The Fender Performer was an electric bass guitar released in 1985 and discontinued in 1987, assembled in the United States and Japan. A
Fender Performer electric guitar was also available.
Description
The Fender Performer Bass was a uniquely styled bass guitar, designed by
John Page, and renowned for its extremely slender neck (narrower than
Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...
and
Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successfulLes Paul had built a prototype solid body ...
guitars). The Japanese Performer Standard has an alder body, with a bolt-on 34" 24-fret micro-tilt adjustable maple neck and a 2-octave
rosewood
Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues.
True rosewoods
All genuine rosewoods belong to the genus ''Dalbergia''. The pre-eminent rosewood appreciated ...
fingerboard, as opposed to the United States-made Performer Elite, which sports an
ebony
Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...
fretboard. Controls are: Volume, Pickup Selector Switch and TBX Circuit Control (Treble Bass eXpander). The latter provided the same tonal range as the
Jazz Bass between 0 and 5, with the range 5-10 providing significantly brighter sound – oriented towards solo playing and particularly suiting the sharp attack needed for a
slap bass
Slapping and popping are ways to produce percussive sounds on a stringed instrument. It is primarily used on the double bass or bass guitar. Slapping on bass guitar involves using the edge of one's knuckle, where it is particularly bony, to ...
playing style. Both basses were available in Burgundy Mist, Gun Metal Blue, Candy Green, White and Tobacco Sunburst. All finishes were metallic except for the sunburst. Both versions featured a number of minor features underlying the 'high end' design, including rubber inserts around the volume and tone controls, a 'micro-tilt' adjustable neck, tuners with enclosed worms, a high-quality fully enclosed jack socket, a then new and contemporary Fender logo, sculpted pickups marked with an (original) Fender logo, felt washers to prevent the strap buttons marking the body. Individual intonation adjustment for each string was standard.
The Performer Bass was only ever available in one ''Standard'' version. The Standard retailed at $499, but still had a level of fittings comparable to high-level Precision and Jazz models. Unlike the Japanese-made Performer Standard, which featured a 3-ply white pickguard, dual single coils, 3-way toggle switch and a
rosewood
Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues.
True rosewoods
All genuine rosewoods belong to the genus ''Dalbergia''. The pre-eminent rosewood appreciated ...
fretboard, a rumoured Performer ''Elite'', having rear-routed controls and sporting three specially designed
single coil pickups (with the first two placed side-by-side in the rear position and the third in the centre), 5-way switching and an
ebony
Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...
fretboard to be manufactured in the United States, retailing at $949, was never actually put into production.
A 5-string prototype of this bass was made in 1987.
History
The Fender Performer Bass was designed by John Page to be an evolution version of the
Fender Jazz Bass.
The Performer Standard was manufactured by
FujiGen
FujiGen Gakki (), also known as FGN, is a Japanese musical instrument manufacturing company based in Matsumoto, Nagano
is a city located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Matsumoto is designated as a core city since 1 April 2021. , the city had ...
in Japan in 1986, at a time when
Fender was just completing moving United States production from Fullerton (which had been through terrible quality control issues) to Corona. Shortly after the launch of these instruments, CBS sold Fender to a group of employees led by
Bill Schultz and production of the Performers ceased. It is rumored that only a few hundred were made and that some were ordered to be destroyed because of a copyright dispute concerning the neck; however, there is no credible evidence for this. Because no manufacturing assets were transferred in the sale – forcing the new owners to contract the manufacture of instruments – it is more likely that the new
Fender Musical Instruments Corporation simply chose to focus on proven lines.
Collectibility
Once largely ignored by Fender enthusiasts, the Performer has recently grown in popularity and second-hand values. As of 2021, these instruments have commanded prices as much as US$2,500 and higher.
References
External links
Contemporary Jazz and Performer Basses (Japan, 1985)owner's manual (via
Wayback Machine
The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...
)
{{Fender basses
Performer Bass
Products introduced in 1985