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EBMM price - ouch!

#47
MultiScaleMale said:
I'm probably late to the game, but I'm looking for a four string "fun" bass. Not a P, I want sexy, slappy, tappy, happy. Looked at a Sterling 4 HH and noticed the price is up $500 from just a short time ago. More digging and found that they all went up $400-500. I thought that Bongo at GC was $2199 the last time I looked and is now $2699. A 25-30% increase at least taps the brakes. They know what they're doing, but that significant of a price increase seems to put all but the gotta have it purchases on hold. The killer is that Musicians Friend had the bass at the previous price, but now the same bass is $500 higher. Come on, it's like I'm buying a mattress or a used car now.
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Yeah I’m a fan of Musicman. Had a couple over the years. Was recently thinking about getting another one but then I saw I could get the dingwall ng2 cheaper. Gotta say the ng2 would be the better bass even if the prices were the same. Pics for proof
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#48
The increase definitely game me a "wat?" moment.
Like I understand rolling out new improved models with a correlating price increase, but just waving a magic wand and saying boom - now we're $500+ more doesn't sit well. That said, they are great instruments and have their own special vibe and legacy, and I hope they're able to keep putting out rad stuff.
 
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#54
I think a lot of guitar manufacturers ramped up production during the 90s and into the naughts, saturated the market with guitars and basses, and now have excess plant capacity they’re still paying on despite a drop in overall aggregate demand for their product. So lower volume equals the need to increase prices to what the market will bear to cover for it. (Or in Gibson’s case, to pay off on a series of underperforming diversification investments.)

It’s been a sweet 20+ year ride for those of us who play. The prices really were a little too good for a little too long to be healthy for the makers long term. But it now looks like the market is beginning to correct itself.

I was wondering how long it was going to be before we saw a 25-30% price jump up from a year or so ago. I actually thought it’d come sooner and happen faster than it’s doing.
 
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#55
I’ve owned three Stingray5 basses and am a huge fan of them . They have great playability and awesome tone . IMO I have never heard a better sounding B string . Having tendinitis I needed to switch to a more stable neck with the lowest action possible although I would not consider a Stingray5 neck unstable . I miss the heavy tone of a Stingray5 but do not miss the weight , they are a hefty instrument and that is probably part of that tone . Iam 52 and as I got older the weight started getting to my back , another thing that bothered me was how the action was not even all the way down the neck . The action on my last two ( with the neck set as flat as possible) raised up towards the twelfth fret and on up more after that . The higher up the neck the higher the action . This is a common problem with many basses . It affects playability and that’s why I finally switched to a different builder . I feel the problem was the neck pocket , that the neck needed to be sitting in the pocket at a slightly different angle ? I wasn’t about to dig into that can of worms but I do miss that tone man - miss it a lot . Prices are never going to stay where they are , the price hikes you mentioned do seem pretty big but they do have a workhorse industry standard instrument with kick ass tone . I bought mine from Bass Central in Florida and they have MusicMan sales every so often . Keep an eye on classifieds and Ebay and retailer websites . I’ll see favorable deals from bass stores with a used one they took on trade .
 
#56
+1 to the original post. Recently bought two Stingrays (Starry Night and a Sweetwater-exclusive roasted maple Old Smoothie) at around $2000. I was also considering buying one of the Bongo's in Barolo but the price hike stopped that urge real quick. In better news, the Stingray 5 30th anniversary is still at the original price so might grab one of those.
 
#58
I feel very fortunate that I picked 2017 for the year that I would place special orders and acquire the exact Ernie Ball basses I wanted. Basically one of ea. In the Classic and stsandard lines in my favorite natural/maple config. I picked up several new EBMM this past year. I had no idea about the coming price hikes.

Now this year I am focusing in on G&L. Whew.
 
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#59
MultiScaleMale said:
I'm probably late to the game, but I'm looking for a four string "fun" bass. Not a P, I want sexy, slappy, tappy, happy. Looked at a Sterling 4 HH and noticed the price is up $500 from just a short time ago. More digging and found that they all went up $400-500. I thought that Bongo at GC was $2199 the last time I looked and is now $2699. A 25-30% increase at least taps the brakes. They know what they're doing, but that significant of a price increase seems to put all but the gotta have it purchases on hold. The killer is that Musicians Friend had the bass at the previous price, but now the same bass is $500 higher. Come on, it's like I'm buying a mattress or a used car now.
Click to expand...
I was always curious when a person uses a term like sexy in relation to a bass guitar (musical instrument)..can you please define this for me in a way that I can understand..I definately want to get a "sexy" bass..
 
#60
Up here in Canada, fender elites are more than any of the EBMM’s new
I think EBMM May be in some trouble.
They’ve pretty much written off the lefty’s, have terrible (if any) colour choices.
I find it ironic that someone said they’re a guitar company... I’ve never known anyone to own a guitar by them.
So what are they doing?
3 years ago, I bought a BNIB Neptune Blue SR4 for 1450 CAN- I returned it due to a weak G string, but that’s a whole ‘ nother story
 

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