Fenders!

[Ed Friedland]

Sure, there are tons of options out there now, but in the beginning...there was the Fender. Some believe they are still the best choice for a bass, others will use anything but. What do you think? P or J? ...PJ?

[Sampoerna]

Both!

 

 

 

------------------

-- Sampoerna

 

"Freedom is the handle on the bucket of your soul..." (Neil Innes)

[dude_dup3]

Neither...I like the Fender Telecaster II basses with the honking humbucker in the neck position!

[Jeff Addicott]

I often wonder if the P and the J bass are so widely used because Leo got to it first. What if Rick Turner or Mike Tobias had beaten him to it? What if wenge necks were the standard, and a maple fingerboard was a radical idea?

 

At any rate, I routinely use a P-bass, a Jazz bass, a G & L L-200, and I'm pining for a Music Man. I suspect it's no accident that these designs are in such enourmously widespread use. They're so damn practical in just about every way: sonically, physically, financially. I've had a couple of exotic wood neck-thrus and I got rid of both of 'em because they just didn't work as well (for me).

 

I like to think of myself as being open-minded, and I'm definitely a bass gear nut. So I imagine I'll be trying something with a wenge neck or a piezo / optical pickup, and I'll do my darndest to make it fit me.

 

In the meantime, however, most of my workhorse electric basses are Fender-designed.

[g.]

As a player of other instruments I have been around the typical Fender stuff much of my life. Also Rics, Gibsons, Music Mans, etc. As a more recent bass player, I probably will never buy a Fender as I probably won't being recording dates where that is insisted on. I play other people's at jams, and some are pretty nice indeed. But I have a good relationship going with my Carvin and have nobody to impress or convince but me. In bands I get the sounds I want and ain't gonna be swayed by anything else.

 

 

<-- greenboy ---<<<<   mystique doesn't work for me and I already have tones galore

[ST.Morigeaugte.net]

Go ahead and laugh..........Tell me I can't polish a turd!! But I play a Yamaha BBG5S 5 string, that has been loaded with a 9V Bartolini set-up.

This with a couple of other little tricks has yielded a very inexpensive and versatile tone monster.... Now having said this.............I wanna 62' JBass!!! I want one SO BAD!!! The neck..... the fret size and electronics to me truly produce the best tone.. Can't readily justify an original due to the $$$.. But have seriously looked into the reissue...... Not quite the same but close... Maybe a custom shop re-issue... I dun know..

 

Just my.02

 

Whine'n Pin'n Mo

[Ed Friedland]

Well, I think the word "workhorse" is appropriate when discussing the Fender. I have 3 myself, a '74 Jazz www.edfriedland.com/jazz.html a '73 P-Bass that's been modified to a PJ www.edfriedland.com/pbass.html and a cheap Mexi-Jazz fretless that I love more and more every time I play it www.edfriedland.com/mexijazz.html. You can click on the link to see them and hear little samples of them in action.

 

I've owned lots of other basses, and actively play my Carvin 5's most of the time, but when I need a 4 string, I reach for the Fender. The thing I like about my Carvin (the new sunburst swamp ash one) www.edfriedland.com/carvinswampash.html is that it sounds very much like my Fender Jazz. As close as I've found in a 5. Maybe it's my age, but I grew up hearing that sound on everything. It wasn't until the 70's that you started seeing Alembics, and other custon axes. While I love the sexy, hi-fi sound of the new stuff, a Fender just sits in the mix in a way that I dig, and they have true depth to the tone. A quality I believe is commonly referred to as "balls".

[ST.Morigeaugte.net]

Ed....... yer a groove dawg!! And you make too much fiscal $ense.....

Damn it!!

 

Envious Mo

[gmstudio99]

P or J or PJ? Hey, my initials are PJ...

 

Got me:

 

AmDlx Precision

AmStd Jazz

MxDlx Jazz V

MxDlx Jazz Fretless

 

My #1 is the AmStd Jazz. Like Ed and other have said, it just sits "right" in just about any mix you throw it into...now, whether that's due to the bass' versatility, or the fact that for decades that just what we've become used to is up for debate, but that bass and my Bass POD handle just about everything I throw at them, from pop recording to pit orchestra gigs to my new techno/trance kick.

 

Paul

[g.]

Sorry. Nobody is convincing me. There are lots of basses that have balls and cut through and "sit in the mix right" {if I am not mistaken, the history of recorded music with electric bass and that of it with fender basses are not totally one and the same ;}

 

I'm gonna have to be a non-conformist on this: there are basses I would buy that I find much more interesting AND/OR esthetic. And I figure enough people will buy Fenders that some very rich people will never go broke.

 

If I was doing the studio routine I'd probably own a Fender (or a couple?) just to get all the producers off my back (and on my phone). Because there are after all so many people who hear more with their eyes than they do with their ears. But otherwise...

 

<-- greenboy ---<<<<    i'm an original, baby

 

 

This message has been edited by greenboy on 02-11-2001 at 12:50 PM

[Ed Friedland]

Originally posted by greenboy:

Sorry. Nobody is convincing me. There are lots of basses that have balls and cut through and "sit in the mix right" {if I am not mistaken, the history of recorded music with electric bass and that of it with fender basses are not totally one and the same ;}

 

I'm gonna have to be a non-conformist on this: there are basses I would buy that I find much more interesting AND/OR esthetic. And I figure enough people will buy Fenders that some very rich people will never go broke.

 

If I was doing the studio routine I'd probably own a Fender (or a couple?) just to get all the producers off my back (and on my phone). Because there are after all so many people who hear more with their eyes than they do with their ears. But otherwise...

 

<-- greenboy ---<<<<    i'm an original, baby

 

 

Of course there are lots of other basses that sit in the mix, and we will not try to convince you that Fenders are the only way to go. I certainly use other basses as well. But by virtue of your statement "If I was doing the studio routine I'd probably own a Fender (or a couple?) just to get all the producers off my back (and on my phone)." my point is made. It is an in demand sound for many reasons, and it behooves any professional player to have one or two for those very reasons. (I love using that word - behoove!)

 

As far as people listening with their eyes instead of their ears, sure I'll agree to that, but I also bet I could pick a Fender out in a mix over some other axe. Let's face it, you KNOW when you are hearing a Jazz bass being slapped, or a P-Bass being chunked. Of course, I can always tell a Music Man or a Ken Smith too.

[bspangleyahoo.com]

It's funny, I've owned a '65 P-bass (it's not modified at all) since the mid 70's and a mid 70's J-bass since the mid 70's. (I put in the EMG Vintage PU's because the originals sounded thin and noisy)Now mid 70's fenders are considered "vintage". Back then the 70's basses were considered inconsistant or junk. Anyway, back then I did minor league studio work and, even though the P-bass was and is a great instrument, the bass that ended up on most tracks was a Danelectro Longhorn with Pyrimid flats on it!! I still am sorry that I let this bass go. The Dano was, in todays terms, phat and mellow on tape. Since this was usually country, I very seldom played above the 7th fret.

[jeremy_dup1]

I doesn't matter what bass I bring (and you can see from my web page that I have a lot of choices), when I bring my Fender most people like it better. On one gig (I didn't know any of the musicians before I got there) I walked in with my 30 year old Fender Jazz and a Roland Cube 60 of almost equivalent vintage and the piano player said, "great, a real bass, not one of 6 string things". So I had won him over without playing a note.

And in the studio, they like my $300 Fernandes P-bass copy (with a Duncan Antiquities pickup) better than any of the $3000 basses that I bring in.

And if you are a hired gun (which is what I am), the leader or producer's idea of a good sound is different than your own.

When I record my own music, I use the bass that I want to use and I mix the music myself to make sure it sounds the way I want it to.

 

------------------

http://www.jps.net/jeremy/basspage.html

[blackwon88]

Been playing Fenders for over 30 years played all the exotics and still try them out on the regular. I prefer the sound of a Fender over the pack because I grew up with them it's like comparing Camaros and Mustangs I'll take the Chevy anyday.

Now being a die hard Fender Jass Bass junkie I will be the first to admit that just picking one off the rack and getting magic just doesn't happen all the time (even Strats are the same way) you have to find 1 that fits, and speaking of picking one off the rack picked up a new Fender Squire P Bass for $139.00 that sounds great on tape and it feels really good for literally a cheap bass talk about luck.

My 4 cents

[bootyquake]

I have to concur with the "fits in the mix" comment. The thing I find amazing about Ps and Js is how they are uglier when soloed, but much more sonically pleasing when heard in context. Perhaps our ears are just trained to listen for those sounds, but then again, you can fake 200k resonance. It either cuts or it doesn't. For blues, rock, funk, and other styles that include guitars, keys, and drum kits, they are time-tested and well-suited for the job.

 

However, a P bass sucks for Celtic music, and it sounds like crap with a salsa band. Playing "Donna Lee" on a P-bass will sound like trying to play the Brandenburg Concerti on kazoo. This is where that smooth, hi-fi Tobias, Ken Smith, and Pedulla really shine.

 

Still, you'll never replace the sound of a fine Jazz or Precision bass for me.

[jazzbass1]

I have found when people call me for a gig, they are happiest when I show up with a Fender, J or P. Most bandleaders know what they sound like, no surprises, just a good punchy sound. And for me, no knob twiddling, just crank it up and go. My advice, get both, like Sam said.

[virtual.rayprodigy.net]

While I marvel at the inspiration and genius behind the Ford Model A and the Wright Brother's Biplane, I'd rather get to work in my 2001 Saturn,thank you very much,and the Boeing 737 that got me to my brother's house last month did it in 3 hours without mussing up my hair.I tend to look at Fenders in this way as well.

[Mats Olsson.]

I´d rather compare a P or J with a classic microphone, a grand piano perhaps. Or an old violin, an electric guitar, a classic set of drums.

 

When you get it right, you get it right. This just proves that neither Henry Ford nor Wright Brother's got it totally right. But still a car is basically a chassis, some seats, an engine and some wheels. Same goes for aviation.

 

If it´s working, it will still work when something new is released... well, the salesweasels don´t agree very much of course.

I also like to buy lots of new things but very seldom do I find something that I will hang on to forever.

 

Just my 2c.

 

/Mats

 

 

P.S.

Imagine the purgatory a violin player is facing when he/she feels the urge to go shopping for something brand spankin´new...

[arvidgunardihotmail.com]

I like J bass! Simply because of that bridge pick up thing. And there's still the neck pick up to with if you want. I own a G&L L2000. I love it! It's light, has great tones and sweet at the same time. I also own an Alembic Rogue 5 strings, neck-through and etc. Despite the price differences between the 2 bass, there's things that my Alembic simply couldn't cut! Even though I'd like to think that my Alembic is more versatile. The same thing with Fender(i think), their sound is very distinct, and since they've been around for so long and been so widely used, their distinction has turned to become the "standard" or the "regular" thing. Fender basses can only produce a fender sound, but most exotic bass can mimic a fender sound.