Telebass

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='402778' date='Feb 7 2009, 01:21 PM']The 3 nicest basses I have ever played are Fenders. I don't want to look like a space man when I'm playing so I hate all this carbon fibre sh*t. I also refuse to put batteries in a bass guitar. Batteries are for TV remotes and my girlfriends rampant rabbit. I also don't want to sound like a guitar. Just a dull thump suits me. Quirky basses f*** me off. The people who play quirky basses often have quirky hair. And probably wear trainers with a suit, just to look quirky. Just because you've got no personality and your parents ignored you, don't try and make up for it with a silly quirky guitar. Spikey metal basses. What a load of sh*t. Everyone knows the mettallers at school were the geeks who played dungeons and dragons. Having said that, a lot of those goth birds take it up the arse, so maybe their on to something? Still, get a hair cut, take of your cape and get a f***ing job that doesn't involve breeding snakes or working in the IT department. I genuinely couldn't give a f*** what its says on the headstock of a bass, I just think Fender got it right. Other manufacturers (like those c**ts at Warwick) seem to think "how can we make a design different from a fender?" as opposed to "How can we design a great bass?". I played a Burns the other day. That was alright. Different but still comfy and doesn't make you look like a c***. Although I do look (and act) like a c*** naturally. Fender copies. Fair enough. Don't see the point though really. I know Vintange do some decent cheaper copies. Wouldn't get one of these expensive ones though. Most of them take batteries. f***ing hate batteries. I've stopped using pedals because of them.[/quote] +1! Mostly...

Good score!

[quote name='YouMa' post='402335' date='Feb 6 2009, 08:16 PM']Fender are a cultural icon,[b]they are expensive for what they are[/b]. But so are harley davidsons.[/quote] In 1975, a new Precision was at the £250 mark, and they were, of course, all USA-made then. So I don't think all the intervening inflation makes them anything but rather a bargain. Because, for sure, a current American Standard is built way better than anything Fender did in 1975. My '75 was good, but no better than the MIM I play now. As for my opinions as to wether they are the standard, or indeed, any good at all? regardless of the reason why, they are the standard by which nearly all other basses are judged, and the reason for that is that no-one challenged them significantly for the better part of 25 years. And the man who did was the man who built them in the first place...

A great deal, depending on who does it, and how big a setup you go for. Full bore, with a fret dress, you might think you were playing a different instrument!

Even the setups are little or no different, in my experience.

You must get away from the "not a proper Fender" way of thinking. The Mexican Fenders I have are every bit as good as the USA Fenders I owned years ago, maybe better. It really doesn't matter where they are made any more. Even having the choice, I sometimes gig my Squier. Why? It's a damned good bass, by ANY standards.

The truth is, they are not that variable any more, indeed any more than MIA...the only Fenders that are truly consistent, in my experience, are the Japanese-built models. As someone who has seen and set up many different instruments in a guitar shop context, I can assure all that when properly set up ( and that is something that IS vaery variable out of the box), all Fenders and Squiers are as good as anyone elses, simple as that. And on top of that, the quality of both is ever increasing.

Greetings! Get a better P-Bass. Everyone needs one. But then, I'm biased...

[quote name='sixshooter' post='398743' date='Feb 3 2009, 11:39 AM']I would also be keen to know if anyone has got, or tried the Custom Shop 55 reissue Bass?[/quote] I tried one at the 2004 London Guitar Show. Wasn't a patch on my Sting, and the Custom Shop has never got the placement of the pickup cover correct on these (OK, that's really small niggle, but...). In fact, you can't install the pickup cover on any current SCPB without reshaping the pickguard slightly - they simply haven't got the pattern right.

Ouch! My wallet hurts just *thinking* about that...

The Dirnt is, really, a totally different bass. Arm contour, rosewood board, 70s tuners, CS59 split coil p/up, BadAss II top-load bridge. The rest are all variants of the SCPB, or Single-Coil Precision Bass, with reverse tuners, and two-saddle strings-thru-body loading. They are all great basses.

Saw that via athread on FDP; it's a Dennis Galuszka Masterbuilt. And not my cup of tea at all. Too 'Gibson' for me.

Cool. It would also be interesting to do a direct electrical comparison of the original pickup and the TEB101 from the Squier. I measured mine at 23k; it was thought that the originals were nearer 30k (Gibson territory), but as Mr Lover wanted them a [i]little[/i] brighter than the Gibsons, I wouldn't wonder if the Squiers were, in fact pretty close... Be interesting, Neil, to hear your result also.

Agreed. I always carry two basses, but only as backup. They all have to be capable of anything I need them to do, and they are. I'm no fan of different basses for different jobs, if for no other reason than inconvenience!

I can get a usable tone out of my Markbass with this bass. It still has more sheer bass, but it'll cut through fine. Definitely rounds, though...flats are where the muddy reputation originally came from. Flats on a 51 or a Mk1 Telebass though...heaven. My point is...keep it stock. They're good basses, just a little...different! As for the massive output - plug it in the active 'ole! If you use radio and it has a pad (eg Samson Airline), there's another answer.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. MIM Fenders are simply superb. They are behind USA Fenders by very little. Sometimes, the USA models are not as good. Some of them have features that may be absent in USA models. Example: you want a split-coil P with a maple neck? Mexican only, and until recently, only then on the Classic 50s P. Notice I said neck, not fretboard. The American Standards have separate fretboards. If you like fretted maple necks, you've no choice but to go MIM or CIJ. Or AVRI or Custom Shop... My basses, all of which get gig time, are MIM, MIJ, and one Squier. All eminently gig-worthy. Some hardware might do with upgrading; my split-coil has a '94 USA pickup in it, but, TBH, it didn't sound any better than the stock MIM pickup. These days, there are very, very few truly duff Fenders. They will almost always set up superbly, even if stores don't show them at their best. Mine just get better and better. The black splitty has done around 300 gigs, starting to show the first signs of PROPER relicing, ie well used and well cared for. As you can tell, I'm a bit of a fan!

These days, Squier basses are entirely gig-worthy in every way. Great value for money.

No, not really...but sort of... It has the short scale, and indeed a split pickup. What it really is, is the first Fender bass to be made in the wake of a guitar, using the same name or design, a la Gibson. They'd only done that in the vaguest way before, in that the original Precision looked vaguely Tele-ish, the the later P looked vaguely Strat-ish, then the Jazz Bass looked vaguely like (but actually probably was) part of the Jazzmaster family. So the answer is no. Ish...

"EDIT: Haha, I tried to say s-w-a-n-k-y and the profanity filter got it. " :) Haha, welcome, Huw!

Welcome aboard, Tom!

Hello to both of you!

Welcome! Time to think about playing with a band. Seriously, there's no better way to improve. Go for it! And enjoy the low end. Den (just 40 years in, and still going!)

Erm, actually, they probably are! However, check out offerings from Artec in Japan. They certainly make some Gibson replacements.

Welcome! P with a Jazz neck. Best of all worlds...

Out of interest, here's the link to the manual: [url="http://www.fender.com/support/manuals/pdfs/instr_owners/Telecaster_Bass_1972.pdf"]http://www.fender.com/support/manuals/pdfs...r_Bass_1972.pdf[/url]