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Fender Custom Shop Insanity

#81
thebrian said:
I don't know, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. kidding. ;)
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Now that is funny! :D

If someone has the cash to spend by all means they should buy what makes them happy. I would love to get a Fender Dusty Hill bass but I don't have the cashola. I am happy for the guys that can afford one. Hopefully they will not want to keep it and sell it to me at a reduced price.
 
#83
thebrian said:
I don't know, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
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That's actually an excellent analogy!

There are hotels that cost $1000 per night per room, and hotels that cost $59 a night per room, and everything in-between.

Since I can only afford a max of about $300 per night (which is what I usually pay when my wife and I go to Hawaii), I could easily say that the $1000 per night rate is "ridiculous." But that would be rather narrow minded of me, because there are people that are at a higher economic status than I am who would never stay anywhere where the rooms are only $300 per night.

Different accommodations for different people. I'm good with that.

Different basses for different people. I'm good with that.

Regarding comparing the cost of vintage basses versus new replica basses, it all comes down to which one you prefer. The buyer gets to decide what the buyer buys. What I find difficult to understand is why would anyone choose to spend their time whining about it? :hmm: :confused: Get over it, go buy a bass, and play music!
 
#84
Personally I play and absolutely love Fender and Fodera.

I pay a lot of money for the Fodera sound and amazing workmanship and customer service as well as the ease of customizing anything I basically want.

I have played lots of Fender CS basses and IMO-IME they are not close to Fodera buildwise. I still gig my Fenders and Squiers a lot but I would never pay Fodera money for a new Fender. The only exception would be an exact replica of a super cool and unique/famous instrument. Even then, I doubt it. A 60's all original Fender is old and rare and can sound killer. I get paying huge coin for one of those.

One could argue that Stambaugh, Roscoe and a few other builders can make basses that are less $$$ that Fodera and other uber-expensive makers, but that is a different but valid discussion.
 
#86
I have no problem with Fender pricing there CS as they do. They aren't running a charity and if there are people out there willing to pay for them then more power to them. Would I buy one? Sure if I was rich but I'm not. So, no. Oh well!

With the replica basses I do find it amusing that people are willing to pay so much money for a copy of an instrument that was bought used at some pawn shop by the artist and, in most cases at the beginning of their careers, for probably a few hundred bucks and then modified to suit their needs. Why not save some money and do the same plus add that something that will make it your own? Who knows, maybe you'll become famous and people will be copying your old POS bass and selling them for thousands! ;)
 
#89
BIGEJ2 said:
So Fender Masterbuilt basses are not worth the money but other branded Masterbuilt basses are? Now that's insanity.
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CNC machines cut the wood. The builder assembles it. There is talent in that for sure, especially when fine tuning the neck relief and fret work, but at a certain point it's a bolt on bass, only so much one can charge for something like that before it gets silly. IMO.
 
#91
LightGroove said:
So the fact that folks are willing to pay thousands for 40 yr old basses does make sense to you? To rationlize they define it as mojo and it makes sense all of a sydden...nah

Sorry man ...cant join your band wagon but will say im proud to state I never have nor ever will own a Fender bass..

To each their own!
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It used to make economic sense when prices were going up. An investment in a collectors item, as a hedge against inflation, and a way to hide capital gains from the IRS.

Many buyers didn't even play, they just invested in collectable musical instruments, along with art, rare coins, cars, stamps, wine, whatever.

Those days are gone. Now vintage guitars are depreciating assets, much to the chagrin of some vintage dealers, no doubt.

btw, is having never owned a Fender bass really something to be "proud" of ?
 
#92
For newly outta factory F-style-gear i would not pay more than 3-4k$ depending on materials used, a nice one-piece ash body with a quarter sawn neck build by master's hands is quite costly; more $$$ is not justified for this type of axes, specially since they cannot provide the tone of 30-40 y/o wood.
On the other hand i also paid a nice little fortune to get me the XL25 Wide... and having dream gear is often far off reason; 10k$ for a Fodera, 6-8k$ for a Warwick and other sort of luxury-gear are beyond explanation: You want it, you pay it!
 
#93
The CS route just allows those that can (& want to) afford it a chance to get their very own classic vision of a Fender bass without having to search and w/o wear & tear.

Unless you're going relic.

What's even more gratifying is finding a stock off the rack AM Standard that rocks your world at retail and have the best of both worlds.
 
#94
Nobody here has mentioned the very obvious notion that some of the FCS Masterbuilt stuff is exorbitantly priced on purpose and for no other reason than to give Fender a "top of the line" that is in the same price ballpark as Foderas, Alembics, etc...

There is a well know anomoly in the market strategy of luxury items like audiophile equipment, women's shoes and handbags, luxury watches, and... guitars.

It pretty much says, the more expensive you price something the more people will want it.

It has nothing to do with supply and demand or how much time and effort goes into making some of these items. Sometimes, it really is simply jacking up the price to make people want it more.
 

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