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To be honest, CBS was a much more diverse time in Fender's history. They weren't afraid to try new designs. They gave use the Electric XII. And when that didn't sell they turned the old stock into Fender Mavericks(I think that is the coolest design by them in a while.). When the Bass V didn't work they gave use the Fender Arrow.

Nah, they were less diverse (at least than the FMIC), the actual CBS dudes probably had nothing to do with the guitars produced at that time, most of the guitars were trend-jumping attempts (12-string electrics in the late 60s, what visionaries), total failures then hastily reworked into something else as a last resort, poor quality control on neck pockets which is more or less the most important part of a Fender, etc...
They were just taking stabs in the dark and looking at what happens to the money accordingly.

Fenders old acoustics are shite. You guys go on about them so I saw one recently and was like "oh yeah!" but oh noooooooooooooooo. No.

I bet the same good ideas came from R&D down below. Hard to say. I wouldn't mind getting an old Starcaster for xmas.

Yeah it's amazing how people go on and on about Fender as a company when you really look at it they built almost everything that is truly amazing from that company from 1948-1960. In twelve years they built almost all their key products. Most everything after that is a novelty, a retread, or something Fender fanatics like.

jcyphe wrote:Most everything after that is a novelty, a retread, or something Fender fanatics like.

suits me, chief. i'm a fanatic about novelties.

Mavericks are horrendous. They look like exactly what they are: cobbled together leftovers shite.

Its like the pre 'class axe' period for BC Rich

When I say that CBS owning fender brought us some great things, you guys rant on and on about how the suck so much. But then you go to another thread look at mustangs made during the CBS Era and go "Those guitars the the greatest, a lot better than the Newer ones!"

No I don't.

sonicmansuperb wrote:When I say that CBS owning fender brought us some great things, you guys rant on and on about how the suck so much. But then you go to another thread look at mustangs made during the CBS Era and go "Those guitars the the greatest, a lot better than the Newer ones!"

I don't read anbody ranting about how much CBS Fenders suck alltogether. And when it comes to the board's views on CBS era mustangs I started a thread asking about them back when I first signed up and the consensus seemed to be "hit and miss" with quality control, albeit with praise for the aesthetics (comp stripes, various new colors). So....yea.

sonicmansuperb wrote: But then you go to another thread look at mustangs made during the CBS Era

Some people here don't even like Mustangs.

paul_ wrote:Fenders old acoustics are shite. You guys go on about them so I saw one recently and was like "oh yeah!" but oh noooooooooooooooo. No.

sonicmansuperb wrote:When I say that CBS owning fender brought us some great things, you guys rant on and on about how the suck so much. But then you go to another thread look at mustangs made during the CBS Era and go "Those guitars the the greatest, a lot better than the Newer ones!"

Are you getting this forum mixed up with somewhere else? Not many people here actually own pre-cbs. But for the record i own two and i prefer a Korean Fender to the pair of them

Maybe it's because I also go to OSG. They were the second forum I visited,(first was JS.com) And they seem to agree on CBS being the worst time in Fender's history. I assumed that opinion was the same here. By the way, I love the maverick. I think they should re-issue it.

sonicmansuperb wrote:Maybe it's because I also go to OSG.

and FDP for a guess?
I never really got all that pre-cbs snobbery, its for old men with rose tinted glasses if you ask me.

Fran wrote:I never really got all that pre-cbs snobbery, its for old men with rose tinted glasses if you ask me.

Guitarafficianado?

silly_rabbit_band wrote:

Fran wrote:I never really got all that pre-cbs snobbery, its for old men with rose tinted glasses if you ask me.

Guitarafficianado?

BINGO!

i've never even seen a pre cbs fender, let alone played one. are you suggesting we write a "BUY FENDER" petition to the suits at CBS?

Suits @ CBS wrote:WTF IS FENDER. GTFO.

Have played pre-CBS - they're just guitars. There's no magical reason they're any better than a modern equivalent - in fact, most American Fenders these days are the same or better quality, and certainly more consistent. I can give you 5-10 reasons a 50s Dano is better than a new one, but I can't think of a single reason a vintage strat would be better than new. The best I've played have been Japanese, actually.

Leo Fender should've stayed in control - he was the one who always pushed for improvements and new ideas. Fender had a new model every 2-3 years when he was in charge.

I don't make a point of ranting about CBS, in fact the 70s strat neck profile is indeed my favourite electric guitar neck of all time and I've played plenty of CBS Fenders that were really, really awesome... I'm not saying they're all crap, or that nothing good came out of that era... just that it wasn't CBS's direct intervention for one, (there's people who work in corporations and buy companies to further their financial interests and that of their colleagues... and there's people who design guitars) and that quality control was at a low for the company's history due to the streamlining of production and the hiring of inadequate staff.
All the "most diverse" seems to be based on is that they had a few shortlived models out at the time which you like looking at pictures of.

Guarantee you the most CBS ever did for Fender design-wise:
"How many 12-strings did you sell? Not very many? Well you told me you needed new machines and plastics and everything, what the hell man. Can we save it somehow? Yes... yes.. and call them the "Maverick" while you're at it, because it sounds as silly as this whole idea does. [hangs up phone and returns to poker game with coked-out 70s hooker] Idiots!"

It was the FMIC that got my vote for "most diverse," that's MODERN, post-CBS fender, because they make almost everything from the other 2 eras and then some.