Cagey said:
I can understand balking on the Telecaster body style - I felt the same way about them for many years, and still am not impressed with the standard issues of those things. Jaguars and Jazzmasters I can take or leave. But, how can you dislike ALL Fenders? Stratocaster's a fine design, as are their Jazz and Precision basses.
My "hatred" for Fender is more philosophical then practical. Yes, I do like stratocasters, but hate Fender. I'll explain.
I'm a very
visually driven person when it comes to tastes (like most guys). I'm very artistic (paint, pencil, sculpture, and (duh) music). Besides the iconic strat,
I think every Fender design I've ever seen be it bass or guitar is a frickin' plane crash aesthetically (besides, say, something like a Fender Precision Bass which
is just a stratocaster in bass form). I think Telecasters are the anti-christ, I hate the body design almost as much as I hate the condom-tipped headstock.
Oh, I hate Gibsons equally - I think Les Pauls rank right along side the Tele on my haterd scale. I should point out all of the above is based solely on what
they
look like vs. what a musician should actually care about in any given guitar: Tone, playability, etc.
My first guitar I ever had was a strat. I loved it. Until I went into my first music store and saw
other guitars. I can remember quite vividly picking
up almost any other guitar off the rack being able to play better, faster with much less effort, more comfort and sounded night-and-day better. I can also remember
looking at other strats on the rack and seeing the insane prices the store wanted for them. "For what?!" I asked myself. Their "tremolos" suck, the pickups
suck, the nuts suck, pickguards are stupid, they hum, they buzz, the necks felt huge and bloated (and didn't even have a proper fretboard, they're so cheap
they just pound the frets into the neck!), they went out of tune just by looking at them funny. They couldn't hold a candle next to any Jackson, Ibanez, Kramer,
Charvell, or ESP I layed my eyes on. Thats when I was 15, and my opinions have changed a bit now I'm 38.
Granted with age, I've gained a little wisdom. Maybe its because I grew up on metal in the 80's (and lets be honest - when you think 'Metal', 'Fender' is not the
first brand that pops into your mind). Today I appreciate and enjoy the likes of Clapton, Gilmour, and SRV. But I still loathe Fender. They make some
great
guitars, but in my opinion, they are no-way, no-how worth the insane prices they charge for the instrument you actually get. Just like Apple, 2/3rds of the price
is for the name only - and to me that equals: rip-off.
/rant
I supremely apologize for not posting on-topic, back to our regularly scheduled program - just felt the need to clarify to the people going:
"WTF man, you hate Fender?". :toothy11:
Jmohill, that body and wood still rock!
ccasion14:
