I've had a CS "Team Built" and a half dozen MIA and MIM's over the years... Still have a $2100 75th Anniversary Commemorative (pics above) which is an amazing bass for 2K... but they simply don't compare to the Master Built, the only thing I've seen that does is a NYC .. especially since I got it made exactly the way I wanted it.. I mean how many ebony Fender Jazz basses do you see out there? The ideal blend of maple and rosewood sound is fantastic!
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Fender Master Built review out
- Thread starter SamJ
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I've had a CS "Team Built" and a half dozen MIA and MIM's over the years... Still have a $2100 75th Anniversary Commemorative (pics above) which is an amazing bass for 2K... but they simply don't compare to the Master Built, the only thing I've seen that does is a NYC .. especially since I got it made exactly the way I wanted it.. I mean how many ebony Fender Jazz basses do you see out there? The ideal blend of maple and rosewood sound is fantastic!
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That's a whole different thread right there haha but it reminded me of something I was recently thinking about.
I don't think vintage instruments (fenders particularly) will be much of a thing in the not so distant future. I don't know many collectors but the few I do know are dinosaurs. The only people who buy there gear (when they do sell) are rockstars (also Dinos) or other collectors (still dinos). Maybe the financial gap between generations can be blamed a little but I don't see millennials caring nearly as much about vintage basses/guitars and I imagine Gen Z will not care at all.
time will tell!
drumvsbass
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Only 7k? I wonder if it has a dead spot on the G string too.
you mean the same Gen Z that's buying up vinyl records in "record" numbers not seen since the 1980's?
well yea, but who's dropping the cash on the rare vintage vinyl? Gen Z? Probably not. They want a squeaky clean new product. I think the record sales are likely modern artists or reprinted classics.
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It does make me laugh how people get so hung up about the humble P bass. I've had a few vintage P's and yes I had the P thing going on but their all basically the same..ie tin bridge, tuners, nut etc. The, "going on thing" with a P bass is absolutely all in the fingers and def not in how much u pay for any particular instrument. Anyway each to their own.
Just be content if you don't play cello or double bass.
I just bought a cello for my daughter. That cost as much or more than a masterbuilt.
…and while it's a fine instrument, it's in the level comparable to a high end MIM or standard MIA Fender.
We looked at instruments as high as $28000.00
I just bought a cello for my daughter. That cost as much or more than a masterbuilt.
…and while it's a fine instrument, it's in the level comparable to a high end MIM or standard MIA Fender.
We looked at instruments as high as $28000.00
I bought a 75th anniversary P MIM for less than retail. I can get the action and relief stupid low and it kills.
I have said I will never sell it. Neck is perfect. Tone is perfect.
I did put a drop D tuner on it. Only mod it needed
It is bad aaasss
Just be content if you don't play cello or double bass.
I just bought a cello for my daughter. That cost as much or more than a masterbuilt.
…and while it's a fine instrument, it's in the level comparable to a high end MIM or standard MIA Fender.
We looked at instruments as high as $28000.00
I have an "entry level" upright and it cost $1800 haha. I went to one shop once to look at upgrading it and yea that'll never happen!
This is a pretty common argument. In acoustic instruments you can hear\feel the differences among different price ranges.Just be content if you don't play cello or double bass.
I just bought a cello for my daughter. That cost as much or more than a masterbuilt.
…and while it's a fine instrument, it's in the level comparable to a high end MIM or standard MIA Fender.
We looked at instruments as high as $28000.00
Fender P basses are the standard industrial basses made to be cheap, reliable, easy to build and sturdy. IMHO that's why many people, me included, have difficulties in finding the added value to justify the consistent price increase.
I'm not sure. When Vulfpack can fill Madison Square Garden without a top selling single and Snarky Puppy has a world wide following and 2 of the highest paid bassists, Sean Hurley and Tim Lefebvre, are both gen x, there's more than croaking baby boomers funding Fender sales.
I don't own or play the P-bass but when you consider something like 50% (or some insane proportional number I forget) of all recorded music dating back to the beginning of electric bass was likely recorded on a P-Bass .. I can see why people are so "hung" up... to this day, some producers and engineers won't even let a session bassist play anything else..
Should this thread get ugly it's important we remember
Scott started it!
Scott started it!
Of course they're going to go to dope concerts. You also don't need a top selling single these days. Im sure Vulfpeck has at least 1,000,000 followers on Spotify probably more.
I don't follow how this correlates to young musicians purchasing vintage instruments.
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Well some people earns $20k a year while others earn $200k. That is most of the complaining. Would you buy it if you just sold one of your rental properties and made $200k profit ? I would
I thought it was pretty obvious: Michael League of Snarky Puppy, who's 37, owns and tours with 3 pre-CBS Fender P basses. Tim Lefebvre owns multiple vintage basses. I have no idea how many vintage instruments Sam Wilkes of Scary Pockets and Knower owns. It's dead certain that at least some of the younger fans of Vulfpack, Snarky Puppy, and their various spinoff bands are also musicians. Interest in music played by people with instruments is not dead. The idea that gets floated around here that as baby boomers die so will the interest in vintage instruments seems false. What will almost certainly pass is interest in an instrument that a particular 1960s-1970s musician owned. Who will pay extra for Doug Cook's bass 10 years from now?
Who's complaining? If you want to buy it, go ahead. All I and many of us are saying is that one can buy a Lull, Lakland, Olinto, or some other high quality maker's bass that will be at least as good as a Fender master built P for quite a bit less.
I, personally, would rather own a mass-produced bass because if it's lost, stolen, or damaged, replacement by a near identical bass is relatively easy.
These are world class musicians who are trying to recreate that golden era funk we're talking about, basically the people who I expect to own them. Outside of cats in that league I don't really expect the interest to stick around, personally.
I'm not saying it'll ever totally die out or that the you won't see one being playing at Madison Sqaure Garden for decades to come. What I'm saying is that people in general won't want them as much and that they will become more challenging to offload for the price you want to get.
I could be wayyy off but I'm sure we'll both be long gone before we find out anyways haha
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