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Bass prices today

#42
Generalized statement..............it's not that prices are going up, is that the value of the dollar is going down.

In 1962, a Fender Bass was about $250ish dollars. $250 back then was equal to about $2,640 today. An inflation rate of nearly 1,000%

In a way, the price of a new bass (depending) is about the same as some 60 years ago.

Welcome to the 21st Century! :(

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#44
I was looking at the Dingwall NG3s several months ago and they we're about $2600. Now they're $3105 and that's probably due to tariffs.
Perhaps the way I feel about this is different than you but many of these basses were purchased by the dealers prior to the tariffs. So the dealer makes perhaps 20% more on their current inventory. That doesn't set right with me.
Yes, if they're going to continue stocking them they'll be paying higher prices, but so will we. They have the option of either dropping the line and keeping the huge profits, from their current inventory or make them "special orders only" and not incur the cost to replenish stock.
 
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#47
I'm set with the five I have, but if I had to buy something today as a beginner, I'd have no problem spending $200 for one of these. I just can't imagine spending four times as much for a Fender Player bass when this one gets the job done.
The one in the middle would look great with some GHS black tapewounds, too.
Still waiting to see if they're going to come out with a Squier Sonic Jazz bass. Why they haven't already is beyond me.
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#51
Cory rich40 said:
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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Hi Cory,

Yes, Ernie Ball's current prices are absurd. In general, the prices of basses went up drastically during the pandemic. The printing of money did cause inflation, but it doesn't completely explain the pricing we see today. During the pandemic lot of people were at home getting checks from the government and had free time to learn a new instrument - so demand was historically high. Now I see the market is cooling - the pandemic demand is not there anymore. I imagine many of the people who bought instruments during the pandemic will be off loading them in next few years. Currently, there are a lot of instruments sitting on Reverb going NOWHERE. Eventually, sellers will have to lower their prices to match the diminished demand. Best, JM
 
#53
MCS4 said:
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.
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I've loved Carvin since I got their catalogs in the 80's. I agree - great bang for the buck. I walked away from them for awhile while they transitioned to Kiesel mainly because it felt like they were targeting a different demographic and designs weren't to my liking. And yeah, prices keeps up and up.

But I now own 5 Kiesel basses and they are better than anything I've played in their price range. I got a brand new in-stock J-bass (mind you, heavily discounted) for $500 less than a Fender elite and every Fender I played in a shop felt and sounded horrible.

It took some time for me, but I actually think Kiesel successfully moved themselves up market and at the same time made themselves competitive. I just got my Thanos headless and it's truly amazing, made to my specs, and still cheaper than an American made Fender.
 
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#55
bassdude51 said:
Generalized statement..............it's not that prices are going up, is that the value of the dollar is going down.

In 1962, a Fender Bass was about $250ish dollars. $250 back then was equal to about $2,640 today. An inflation rate of nearly 1,000%

In a way, the price of a new bass (depending) is about the same as some 60 years ago.

Welcome to the 21st Century! :(

View attachment 7185175
Click to expand...
Yeah, don't blame the instrument makers - blame the dollar!
 
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#56
Core Creek said:
I've loved Carvin since I got their catalogs in the 80's. I agree - great bang for the buck. I walked away from them for awhile while they transitioned to Kiesel mainly because it felt like they were targeting a different demographic and designs weren't to my liking. And yeah, prices keeps up and up.

But I now own 5 Kiesel basses and they are better than anything I've played in their price range. I got a brand new in-stock J-bass (mind you, heavily discounted) for $500 less than a Fender elite and every Fender I played in a shop felt and sounded horrible.

It took some time for me, but I actually think Kiesel successfully moved themselves up market and at the same time made themselves competitive. I just got my Thanos headless and it's truly amazing, made to my specs, and still cheaper than an American made Fender.
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They've incorporated standard features on their instruments that drive the prices up e.g. quartersawn necks, stainless steel frets. I've got a couple of headless Kiesels myself. Great quality!
 
#57
Cory rich40 said:
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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Inflation is the largest driver of price increases. I think the best way to understand the impact as a ball park guestiment is to compare pricing against the per capita income and how many man hours it takes to buy a bass. Fender has maintained a price point of approximately 2-3 weeks pay for a new JB, or PB since the 60's.
 
#58
dbsfgyd1 said:
Inflation is the largest driver of price increases. I think the best way to understand the impact as a ball park guestiment is to compare pricing against the per capita income and how many man hours it takes to buy a bass. Fender has maintained a price point of approximately 2-3 weeks pay for a new JB, or PB since the 60's.
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Mind if I ask what you're basing that on? US inflation is currently at 2.4%, compared to june 2022, when it was at 9.1%.

United States Inflation Rate

Inflation Rate in the United States increased to 4.20 percent in May from 3.80 percent in April of 2026. This page provides - United States Inflation Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.
tradingeconomics.com tradingeconomics.com
 
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#59
jeffmaccora said:
Hi Cory,

Yes, Ernie Ball's current prices are absurd. In general, the prices of basses went up drastically during the pandemic. The printing of money did cause inflation, but it doesn't completely explain the pricing we see today. During the pandemic lot of people were at home getting checks from the government and had free time to learn a new instrument - so demand was historically high. Now I see the market is cooling - the pandemic demand is not there anymore. I imagine many of the people who bought instruments during the pandemic will be off loading them in next few years. Currently, there are a lot of instruments sitting on Reverb going NOWHERE. Eventually, sellers will have to lower their prices to match the diminished demand. Best, JM
Click to expand...
Just checked Sweetwater.

$2650 gets you a USA StingRay with case.

$3030 gets you a new in China Dingwall NG-4.

EBMM prices look good to me.
 
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#60
poochiecheeks said:
Why is the price of instruments going through the roof yet I can't give away the basses I'm selling despite losing thousands already before shipping? Literally trading this stuff in to guitar center seems like a better deal at this point
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If it helps, I sold several guitars a couple years ago. I got an absurdly low offer at GC, a better one at a Sam Ash but they're gone, and I wasn't getting much interest on forum classifieds (I didn't know of this site yet). So I e-mailed details and photos to a few of the large independent shops--Chicago Music Exchange, Dave's Guitars, and Elderly--and received better responses. I wound up driving to Chicago. These were all guitars rather than basses.

I tried not to look at the prices they sold them for, but they all went pretty quickly. I'm not sure why that's the case. Perhaps people are concerned about buying from an individual rather than a shop with a return policy. And maybe they were burned in the past. Personally, my experience buying a guitar from another forum's classifieds was very disappointing, but buying from Dave's and a local shop turned out well. GC is split; one is great (PRS Mira), the other returned with a twisted/warped neck (Aerodyne Jazz Bass).
 

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