GOOD TO BE AN AMERICAN (bass player)

burk48237 · #1 02-20-2005, 09:51 AM

I don't want to turn this into a country music tune, "I'm proud to be an American and I thump my Fodera hard" and I'm not trying to attack other countries. But, I have read at least a dozen threads from guys hunting for basses or amps in Australia, England even Canada, and the problems,extra cost, lack of availability, etc. of gear in other countries. Think about it, If you want to buy JUST ABOUT ANYTHING in this country, You can hop on the net, order it, have it in a week and not pay tariffs, have a customs inspector visit your house, and not pay sales taxs(I didn't say that, of course I report all my internet purchases to state tax authorities!) I'm sure theres a few Items that are cheaper on the continent, I've only seen one Wal Bass, and one Glockenlag Amp. But most of the good stuff made in other countries, F Basses, EBS, Alembic(well California just seems like another country) Fender Japan, is readily accessable here. I'm not sure the oposite is true. I do beleive it has something to do with free enterprise thriving here with less taxs and regulations then most of our brothers overseas. And without getting to political it seems the free market works for American Bass Players. Now this is not intended to be a bash the continent thread, from what I hear of the Jazz scene , you guys on the continent and in Japan have it much better. Just an observation about the market.

nonsqtr · #2 02-20-2005, 10:07 AM

Yeah, the open market is pretty cool!

I lived in NYC for quite a while, in midtown Manhattan.

You can get anything you want there. You can get Chinese food delivered to your door at four in the morning, and you have your choice between ten or fifteen places that'll do that.

Once I even got a bass delivered to my door, from down on 48th Street, 'cause I was too sick to go pick it up.

The part that somewhat concerns me is the customs and tarriffs. In Europe, that kind of thing can make buying an American bass very expensive (or a Canadian bass for that matter). The same is probably true here in America, but to a lesser degree.

I hear what you're saying though. We're very fortunate to be living in a "good bass economy".

Toasted · #3 02-20-2005, 10:24 AM

Its true that whilst you guys do have alot of great stuff over in the states, but thats only the way i would expect it to be for a number of sociological and economic reasons.

There is a counter argument for this that says that this is primarily an American website - my guess would be that about 85% of all regular posters are American or living in the USA. Due to this fact we are bound to talk about American goods and products more than those not readily available in the USA.

Consider the builders we have in Europe that never get talked about here, but are of undenitable quailty - Status, Sei, Manson, Glockenklang, Tech Soundsystems, Gravis, Hevos, EBS, D*A*M, RM.

There are great quailty products here, and sometimes it does seem like 'everything is better in america' but its just a case of looking closely.

Mitchell Royce · #4 02-20-2005, 11:08 AM

To add to what Toasted is saying:

There are plenty of Euro companies that get a lot of attention on TB but also in the american bass world(I lived in Chicago for 5 years). Oddly enough, quite a few are German. Behringer, Hartke, Ritter, Warwick and Jerzy Drozd for instance. I would go so far as to say that there really isn't an american domination of the bass market anymore.
What is undeniable is that America is the biggest market for bass equipment(well, any instruments really) there is which explains the availability of nearly everything over there. Europe is a smaller market and therefore there is less of a motivation to make things easily accessible. Even that is changing, Thomann(again, german) has a huge inventory from low to high-end gear and ships to most of europe. Due to the ridiculous import taxes that some euro countries impart on goods prices are usually double that of what a product will cost in the country of origin but thankfully there some ways around that.

Just my 2 cents.

nonsqtr · #5 02-20-2005, 11:10 AM

Yes, good points guys. Have you checked out the Plek technology?

http://www.plek.de

Mitchell Royce · #6 02-20-2005, 11:20 AM

Yes, I've heard of plek technology. Ritter uses it on all his basses, I think. Wasn't there a thread about this a while ago, with someone going to a place near LA that did the setup for him with Plek? I remember it got some rave reviews.

burk48237 · #7 02-20-2005, 11:26 AM

I am not saying that the continent is a bad place to buy an instrument, I'm just saying that for a bass player it's a good thing to live in the ultimate consumer nation. I know theres some excellent stuff built on the continent, Don from Low Down toured the Warwick factory this fall and was very impressed. There is some stuff we don't see in the states Marlieux and Blade come to mind right off the bat. But Even Glockinlag is soon goin to be building cabs here! And I deffinently feel sorry for canadians , from what I can tell they seem to pay about a third more for comparible or the same stuff. But when it comes to choices we almost have too many.
PS: Tell me more about Plek technologys