tbonepete Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Apologies if this question has been asked/answered before, If so mods please delete. As I understand it the Badass bridges are no longer available, and have been replaced by a fender hi mass style one. My question is why didn't Fender just buy the rights/tools etc for the badass bridges? I wouldn't have thought that it wasn't in the Quann's interest to have the bridges just disappear, and if they sold to Fender at least they'd get some loot, and the models (such as the Geddy Lee/Steve Harris, etc) that originally used the bridges could stay true to their original spec. I have no horse in this race, but as an interested bystander I'd only be interested in a bass that had the spec of the original model it represented, and not an alternative spec thus rendering it a different bass to the original. Fender have been known to buy a company or two in the past (lol!) with various results (lol!), so why not Badass? Cheers Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 I have a feeling there's a bit of a complicated story behind the disappearance of Leo Quann... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 [quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1422371878' post='2671783'] I have a feeling there's a bit of a complicated story behind the disappearance of Leo Quann... [/quote] Yep, methinks skullduggery afoot re these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 [quote name='tbonepete' timestamp='1422371596' post='2671782'] My question is why didn't Fender just buy the rights/tools etc for the badass bridges? [/quote] I'm sure if they could have, and it had been commercially viable, they would have. Having said that, they would probably have just done what they are doing now anyway, which is making their own version of it. Fender are very keen on buying up & then quickly eradicating anything it sees as opposition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbonepete Posted January 27, 2015 Author Share Posted January 27, 2015 (edited) [quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1422377429' post='2671883'] I'm sure if they could have, and it had been commercially viable, they would have. Having said that, they would probably have just done what they are doing now anyway, which is making their own version of it. Fender are very keen on buying up & then quickly eradicating anything it sees as opposition. [/quote] An interesting point, However, Quann bridges aren't really oppostion merely a supplier of a small range of parts popular with modders of all makes of bass, and more critically a supplier of parts that enable Fender to sell certain signature models. Unless Marcus,Mr Harris, and Mike Dirnt etc etc play basses with fender bridges on I'm not sure that they would be anything other than homage copies of the models they purport to represent. Interstingly also are the pictures on Fender's site of the Mike Dirnt roadworn bass, and new Steve Harris bass in that the specs state the fender bridge, and the pictures still show the Badass bridge on the basses. A touch of photoshopping going on me thinks. That the bridges are apparently no longer available is one thing, but continuing to sell the actual models that had them on as selling points ( and indeed because the basses which they mimicked) seems not quite right to me. Nailing my colours to the mast I'm not a fan of the looks of the new bridge, it looks cheap to me, but as I said earlier I don't have a horse in this race. If I were to buy a Marcus, Dirnt, Harris etc I would have to source a badass equipped one though, as that's the correct bridge for those models. Edited January 27, 2015 by tbonepete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 [quote name='tbonepete' timestamp='1422379023' post='2671918'] Interstingly also are the pictures on Fender's site of the Mike Dirnt roadworn bass, and new Steve Harris bass in that the specs state the fender bridge, and the pictures still show the Badass bridge on the basses. [/quote] Looks like the new bridge on the Steve Harris to me...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbonepete Posted January 27, 2015 Author Share Posted January 27, 2015 Not apparent on my laptop, but if I look on my ipad which has a much better screen resolution the words BADASS BASS II can be seen when zoomed in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 [quote name='tbonepete' timestamp='1422379789' post='2671932'] Not apparent on my laptop, but if I look on my ipad which has a much better screen resolution the words BADASS BASS II can be seen when zoomed in. [/quote] *squint* Oh, aye... damn my failing eyes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 250 million in debt isn't the best position to be in for buying 'trinkets'? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbonepete Posted January 27, 2015 Author Share Posted January 27, 2015 In the great scheme a few badass bridges don't amount to much. My point was however concerning particular models where the badass bridge was an intrinsic part of that model, and let's not forget that fender, had they bought badass could have sold them separately too. All the R&D and tooling had long since been done which must be more cost effective than developing and producing something which probably does no more than the badass that already exsisted on the models above. IMHO of course! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grissle Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 I talked to an ex-Fender rep awhile back who told me after Leo Quan died production pretty much stopped. Fender bought up most of the remaing stock and the rights. Then they slightly Re-designed it to look a little more Fenderish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbonepete Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 [quote name='Grissle' timestamp='1422402553' post='2672359'] I talked to an ex-Fender rep awhile back who told me after Leo Quan died production pretty much stopped. Fender bought up most of the remaing stock and the rights. Then they slightly Re-designed it to look a little more Fenderish. [/quote] Seems strange that they would go to the expense of buying an iconic product, then change it, thus making it no longer the iconic product, and incurring yet more expense along the way. Why not just make the bridge they've ended up with and not bother buying the rights to badass? They seem to be putting them on basses from the Chinese made modern player upwards, so it can't be that expensive a bridge either. And still it's not a badass that's on the models that had them on at the start, thus making them different models imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Fender making strange business decisions? No can't be right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowieBass Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I doubt there's a great deal of expense involved in designing a bridge these days, particularly with the resources available to a company such as FMIC. It's simple engineering in metal. What I have read about user experiences of Badass bridges is that quite a few people struggle with the sharp edges of the saddles with some of the variants whereas the new chunky Fender bridges look reasonably rounded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 [quote name='tbonepete' timestamp='1422428599' post='2672428'] Seems strange that they would go to the expense of buying an iconic product, then change it, thus making it no longer the iconic product, and incurring yet more expense along the way. Why not just make the bridge they've ended up with and not bother buying the rights to badass? They seem to be putting them on basses from the Chinese made modern player upwards, so it can't be that expensive a bridge either. And still it's not a badass that's on the models that had them on at the start, thus making them different models imo. [/quote] I think things are getting a little confused here. Fender haven't bought Badass (the company) nor are they changing bridges bought from Badass. Thet can't get Badass bridges any more, at least in the quantities needed, so they are using their own high mass bridges to their own design. I suppose they could discontinue the models because a rather unremarkable bridge is unavailable, but I would imagine that would make a lot more people unhappy. To my mind there's nothing particularly special about the Badass other than the fact it was the first high mass aftermarket bridge, and the kudos of the brand name. IMHO it's a high mass bridge that is intrinsic to the design rather than specifically a Badass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 (edited) [quote name='tbonepete' timestamp='1422428599' post='2672428'] Seems strange that they would go to the expense of buying an iconic product, then change it, thus making it no longer the iconic product, and incurring yet more expense along the way. Why not just make the bridge they've ended up with and not bother buying the rights to badass? [/quote] Why do they go to the expense of buying up companies that make very different products to their own, then closing them down completely? That's what they did with Hamer guitars, seems like that's what they've done with Genz Benz & plenty of others too. The only brand they did some good with when they bought them up was Gretsch. Fender aren't alone in doing this, Gibson & Martin are guilty of it too. To be honest I've always thought that Badass bridges, especially the Badass 2, are incredibly over-rated. The new Fender bridge high mass bridge looks better to me. Edited January 28, 2015 by RhysP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbonepete Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 All valid points answering another question, and I'm not questioning the efficacy of either the badass, or fenders different replacement. I question whether it is right to still call the models using the fender bridge by the same names as ones that originally had badass bridges fitted to them as the artists had on their own basses. Does a Marcus Miller bass revert to a Jazz bass of whatever range, from whatever country of origin, or are the atrists now playing basses equipped with fender hi mass type bridge (and I mean playing, and not just standing for a photo shoot)? There will of course always be a number of people who swear by what they've got, and swear AT what they don't, so I'm not asking which is best, just merely is it still a Miller/Dirnt?Harris etc bass if it no longer fits the spec of the original model. Still seems like a lot of faff to go to to avoid making BA bridges for those models. For transparancy I've only owned one BA equipped bass, and that was a Godin PJ active 4 I had in the late 90s, and Bridges are bridges to me (as long as there is no lateral movement), so I don't care on that score,but if I wanted one of the above models I would want the correct parts on it,or it would not be that particular model. And again Imho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowieBass Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I guess a signature bass is a signature bass if the artist is still prepared to have his/her name used with it. Maybe when Fender change the spec and swap out a Badass for something else then that artist cares more about what they'll earn in licensing rather than maintaining a perfect replica of their original bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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