I've just read the articles on edroman.com, who is a builder from Las Vegas. I'm quite surprised by his statements on expensive basses that comes from manufacturers actually. Are they really overpriced? Are we being totally ripped off by them?
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are we being ripped off by expensive manufactured basses?
- Thread starter zazin
- Start date
Ed Roman died a few years ago, yet he still sells his custom build models on his site. That's honesty at work.
Well even when you pay for a Cheap Bass........it can be overpriced : http://www.talkbass.com/threads/horror-review-of-a-bad-fretless.1096858/
At least with branded expensive basses, you get quality control
At least with branded expensive basses, you get quality control
Ed Roman was very opinionated. Whatever he sold was golden, and whatever everybody else sold was suspect. I enjoyed his rants and agreed with much of his raving, but you must never forget that he was primarily a salesman—with his OWN brand of punch in the bowl.
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Unless there is some fraud or dishonest marketing involved there is no ripoff. If you accept a price and you get the product you expected, then the price was exactly right, you decided so when handing over your money.
Yes. We're being ripped off terribly. Call the police. call your congressman. these schiesters must be stopped. Thank you Mr. Roman for protecting our wallets, we cannot be trusted to make up our own minds what to buy and what not to buy.
I simply cannot WAIT for this to become a Fender bash thread. The last one isn't even done yet. TB, you never cease to not amaze me.
I simply cannot WAIT for this to become a Fender bash thread. The last one isn't even done yet. TB, you never cease to not amaze me.
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His example of HD and Gibson speak to the concept of "branding". The products may still be good and well made, but people want to be associated with the name as much as the product...even if they don't even use the product. Nike is a great example of branding as well. How many swoosh T-shirts do you see people wearing? They paid a premium price for that shirt. Is it better than the Fruit Of The Loom they could have bought for half the price? Probably not, but they want to associate with the brand. Harley is probably one of the best examples out there; great product, but an even stronger "brand" that's rocked by many who have never even sat on a motorcycle.
He also respected other maufacturers who are honest, like PRS for example. IMHO, gibsons are as ed roman said.
He considered PRS honest until they sued him for copying their designs. Then suddenly they became overpriced crap.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Ed Roman is hardly a disinterented party regarding this subject. Leave it at that re his statement. Are you paying for the name? Of course you are, on anything. That's why they are branded.
Ed Roman? Ed Roman was one of the biggest crooks on planet earth. He stole basses/guitars from clients by forgetting they were in for restoration and not in his shop on consignment. He and Moseley's daughter "appropriated" the Mosrite brand name and went after all other copy makers (even though he was making copies using the same Japanese parts as everyone else and just happened to exploit the family feud between Semi's daughter and wife). But, they did not sue, they just bad mouthed because they had no actual legal standing.
Ed Roman should not be a reference for anything aside from being a crook.
Ed Roman should not be a reference for anything aside from being a crook.
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The old debate -- and it's really quite simple.
ALL guitars are made in part by machines and in part by hand. ALL OF THEM. It doesn't matter if it's Fodera or a SX.
Now, is there a difference in quality? Sure. but in some cases not as much as you might think. A $200 Ibanez may be inferior to a $1200 instrument, but a $500 necessarily isn't. It's just wood and electronics and at a certain point, it's as good as it's going to get.
These days it's like watches. 50 years ago if you wanted a precision watch it was going to cost a lot more money than a cheap one. Then Timex came along and showed the world you can have a good watch that looked nice and worked just fine for 20 bucks. Well, the same thing has happened to guitars. There isn't much differnce between a Squier and a custom built bass but the custom built people have higher overhead and sell fewer guitars so they need to charge more. If you don't mind paying five times as much for a bass that's 10% better, then go for it.
ALL guitars are made in part by machines and in part by hand. ALL OF THEM. It doesn't matter if it's Fodera or a SX.
Now, is there a difference in quality? Sure. but in some cases not as much as you might think. A $200 Ibanez may be inferior to a $1200 instrument, but a $500 necessarily isn't. It's just wood and electronics and at a certain point, it's as good as it's going to get.
These days it's like watches. 50 years ago if you wanted a precision watch it was going to cost a lot more money than a cheap one. Then Timex came along and showed the world you can have a good watch that looked nice and worked just fine for 20 bucks. Well, the same thing has happened to guitars. There isn't much differnce between a Squier and a custom built bass but the custom built people have higher overhead and sell fewer guitars so they need to charge more. If you don't mind paying five times as much for a bass that's 10% better, then go for it.
You sure on that percentage?
I'm not any more pro-Squier than I am anti-Fodera...but hey, way to completely discredit / disavow the whole art of lutherie.
What's "better", and by how many percent, is defined by each buyer. Your criteria for what something is worth may mean little or nothing to someone else.
It's an estimate. If one were to force the issue I could say that some cheaper basses sound
better than some boutique basses. Often people pay for fancy finishes but I've seen custom basses that were just bare wood, which to me, looks a bit cheap. So, it's all in the eys, and ears, of the holder.
As some of us here said, I might as well custom an exact replica of a Stingray from china and sell it to a buyer at USD1k. And if the buyer agrees to buy it without any questions ask, I'm not in the wrong right?
Your point is not lost on me, but in no way is there a direct comparison, in your words, between a Squier and a Fodera.
In no way am I trying to be argumentative Ralph, honest, but you're taking a simplistic approach to a broader view.
In no way am I trying to be argumentative Ralph, honest, but you're taking a simplistic approach to a broader view.
To the OP's original point. All basses are made pretty much the same way. Assuming the wood is good and the woring is correct and the pups are decent, the only difference might be a little quality control. Then again, even boutiques can have their problems. I know.
