I can only tell you what Steve told me and He works for the company.
On a side note and IMHO (only) - I think $1699 is pretty fair for an American built instrument...
Try getting a Lull or equivalent...The Mike Lull PT30 are around $3499
A G&L is not a Lull. Too bad that actually need to stated here. G&L is in the same neighborhood as mass produced U.S.-made Fenders in terms of quality, or slightly better, and have traditionally been at around the same price points or a bit cheaper.
A short necked bass being priced the same as a regular long necked bass of similar build quality goes against over 50 years of typical pricing structures for a musical instrument line. When did Fender ever sell Mustang Basses for the same as, or more than, P or J Basses?
There are not many U.S. made, good quality short necks to compare to. The closest equivalent in terms of quality is the American Performer Mustang, which retails for $1,200 without HSC (just a gig bag). This is the first American made short scale Fender bass in nearly 40 years (unless one is slipping my mind). I have it. It is built very well – no worse than any of my G&Ls (of which I have many, and which I have been using for almost 25 years). The finish quality is excellent – better than most U.S. Fenders of the past that I have tried. I still felt it was overpriced for the level of quality and the bag that it came with.
As for them being "limited edition," as explained before that is a misnomer. "Limited edition" means that a maker caps production numbers at a set amount, and runs an edition on spec (meaning without them having been pre-ordered by retailers)...
then tries to sell them to dealers. What is happening with the Fallout Bass is a limited
production period, not a limited
edition. They will make only as many as are ordered (a method that provides zero gamble to the manufacturer, because they know that
everything they are making will sell), for a limited time only (orders close at the end of November). But they have
not capped production at a set number, so it's
not a "limited edition."
I can see the exclusive features (matching head, stripes) adding $200–$300 to the retail price. So that makes a theoretical Fullerton Deluxe version $1,400–$1,500 – in line with their Fullerton Deluze JBs and LB-100s. But again, a short neck being priced the same as a long neck is very odd.
The information I reported comes from a G&L sales rep (i.e. one of G&'s salespeople), and was reported to a retailer, as I explained. If anyone knows the pricing history of a G&L product, and will be straight up about it to anyone else, it's a sales rep speaking to one of his retailers. What does Steve do at G&L? Are you one of his customers (i.e. a G&L retailer)?
FWIW, I ordered mine. The dealer gave it to me for $1,356, due to the price sneakiness on G&L's part with this launch. That's basically the originally intended retail price plus shipping.
That first line is adorable...It reminds me of something my daughter would say to me.
