I almost bought an Am Pro II P bass last week. I was looking at them and thinking “I should get one now, these prices are going to get a bump after the 1st of the year.”
I had one in my cart like eleventy-seven times, and kept chickening out. Then totally by accident I stumbled across a beautiful CLF L1000. I bought it, instead. And I had zero hesitation about it.
I understand why the pricing is happening. It’s environmental. With what shipping costs are now, coupled with materials that just keep climbing, something has to give. It looks crazy to see those prices in print, but I don’t really see that they have a choice. When stuff costs you more, you have to charge more. It’s just economics.
My issue with it is personal. I just don’t look at plain Jane MIA P and Jazz basses (or teles and Strats for that matter) and see anything exciting or unique or special. They’re very, very nice instruments, but they don’t have the kind of “oooooh, ahhhhh” factor I associate with that kind of pricing. Part of that is because I’m old and I remember when American Standards were $599 with a case.
By contrast, I took one look at my G&L at $1699 and saw something unique, special, and extremely exciting immediately. I had no hesitation about clicking “buy”. Was it a lot of money? Oh yeah. But not only does it have build quality that matches the price point, it’s the coolest looking bass I’ve ever seen. I’m looking at it right now and it’s making me feel all goofy. That makes the price pill easier to swallow for sure. And I just haven’t been getting that feeling with Fender stuff lately.
