Endurance of Fender Basses

[ch willie]

No matter custom shop and boutique basses, Fender basses have endured. Three of my seven basses are Fenders and a 4th is my G&L JB-5.

I love my Fenders because of the sound. I also love the looks of them. The first Precision Bass I got to see up close was played by a fro-sporting befreckled hippie freak, mid-height and skinny, which made that P bass look huge in his hands. But it looked cool too. I was 12 and wanted a bass more than anything. That huge 70s headstock zapped me. In the last part of my bar band days, I stuck to my Precision and Jazz Basses. My other basses are fantastic, but the Fenders cover more ground.

And of course, here's one of my heroes. Like me, he loved his Ric most, but sometimes, you need a Fender. Chris Squire played his JB on the song "Going for the One," which is probably my favorite Yes song.



I saw them on this tour:

[bobjones2260]

Seeing Chris Squire on a Fender just looks wrong!

[ch willie]

Seeing Chris Squire on a Fender just looks wrong!

That's how I felt when I saw McCartney playing that Yamaha. Just wrong. And he didn't play it for very long. He got that Wal from Linda, and I loved it. Another of my faves talked him into going back to the Hofner. Silly Elvis. I love my Hofner, love Paul's Hofners, but his Ric is the one that makes my heart beat stronger.

Until I saw the somewhat well-known video tour of CS's basses, I had no idea he'd used the Jazz Bass on classics. Going for the One is what caught me because of my love for that song.

[Warpt89]

I Also love my fender and I am soon to complete my trio of Fender Basses, I have an American P Bass, a Japanese 62 RI Jazz, Soon to get a 51 style Precision.

[ch willie]

I love the 51 P Basses.

[crescenze]

I Also love my fender and I am soon to complete my trio of Fender Basses, I have an American P Bass, a Japanese 62 RI Jazz, Soon to get a 51 style Precision.

I'm partial to the 51/telecaster style basses too. I currently have five. Is the 51 style P that you're getting the Lake Placid blue chambered one that was listed on Reverb and Ebay last week? I'd like to hear about it and see some pics when you get it.

[pjmuck]

You can spend thousands of dollars on a custom bass (Fodera, Alembic, Ritter, etc), add all the bling you want (or as my 13 year old son refers to it, "drip"), all the bells, whistles, etc. you want, but at the end of the day a stock Fender P or J simply get the job done again and again. They are the benchmark by which all basses have been measured for 70+ years, and still are. Think about it, some of the most iconic bassists in history have not only played them, but prefer them, despite have all the money in the world to buy anything they want.

I did a recording session recently, and I brought along a P bass with flats, a G&L L2000 Tribute, a Stingray, and my Rick. Wouldn't you know it, the P bass killed the others in the mix. They just work. But I'm primarily a J player, and IMO, the Fender Jazz is the greatest bass ever made. So versatile for any application. (Don't know why I didn't bring it, LOL, but something told me the P would work).

[pjmuck]

Seeing Chris Squire on a Fender just looks wrong!

Agreed!

[ch willie]

You can spend thousands of dollars on a custom bass (Fodera, Alembic, Ritter, etc), add all the bling you want (or as my 13 year old son refers to it, "drip"), all the bells, whistles, etc. you want, but at the end of the day a stock Fender P or J simply get the job done again and again. They are the benchmark by which all basses have been measured for 70+ years, and still are. Think about it, some of the most iconic bassists in history have not only played them, but prefer them, despite have all the money in the world to buy anything they want.

I did a recording session recently, and I brought along a P bass with flats, a G&L L2000 Tribute, a Stingray, and my Rick. Wouldn't you know it, the P bass killed the others in the mix. They just work. But I'm primarily a J player, and IMO, the Fender Jazz is the greatest bass ever made. So versatile for any application. (Don't know why I didn't bring it, LOL, but something told me the P would work).

I was in a recording studio, doing a demo with a cover band, and usually, I'd have taken another bass, but had the jazz at hand for some reason. I was worried that it wouldn't have the bottom end of my other basses. And on. playback, that bass was pumping. Fantastic lows and clear highs, it's like playing two basses at one time. Since that time, it's become a fretless, and my number one non-ric is the frankenbass I put together from two AmPro JBs.

[ch willie]

Seeing Chris Squire on a Fender just looks wrong!

YES! (ha ha Yes). That's because he took the Ric bass to places no other bassist can, no other. In a way, he has helped to define what a Rickenbacker bass is and does.-


It's as hard to see CS with a JB as it would be to see Henry Ford driving a Chevrolet.