I just bought a very expensive Ken Smith bass and a very cheap Frankenstein P-bass - Just because both were the best I tried in the 300$ 5,000$ range (and I tried many).
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Expensive vs inexpensive basses
- Thread starter TKnights
- Start date
So it wasn't a stupid deal of the day from Musicians Friend? Come on man...
Dumb Deal of the Day from Builder's Buddy. I remember that day vividly. Bought a pile of their warped 2x4s and built me a wooden igloo.
Hey, in defense of the OP allow me to say that I own a GSR206. I went into Music-go-round and just for grins took the GSR206 down off the wall. Tone was freakin' amazing! I'm like "I can't believe the sound coming out of this cheap imported Ibby! I KNEW I could not leave the store without it. Since it sounded so good I actually paid more for it than the used SR 506 I bought later. So was it the killer bass of the century? No. Was it even as "good" as my SR506? No. The 206 did not have 24 frets while the 506 does and the pickups of the 206 were not even string to string with C and B strings being slightly weak. But the TONE! Cripes I still have it and still like the tone better than the SR506 even if you have to hit the EQ to even out the strings. Tone is where you find it!
So I can understand how the OP got enthused over his GSR200SM. I understand that completely. However, does my GSR206 replace my Alembic, Ken Smith, Modulus, G&L or other of my specialized basses? Of course not. They each do what they do. And if I want what they do I had to pay what ever it took to get that. Does That make my SX basses Crap? No. Does that mean I wasted my money on those high end basses? No. (especially since most were purchased used for a song)
Tone is where you find it. And if you want it, you have to pay whatever it takes to get it.
So I can understand how the OP got enthused over his GSR200SM. I understand that completely. However, does my GSR206 replace my Alembic, Ken Smith, Modulus, G&L or other of my specialized basses? Of course not. They each do what they do. And if I want what they do I had to pay what ever it took to get that. Does That make my SX basses Crap? No. Does that mean I wasted my money on those high end basses? No. (especially since most were purchased used for a song)
Tone is where you find it. And if you want it, you have to pay whatever it takes to get it.
Now see, I have no interest in the Smith, but I'm dying to know more about the Frankenstein P-Bass. That probably reveals something about my psychological profile, which my fellow TBers can explain at length.
By the way, happy world chocolate day everyone! I’m off to the Lindt store.
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.
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.
Last edited:
The Frankenstein outplayed a Pino Palladino CS Fender, a Musicman Cutlass and a Fender USA professional P.
I have no idea what parts it’s made of.
I love it!
The Smith outplayed all 5 string basses in the store. Love it too.
Hmmmm, as far as I know there was no German Pro Series in 2001, that’s a more recent development. Sounds like Guitar Center ignorance.
My stale store-brand chocolate is just as good as your extra-dark Lindt truffle...
The Frankenstein outplayed a Pino Palladino CS Fender, a Musicman Cutlass and a Fender USA professional P.
I have no idea what parts it’s made of.
I love it!
The Smith outplayed all 5 string basses in the store. Love it too.
When you eventually tire of the P, and consider placing it in the TB classifieds, please notify me first.
The Lindt store is having a special deal today: buy $25 worth of chocolate and they throw in a free one pound bag of truffles!
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
So I took my Maestro $135 bass to rehearsal last night and it totally rocks, I also took a Rickenbacker and a p-bass but they did not get much play time.
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,045
- 45,909
- Disclosures
- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
It's all in the delivery. Being happy with whatever you have is great. IME and IMO dissing other people's choices is pretty likely to spin a thread right where this one has gone. It'd be circling in the other direction in the Southern Hemisphere, but it'd still be circling.
Good statement. I am no Bill Gates so I bass on a budget. For a short time I owned a VM Squier for practice & played a couple of gigs. As decent of a bass it was, it was still a beginner brand. After 1 brand-judging look from another musician, sold it.
This doesn't not surprise me in the least. First because I own a Smith and while I don't play it much these days, every time I take it out and play it I'm always amazed at just how good a bass it is!
My other story goes like this: Some years ago I was at a guitar show. There was a dealer there will all kind of high end basses. I mean things Like Drozd and others in that price range. And there was also some dude there who was an amazing bassist trying them all out while a bunch of us all stood around watching. Given the skill level of that cat I have no doubt he could have just plunked 'em down for any bass there regardless of price. Anyway, It was really interesting listening to all these super high end basses played by someone who could really play. Anyway, before he wandered off, the last bass he tried was like a plain old Fender Standard (I forget if it was P or Jazz). And much to my astonishment (I've never been much of a Fender fan) that factory Fender at a fraction of the bucks of all those boutique basses had tone that I swear was blowing some of those ultra expensive basses right out of the water. The lesson I took away from that was that Fender basses are a tremendous bargain! I mean here is a factory bass at a half or third or less of the price of the boutiques that is standing right in there with them and competing at their level. This Fender bargain suddenly explained to me the long-standing popularity of the Fender brand in the bass world.
That's sad!
I'll play out with pride anything I enjoy, brand name is insignificant.
I'm playing my Dolphin (country gig) and get a comment, "why are you playing that import crap, you should use that there Fender (he's pointing at my Chinese Squier VMP5)
Lol
Last edited:
That is funny 'import crap' funny .expensive and inexpensive basses are made side by side. Same people same tools, some of the same stuff. I saw this in a mattress manufacturing plant. Your $2000 mattress next to a $95 mattress. Same tools, people, stuffing,
I’m pretty sure I spent too much on a bass I absolutely adore. It is my only bass, and for my current skill level I kind of feel silly being invested in it, but if I sold it off to be “practical,” I would deeply regret it. I don’t want to put it down when I practice, and this seems like a worthwhile quality at this stage of my development. I’m sure there is something out there for half or a third of what I paid that would suffice, but my hands haven’t found it yet.
That being said, I’m not sure the OP intended much more than a little over-exuberant pride. I’m generally weary with the hair-trigger snark and discouragement that pervades almost everything with commentary, but it is what it is. I guess I understand the offense even though I wasn’t offended. I’m here primarily to learn from all of you so I can do something I love, hopefully with some increasing level of competence.
