No new plywood bass is worth 5k, not even if it doesn't feed back and you can stand on it.
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Double Bass Blast cult
- Thread starter Slap bass Lucas
- Start date
I expect to see a bunch of happy New Standard owners lining up to disagree with you on this.
Any bass is worth what the market is willing to pay for it. I paid close to $5K for my NS ply, and it will be with me to my grave as a second bass/teaching instrument. It is great instrument in its own right, but especially a great instrument to keep in the office year round where the temperature/humidity fluctuations would be extremely unhealthy for a carved bass to live. Nobody who has ever played it has had anything but nice things to say about it, and a local luthier who repaired a popped seam that happened when an intruder got into the office and knocked it over told me it was the nicest play bass he'd ever seen.
So, it's a market thing, and I am a proud portion of that market.
So, it's a market thing, and I am a proud portion of that market.
I've mentioned this before:
A prominent economist friend if mine says: "The ideal marketing situation is where people complain about an item's price being too high, but buy it anyway."
A prominent economist friend if mine says: "The ideal marketing situation is where people complain about an item's price being too high, but buy it anyway."
A phone can cost 1000 euros or more to do the same thing a 300 euros phone does.
I would rather pay 5000 for a bass that I could gig for years and years, than 1500 for a bass that would be recked by 2 years of gigging.
I would rather pay 5000 for a bass that I could gig for years and years, than 1500 for a bass that would be recked by 2 years of gigging.
I get it, but, you can get a lot of bass for 5k these days. Also, being an older person and still wrassling with ply bass might not be the best plan.
"Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man" - Jeff Lebowski
"You're Jeffery Lebowski, I'm the Dude, man, so that's what you call me" - Dude
I'm torn on the issue. I've gotten the bass of my dreams quoted to me for $4500 but in the end couldn't pull the trigger because I'd be afraid to take it out and possibly damage it. I'm not sure if I could pull the trigger on a 145 for the same reason. It might be built for abuse, but I would flip if I put a ding in it at that price. I want Blast Cult to succeed and I want to have these basses out there, but the price compared to other basses is admittedly something I thing about.
Damon, I've listened to some of your stuff and you are a great bassist. You would be remembered as one of THE greats if your bass also had a bitchin' paint job, blinking lights, and shot flames out of the scroll.
Damon, I've listened to some of your stuff and you are a great bassist. You would be remembered as one of THE greats if your bass also had a bitchin' paint job, blinking lights, and shot flames out of the scroll.
I'm torn on the issue. I've gotten the bass of my dreams quoted to me for $4500 but in the end couldn't pull the trigger because I'd be afraid to take it out and possibly damage it. I'm not sure if I could pull the trigger on a 145 for the same reason. It might be built for abuse, but I would flip if I put a ding in it at that price. I want Blast Cult to succeed and I want to have these basses out there, but the price compared to other basses is admittedly something I thing about.
Damon, I've listened to some of your stuff and you are a great bassist. You would be remembered as one of THE greats if your bass also had a bitchin' paint job, blinking lights, and shot flames out of the scroll.
That`s what I thought when I first got my bass, a carved Jay Haide l`ancienne Panormo. Original price here was something like 7000€ but I got it for steal, 4500. Then I saw my ( nowadays ) teachers new bass after first time seeing it, after a year and a half of heavy gigging, 20000 euro bass looking like a roadkill. I understand that shiny cool paintjob might be a different story, but for me all the dings and scratches are badges of honor. I play a lot of percussive stuff on the body of my bass, and it shows. It looks like my bass.
Yeah, new, pristine basses look weird. My old is pretty beat up looking, my traveling bass is starting to get some dings here and there and it feels like it is really coming a long.
Some might say my Alcoa has a shiny cool paint job (actually powder-coat), although it isn't a hand polished beauty like James Condino produces... I do like how mine looks and I do get a kick out of the attention it gets, but my first concern is and always has been how it sounds and how it plays, both acoustically and amped / DI'ed. Happily it's a good sounding and playing bass for the various roots genre that I play around with.
Like with most of my favorite instruments, despite it's hearty powder coat this bass came to me with some battle scars, and while I've put some on myself, I'm not too worried about them. Having an obviously broken in look is one advantage of getting 2nd hand (or more-hand) instruments.
At least while I own it, my Alcoa isn't getting stood on, and it's most likely not going to get special paint jobs, flames, skulls or various other artistic elements added to it. But I fully support anyone who wants those, as well as anyone who doesn't want those for their own instruments.
I'm pretty sure somewhere in the evolution of the double bass, the scroll was also considered too showy.
Like with most of my favorite instruments, despite it's hearty powder coat this bass came to me with some battle scars, and while I've put some on myself, I'm not too worried about them. Having an obviously broken in look is one advantage of getting 2nd hand (or more-hand) instruments.
At least while I own it, my Alcoa isn't getting stood on, and it's most likely not going to get special paint jobs, flames, skulls or various other artistic elements added to it. But I fully support anyone who wants those, as well as anyone who doesn't want those for their own instruments.
I'm pretty sure somewhere in the evolution of the double bass, the scroll was also considered too showy.
I was worried about dinging up my Upton Standard when I bought it brand new. It was the most I'd ever spent on an instrument. Then I got caught playing in a couple of different bands, and traveling way more than I ever expected over the next couple-three years. It picked up it's dings whether I liked it or not. Not that I want it dinged up in any way, but it's unavoidable - especially playing in the city.
IIRC this thread was opened because the OP had an issue the delay of the building / delivery of his Bass.
Nothing to do with how those Bass sound, if they have a flamejob, if they are overpriced etc... so damonsmith, if this is what you want to talk about, open your own thread, and stop polluting this one, so we can talk about the real issue here. Thx.
Nothing to do with how those Bass sound, if they have a flamejob, if they are overpriced etc... so damonsmith, if this is what you want to talk about, open your own thread, and stop polluting this one, so we can talk about the real issue here. Thx.
Welcome to the wider world of the DB side. OT is how it goes here and it is usually when things get good. If you haven't noticed, the thread moved to a new luthier taking control of the situation who also hopes to maintain a reputation outside of these basses, therefore the frank opinions of experienced bassists using more traditional instruments should be valuable.
Thank you so much Mr "I'm more experienced than you all"... still irrelevant to the original issue though...
(I'm done now)
I mean, you guys need to not be so think-skinned. The thread was presumably put here to get wider opinions on what happens when a luthier doesn't deliver - otherwise the the thread would be in the rockabilly forum where YOU can start your own thread if you don't want to hear from others.
I've just spent my very early morning re-reading this whole thread. It's been very interesting to follow the whole thing, originally starting by documenting a number of people who were at that time -- October 15, 2016 -- owed basses. At currently 22 pages the story really doesn't get hopeful until @Red Brown very helpfully joined the discussion and clarified what is currently happening, starting on page 16 -- February 1, 2019. Between those dates a lot had been talked about.
A few times, mostly when genre and tools-for-the-trade credibility arguments have come into play, Chris has had to put on his moderate hat and step in to keep things from getting publicly ugly, including one point recently where the thread was actually closed for a bit. I deeply admire the professionalism that Chris has demonstrated in balancing the need to step in with the wish to let people continue to express their thoughts. Suffice it to say that the restraint that Chris has shown here is remarkably rare among the many other forums that I've visited.
But, I am a relative newby here in TB/DB and while I've played music with many double bassists spanning 5 decades, my personal double bass playing experience is just barely over a year. So during the more heated discussions in this thread I've found myself looking up with great respect at some extremely experienced professional (and professional quality) musicians who are expressing quite unprofessional personal attacks upon each other. It's not like I haven't seen this in other forums before, but the general level of professionalism here in TB/DB has typically been at a higher level. Really.
Many of the professionals who speak up here are both musicians and teachers, and it strikes me that many of their clients and students also at least browse the pages here through search engines. It makes me wonder what these clients and students are thinking about when they read the personal attacks. Maybe they won't know the names used here, but I would guess most of the people who post here would be recognized by the people that they work closely with, if nothing else by the content and composition of their posts.
There are a number of things we all seem to agree about. I think everyone wishes that those who have money invested but no basses yet could receive satisfaction with their commissioned orders. I think nearly everyone agrees that these people were treated unfairly if not unethically. I think most if not all of us here have felt new hope and possibly even relief in seeing the continuing responses from @Red Brown.
There continue to be disagreements, but none of them are on topic for this thread. This is not a thread about defining double bass standards or validating genre. And this thread is not a discussion about whether the thread itself should be in General Forums [DB] => Basses [DB] or not. That is a matter that was clearly decided early on by the moderators in TB/DB -- if the thread didn't belong where it is, it would have been moved. Perhaps a new thread in a more appropriate forum area would be the place to slug these personal differences out.
A few times, mostly when genre and tools-for-the-trade credibility arguments have come into play, Chris has had to put on his moderate hat and step in to keep things from getting publicly ugly, including one point recently where the thread was actually closed for a bit. I deeply admire the professionalism that Chris has demonstrated in balancing the need to step in with the wish to let people continue to express their thoughts. Suffice it to say that the restraint that Chris has shown here is remarkably rare among the many other forums that I've visited.
But, I am a relative newby here in TB/DB and while I've played music with many double bassists spanning 5 decades, my personal double bass playing experience is just barely over a year. So during the more heated discussions in this thread I've found myself looking up with great respect at some extremely experienced professional (and professional quality) musicians who are expressing quite unprofessional personal attacks upon each other. It's not like I haven't seen this in other forums before, but the general level of professionalism here in TB/DB has typically been at a higher level. Really.
Many of the professionals who speak up here are both musicians and teachers, and it strikes me that many of their clients and students also at least browse the pages here through search engines. It makes me wonder what these clients and students are thinking about when they read the personal attacks. Maybe they won't know the names used here, but I would guess most of the people who post here would be recognized by the people that they work closely with, if nothing else by the content and composition of their posts.
There are a number of things we all seem to agree about. I think everyone wishes that those who have money invested but no basses yet could receive satisfaction with their commissioned orders. I think nearly everyone agrees that these people were treated unfairly if not unethically. I think most if not all of us here have felt new hope and possibly even relief in seeing the continuing responses from @Red Brown.
There continue to be disagreements, but none of them are on topic for this thread. This is not a thread about defining double bass standards or validating genre. And this thread is not a discussion about whether the thread itself should be in General Forums [DB] => Basses [DB] or not. That is a matter that was clearly decided early on by the moderators in TB/DB -- if the thread didn't belong where it is, it would have been moved. Perhaps a new thread in a more appropriate forum area would be the place to slug these personal differences out.
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Man it's getting soft in here (laughing emoji)! You guys can't handle Damon......lol there used be nothing BUT a bunch of Damons around here (bang head off wall emoji). I remember getting crushed by the old guard in these forums in my pre DB days when I started dipping my toes in the water (crying emoji). The thing is, if you took the time to listen to those dudes - you might actually learn something (reading book emoji).
