Labella throws their hat in the bass building ring

[john m]

Originally Posted by bikeplate

Hi

So what price point do you think would have made it more attractive to all who have posted? Not disagreeing with the majority here. Builder is great. Is there a market for this and at what price?

Rob

$595.

[tastybasslines]

Originally Posted by john m

$595.

Come on...

[bikeplate]

Hi

Lol. I was trying to seriously discuss pricepoint. What would it cost to buy parts from Warmoth, for example, to build a nice Precision? I'm guessing about $1000 Body, neck, cost for finishing and painting, hardware, pickups. That's before it's assembled.

Rob

[pklima]

What has this luthier been charging for Precision-style basses without the LaBella name?

[Clef_de_fa]

Another boring P-bass ... and for 3k ??? Dude ... a 100$ SX will do the trick just fine

[jbossolo]

It looks familiar. Can't really place it, though.

[Buskman]

I think the REAL question remains to be asked:
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........clay dots?

[SurferJoe46]

Originally Posted by Buskman

I think the REAL question remains to be asked:
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.
.
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.
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........clay dots?

Pandering with no creativity at all. If they want something really authentic, let 'em use floor tiles.

[BogeyBass]

If Leo did not make it, then who gives a ####

[fourstringdrums]

I'd rather take USA Lakland for that money.

[GregC]

Originally Posted by sigmafloyd

Substitute Lakland for LaBella in this thread. Would the results be the same?

1. A US Lakland costs a little less.
2. The US Lakland comes with a really nice hard case, not a gig bag.
3. You could get the US Lakland in any color imaginable, you wouldn't be limited to four choices. And obviously, the US Lakland is customizable in other ways for extra $$.
4. You've got a choice of neck widths with the US Lakland, as well as body woods (alder, ash, maybe mahogany as well) and pickguard.
5. You've got a choice of pickups with the US Lakland. And AFAIK, LaBella has no history of making pickups; tough to know how this one's going to come out.
6. You can access the truss rod without taking the neck (or pickguard) off.
7. Lakland has a long record of great customer service. LaBella's customer service might be great, too, but they've never handled service issues with basses before.

I'm not knocking the quality of this bass, as Hino apparently has a sterling track record. But for all the reasons above, I'd much rather have a US Lakland.

[MostlyBass]

I agree with all that's been said. Why didn't they do some distinguishing characteristic like fanned frets, or even adding a D hipshot tuner, or um, Lowe price?

[matante]

Originally Posted by GregC

1. A US Lakland costs a little less.
2. The US Lakland comes with a really nice hard case, not a gig bag.
3. You could get the US Lakland in any color imaginable, you wouldn't be limited to four choices. And obviously, the US Lakland is customizable in other ways for extra $$.
4. You've got a choice of neck widths with the US Lakland, as well as body woods (alder, ash, maybe mahogany as well) and pickguard.
5. You've got a choice of pickups with the US Lakland. And AFAIK, LaBella has no history of making pickups; tough to know how this one's going to come out.
6. You can access the truss rod without taking the neck (or pickguard) off.
7. Lakland has a long record of great customer service. LaBella's customer service might be great, too, but they've never handled service issues with basses before.

I'm not knocking the quality of this bass, as Hino apparently has a sterling track record. But for all the reasons above, I'd much rather have a US Lakland.

A U.S. Lakland isn't hand-carved.

The La Bella is a collector's item. Buying one means you'll have one of a handful in the world. Buying a Lakland means you'll have one of thousands.

You guys are wrong in thinking that LaBella is trying to get into the bass guitar business. This is clearly a limited run special collector's edition type thing. No reason to compare it to other's who are actually making a living selling basses.

[GregC]

Originally Posted by matante

A U.S. Lakland isn't hand-carved.

As was said earlier, "hand-carved" is a rather vague term. What exactly is being carved vs. CNC'd? I doubt the luthier is free-handing the whole thing with a knife.

I should note, though, that the LB is finished in nitro, which some folks prefer.

Originally Posted by matante

The La Bella is a collector's item. Buying one means you'll have one of a handful in the world. Buying a Lakland means you'll have one of thousands.

You guys are wrong in thinking that LaBella is trying to get into the bass guitar business. This is clearly a limited run special collector's edition type thing. No reason to compare it to other's who are actually making a living selling basses.

According to Lakland's serial number sheet, the company has averaged about 50 US P basses a year since 2001. It's gonna take several decades more to get to "thousands".

As for the exclusivity of the LaBella, there's nothing clear about it. There's no language about a collector's edition or a limited run, you're just making assumptions. Now, it may not sell very well based on the reaction here, but that's different from a limited edition.

[mongo2]

Originally Posted by GregC

As was said earlier, "hand-carved" is a rather vague term. What exactly is being carved vs. CNC'd? I doubt the luthier is free-handing the whole thing with a knife.

My most frequently used tools when I hand carve and profile a neck are a manual coping saw, hand held jig saw, or band saw for rough cutting the overall shape of the plank, Surform rasps, a Sandvik scraper and several grades of sandpaper using various backing materials including blocks of wood, my hand, and a piece of garden hose...before the Sandvik I used one of my SAKs as a scraper.

[matante]

Originally Posted by GregC

As was said earlier, "hand-carved" is a rather vague term. What exactly is being carved vs. CNC'd? I doubt the luthier is free-handing the whole thing with a knife.

The ad says the neck and body are both hand-carved. That would mean they are carved with hand tools rather than power tools. That makes the bass easily worth $3,000.

There are people who will pay $400 and up for a dress shirt because it is hand-sewn without a sewing machine. Of course, not everyone cares about things being handmade and few people are willing to pay a premium for it. However, there are people who will.

[Blue_Whistle88]

I get why they started with a P-bass (Jamerson), donned with retro-style fittings (e.g. pickup and bridge covers), but as stated there are tons of good Precision clones across the full price spectrum, so Labella haven't really distinguished themselves at all in their design choice. Other "retro" design choices are flatly bad ideas though, such as needing to remove the neck to change the truss rod. That's an antiquated design flaw that no one should permit in this day and age, and I imagine it would be a massive pain for anyone who plans to set up the instrument up (or have someone else do it, either category in which anyone should fit).

I'm sure it'll be a hell of an instrument quality-wise, but as mentioned you could get an American-made P-bass for less than half that (in America at least, not here in Australia...). You could get a tricket-out P-bass from them (deluxe model) or another company for $1000 less, so... yea. Look, I guess they're just wanting to enter the market with little fanfare and produce something fairly traditional, but if they want people to care and go out of their way to get one, they struck out. No one would ever pay $80,000 for a standard-spec Toyota Corolla, no matter how well it was made.

Originally Posted by matante

A U.S. Lakland isn't hand-carved.The La Bella is a collector's item. Buying one means you'll have one of a handful in the world. Buying a Lakland means you'll have one of thousands.You guys are wrong in thinking that LaBella is trying to get into the bass guitar business. This is clearly a limited run special collector's edition type thing. No reason to compare it to other's who are actually making a living selling basses.

A bass being hand-carved isn't really a big deal these days, with the machines being very accurate and able to produce something of extremely high dimensional accuracy. God knows I've seen hand-carved instruments with alarming imperfections too (including a cello).I see what you're getting at though, and I do agree with you to a point. Problem is, you're effectively saying that it's worth the dosh because it's rare. Well, yes... but really we're all (or should be at least) musicians first, and antiques collectors/traders second. I buy an intrument to be played, and paying premiums for abstract benefits is something I'll leave to the more turgid members of society (including this board).

[bassarama]

Originally Posted by two fingers

I realize this isn't the most important factor but dang that head is ugly.

Hey I know folks who have nightmares over the headstocks on:

AC basses, especially the 4 string.
TYLER basses
LAKLAND basses especially the 5 string models.

[mjac28]

Originally Posted by ShowLow

Comes with a gig bag? Really?

I didn't see the free gig bag in that case I'm in.

[lefty]

I built my Warmoth for bout $850. Did the finish myself though