythesea said:

The problem is not the designers but the buyers. Fender have brought out new designs, last I remember was the Dimension, but not enough people bought them to stay in production. Similarly Gibson have brought out to new basses, confusingly both called the EB. They both got slagged off on this forum. Whilst I’m not a fan of the later of the 2 with pointed horns, the earlier one which I have plays superbly and deserves a better response from bassists, most of whom probably haven’t played any of them. 

I'd concur with all the points here.  It's true, people only seem to want to purchase derivitives of three or four shapes. 

It's been a long time since I've seen a bass and thought, 'What the hell?'  The NS Design CR5 gave me a little wobble, likewise the Deimel Firestar.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

On 12/01/2021 at 17:44, Dood said:

Strangely right now the link to the Fender website page is down, but Andertons sent an email out with the "New for 2021" models that had a boxer bass tucked in the corner. Clicking through to the Anderton's website and yes, lots of nice new Fenders, but again, no Jazz Bass Special!

Online, it looks like the basses will be FSR, thus being made in Japan, like the original 80's models. Only one colour at the moment, but boy there's no doubt these will be nice - hopefully as good as the originals (of which I have two of the 80's active versions).

Here's the only outlet I can find with decent images:

https://www.themusiczoo.com/products/fender-mij-boxer-series-precision-bass-limited-edition-sherwood-green-metallic

 

 

Looks great, but you got my hopes up for the PP model!

[karlfer]

Gullible & stupid person alert.

 

[Cato]

5 minutes ago, karlfer said:

Gullible & stupid person alert.

 

That's a glorious colour.

The official pics in this thread don't do it justice.

[Lozz196]

18 minutes ago, karlfer said:

Gullible & stupid person alert.

 

You won’t notice the person as that colour scheme needs sunglasses just to look at it 😎

[Pea Turgh]

I like the look of that.  But I’m not buying for some time.  And they don’t do a P width nut.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

2 hours ago, karlfer said:

Gullible & stupid person alert.

 

That is really something!

[Guest]

2 hours ago, karlfer said:

Gullible & stupid person alert.

Gullible, stupid and *happy* ? 😊

[Ian McFly]

How does it sound and play?

[karlfer]

9 hours ago, Ian McFly said:

How does it sound and play?

Short answer is most excellent!

The history. I've had 4 of the originals. 5 years ago you could pick one up for £350/£500 very regularly.

A year or so back, I had the epiphany that jazz neck, p/j, precision body were the thing for me, so started looking for a Japan Jazz Bass Special. The rare ones that now came up were £700/£900 and seemed to go quickly or were too far away.

Anyway, this new model has been calling since before Christmas. It's 11 years since I bought a new bass, nearly 500 gigs later, she's still with me. On Saturday I succumbed to the Boxer.

What I knew I would like:

Jazz neck, P body, p/j pups, 12 in radius, satin neck finish, microtilt, headstock truss adjustment, basswood body,, TBX, pickup selector switch, no scratchplate, black hardware with slightly longer tuners.

The passive pickups are hot, the immediate tone is punchy Lynott, however put neck on selector and roll the TBX and JP Jones is there waiting. Unlike a lot of PJs, the J is fine soloed, usable tones, no volume dip.

The weight is a little more than I would have expected with Basswood at just under 9lbs. The neck is simply wonderful.

Imminently playable out of the box although I will set it up to my liking in the next day or two.

We all have our preferences and dislikes. This bass (including the gorgeous colour which I know will range from black to white under stage lights) is the perfect storm for me, except;

at this price (too high) it should have had a hard case.

I can live with that and I look forward to playing Highway Star at our 1st outdoor gig in May.

'Appy days 😁

Edited February 16, 2021 by karlfer

[Guest]

Very well-used Gramma Pad box

 

[uk_lefty]

13 hours ago, karlfer said:

Gullible & stupid person alert.

 

That is awesome!!! Trying to do a lefty similar to this via self-assembly, but the supplier didn't send me a black neck. Gutted, but just means I need to buy a status neck now, surely?! 

[karlfer]

10 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

That is awesome!!! Trying to do a lefty similar to this via self-assembly, but the supplier didn't send me a black neck. Gutted, but just means I need to buy a status neck now, surely?! 

Yup 😁

These aren't like the '84/87 with black painted necks, they are the same as the '87/92 with satin necks.

[Old Horse Murphy]

On 15/02/2021 at 19:01, karlfer said:

Gullible & stupid person alert.

 

Well done Karl. What are your first impressions of it? Not in a Jon Culshaw way

Edited February 17, 2021 by Old Horse Murphy

[karlfer]

1 hour ago, Old Horse Murphy said:

Well done Karl. What are your first impressions of it? Not in a Jon Culshaw way

😁

Really just what I wrote 4 or 5 posts back Nick, ticks so many personal boxes.

[Guest]

Getting borderline obsessed with that colour

 

[EBS_freak]

On 15/02/2021 at 19:01, karlfer said:

Gullible & stupid person alert.

 

You're certainly right there. A Nissan Juke?