Fun Stuff > BAND
Defend your instruments life!
mrcarter:
Begin quote (I cut a little too much off the top o' this one)
Well, then you've been lucky, and gotten one of the better examples. The thing that I find sucky with fender, is the inconsistency of quality, especially in the lower range models.
I have a real problem with fender, really. And I can explain it as well.
Like I said, the quality control is a joke, and they are just too darned expensive with that taken in to consideration. Of all guitar companies out there, Fender is the one that rests the most on their laurels, simply because the strat is so Iconic.
A lot of the greats play strats, so therefore Fender can shove all kinds of hack job axes down the throats of naive youngsters. It's as simple as that, and that is what i dislike. They rely too much on the brand name to sell, and they are just so conservative in their model range. No 7-strings, virtually no extended scales, no interesting finishes etc. etc... Just the same old shit over and over again.
Their lack of versatility and creativity really bug the shit out of me. Like you said, Godin totally own their asses in terms of quality and well... Evertyhing.
I have an SD, which can sound just as stratty as any Strat, but still I'm able to pull off a kick-ass rock tone or even Death Metal chug on it. A Mexistandard Strat just can't do that, and it costs more.
So yeah, I guess you could say my main pet peeve is fender guitars, and to some extent their clientel :p
And one last question: Have you ever PLAYED an Ibanez? Let alone one of their more expensive models? Or anything other than a fender, for that matter. Try taking a look at G&L, the company that Fender SHOULD have been.
End of quote
1) I guess I have been lucky. There's no way the four Fenders in my house could all just be really good because there's some kind of consistency in a CNC machine. Nope, just got the ones that the magic guitar fairy farted on.
2) The guitars they cram down n00bs throats? They're Squier. Most guys who're just starting out aren't going to get a 500 dollar guitar.
3) Conservative? They revolutionized the guitar and made something that just about everyone loves. I don't see why they'd be in a rush to make axes for small audiences. A lot of people just don't like 7-strings, far more than the number that do. They have a broad lineup of guitars that have never really served them wrong.
4) Don't take me out of context. I said that in the near future I can see Godin beating them out. Dollar-for-dollar, I'd still take a Fender over a Godin. They don't have the same character that a quackin' strat can deal out. Period.
5) I've owned three Ibanezs, so yeah, I think I can say I've played one. Not just one kind either, had a stupid heavy metal thing (RG270 if memory serves me right... didn't hold onto that one too long), a jazz box (hell if I remember the name, but the whole thing was quilt maple. Even the pickguard. It was a gross looking guitar... sounded alright, but nothing special) and PResque semihollow. That one covered just about everything my strat couldn't do (which isn't much) but it really just wasn't worth holding onto. G&L are indeed the sex though, but hella expensivo up here in Canuckland.[/b]
vivouk:
--- Quote from: Kai ---Shit, I got my Fender for 70. It is in wonderful condition. TAKE THAT
--- End quote ---
Squier alert? ;)
Lummer:
Okay, I'll try and sound a little less cranky this time. Please forgive my previous rantyness.
1) There's still issues like wood quality, and how they're put together.
2) I know that full well, don't get me wrong. They still do have a kind of monopoly on the market, as I see it, with all the kids who are going out to buy their first "real" guitar, and people who still believe they are the dog's bollocks, because they were in the old days.
3) Yes, they are conservative and boring to ME! I should have pointed that out earlier, sorry. I know that Gibson aren't much better in the conservative department, but at least they make a point out of making variations on their old designs, and have a few more radical body shapes in their roster. Just like more or less every other company out there.
Fender does have a few "special" models every now and again, but still nothing impressive.
I can in some way understand the bad feelings towards 7-strings, because they still have that whole Korn/Nu-metal stigma attached to them, to some degree. But still, the fact that they haven't tried anything weird, tells me they are afraid to take chances in a market where doing just that is the way to get ahead of your competitors.
And I apologize if I sound rude now, but I can't help myself:
Yes, they revolutionized the guitar. SIXTY FUCKING YEARS AGO! Pretty much all other innovations since then, have been from other companies.
4) Godin won't beat them or become bigger. I wish to god they would, but it won't happen, because Fender will always have legions of fanboys defending their mediocre, soulless Rehashocasters. Fender fanboys are even worse than Ibanez fanboys sometimes, and that's bad. Very bad.
If you wanna play blues, fine, get a strat ( or an ES-335). If you wanna play country, get a tele.
But to me, that's all they're good for. You can't play metal on a Strat unless you mod it. You can't play hard rock on a tele, unless you put a humbucker in it.
I honestly believe that a lot of other companies make guitars that can do the fender sounds just as well as newer fenders, and then have other sounds at their disposal as well. Thank god for coil-splittable humbuckers.
Of course you can try and use a strat for everything, but in a lot of situations where it's not at home, it will come up short compared to other guitars. IMHO goddamnit, IMHO!
5) Well, good for you. You had one of their low-end RG's with stock pickups, which are admittedly teh suck, and were even worse back in the day. Try one of their high-end models, the ones that cost the same as american standard Strat, and tell me they're not
a) more playable than any newer production Fender could ever hope to be
b) More sonically versatile
"Vibe" is where it gets subjective, and where we can't argue. You think Ibanez's feel soulless, which I to some extent understand. They do have a more "technological" feel to 'em, I'll agree with you there. I just think it's a small sacrifice to make, in other to have the playability and sound of it.
I, on the other hand, think that Fenders are soulless, because they all look and sound the same to me. And i just don't like being limited in the way you are with a standard Strat. If i wanna play quiet and clean on my mean-ass seven-string, I'll just split the coils of the 'buckers, and turn it down.
If I wanna get heavy with a strat, I gotta go change pickups and all that crap.
Bear in mind, that my mindless ranting is directed at newer, production Fenders. The really old models, and the custom shop models, sound friggin' awesome, and have vibe in spades, but the newer ones have neither vibe nor tone, as I see and hear it.
Okay, I need to sleep now. I just hope I can restrain myself to keep the discussion friendly if it continues ;)
Lummer:
--- Quote from: DynamiteKid ---Without being stupid here, you can't really 'control' the 'quality' of a material that's as inconsistent as wood is. If they cut it up and wedged it back together like chipboard or something it'd sound like shit and people would bitch about it.
--- End quote ---
Easily. Before you make guitars out of it, you analyse the density and all other factors about it, and sort it accordingly.
Your PRS and your Epiphone may have stood next to each other in the rainforest, but the healthiest tree became the PRS.
Kai:
--- Quote from: vivouk ---
--- Quote from: Kai ---Shit, I got my Fender for 70. It is in wonderful condition. TAKE THAT
--- End quote ---
Squier alert? ;)
--- End quote ---
more of Estate sales. dead people FTW!
EDIT: And to each his own, my friend. To each his own.
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