Indeed 
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I like Fender and Warwick. What does that say about my taste? 
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Tastes like you are gonna spend a lot of money.
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This is interesting…Gibson aside (I have no use for them), but Geddy Lee’s BBB of Basses really got me into the nuance of Fender and Fender style basses. I guess I am just used to them now maybe too. Ibanez, Spector, Shecter, Warwick - I see a lot of good looking wood, colors etc but things that never make me want one. Trying the couple Warwicks in hand yesterday made me even double shure I don’t want one. I was looking down at a Warwick fingerboard with gold (maybe brass?) frets against a dark woodgrain fingerboard that matched the bass thinking “that’s super cool, I can’t stand this bass”.
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Yeah I totally get that. I had to own two of them before I admitted the Warwick feel just wasn’t my favorite. For me it was the offset neck position due to the long body adding extra reach that I noticed. Or at least I think that’s what it was.
Loved the look though.
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Josh did this video…
How to Learn Bass Scales (Become a Better Bassist, Not a Robot)
There are links under the video for a bunch of melodic music written out for bass.
It’s a great lesson.
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I don’t dislike Fender, I just don’t think they are anything special (to me anyway). They are a solid instrument you won’t go wrong with (despite occasional QC issues), and they are the standard everyone compares to. But I like what other manufacturers do stylistically a lot more.
Personal preferences really. I could easily see owning a P-bass at some point. But whether it was made by Fender or one of the many outstanding small manufacturers is a good question.
Fender (and by limited extension, MusicMan) does do pastel colors really as well or better than anyone else though. They just look great.
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Each brand has his own vibe. The pricing was pretty much the same for any of my basses. You would think that you pay less for a passive bass but that is not always the case.
Personally I think that a lot of brands stepped up their game, especially if we are talking about entry level. Before I would agree that Fender entry level was a bit overpriced compared to other brands but I think the new Player series are quite good. Tbh these days I would prob pick a Mexican over an American. Imo judging on resell value is just an excuse to go for a shinier bass 
Ibanez, Yamaha and LTD ESP are good examples who sell great guitars for an affordable price. In the end it all boils down to personal preference anyway.
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Yeah. I kind of look at Fender as a product line like I look at the Ford F-150 truck. It’s a solid choice, used for generations, good at what it does, with large numbers of dedicated fans, but at the same time isn’t what everyone will want to get around town in
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I think the thing with Fender is there are a lot of very good instruments mixed in with a lot of marketing and quality ho-hum. So the ho-hum brings down the brand. That’s why I like looking for the unique Fenders, and modding the heck out of them is super easy. More aftermarket easier to fit parts available then any other brand of course. I agree most are F-150 like, but there are some jewels in there.
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I think the f150 analogy is an apt one. You don’t see radical design changes in experimentation in an f150 partially because of inertia, the it’s selling why change, and partially because the customer base wants their Granpa’s f150 in the showroom when they go shopping.
Fender did a new take on a semi hollow bass about 10 years that went nowhere. People who want new designs aren’t Fender customers, and Fender customers want classic designs. Sort of trapped by their own success.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that much of their new design work comes out of Squier, Jackson, or Charvel. All Fender products.
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Not solo- but featured: Vulfpeck has a few songs where Joe Dart is really playing the main melody as the bassist - but Vulf arrangements are sometimes pretty non-traditional. They really emphasize the role of the rhythm guitar for instance.
Deantown has a repeated 12 measure bass “solo” which is really the main melody of the song. And it’s incredible to see them perform live because it’s 12 bars of almost all 16th notes and complicated rests - and the audience sings along note for note. Seriously - Madison Square Garden, sold out, and every damn person sings the bass line note-for-note starting about 55 seconds in:
And there are solo bass artists and albums out there for sure. A guy from my city that I’ve found (and someday hope to get some lessons from) is Josh Cohen. He’s kind of taken tapping to such a high level that it’s more like he’s playing a keyboard instrument on a fretboard - check out his cover of Kiss from a Rose:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPYX83m1n_g
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Huh. I did not know that.
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Fender owns Gretsch now too.
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Damn. They’re becoming the Disney of guitars.
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Fender does not own Gretsch as far as i know. Fender has an exclusive development/manufacturing/sales deal for the Gretsch guitar brand but the Gretsch family still owns the company.
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In late 2002, Gretsch and the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation reached an agreement giving Fender control over marketing, production, and distribution of guitars, with the Gretsch family retaining ownership of the company.[21]
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So Fender in essence handles the day to day, and the Gretsch family has time for their hobbies.
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