I know we have probably all complained about the price of everything in today's world. Basses have definitely went up of course. What brands do you guys see as having went up the most in the last 10 years(since 2015)? A Fender American professional II 4 string is right at $1800. Occasionally throughout the last year they have been on sale at least twice at $1600. That's about what they were in 2019 prior to the pandemic. In 2002 I purchased a 5 string Fender American Standard jazz bass and from the best I can remember it was around $1400. I can't remember if that price was with the Peavey combo added or without the amp and just the bass, so I may be slightly wrong. To me $1800 as bad as what you will pay for an Ernie Ball Music man bass. Today most of them are a few hundred shy of being $3000. They are wonderful instruments and something tells me in 2017 they were probably still around that price or maybe the lower $2000 range. Dingwalls have really gone up but there are other factors in that. I paid $1920 for me DRoc in September. Now it's $2400. The taxes will add at least another $100. Spectors are not cheap either. But an observation I have made about Spector and Fender to a certain degree is that the new models replacing the older models at least do seem to have a few upgrades. With music man, I have no idea what the stingrays that were before the stingray specials were selling for. Now my last observation is with Ibanez. On certain basses, I've noticed barely any price increase at all. Mainly with their standard BTB and portamento lines. They are always coming out with new models and they don't seem to be replacing the older ones so it's harder to compare. But in my opinion their basses seem to be very close to what they were in 2018 and I wonder why. They aren't the only ones. Sterling by music man are the same way. No big drastic increase. I would expect an increase with Ibanez before those other brands because Ibanez does have several higher priced models over $1000.
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Bass prices today
- Thread starter Cory rich40
- Start date
I apologize for some bad grammar. My thumb slipped on the keypad on my phone and they like to throw in words sometimes you didn't intend.
All I know is compared to when I started playing in 1985, you get more bass for the same inflation adjusted money now than you could then. And budget basses are better than ever.
If you go back from the 60's, Fender has kept its price points fairly consistent with the effects of inflation on the purchasing power of the dollar. So if you take the per capita income rate, a MIA JB or PB is going to cost about 2 weeks of gross income, give or take.
As for other companies, I'm sure none of them are going broke and normal laws of supply and demand will still apply and drive their pricing accordingly.
That said, there are so many quality basses for sale in the secondary market. I'm certain I'll never buy a new bass at full retail.
Well, honestly after reading all tails of woe on deal's gone bad that pop up here frequently, I think "Can be great if you know what you're doing" might be a better comment..lol!
With the exception of a MIM JB I bought for my son in 1996, the last new bass I bought was in 1974, not that I've bought a lot of them however. The trick is you have to be patient and wait for the right bass at the right bass. One should never feel pressure to buy. And if you miss on a deal of a lifetime, I assure you there are always basses for sale 24-7 365 days a year and your next bass is one of them. Just be patient for it to show up.
What i see is that when a new country of origin starts into instrument manufacturing that is where the bargains are. For example, Japanese instruments were the butt of all kinds of jokes in the 60's and 70's. Then along comes things like the Ibanez Musician line, $800-$900 basses, original designs, state of the art. So, along come the Koreans to sop up the low end, only took them 4-5 years before they started to emulate the Japanese. Same thing with China, in the early days they might have made one decent Squier P bass special out of twenty, only a handful of years later they are making the Classic Vibe series. So now we have Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines etc. This is the only area i see any real changes, i think prices have stayed relatively stable throughout the years. If anything our dollar is going further than it used to. Used prices seem to be all over the place, especially strange since almost everyone has access to the web.
Here's the Fenders and Squires for sale in a Musicians Friend from the Fall of '98. I thought it was weird that this fall of '98 catalog had no Ibanez basses. Lots of Yamaha, Rogue and Epiphone with a few Tobias, Washburn and Jackson basses.
The reality is basses are less expensive now than in the past. Here is how I determined this.
In 1960, the average salary in the US was $5,600 and a Fender Jazz bass was $290.00 which means the price of the bass was .05% of the average salary.
In 2024, the average salary in the US was $59,228 and a Fender Jazz bass was $2,333.00 which means the price of the bass was .04% of the average salary.
Also, the avarage salary increased 10.4 times, but the bass only increased by 8.04 times.
So, I would say be happy. It has gotten better!
In 1960, the average salary in the US was $5,600 and a Fender Jazz bass was $290.00 which means the price of the bass was .05% of the average salary.
In 2024, the average salary in the US was $59,228 and a Fender Jazz bass was $2,333.00 which means the price of the bass was .04% of the average salary.
Also, the avarage salary increased 10.4 times, but the bass only increased by 8.04 times.
So, I would say be happy. It has gotten better!
So it's probably more than likely I payed right at $1000 for my fender American standard jazz V in 2002, and $400 for the peavey combo amp.
My first bass in the year 1999, was a MIM Standard Jazz. Paid $315 new.
In '01, I bought a MM Stingray for $1000, brand new out the door at GC in Castleton, IN. That was a great store back then.
I remember paying $1900 for a first year MIJ Sadowsky Metro. Paid $3200 for an MTD 535 somewhere around '04 or '05.
I stopped playing for nearly 10 years, and have recently come back, and was honestly quite shocked at how expensive Fender's and Music Man, etc. have become. Lakland has stayed relatively reasonable, it seems. But, there are some great deals to be had. I used to be kind of a MIA snob. That's no longer the case. Can't afford to be.
In '01, I bought a MM Stingray for $1000, brand new out the door at GC in Castleton, IN. That was a great store back then.
I remember paying $1900 for a first year MIJ Sadowsky Metro. Paid $3200 for an MTD 535 somewhere around '04 or '05.
I stopped playing for nearly 10 years, and have recently come back, and was honestly quite shocked at how expensive Fender's and Music Man, etc. have become. Lakland has stayed relatively reasonable, it seems. But, there are some great deals to be had. I used to be kind of a MIA snob. That's no longer the case. Can't afford to be.
It's mostly just inflation. There are plenty of price lists for the major brands posted on teh interwebz that show how prices have risen steadily. Old guys like me shake our heads when we see basses that cost $300 new when we were kids today selling for almost $2000.
Fender P bass ("street prices" at 30% off were not shown in price lists until recently)
1971 $293.50 plus $73 for the case, upcharges for maple boards, left handed and custom colors (max $352.50)
1979 $555 plus $90 for the case, same upcharges, max $610.
1985 First gen P Standard $559 with case, no maple boards, only 5 colors (no upcharge), no lefties.
1989 Standard (still MIJ??) $510 plus $110 for molded case, 5 colors, rosewood or maple board, no lefties.
1995 American Standard $900 with case, upcharge for lefty $1020 or fretless $970
2005 AmStd $1428 with case, rosewood, lefty rosewood and maple boards all the same price
2014 AmStd $1800 with case, lefty, righty, maple or rosewood all same price
2025 AmPro II $1800 with case…same price as 2014?? $100 upcharge for 5 string
I got these price lists at Invalid Link Removed, they ended at 2014, got 2025 from Sweetwater
The big leaps were during the 1970s period of "stagflation". The original Standards were cost reduced with single ply pickguards, plastic knobs, etc. All bass production other than vintage reissues shifted to Japan after CBS sold the company (1985?), Americam Standards arrived in the 1990s at a higher price than the MIJ Standards. Then a big leap in the 21st century and it's actually levelled off
The MF catalog posted by ElectricBass 72 shows that as late as 1998, the price lists were showing MSRP while the dealers were selling at 70% of that.
Fender P bass ("street prices" at 30% off were not shown in price lists until recently)
1971 $293.50 plus $73 for the case, upcharges for maple boards, left handed and custom colors (max $352.50)
1979 $555 plus $90 for the case, same upcharges, max $610.
1985 First gen P Standard $559 with case, no maple boards, only 5 colors (no upcharge), no lefties.
1989 Standard (still MIJ??) $510 plus $110 for molded case, 5 colors, rosewood or maple board, no lefties.
1995 American Standard $900 with case, upcharge for lefty $1020 or fretless $970
2005 AmStd $1428 with case, rosewood, lefty rosewood and maple boards all the same price
2014 AmStd $1800 with case, lefty, righty, maple or rosewood all same price
2025 AmPro II $1800 with case…same price as 2014?? $100 upcharge for 5 string
I got these price lists at Invalid Link Removed, they ended at 2014, got 2025 from Sweetwater
The big leaps were during the 1970s period of "stagflation". The original Standards were cost reduced with single ply pickguards, plastic knobs, etc. All bass production other than vintage reissues shifted to Japan after CBS sold the company (1985?), Americam Standards arrived in the 1990s at a higher price than the MIJ Standards. Then a big leap in the 21st century and it's actually levelled off
The MF catalog posted by ElectricBass 72 shows that as late as 1998, the price lists were showing MSRP while the dealers were selling at 70% of that.
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Having attended the Amigo Guitar Shoe in Nashville this past weekend, I found it interesting that while overall, prices were pretty high (it was a guitar show afterall, that's to be expected), I saw several instruments that would be described as "Players grade", that were priced decently to the point of if I was in the market for a bass (or if I was still in my "collect it cause it's cool phase), I would have came home with a couple of new basses.
YMMV.
YMMV.
On the other hand, as a onetime woodwind major, mainly on saxophone and clarinet, I was often envious of the choice and prices guitarists and electric bassists had for performance-worthy instruments. Of course, I wasn't at all envious of what acoustic bassists and other bowed instrument musicians spent.
I've long thought, as Boomers and Gen Xers like me continue to age, the market will move a little closer to that of band/orchestral instruments: a lot of beginner and some pro-level, fewer lower-cost intermediate tiers.
Another upside. The quality of less expensive/beginner instruments is much better. I'm new to bass and picked up a used Squier Vintage Modified 77, and I'm pleasantly surprised at how solid it feels, how well it holds tuning, and how nice it is to play. That's especially compared to my other first instruments: clarinet, sax, flute, and guitar, but the 80s keyboard wasn't bad.
I've long thought, as Boomers and Gen Xers like me continue to age, the market will move a little closer to that of band/orchestral instruments: a lot of beginner and some pro-level, fewer lower-cost intermediate tiers.
Another upside. The quality of less expensive/beginner instruments is much better. I'm new to bass and picked up a used Squier Vintage Modified 77, and I'm pleasantly surprised at how solid it feels, how well it holds tuning, and how nice it is to play. That's especially compared to my other first instruments: clarinet, sax, flute, and guitar, but the 80s keyboard wasn't bad.
Carvin/Kiesel is one that has gone up a bit during that period, although I think that is part of a market shift by then that feels intentional. While people have always debated their quality (I'm a big fan myself), Carvin if nothing else previously had a reputation among many as providing very strong bang-for-your buck in their typical price ranges, whereas it seems to me they've prioritized that less in recent years in the interest of trying to be more of a direct competitor to some of the more boutique brands making similar instruments (particularly in the headless scene, where they seem to have been very successful). A while back I figured that $950-ish purchase price of the LB70 I bought back in 2001-2002 would work out to something like $1,600-$1,700 in today's dollars, whereas you're probably looking at $2000+ for something as close to comparable as possible these days (they don't make this model anymore, and obviously with them the price varies a lot depending on the options you select). Personally I do think they still make a great instrument, and the newer Kiesels I own IMO have fit and finish and components that are consistent with their price, but I don't tend to readily mention them specifically as a great value compared to others at similar price points anymore.
Your percentages are off but general claim is correct. For these figures:
A Jazz bass was 5.18% of average annual income in 1960.
The JB is 3.9% of an average annual salary in 2024.
Smooth_bass88
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- Oct 31, 2006
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Ok let's see…
In 1992, a brand new EBMM StingRay was $749, which is $1703 in 2025 dollars
In 1995 the price jumped to $849, which is $1777 in 2025 dollars
In 2000 I bought a brand new StingRay 5 for a little over a grand, which is about $2000 in 2025 dollars
