skej21

And one of the four live streamers put his up for sale on FB. Views gained, bin off this “scam” bass on someone else now without a second thought…

Sounds like “Bassists4Justic” is almost born. Let’s all go and purchase our fancy dress crustacean costumes and arrange to rendezvous outside the Fender factory for the protest…

A bunch of people talking nonsense instead of practicing? Pretty standard bass player activity!

It’s quite interesting that someone who quite happily uses gimmicks and misleading, clickbaity content would create a holier-than-thou video trying to highlight (likely unintentionally) deceiptful marketing. People in glass houses and all that…

At this rate, it could turn in to a “Back to the 80s Tribunal Night” 🤣

No worries, I’m totally objective about it and just trying to help, so no offence taken at your persistence 🤣 I completely agree that a Fender Custom Shop NOS bass (if you had no knowledge) would make you assume that it was a Custom Shop model they maybe built for someone and had it cancelled and it’s been sat in a case for a few years since! I suppose Fender are probably just trying to use terminology that’s evocative of history and ‘cool’ era of Fender with names like NOS and Closet Classic, when in reality it could just as easily have been ‘Relic Level 0-6’ or similar!

Well I agree. Although equally it’s not. NOS I believe is misleading, because (as mentioned by others), the term is often used in other musical contexts to refer to stock that’s been protected and preserved. Fender’s use is more like saying “you’re asking for the spec of old (ie not a production model, like an American Original which has vintage specs but can be bought off the shelf) but you also want a ‘brand new’ finish, so it’s NOS” I think ‘Closet Classic’ and ‘Heavy Relic’ and most of their other definitions of applied finish options are probably a little bit clearer, but then you could have the same argument about anyone applying an alteration to an immaculate finish (how do you know what a ‘distressed’ or ‘light relic’ means when it’s such a subjective term and you’re ordering a custom instrument from any manufacturer?)

They don’t “do” anything. It’s just terminology. Like saying to Limelight or Bravewood “I want X paint job but with a ‘light relic’”… but instead of that being a subjective term, Fender have clear definitions of what the five or six options are so you’re both clear on what you’ve asked for. Stating “I want X bass with an NOS finish” means they will make you a bass with a finish that is as-new, irrespective of whether the bass is vintage spec (spec like old stock) - hence ‘NOS’

“NOS” - It’s just Fender’s way of labelling the level of relic so you can choose it as an option when creating a custom shop instrument. As you mentioned, it’s meant to be ‘as new’ using vintage methods and materials but without any wear or aging (yellowing etc) applied (like, for example a ‘closet classic’ level relic). It’s essentially like having a master craftsman from any other manufacturer producing their best instrument. Strangely, Fender also own/run the Gretsch custom shop, which amongst that community is seen as the holy grail of Gretsch. It’s also strange that nobody ever has this discussion about other high-end builders who produce cheaper, mass-produced ranges (like Gibson, Sadowsky, Lakland, MTD, Overwater etc). Maybe just because Fender’s brand is now so synonymous with their cheaper ranges that people feel aggrieved to pay out ‘custom’ money for the OG Fender spec? I’ll remain silently objective and just share the info for anyone that is interested (either way)

Same mistakes as the Aguilar guys I think. Start working with greedy distributors who drive up the prices and stop caring about the quality of the product. When you see the Senior Leadership of these companies leaving, it’s clear that there’s a reason (usually that those who remain want to run the company in a way that goes against their ethos). It’s a shame because both companies were excellent in the early years!

Isn’t this just the same as the TC TonePrint Amps where you could load up the TC pedal range? I’m not really sure how they could’ve spent 2 years ‘developing’ the concept of an amp with built-in effects…

Nah it means you can only attend if you’re now a bass player who started as a failed guitarist 🤣

I recently managed to get my hands on the EBS Octabass (Blue Label, even though it's green?!) Triple Mode Octave Divider and thought I'd share the results in case anyone is thinking of dropping cash on one! I was quite surprised by the manual's suggested "synth" setting, as it didn't really evoke that feel for me (although improved when I combined it with a bit of dirt from the ValveDrive). All in all, i think the tracking is actually really good, the tone is very smooth and friendly in a mix and the pedal itself feels really well built (with a quality footswitch). It's a cracking little option!