Handmade luthier basses, or boutique manufacturer basses?

[topo morto]

- buy two $2000 basses used

- SHOOTOUT. Sell the loser.

- repeat until 1) you have two amazing basses, and 2) you know what you like in a high-end bass

[Mr_Music90]

I would safe up some extra money (500 - 1000 bucks extra) and I would buy a custom De Gier Elevation bass guitar Sander de Gier is one of the biggest luthiers here in Holland who makes great instruments. Marcus Miller and Richard Bona, bought a De Gier Bebop bass, which is based on the Fender Jazz Bass concept. About twice as cheap then a (custom) Elevation, but it sure means this man has skills.

Anyway, here some pictures from his work :

(Elevation)

Body wood is Abachi, top and back is Camphor Burl. Beautiful!





Here is one with a Swamp Ash body and Buckeye Burl top and back



This one shows his skills when it comes to painting guitars. Yes, the butterflies are hand made





One in red :





Vincenzo Maurogiovanni with his custom build Elevation :

[Thunderitter]

Originally Posted by bootsox

.......

Play a wishbass and you'll understand, about half of them leave the workshop completely unplayable.

I'll bite here!

Wishbasses are different for sure but this is a popular misconception. I've had 30+ Wishbasses and only had an issue with one in terms of playability (buzzy g string) It was easily corrected.

Sure the quality isn't up there with other custom made basses, but for some of us that's an attraction!

...and here's a shot you don't see too often:

[spade2you]

Handmade luthiers that sell directly to customers. Can't top the value.

[Vince Klortho]

I would not choose a bass based on whether it was made by a luthier who builds by hand or by a boutique manufacturer. I would choose based on how much I like the instrument. Exactly where or how it was made is of little importance to me and will not affect my opinion of it or preference.

[malthumb]

Originally Posted by Tupac

So, once you've spent a long time accumulating around $4000 of bass money, it's time to buy yourself a very nice bass. So my question is, when you have the money to buy a bass handmade by a single expert luthier, like a Wal or Sadowsky, why would you buy a bass from a large manufacturer? IE, a Streamer SII or a Spector NS. In fact, what's the building processes of basses like these? Surely they aren't made in a factory like their cheaper cousins? How can they possibly compete.

Trying to only address the part in bold.

There is no guarantee that a handmade bass will be any better than a mass produced bass. At the end of the day it comes down to playability and tone, closely followed by workmanship. The building processed used does not of itself make one bass "better" than a differently produced bass. I have 6 basses.

Two (same brand) are designed and manufactured in a team build process. The company makes all their components except tuners. They produce their bodies from CNC templates of their own design and hand finish the carving work. These are by far the best sounding instruments I own and the best workmanship. As far as playability, they are middle of the pack in my stable. The 5-string was custom ordered to my specs and sees a lot of gig time. When I take it, I don't take another bass.

Two are mass produced. They were both produced by the same company (different from the two above). They are also both 30+ year old 4-strings. These are the next best sounding instruments I own and among the best for playability. They both get a lot of gig time with my bar band because of the combination of tone and playability. I take a 5-string with me to cover the songs I can't cover with a 4-string

One is made in a shop environment. From what I can tell, they are batch built (several of the same model / body produced at pretty much the same time). Electronics and hardware purchased and fitted. This one has it's own tone (very good fretless) and is 2nd best in terms of workmanship.

One was made to my specifications by a single luthier. The body and neck were hand carved and finished. The metal hardware and electronics purchased and fitted. This one is the best in terms of playability and most people would say it's the best looking. Sounds very good, but not as good as the other five. Even so, it gets a lot of gig time, because I'll often take one of my 30+-yr old 4-strings (great tone) and bring this for songs where I need a 5-string.

[Bob Gollihur]

Originally Posted by Vince Klortho

I would not choose a bass based on whether it was made by a luthier who builds by hand or by a boutique manufacturer. I would choose based on how much I like the instrument. Exactly where or how it was made is of little importance to me and will not affect my opinion of it or preference.

++++1 wisdom

If it's good, it's good, regardless of the circumstances of its birth.

I was fortunate enough to find a P/T guy (Karl Hoyt) to make me some basses starting in 1998, and while these basses are beautiful, handcrafted instruments, I'd play them if they were severely ugly. I have a $130 SX I picked out at Rondo several years ago that is wonderful, and if I were to upgrade the electronics it could potentially be my #1 bass, it is a competent backup bass as is. It sings. And if a bass doesn't feel and sound good unplugged, that's The End as far as I am concerned.

I don't think the factor is having $xx, choose your instrument based on its feel and ability to convey your voice, not your pocketbook. And if you can't define your voice yet, spend those dollars on finding it (or them, multiple voices), first. I'm finally in the position to be able to afford more than one instrument, because different music styles calls for different voices (fretted, fretless, etc). And your voice will likely change as you age, if you are paying attention, and I base this on five decades of playing bass.

I've been through some beautiful instruments, but when they don't have the personality that can convey my voice (some were clinically fine, but had no personality) or the right feel, off to ebay they went. You have to kiss a lot of frogs...

[Clammy]

Never ordered a custom from a major manufacturer, but my main bass is a custom, built to my exact specs, Moser Arachnid Ultra, and I can't recommend that route highly enough. As long as you can deal with the longer wait time.

I spec'ed out literally everything on my Arachnid Ultra, except the actual body shape. The woods, paint, electronics (even the output jack placement on the back of the body), inlays (shape and materials) neck dimensions. Plus Neal hand carved the "PURE EVIL" into the front of the body.

Cheers!

[LanEvo]

For me, getting a custom-made bass built to your specifications would only make sense if you have very specific needs/desires that can't be satisfied by an off-the-shelf bass.

If a production bass does what you want it to do, why pay more and wait months/years to get it in your hands?

I have 3 "boutique" basses at the moment: a Leduc fretless 5, a Pedulla Buzz fretless 4, and a Linc Luthier fretless 5. They each have unique features I was looking for, which is why they made sense to me. But all 3 were essentially "series production" basses...not made-to-order.

With such a wide variety of production basses in the world, I find it hard to believe that you can't find something available to match pretty much any need.

[topo morto]

Originally Posted by Bob Gollihur

if you can't define your voice yet, spend those dollars on finding it (or them, multiple voices)

... You have to kiss a lot of frogs...

That's kinda what I said, but you said it better

[2meterbassman]

It's simple, I think.

a) if you are a bass player with regular experience and want to have a very fine bass:
buy a boutique manufacturer bass.
Reason: you have not the experience to know what you want on and in a perfect bass, and you can check all the basses out before buying one.
Your have a perfect choice to take that special one of the finest stuff.

b) if you are a well experienced bass player, who exactly knows what he wants (for example neck profiles etc.), it's better to let a luthier build the perfect bass for you and only for you.

But: For both choices there is one thing, you shouldn't forget:
The bass a) can be sold later to other bass players, you get money back, because the others know the bass and it's specifications.
The bass b) is only perfect for you (size of the hands etc.), and you won't get enough money for it if you want to sell it one day.

Greetz

PS: c) you'll become a very famous bass player - so you could buy a noname chinese trashbass and sell it after 1 hour of use for a lot of money, because it was your bass...;-)

[SJan3]

Originally Posted by Bob Gollihur

++++1 wisdom

If it's good, it's good, regardless of the circumstances of its birth.

I was fortunate enough to find a P/T guy (Karl Hoyt) to make me some basses starting in 1998, and while these basses are beautiful, handcrafted instruments, I'd play them if they were severely ugly. I have a $130 SX I picked out at Rondo several years ago that is wonderful, and if I were to upgrade the electronics it could potentially be my #1 bass, it is a competent backup bass as is. It sings. And if a bass doesn't feel and sound good unplugged, that's The End as far as I am concerned.

I don't think the factor is having $xx, choose your instrument based on its feel and ability to convey your voice, not your pocketbook. And if you can't define your voice yet, spend those dollars on finding it (or them, multiple voices), first. I'm finally in the position to be able to afford more than one instrument, because different music styles calls for different voices (fretted, fretless, etc). And your voice will likely change as you age, if you are paying attention, and I base this on five decades of playing bass.

I've been through some beautiful instruments, but when they don't have the personality that can convey my voice (some were clinically fine, but had no personality) or the right feel, off to ebay they went. You have to kiss a lot of frogs...

Great wisdom here. Cost is almost irrelevant. Fancy woods do nothing for me. I'm not buying furniture. I want a player. Truthfully, I wish I were blind when in the selection process. It's easy to get sucked in by an instrument's appearance. Does it feel, sound and play like a winner?? What else really matters?
I've owned some of the most accepted and revered boutique brands and they're all gone because I have instruments that do the job just as well, maybe better for a fraction of the cost.

[SJan3]

That said, how do you like this??

[SJan3]

?

[sps500]

very nice!!!

[SJan3]

Thanks! I'm excited about it. That's an MBass.

[SJan3]

Looking for reaction to this color!

[SJan3]

Like this color or no??

[JimiLL]

Im thinking about possibly ordering a custom shop streamer, but didnt know if I could justify the cost of the thing with what else is available for the same coin.

However, I know what the fit and finish will be like, I know what the wood will generally be like, and I know how it will sit on my body, play, to a lesser extent what it will sound like

Glad I read this

[SJan3]

Good point. I did select all woods and materials but still could only imagine how it would all come together.
I'm sure its going to be a wonderful j bass!
I was able to sample some other Mbasses and they all played beautifully so I had no hesitation about placing my order.