Must be a chilly day in hell

[Baloney Balderdash]

Just now, Cairobill said:

@Baloney Balderdash it says 17mmm in the specs

Ah, I couldn't find that piece of information when I looked at the specs for some reason.

 

Thank you. 

 

[meterman]

It’s a Squier 5 string for a couple of hundred quid - nobody really cares about the headstock, surely? It’s like moaning about A4 paper not being square or Colman’s Mustard being too yellow nowadays, or the traffic lights taking too long to turn green...

 

(Would be interested in the active Jazz bass, mind)

[lemmywinks]

14 hours ago, Pea Turgh said:

Lightweight tuners?  Graphite rods?  On an Affinity?  And for £320?!!

 

I'm guessing the graphite rods may have worked out cheaper than a 2nd truss rod and the tuners look like generic Gotoh clones with F style elephant ears.

 

[lemmywinks]

Weird double post

Edited July 2, 2024 by lemmywinks

[Hellzero]

But it's not for now...

[asingardenof]

4 hours ago, neepheid said:

But you get people "just starting out" on 6 string, and are there many inexpensive FAAFO options?

I'm pretty sure Harley Benton does a 6er for <£200

[Baloney Balderdash]

3 minutes ago, asingardenof said:

I'm pretty sure Harley Benton does a 6er for <£200

Ibanez does a couple of genuinely great affordable 6'ers too.

 

The cheapest Ibanez 6'er plays and sounds great.

 

Which would be my personal choice over the Squire.

 

Actually the Harley Bentons as well.

 

Edited July 2, 2024 by Baloney Balderdash

[lemmywinks]

Peavey also do good budget 6 strings, I'd be looking at a used Grind or Ibanez SR5xx over a new Squier really.

[crazycloud]

8 hours ago, Pea Turgh said:

Would be tempted to take a hacksaw to the headstock though…

Me too. Stock is as ugly as all heck.

Edited July 2, 2024 by crazycloud

[Baloney Balderdash]

6 minutes ago, crazycloud said:

Me too. Stock is as ugly as all heck.

Just saw off that wood blob/tumor with the Squier shaped mole on hanging off the end of the headstock, and it would actually not be too bad.

 

Edited July 2, 2024 by Baloney Balderdash

[BassApprentice]

4 hours ago, lemmywinks said:

Peavey also do good budget 6 strings, I'd be looking at a used Grind or Ibanez SR5xx over a new Squier really.

I know this is coming from a point of personal preference - but Squier are doing something different and I think their base range has improved under the increase pressure from exactly those models you've mentioned. And those mentioned don't look like a Jazz bass, which is what shifts models for Squier.

 

And after all this, it could be absolutely rubbish and be discontinued after the first run 😅

[Woodinblack]

23 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

Headstock is a munter.

 

Its a fender, its normal

 

8 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

No info about the string spacing.

 

Hoping it is 16mm.

 

sadly 17 or I would go for it. Might anyway, to see if fender VIs are as bad as Vs!

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, BassApprentice said:

And after all this, it could be absolutely rubbish and be discontinued after the first run 😅

 

Traditionally the first one is always good, then they make a second run, everyone goes out to get one on the strength of the first, and then those are bad!

[velvetkevorkian]

2 hours ago, BassApprentice said:

I know this is coming from a point of personal preference - but Squier are doing something different and I think their base range has improved under the increase pressure from exactly those models you've mentioned. And those mentioned don't look like a Jazz bass, which is what shifts models for Squier.

 

And after all this, it could be absolutely rubbish and be discontinued after the first run 😅

I find it's especially interesting as there aren't many jazz 6es around until you get in to pretty boutique territory, so there's really not much that's directly comparable to this.

 

I probably still won't buy one but I do wonder if Harley Benton/Sire etc will come out with something similar.

[tauzero]

14 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

The fundamental issue with Fender is that they're too headstrong and they're stuck with a headstock design that doesn't look pretty with the incorporation of additional tuners.

 

FTFY

[binky_bass]

@Hellzero - G4M shipping is, for some curious reason, £47.49 as apparently the bass is coming from Sweden to the UK...

 

[tauzero]

11 hours ago, Pea Turgh said:

I would like to try 6 at some point.  This seems like a good option to try it out.

 

Would be tempted to take a hacksaw to the headstock though…

 

 

Might be feasible to change it to a 3+3. I'm sure he of the Perfect Balance bass could do it easily.

 

Ideally, of course, the headstock would go entirely. Strip off the paint, slim down the horns a bit as well and you could have quite a good looking bass.

[LeftyJ]

10 hours ago, tauzero said:

he of the Perfect Balance bass

 

[velvetkevorkian]

10 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

Might be feasible to change it to a 3+3. I'm sure he of the Perfect Balance bass could do it easily.

 

Ideally, of course, the headstock would go entirely. Strip off the paint, slim down the horns a bit as well and you could have quite a good looking bass.

Isn't poor old Leo spinning fast enough in his grave already

[NancyJohnson]

Just thinking about this one and the TZ model earlier in the thread.

 

Fender could have gone out on a limb a produced something genuinely radical here; there's certainly no reason why they couldn't have tweaked the body shape away from the Jazz shape and done a 3-aside headstock, but like Gibson, they're inherently lazy and it's probably simpler to just make the neck pocket and headstock bigger in CAD than to design something different.

 

Likelihood being this'll be in production for 12-18 months and (like everything else different) be quietly withdrawn due to poor sales.

[neepheid]

10 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

Just thinking about this one and the TZ model earlier in the thread.

 

Fender could have gone out on a limb a produced something genuinely radical here; there's certainly no reason why they couldn't have tweaked the body shape away from the Jazz shape and done a 3-aside headstock, but like Gibson, they're inherently lazy and it's probably simpler to just make the neck pocket and headstock bigger in CAD than to design something different.

 

Likelihood being this'll be in production for 12-18 months and (like everything else different) be quietly withdrawn due to poor sales.

 

Was the Dimension that much different to their regular output?  They couldn't even keep that going for more than a few years.  Pathetic.

[Woodinblack]

14 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

but like Gibson, they're inherently lazy and it's probably simpler to just make the neck pocket and headstock bigger in CAD than to design something different.

 

I don't think it is lazyness. People who want new stuff don't go to fender. People who go to fender WANT a jazz bass or a precision bass, and if you provide something else (like a dimension), noone is interested. Frankly if I was head of fender, I would do the same that they are doing, jazz and P basses in different special edition colours, with the occasional radical 'random other pickup somewhere', because that is what fender buyers say they don't want but really do.

[NancyJohnson]

6 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

Was the Dimension that much different to their regular output?  They couldn't even keep that going for more than a few years.  Pathetic.

 

I didn't mind the overall look of the Dimension bass, although there was too much scratchplate going on.  I'm not saying this thing is beautiful, but take the scratchplate off (in truth, it's unnecessary) and we're in Lakland/MusicMan territory here.  Granted the bridge is slightly too big, but it's got a nice deep sunburst, two pickups (winner, winner), rosewood/whatever board.  Even though I'd never consider buying one, it's way more attractive than a J or P:

 

 

 

[lemmywinks]

8 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

I don't think it is lazyness. People who want new stuff don't go to fender. People who go to fender WANT a jazz bass or a precision bass, and if you provide something else (like a dimension), noone is interested. Frankly if I was head of fender, I would do the same that they are doing, jazz and P basses in different special edition colours, with the occasional radical 'random other pickup somewhere', because that is what fender buyers say they don't want but really do.

 

 

Exactly this, Fender make Fendery things because that's what people will buy, to the point where they'll pay a massive premium just for that name on the headstock. They're a heritage/legacy brand like Gibson so there's no point in angering shareholders by producing something your target market won't buy and the people that would be interested won't pay the Fender tax anyway.

[tegs07]

When I think of iconic bass guitar’s I think P, Jazz, Stingray, Rickenbacker, Thunderbird.

 

When I think short scale I think Mustang and EB1 and 3.

 

Sure there are many others but these come to mind. When it comes to buying an iconic bass that you have heard played live or recorded and has a sound you love I would argue that Fender are not even particularly expensive in comparison with their closest competitors.

Edited July 3, 2024 by tegs07