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Do Americans need more expensive basses?
- Thread starter topo morto
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Jens had to sell it in Las Vegas. I've learned a lot reading this thread and one of the things I learned was Germans don't like shiny things. Stands to reason he had to sell it outside of Germany.
Relative prices have a lot to do with it. I grew up abroad in a British school. Had to make do with prices for bass guitars being what they are. Going to America, what you realize is that this is the place to go for purchasing instruments, whether second hand or new. This is the home of Fender and Gibson after all. Variety is overwhelming and prices are reasonable in comparison. For a musician even with limited income, one can still buy multiple instruments and still be okay.
To answer your question, we do so because we can - would it also not hold true if prices were inexpensive over there too? I know a lot of European musicians and friends who come here and essentially go hog wild with Guitar Center and for some reason, instruments on Craigslist when they come here. I would have to gently remind them the cost of shipping it back home. lol.
To answer your question, we do so because we can - would it also not hold true if prices were inexpensive over there too? I know a lot of European musicians and friends who come here and essentially go hog wild with Guitar Center and for some reason, instruments on Craigslist when they come here. I would have to gently remind them the cost of shipping it back home. lol.
Fact: I like my MM Stingray Classic WAY better than I like my Peavey BXP.
Fact: I'm willing to trade a brand new, still in the box First Act bass to anyone willing to send me a used Fedora Monarch. (4 strings only to our UK friends)
Fact: I have never worked too hard to go to an orgy! Family time is very important to me!
The grass IS always greener - as someone who sees both sides of international sales in a bass retail business I regularly find US customers will pay very high prices for European instruments whilst Europeans will pay over the odds for US made basses. . .
Tell that to Porsche, BMW and Mercedes - they seem to sell an inordinate amount of, exceptionally shiny, vehicles to Germans
Fat Steve
The poodle bites, the poodle chews it.
Tell that to Porsche, BMW and Mercedes - they seem to sell an inordinate amount of, exceptionally shiny, vehicles to Germans
Hey, don't destroy my new found sense of TB reality.
besides, I bet they sell even more of them to Americans (I know I've bought my fair share).
Roy Vogt
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- Sep 20, 2000
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Funny story here. I was touring with a Hard Rock/Metal Act in 1988 and we played in the UK. I (along with every other bass player I knew in Nashville) was salivating over Trace Elliot gear, meanwhile making do with my SWR SM400 top and Harke/Joe's Ultra Light 4x10 and 1x18 (those of you in the "don't mix speaker sizes" crowd, don't go there!). We had a meeting with our Techs for the Tour, Nigel and Roger (two splendid Black Roadies/Techs with clipped British accents-imagine the cognitive dissonance for a bunch of Southern Rock and Rollers!). I wistfully asked if I could have a Trace Elliot stack and was told, "No offense, Mate, but that stuff's like Peavey over here! Here's what you really want! All the Heavies are using this now." They showed me an SWR SM 400 top and two SWR Goliath Cabinets-one 4x10 and one 1x15!
Here's a clip from the tour at Midtfyns in Denmark. I wish I still had that Tobias! In Denmark I had two SVTs, so America won again!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHxFbmkC5aI
Hey, don't destroy my new found sense of TB reality.
besides, I bet they sell even more of them to Americans (I know I've bought my fair share).
In very approximate terms BMW sell twice as many cars in Europe as they do in the USA.
US sales account for roughly 2.5 times as many vehicles as the UK whilst having a population about 5 times larger.
I only know this stuff because I worked with BMW for many years
In very approximate terms BMW sell twice as many cars in Europe as they do in the USA.
US sales account for roughly 2.5 times as many vehicles as the UK whilst having a population about 5 times larger.
I only know this stuff because I worked with BMW for many years
BMW, great cars, great company! I've enjoyed the ones I've owned (like my Porsches better though).
But what I said was I bet they sell more of them (Porsche, Benz, BMW) here (in America) than there (in Germany). Not that more BMWs are sold in America than all of Europe. After all, we are talking about the Germans not liking shiny objects (which was originally a reference to Warwick bass oil finishes earlier in the thread).
So without any real data to back it up, I'll stick to my original statement and do like everyone else on this thread has done - call it a fact.
Manne; Frudua; Laurus; I'm sure there are many more smaller operations, like TBer Triad's Prometeus Guitars.not to mention well known fine basses like... well, like.... um.... er....(somebody help me out here).
Designed in Lloegyr apparently.
I don't know about expensive basses, but (some) Americans sure could use more geography classes.
I'm off to pluck my pizza banjo before hitting the sack...
If there's one thing that German people love, it's:
Perhaps, but he's lost a lot of his shine in the last few years.
Funny story here. I was touring with a Hard Rock/Metal Act in 1988 and we played in the UK. I (along with every other bass player I knew in Nashville) was salivating over Trace Elliot gear, meanwhile making do with my SWR SM400 top and Harke/Joe's Ultra Light 4x10 and 1x18 (those of you in the "don't mix speaker sizes" crowd, don't go there!). We had a meeting with our Techs for the Tour, Nigel and Roger (two splendid Black Roadies/Techs with clipped British accents-imagine the cognitive dissonance for a bunch of Southern Rock and Rollers!). I wistfully asked if I could have a Trace Elliot stack and was told, "No offense, Mate, but that stuff's like Peavey over here! Here's what you really want! All the Heavies are using this now." They showed me an SWR SM 400 top and two SWR Goliath Cabinets-one 4x10 and one 1x15!
Here's a clip from the tour at Midtfyns in Denmark. I wish I still had that Tobias! In Denmark I had two SVTs, so America won again!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHxFbmkC5aI
That is way cool that you have footage of shows from back in the day!
Its true that American products cost quite a bit more in the UK than over here. If they could buy instruments for the same prices we pay, they'd buy better stuff
There was no way I could afford to buy a standard fender p bass when I was young growing up abroad- I had to settle for an Ibanez Musician 924 which was about half the price of the cheapest fender p bass available.
Over here in the States, my Musician bass sold for twice as much as I paid and Fender basses were much cheaper and easily available.
So as Molan mentioned above, the grass is always greener on the other side.
Over here in the States, my Musician bass sold for twice as much as I paid and Fender basses were much cheaper and easily available.
So as Molan mentioned above, the grass is always greener on the other side.
Hey, if they start donating Foderas to the UK I'm cramming all my clothes into a suitcase (so they get good and rumpled of course) and moving to Newcastle. I spent a lot of time there, beautiful city, fantastic night life, on the river, near the coast, a short drive to Scotland or the Lake District. All that and a Fodera, what more could one ask for in life!
lol....be sure to expect a box of hats to show at your doorstep any day now.
You've got the free health insurance, the great history, the better football teams, dibs on language usage, the better sense of humor - but yes, we've got guitars.
Again, prices are considerably lower for instruments in the States than it is in Europe even for foreign made instruments! A made in Korea Sterling Sub
Example: The Sterling Sub Ray 5 costs £349 at Mansons in the UK (that's US$580.00!!!)
It costs US$319 to buy here in the States ( £191 )
Edit: To Post above: Newcastle doesn't have a good football team, so in fact, do pity him. Was never the same after Keegan left.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Sometimes paying more will get you more. Sometimes it is just GAS.
I have a bass made from 40 something year old pieces of Fender and other parts, which I bought years ago - looks like crud. I have a Lull P4, which looks beautiful.
I love them both, and can't decide which I prefer.
I have a bass made from 40 something year old pieces of Fender and other parts, which I bought years ago - looks like crud. I have a Lull P4, which looks beautiful.
I love them both, and can't decide which I prefer.
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