Downgrading from High-End Boutique Basses... Insanity?

[InnerBass]

I think Sheryl Crow said it best "If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad"

A lot of the downgrading or upgrading of basses (or any gear) is truly a battle with yourself.

I've enjoyed and played some of the cheapest basses to some of the most uber high end available.
For the most part, I have enjoyed the experience of going through it......and will likely continue on this experience.
Maybe I'm insane for doing this.

No, you're not insane - it's all about the journey.

 

[brianrost]

Why would anyone risk taking a $5000 bass out in public?

I know a guy who has $65K and $80K DBs and he gigs with them all the time. I didn't ask him how much he spent on his bow, but I have played a $15K bow and it was sweet.

 

[4StringTheorist]

i now spend a few hundred and mod/change out to my liking: cheaper, more fun, and, most importantly: i get what i want!

Bingo!

My own personal opinion, you'd have a hard time distinguishing a $6000 bass from a $2000 one.

Good old diminishing returns. But I won't disparage someone who wants to spend the scratch on a 6K bass. Keeps boutique builders in business and the innovation train rolling

 

[Sixgunn]

Don't!

Trust me, I used to do exactly the same thing like you have done out of worry that I was leaving some exorbitant pieces unattended on stage. I then used cheaper alternatives for gigs. Never satisfied with the tone or feel since then. Never enjoyed a single gig, either. I knew something had gone wrong but I might as well reassure myself that my babies were safe in my well-conditioned studio.

Several years later my hometown was hit by a heavy rainfall and my basement studio wet inside out. All my instruments (some up to $7000) got mold and rust while I was on the road during that period. I had to spend quite a lot to have them serviced and repaired... It was not until then that I realized how regretful and stupid I was. I paid a fortune to get some "collections" that I had never brought onto stage! Oh my...

Not long ago I gave away all my cheap guitars to my students. Now I am happy and enjoying my shows again. I don't mind leaving my basses of several thousand bucks on stage or lending them to my students. They are simply wooden and electronic tools to express music and bring enjoyment to people, including me. Of course I will be upset if any of them is broken or stolen or something like that, but I am ready to face the risk. Worst case is I buy a new one and, life goes on regardless, right?

Now if you ask me, my suggestion is to keep them, play the hell out of the guitars you own and care less about the money. You pay to enjoy life, not to be a slave of life.

This!! I play the hell outta mine. We won't be able to take 'em with us. The best moment to enjoy our instruments is now. It's all that counts.

 

[Sixgunn]

So....
Where DO boutique basses really shine??

In the hands of their players.

 

[BobDeRosa]

Know what would be great as a public service? If one of you guys who own both boutiques and production models would do a blindfold test and put it on YouTube. Play the same piece, riff, etc. on each bass without showing the bass itself and see how many of us can actually tell the difference.

 

[Sixgunn]

In a rich, pot bellied dude's well humidified music room hanging from a pretentiously installed guitar wall mount.
(-:

Or with the truly professional players who do music as a living - which probably most of us are not.

Wow! So wrong, you are. I'm a totally working class dude who plays in a local cover band and I enjoy it immensely. I play very ordinary, unremarkable bars, etc. with my Mayones, Warrior, Modulus, Surine, CB and other really great basses. If one got damaged, broken or stolen, I would be very unhappy about it but as they say: it's just stuff and stuff can be replaced. I would also be glad for having the opportunity to have enjoyed it while I had it. Another cliche' that's SO true: It is better to have loved (your dream bass) and lost, than to have not loved at all.

 

[Sixgunn]

Know what would be great as a public service? If one of you guys who own both boutiques and production models would do a blindfold test and put it on YouTube. Play the same piece, riff, etc. on each bass without showing the bass itself and see how many of us can actually tell the difference.

That's really not relevant. People play different basses for different reasons.

 

[gguillo]

To each their own.

As a traveling musician (a weekend warrior), I found that I didn't want to travel with higher end basses for fear of road rash, trailer rash, stage bumps & bruises, etc. The pre-show stage is a scary place! You never know when your high-end bass could be the victim of a stage hand or tech... or even your guitarist's headstock!

Would I like a Fodera or Custom Sadowsky NYC? Sure! However, I doubt I could ever travel with it! A USA Fender Jazz 5 & a Sadowsky Metro 5 will do just fine. If either one gets a little bump or bruise, at least I am not de-valuing a $4k+ bass!

 

[Sixgunn]

Why would anyone risk taking a $5000 bass out in public?

I do all the time because in my mind, that's what they are made for, although I'm not sure if any of mine were actually $5000.00 new. The last new bass I bought was a Gibson RD Artist in like 1976.

 

[rodv66]

At a 6k price are we getting a custom shop bass or something similar? I have no idea because I could never imagine having 6k to spend on a bass.

 

[Honch]

I think people are downgrading because of this:

1) Dingwall and others said "well, add up the worth of all of you basses laying around, and see what you get".
2) So we sold all of them and saved up for one only.
3) Only to find out that it neither did sound, replaced nor replaced them all in one bass.
4) We'd rather want to have a few more basses. As spares, as differences. Cheapness, and "lower quality" has their charm, and most of the golden hits of all ages, and songs and cool basslines has NOT been played on anything boutique (ok then, Stanley Clarkes School Days but that's about it).

 

[chris_b]

Thoughts?

Good move if you can make it work for you.

I've been on an upward trajectory with my gear for 50 years now and year or so ago thought I'd attempt to scale back. I've tried a lot of basses and even bought a couple but I can tell the difference and it's not easy to ignore.

At the moment I've stopped trying to downgrade anything.

 

[DavC]

i sold off my more expensive bass and extra gear ... have been having more fun building exactly what i want from used parts ... mostly warmoth ...

feel matters more than the headstock ... !! or cost ..

 

[Nephilymbass]

Hey guys, I know it's not really insanity and that it all comes down to personal preference and playability. I'm mostly curious to see if any of you guys out there have downgraded from high end boutique basses to lesser, perhaps production instruments. Not for monetary reasons! But for tone, playability and comfort!

Here are my examples:

I sold a $7000 MTD 635-24 for a significantly cheaper Ibanez SR5006.

I'm selling a $5500+ Sadowsky NYC Vintage J Bass (currently in classifieds) because I got my hands on a Nash JB75 relic that I like WAY more. Sound and feel wise.

Sold another Sadowsky NYC Vintage P Bass $6000+ for the Fender American 58' Vintage Precision Bass.

Sometimes I feel like a lunatic having sold all those pristine, gorgeous basses but they weren't getting any action, while all the cheaper ones are getting gigged on all the time.

Thoughts?

I started out with a couple cheap p basses (mim fender and peavey fury p clone) I've had couple that were never my number one. For example I had my bongo when my thumb nt5 was my main player and I've had a fender and a sbmm fretless but fretless is more a hobby for me.

But here's my history of main players

Warwick Original single pickup FNA around 2001

Warwick thumb bo5 around 2003

warwick thumb nt5 2005 (my longest running main bass)

Conklin gt7 modded with Aguilar pre 2013ish

Mia musicman stingray 5 main player for most of 2014 and 2015

esp ltd f-415fm 2016-current

I was on a path to more and more expensive basses. Then I played the thumb neck through for a long time and for a while only really considered replacing it with a custom Warwick but the prices kept that from happening. After a while I just wanted to have fun and try other basses which led to the Conklin. The Conklin was fun but heavy and I needed something lighter for my rock band so along came my second stingray. After never ending complaints by my wife and minor issues with the bass decided to try something completely different. My guitarists has been exclusively playing ESP eclipses, Stephan Carpenter signatures, and the thinline acoustics for A long time. I remembered preferring the sound of his ESP 1000 series eclipse over the les Paul he had. So I started looking at ESPs and got the f-415fm with EMG 40dc pickups and EMG pre and really dig it. It's the perfect hard rock or metal bass IMO. Right now I'm shopping for another ESP something with a different look for acoustic shows. Because I found the f shape really comfortable im leaning towards the f5e

and putting EMGs in it. The f5e is the same shape, same hardware, some different woods in the neck and top but the bodies are both mahogany. Should make for a decent backup and the natural finish i think is a little more visually except able for acoustic gigs and ballads. I highly suggest trying out the f shape ESPs love the how the body is thinner on the low b side of the body and thicker on the g string side. Here's a decent picture showing what I'm saying.

Balance is great and it's very comfortable for me.

So yeah I've switched to dramatically cheaper basses and the funny thing is I make about three times as much money now as I did when I bought the thumb nt5 which was my most expensive bass. I can afford pretty much anything except maybe the $10k fodera, Ritters , And custom shop stuff. And I'm playing an ESP that cost less than a grand.

 

[SaucyJackBass]

I have a handmade Adamovic bass that cost me $2K and I wouldn't trade it for anything. But I can't tell you how many times I have gone to my Musicman Sub when I couldn't find the tone with a Spector USA, Fender American, or other basses that cost many times higher. It is never about cost. It's about tone, and each bass has it's own unique tone.

 

[Sixgunn]

i sold off my more expensive bass and extra gear ... have been having more fun building exactly what i want from used parts ... mostly warmoth ...

feel matters more than the headstock ... !! or cost ..

Warmoths have headstocks!!!

 

[oldfretless]

I've worked with tools for 40 years, and IMHO, better tools produce a better product. Basses are tools, that's all. I'm not the greatest player, but anything I can do to make me play better, and enjoy playing more, I'm going to do. I don't want anything to happen to them, but I'm not going to worry about it either.

 

[Ductapeman]

I remember saving a long time for my American-Standard Jazz V-- so I have no knowledge of trading "down" (I usually hang on to any bass that interested me enough to snag it anyway) -- but I have to admit, my wildest dream is to be able to afford to drive up to Mike Lull's place and sit down and say, "Let's build a bass--"

 

[Jrussblues]

im still astonished that 5k-10k is considered to be expensive for a custom instrument. I think a lot of people apply their own capability toward trying to justify spending money on an instrument made to fit their needs and that doesn't add up...so you get a bunch of ranting.
I do understand not wanting to have a bass like that sitting around unattended though. I had a buddy get his custom shop Spector stolen about a month after he got it. Police found it and returned it about 8 months later. That really sucked for him.