Expensive vs inexpensive basses

[Maxdusty]

A good example of how it can be different. I have a GIO GSR190, I bought an Ibanez SR800 (the old one from the 90s). The SR800 was at one time considered one of the higher end Ibanez basses at the time, I think it sold for around $800 in it's day. Now both basses are made by the same company Ibanez, they look the same, they weigh close to the same- the necks feel the same although the SR800 is painted. Superficially, they feel the same, but it's when you plug it in and play it, the difference is almost night and day. The GSR190 sounds decent, but compared to the SR800, there's no comparison, it's not even close. The SR800 has active pickups and preamp and the playability was just spot on, more attention paid in the manufacturing process to make sure the neck is at the right angle, no sharp fret ends, nothing budget about it. Now I bought the SR800 used for $85, so it was a heck of a deal-just wanted to point out that companies put more attention into their more expensive basses.
I'm not knocking budget basses at all, I have a few, I pick basses based on how they feel in my hands, the GSR190 feels great, I know I can make it a much better bass by gutting the thing and modding it - I keep in mind that additional work and parts may be needed. Sad reality is in most cases, you've got to pay more to get higher quality stuff, that's why many including myself like to buy used basses. I'm not a gear snob at all, I love getting a good deal, I'd love to find a diamond in the rough for little money, but in the 80-90 basses I've owned since - pretty much you get what you pay for seems to apply.

However, that being said, there are basses that are overpriced, sound, material and parts aren't up to snuff befitting the price...also there are budget basses that are great deals for the price they're going for (Sire comes to mind) - price is really subjective-ultimately you've got to let your hands and ears, oh and your wallet pick the right bass for you. If the GSR200 floats your boat and works for you, that's great, but keep an open mind and try as many basses when you see them. It's not going to make you a better bassist by any means, but perhaps a better sounding version of you.

 

[Jeff Scott]

My stale store-brand chocolate is just as good as your extra-dark Lindt truffle...

Hmph!

I get mine here:

Mitchell’s Fine Chocolates

 

[red_rhino]

let's let the OP Play on, and GROW. He seems like an HONEST "Player", and We should Back him up. No need to be mean. Just saying...

I don't think anybody really had a problem with the OP's opinion or post....

So you can keep your Foderas , Alembics , etc . I'm happy .

...until this. If you throw down the gauntlet, don't act surprised if someone picks it up.

 

[Iofflight]

I don't own it but yesterday I went to the local shop and played some short scale basses. I was playing the mustang pj that goes for about $575 and then tried a used Epiphone Viola bass, the headstock had been broken off and reattached. It was $150 bucks but you know it sounded pretty good. I thought it sounded a lot better than the Squier Jaguar bass.

 

[soulman969]

I believe long ago it became an established fact that many inexpensive basses are just as functional as their more expensive counterparts. Also many times a simple pickup and bridge upgrade can turn a modestly priced base into an equivalent of one costing 3x to 4x as much or more.

But players should play what they prefer. There's a perfect bass for every pair of hands just like there's a butt for every seat of all of the various cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks out there. On person likes a Sabaru, while another drives a Dodge Ram, and another an $80 Range Rover.

They'll all get you someplace other than where you are just as all of those basses will.

 

[ELG60]

Luxury! We never had rubber bands. We had to fillet old bicycle inner-tubes and attach them to particle board strips using gum collected from under old restaurant tables. Still played in perfect tune and intonation with action to die for. Amazing tone too! Alembic and Fodera? I fart in their general direction!

Right!...
To live with such largesse.
Every morning our father would awaken us at 3:30am by beating us with a knotted plowline. Then we'd go into the back yard in the dark and dig a trench 20 feet long and six feet deep using our bare hands, (implements? We couldn't afford implements) in order to harvest a sufficient number of earthworms to place on the hand-made drying racks that we had to construct anew each morning.

We then had to glue the dried earthworms together and attach them to a piece of lumber hewn with our bare teeth, with glue made from our own coagulated blood.

But you can't tell that to kids today...they'll not believe you.

 

[Luciferiad]

As a fairly new TB member (and eager, excited, and aspiring bassist), the previous posts have solidified my resolve to never share anything similar to the OP’s beleagured thread. Holy crap.

I've only been here about 7 months and am still continuously surprised at what can provoke the ire of TBers.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Nothing raises hackles like a well worn troll bait thread.
The silliness is, inexpensive product is serviceable, reasonably priced a better value, and high priced is more refined. (As a general rule)
No doubt that some product is simply designated for luxury, and brand snobbery. Just because carefully crafted product costs more in many cases, does not mean pedestrian has any less value than elite.

The object has no value other than monetary, unless the object is utilized for it's intended purpose.
Some are pleased to own and collect things that few can hope to have, collectors who never leave their home and only play for their own fullfillment.
Value is arbitrary, assigned, and variable.
I had a Betamax, a lazerdisc, beany babies,pet rocks, all "elite" crap valued by many at the time and I was happy to indulge frenzied collectors for a profit.

Then there are those who can afford luxury's but choose utilitarian.
Sir Paul
Ged
Steve Harris
Come to mind, most often seen with rather normal stuff.

If it sounds good it is good


Many of y'all would love, and just as many would turn their nose up at the choices I have made.

Thank you for looking, now back to the pointless bickering "mine is better than yours" ego wars.

 

[TheCouchBassist]

Clearly if you play a bass below your means you are an upstanding member of society whereas if you play a bass over $2,000 you are pure EVIL.....ha ha ha

 

[mdogs]

I've only been here about 7 months and am still continuously surprised at what can provoke the ire of TBers.

7 months, that explains why you don’t get it. The minions of cheap bass owners who constantly make outrageous claims about their $42 garbage dumpster find and how much better it is than any Fender ever made and better than most other basses that cost more than theirs did.

I couldn’t care less if these people like their cheap basses, but the endless claims just get so old. I have a couple of cheap basses, I like them well enough, but they can’t hold a candle to my more costly basses.

 

[Jeff Scott]

...No doubt that some product is simply designated for ..... brand snobbery...

The first to come to mind, bass related, is Ritter.

 

[Ric5]

free shipping Top quality New Arrival RICK Semi Hollow 4 String natural wood color Electric Bass Guitar 1117-in Guitar from Sports & Entertainment on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

 

[Brad Johnson]

I've played both high end and low end basses in my day and I have to say I'm getting a pretty good sound and feel out of some less costly basses . The latest addition to my arsenal is a very inexpensive bass . An Ibanez GSR200SM . My wife bought this for me for Xmas a couple of years ago . I don't know what she paid for it . I think it was a "Stupid deal of the day" from Musicians Friend . She said she liked the way it looked . So did I for that matter . After disabling that crappy active PhatII EQ (The pickups are actually passive) it's turning out to be a very good bass . The construction is solid and it feels and sounds great . I find myself using it more often than my other 4s . Furthermore , it came out of the box completely set up . The action and the intonation were on the mark . So you can keep your Foderas , Alembics , etc . I'm happy .

No problem... I will.

 

[blowinblue]

I would be very much interested in hearing this man's views on brand snobbery.

M. M.

 

[Wyo Bass Junkie]

Hell, I've had numerous brands and cost points. The bass in my pic is an Ibanez GSR205. I love it. I have a cheap ass Silvertone P Bass. I love it. My only expensive bass is my EBMM SR 4HH. I love it a lil bit more

 

[tpaul]

I used to hang out on TDPRI a lot and this was a frequent topic there too.

We used to say "tone is in the fingers" until someone changed it to "tone is in the underpants."

 

[bobyoung53]

I'm happy that you're happy.

View attachment 3071705

Al Bundy always makes me smile.

 

[scuzzy]

Look, I have sub 100 and in excess of 3k basses, which I hold in the same regard.
I play out regularly, and each was chosen not on price, rather on tone, playability, and visual appeal. The fact that a shovel with strings CAN make bass noises, does not eliminate the contribution, subtle or dramatic; that an instrument with carefully engineered design can bring to the experience. Sonically I can make a $10000 bass sound like a $10 bass bud the inverse is not possible.

I'm happy playing my Squier, Warwick, G&L, Ibanez, Goya, or Danelectro.

Truism: if it sounds good, it is good.

Note the conspicuous absence of Fender and Tort. In my missive.
Fender USA is IMO overpriced for a mass mfg. design that has not seen any innovation in 60+ years, a design that was made to be easy and inexpensively manufactured, using whatever materials were cheap and abundant at the time.
I have also yet to find a RIC that appeals to me, a Fodera that I had to have, a Sadowsky that made me whip out the wallet.

But it took no time at all to need my Dano, Squier, or my Warwick.

Perspective. What appeals to me, may not appeal to others, and the inverse is true.

You and I have a very similar mindset.

Regarding fender, if TB is correct, and wood/construction matters none, then how different can an $80 precision be from a $4k precision? The only thing out of your control contributing to the tone is $30 strings, a couple $8 pots, and a $100 pickup. Therefore .The greatest precision shouldn't cost more than roughly $300, right?

I disagree with the normal TB mindset on many things. I am not a fender fan boi, but I do value fine craftsmanship. Perhaps TB and myself suffer from a bit of hypocrisy.....albeit on opposite ends of the spectrum.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

You and I have a very similar mindset.

Regarding fender, if TB is correct, and wood/construction matters none, then how different can an $80 precision be from a $4k precision? The only thing out of your control contributing to the tone is $30 strings, a couple $8 pots, and a $100 pickup. Therefore .The greatest precision shouldn't cost more than roughly $300, right?

I disagree with the normal TB mindset on many things. I am not a fender fan boi, but I do value fine craftsmanship. Perhaps TB and myself suffer from a bit of hypocrisy.....albeit on opposite ends of the spectrum.

It must be the cost of the 1300.00 waterslide decal on the headstock that makes the difference

 

[fingerbun]

I play the instrument and decide what I think of it before looking at price. On occasion this leads me to buy more expensive instruments than I had intended, but I’ve also had the experience of going out ready to spend thousands on an upgrade of my only five string (a Cort with Seymour Duncan’s) only to conclude there was nothing in those more expensive instruments to justify the expense for me.

Sometimes the extra price on expensive instruments has gone into nicer wood, electronics, hardware and such. Or sometimes it’s gone into cosmetic details, which I am personally less inclined to pay extra for. My instruments are tools. They have to be good enough to do a quality job with reliability. I’m not really a GAS person.

The fact is I play small time gigs, and the calls I get are from people who want solid, simple lines played with a nice tone. I rarely get to play to my level of technical ability, so the instruments aren’t holding that back, and my American Standard precision has a tone the people I play for all love. Anything else I play just has to match that level, and bring something to the table (an interesting sonic twist or a funky look).