Mayones

October 2009. After years of playing an Ibanez SR1500, the time had come to buy a new bass. The Ibanez was a nice guitar but there was no way you could dial in a sound that had it all. And the thing was heavy, really heavy. Nice woods though: mahogany, bubinga, wenge. Half the African continent was used to build this bass. Anyway, all posibilities for a new bass were checked, in stores, on the internet. No Fender, 90% plays one or has one in a glass cabinet and more important, I don't like the popping sound they make. I needed something different for reasonable money.

When scrolling through the site of a huge German store, I came along a brand I had never heard of before. Fame. Oh my. Then Fender sounds better, no?

November 2009. I was the proud owner of a Fame Baphomet 4. 600 and some euro of pure craftsmanship. Not made in Korea or PRC (is that still the Peoples Republic of ChingChong?) but built in Gdansk, Poland. I spent many hours with the Fame and didn't really pay attention to the somewhat dafty name. The thing just plays great, do we care about a brand name? How about Fodera, Sadowsky, Spector, Pedulla, Warwick, Lakland, Sandberg, Human Base, Collier, Overwater? If you don't know any of these brands, you might find that the Fame logo is far worse anyway, being the name of a really ridiculous movie, or a musical, or something George Michael is still aiming for.
So I surfed the net searching for the Fame background. Fame seemed to be the budget series of a company named Mayones. Yes, if you think Fame is a tricky name, check out Mayones. So these Mayones dudes didn't even use the Fame name. They used the Mayones name. The name 'Fame' was invented by the German store since they're the only importer and seller of these basses and guitars. And amplifiers. And drum kits. And pedals. And microphones. And speakers. And so on... So when Mayones started building budget instruments they wiped the Mayones logo off the guitar and basses headstocks and replaced them with Fame. The image shows that the well crafted Fame Baphomet used to be a Mayones BE-4 in a previous life. Wow. No wow? Yes wow.

Mayones is something different. A name that has made its fame because of the extremely well built guitars and basses. Eye for detail, the finest woods, the better hardware and a playability that far exceeds Fender basses which are way more expensive in a comparable version.

Mayones. MAYONES. Mayooonesss. Ok. Where does that name come from? It sounds rather stupid, in Spanish it means something like 'mayonaise'. I like it on my fries, not on my guitar. So the search continued, now for the Mayones background.
The legend goes that the father of the family company was building instruments for local musicians. Because they couldn't afford American or German instruments, or from any other country for that matter. So daddy started a little shop in the backroom. And he was kind of very good in what he did and more orders came. So he had to expand to get everybody happy. He hired a helper and prices went up. I have no clue what name they used then but the company grew...and grew... and they went international. So they had to come with a name that sounded international.
In their search of a great sounding name someone raised his hand.
Hand raiser: 'I found a name.'
Father: 'Yes?'
Hand raiser: 'Mayones.'
Father: 'Of course. Why?'
Hand raiser: 'Because this is the nickname of the second person ever to work here. And it sounds great.'
Father: 'So Mayones it is.'

The name was chosen. Mayones was the nickname of the guy daddy hired to help him out years back. And he still worked there. With that story in mind, the name already fits the bill better. And the logo is great.

At that moment I knew I had to have a Mayones. Triple the price of a Fame but what a history. Ok, Fender also has a history but then again, I don't like to play them. And if the Fame is that good, what kind of heavenly playability must a Mayones have?