I guess view are different, but I still strongly maintain that these basses are still for newbies. One of the my current p-basses can still be had under $500 which is Fender's entry level instrument. I have put several of these into the hands of new students now, and every one has been thrilled to bits and the basses have accomplished the mission at hand. . . allow the student to progress and play better as well as inspire them to continue on improving. I agonize over the minutia so that the player coming in does not have to second guess the equipment.
A lot of junior high kids at the Nueva School music program have walked in, picked up the bass, and had their eyes light up because bass was fun! That's what it's all about. Jasaman is constantly putting these instruments into new player's hands to gauge the reactions and asses from a newbie's perspective what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong. One kid continually asks when he can play "the one with the blue strings" again (#4) because that bass left such a strong impression on him and showed what can happen when a player and a bass just click. Would that happen with a lesser instrument? I don't think so. How much play time does the school's previous Ibanez get even though it cost a bundle more? That's not to diminish the accomplishments Ibanez has brought to the bass community, but the instruments are not in the same league in terms of playability and tone.
I continuing to recommend these as an optimal option to new players because I still perceive these as a great value. I don't know if economies are different now than before, but upon starting any serious venture like music, I assume a ramp-up cost.
I am still very much building the bass that I would have liked to buy as my first instrument, and even though I have missed my target price point by ~$200, I believe these are still well within reach for the serious student and certainly a great fit for a school music program where multiple people will benefit.
I've expended a lot of effort thinking through a whole bunch of things that will help a beginning bass player down the road:
1. passive electronics so you don't have to deal with the dead battery (a bigger issue than you might expect in school music programs)
2. Reasonably priced replacement strings
3. How much of a boost in confidence is it if you were at your very first recording session, a bit nervous, and the engineer or producer comments positively about how your bass is coming through the monitors? What if the opposite were true and you're chasing some crazy buzz instead?
4. What if you're playing with sub-optimal audio support at a live show? It's nice to know that an idiot audio tech can just pull up the fader on the board without thinking and the bass will sound decent or great.
5. You can practice longer and be more relaxed on the instrument that has not just a decent setup, but an exceptional one.
I guess my idea of starter instrument is quite different from a lot of people here though. For that crowd, the trajectory that this project is taking is 2 lines. . . one that has all the stuff I'm doing built in, and the other sold right off the boat from China at low cost. I am quite pleased with the fret work exhibited on my sample instrument. The assembly techs from this factory have been properly trained and produce a good fret job out of the box.
This is not the case with stock SX. I would not recommend a beginner purchase an SX because it is the rare exception that one comes right off the factory floor properly set up, so with this batch of basses, it is non-optional for me to fix the playing surface. Utilizing PLEK, the end cost to the customer remains unchanged. I take a smaller profit per instrument, but also do less work. That's a trade-off I'm willing to make especially if I can up my production volume and speed significantly.
A lot of junior high kids at the Nueva School music program have walked in, picked up the bass, and had their eyes light up because bass was fun! That's what it's all about. Jasaman is constantly putting these instruments into new player's hands to gauge the reactions and asses from a newbie's perspective what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong. One kid continually asks when he can play "the one with the blue strings" again (#4) because that bass left such a strong impression on him and showed what can happen when a player and a bass just click. Would that happen with a lesser instrument? I don't think so. How much play time does the school's previous Ibanez get even though it cost a bundle more? That's not to diminish the accomplishments Ibanez has brought to the bass community, but the instruments are not in the same league in terms of playability and tone.
I continuing to recommend these as an optimal option to new players because I still perceive these as a great value. I don't know if economies are different now than before, but upon starting any serious venture like music, I assume a ramp-up cost.
I am still very much building the bass that I would have liked to buy as my first instrument, and even though I have missed my target price point by ~$200, I believe these are still well within reach for the serious student and certainly a great fit for a school music program where multiple people will benefit.
I've expended a lot of effort thinking through a whole bunch of things that will help a beginning bass player down the road:
1. passive electronics so you don't have to deal with the dead battery (a bigger issue than you might expect in school music programs)
2. Reasonably priced replacement strings
3. How much of a boost in confidence is it if you were at your very first recording session, a bit nervous, and the engineer or producer comments positively about how your bass is coming through the monitors? What if the opposite were true and you're chasing some crazy buzz instead?
4. What if you're playing with sub-optimal audio support at a live show? It's nice to know that an idiot audio tech can just pull up the fader on the board without thinking and the bass will sound decent or great.
5. You can practice longer and be more relaxed on the instrument that has not just a decent setup, but an exceptional one.
I guess my idea of starter instrument is quite different from a lot of people here though. For that crowd, the trajectory that this project is taking is 2 lines. . . one that has all the stuff I'm doing built in, and the other sold right off the boat from China at low cost. I am quite pleased with the fret work exhibited on my sample instrument. The assembly techs from this factory have been properly trained and produce a good fret job out of the box.
This is not the case with stock SX. I would not recommend a beginner purchase an SX because it is the rare exception that one comes right off the factory floor properly set up, so with this batch of basses, it is non-optional for me to fix the playing surface. Utilizing PLEK, the end cost to the customer remains unchanged. I take a smaller profit per instrument, but also do less work. That's a trade-off I'm willing to make especially if I can up my production volume and speed significantly.
