Jim Duff Music Blog

Growing up in Kentucky, Jim Duff counted the legends of traditional Country music as his heroes. Artists like Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Townes Van Zandt made a huge impact on the young songwriter and helped shape his sound. However, music was not his only talent and life took him in another direction for a while.


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Thursday, February 2, 2012

Fender Bass: Still #1 After All These Years

Special effects due to amplification and multiple sound options have made electric guitars popular since their invention. One that is particularly popular is the Fender Bass, not only because if you buy bass guitar, your looking for quality and sound, but because the name itself is so familiar to many music fans and musicians.

The brand has been around for 61 years since "Leo" Fender perfected his electric solid body bass and opened the California based company in 1946. Other companies had sold electric basses, but his was considered the first successful mass-marketed one. Today, the headquarters are in Scottsdale, Arizona, and the guitars are manufactured in Korea, Japan, Mexico and Corona, California. The company was sold to a larger corporation but eventually repurchased by the employees.

You can be certain that any Fender Bass will be an excellent instrument and carrying the standard and guarantees of the brand with it. However, choosing just the right instrument for any one musician may be an intimidating process due to the number of options and choices to consider.

Price is always important for any purchase, but in this case it is more important to find the instrument that best fits both your style and they way you plan to use the guitar. Some styles of necks, frets, keyboards, and body shapes will be good for one, but bad for another player. The sound also varies with the type of wood used to make it, as well as with the different designs and even the coating of the instrument.

Some guitars are better suited to rock music and others are intended for the more mellow sounds of jazz, and you can find a Fender Bass to meet either style, or many other styles like blues and country music. A list of those stars playing a Fender Bass or other style guitar from the brand will demonstrate how respected and versatile the brand is. Artist Freddy Fender renamed himself in honor of his guitar brand!

Even small details like a coating or no coating on the fret board will change the sound and even a good guitar can sound less desirable on a poor amplifier. It is important to get the best equipment you can afford that meets your needs rather than trying to settle for some instrument that will never make you happy. The only real way to choose a Fender Bass model is to try them out and see which one is the best fit, then to shop for the best price and finance if necessary.

Try out the models to see if you want a jazz type, a classic precision line, or another design by going to the company website to locate dealers in your area. People generally find several that are what they are looking for this way, and can then narrow down the choices by price and look. There are also deals to be found on the internet, want ads, and pawn shops.

Daniel Wright

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