I mean, it took Rickenbacker until 2020 to change a bridge 
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As a company, Fender has other brands to be more contemporary and/or creative — Jackson, Carvel, etc. So they can still serve those markets with those brands while letting the Fender brand (and Squier) concentrate on serving the market for traditional Fender designs. And obviously there is a market for those.
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Probably because its cheaper to make them that way.
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Good to get a first hand comparison.
Thanks Joe.
Edit:
@Jazzbass19 Joe that was a very good rundown between the 2 basses and your simplified and straight forward approach made me understand what makes a US model what it is. The only think I don’t care much for is the binding (never really understood its use except for visual appeal which again is not me) but the rosewood on that artic pearl looks great.
I do think the price over a Squier is justified especially when I do think Squiers are now becoming over priced. The next comparison I’d like to run is MIM (such as my Deluxe) vs the elite or ultras.
Again thanks. It was a good read and insightful.
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That would match Leo Fender’s personal ethic and vision for the company, yeah.
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Holy moly this one looks cool! The guitar version is kinda cool too https://www.fender.com/en-NL/player-plus-meteora-hh/0147352300.html
Price is okish for what you get (it’s still Fender). The player is good quality. If I would ever buy a Fender again I would prob look for a MIM.
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They’re willing to save 0.007% of the cost on the additional time it takes for the CNC machine to mill out a profiled neck heel when the bass costs $400. They’re certainly willing to save that 0.007% when the same bass is $600. Margins, margins, margins.
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lol we discussed this already 
The look is kinda growing on me, especially that silverburst with the maple fretboard.
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Ahhh I see! Yeah I like the silverburst too and Fender maple fretboards are awesome. Love the blue version too. Seriously I should stay away from this thread lol
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I conveniently happened to be looking for a silverburst guitar on Reverb and that gorgeous thing popped up. I think Imperial just got one in. I need to go play it.
This beauty popped up too 
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Holy crap…
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Nice!
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Sorry, Rickenbacker. If you won’t, China will 
I like this one, too…
Obviously they will likely not “sound like a Rick” but I wonder how close they are? 
I can’t remember if I posted this or not, is it original or yet another copy of something? It’s $400 but Dingwall copies are, too. But I don’t know enough about every single bass ever made to know if this is a copy of one or not.
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Maybe not but for $310 in genuine Rick picups & maybe a couple of capacitors it should.
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Might need to drill a hole and mount another jack/plate for Rick-O-Sound 
too XD
or buy all the stuff (including jack) and in the comment section of the order “Absolutely not trying to make a ripoff more legit”
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Rickenbacker fought extremely hard to keep copies off the market in US and Europe but now, like everything else illegally copied, all bets are off for Asia.
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Depending on who made it it might be higher quality than a Rick too. There’s a place in Hong Kong making some of the best basses you can buy and selling them at MIM Fender prices.
https://www.shijieguitars.com/root/basses/df-4
Check out this teardown on one of their 6-strings:
tl;dr, much better made than MIA Fenders for under a grand.
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Body: Wulnut
I love foreign sites
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Have you seen the ESP/Edwards Star Birds?
https://bigboss.jp/store/products/detail/1611
BigBoss is ESP’s giant retail store. They sell all brands but have a ton of ESP, Edwards, E-II and Grassroots.
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If that’s the worst I see today it will be a good day
I don’t even notice that stuff any more. I suspect my English has gone way downhill over the last few years.