The grass is not always greener

[miles'tone]

Been thinking hard about upgrading my old faithful German ply for a while now so took myself into Town (Cardiff) to check a few basses out. Played a few at a very reputable dealer and was shocked as hell! Two of them that I tried (a hungarian and an English) were freshly set up, at least a century old and good to go.... but not as nice sounding (indistinct, volume/tone) or to play as my old ply! - yes, I realise this sounds crazy. They all were £5000 (That's $9850 USD!!!) Jeez! my bass cost me £650 about 6 1/2 yrs ago and I guess it ain't worth much more now.
Among the others on offer (a few new Chinese carved that were half the price and also sounded better) were 2 other basses there that WERE amazing (same kinda vintage, German, but one was £7500 and the other £6000) and were what I was expecting from a "real" instrument.
It just goes to show that we gotta be careful when shelling out our hard-earned; just because a bass is very old and therefore very expensive doesn't mean it is gonna be great or worth your time and dough.

[ctcruiser]

I had the same experience when I visited the Lemur shop in California last year.

They had a huge selection of basses with prices ranging from $3k to $50k. I don't play with a bow and as I walked around, I found that quite a few lower priced basses sounded better playing pizz than the more expensive ones. I mentioned this to the dealer and he took out a bow and played one of the older basses and it sounded wonderful compared to pizz. It was all in the set up and playing ability.

Everyone has their own expectations for a sound and price does not not necessarily come into play with the sound one wants to get.

You had the chance to try out multiple basses at the shop. There are plenty of players out there that don't have that option.

[miles'tone]

Yes you may have a point there as I didn't play them with a bow; I have NO skill in that area. I guess I was so shocked as it was my first try of fully carved basses and had I suppose a pre-conceived idea of what that would be like (ill-conceived maybe).
I live out in the country so seeing a room full of different basses isn't a daily opportunity for me either. If you want a new (old) bass, you gotta go lookin'!

[miles'tone]

Just another thought... I didn't actually buy any of the above basses as they are all way out of my price range. I'm no rich man. I just needed to try what is out there for some perspective on the matter. Aim high to begin; check your own to compare; shoot somewhere in between.
Made me happy to realise my old ply isn't as bad as I thought!

[Snarf]

It seems to me that the basses on the higher end of the price spectrum would be set up and strung for arco playing, since it's more common for orchestra players to have basses of higher value.

[miles'tone]

Yes I agree from what I've learned now. Not my world. I'm just gonna get me some Innovation super-silvers, a Bassmax and shut the hell up. What I have is good enough to suit my needs.