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Has anyone "downgraded" from a boutique bass?

#82
If the thing you're concerned about is the loss of all that precision craftsmanship, keep looking. You'll find it again. Sadowsky is tight as anything. Music Man can be a good example. Fender maybe not but you'll learn to see it in other basses.
 
#83
I've been all over the place, custom Spector NS2, Rob Allen Mouse, to Squiers, and many things between. I'm currently playing a one-off fretless FSO from Ecuador, but hope to rejoin the boutique ranks next year with a Martin Keith semi-hollow fretless.
 
#85
J Wilson said:
Pull up a chair.

I owned two Alembic five-strings, a rare, red-tinted Series shape Spoiler, and a custom green tint Elan Five I had built for myself. Boutique with a Capital B.

They're everything you think they would be. Wood rarely seen anywhere else, and the woodworking and quality are in a class by themselves. They make their own hardware (even their own truss rods) and of course, mil-spec bespoke electronics and pickups. Who else specs stainless steel pickup screws so as not to disturb the magnetics in the pickups? And on and on. Nobody goes to the lengths they go to as far as building a lifetime instrument.

Some years ago, my wife's back problems backed us in the corner of requiring surgery. And as often happens, back surgery doesn't always go as hoped. She couldn't work any more, filed for partial disability, and we lost her income. And as anyone who's been there knows, Uncle Sam takes your money every week or quarter relentlessly, but file for disability and you're just gonna wait.

We were scrambling for money, and it became obvious that selling the two of them would pay our bills for several months (seven, as it turned out), so that was that and off they went. I'd bought them smart, made money on one and broke even on the other, so I'd owned two Alembics for free, couldn't complain about that ! There's no bass that's worth getting behind on bills or short-changing her, and thank goodness I could play those two cards. She comes first, and I'm glad I could do it.

But . . . . now I didn't have a bass in the house. And the play money budget was much tighter.

So I bought (the first 4 string I'd owned in 30-odd years) a Squier James Johnston Jazz Bass, as I was a sucker for that matching head Lake Placid Blue look. Then later I bought the Squier Active Contemporary Jazz 5 and the Squier P5. Amazing axes for the price, I'm in all three for a little over a grand. Wow.

So what did I find out?

While I sounded like a better Me on the Alembics, I still sound like Me on the Squiers. They're solid, stay in tune, they're quiet, and they feel right. And I enjoy playing them possible a little more as I don't have to worry about a little mark or bumping into something with an axe as grand as the Alembics. I've been around long enough to do my own setups and know what it takes to make a good bass solid, so they're fine. And the idea that I would derail our finances or put my wife out for a couple of basses was a non-starter.

It's the enjoyment, the buzz of doin' it that's simply not price dependent. It's just not. I have a ball with them and that's all that really matters to me, and were I still playing out, I would not hesitate to gig with them.

We buy instruments for hundreds of reasons, and a lot of guys ego would probably not allow them to go to Squiers after Alembics. I could, and I'm glad I did.
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I'd add to remember it's the joy of playing, and that's just not necessarily price dependent.
 
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#86
While not exactly Alembic or Wal in insane pricing, with Los Angeles turning extra slimy as of late, I wanted to stop bringing my Standard Stingray to bar gigs so I picked up a US-era SUB Bass. I honestly like the 2-band better than the Standard? It feels more responsive and aggressive.

I'll be sad if it were to grow legs one day, but not attached to it like the Standard I've had for 20 years.
 
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#87
Just Wrong said:
Has anyone "downgraded" from a boutique bass? How was your experience?
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I'm old, and I've made a pretty good living (in IT), and I have an understanding wife, so I've owned a lot of basses over the years, including some boutique basses. Those include: Tobias, Modulus, Pedulla, Wal, Alembic, NS Design, Status, Rob Allen, etc. I've also owned plenty of regular "mid-level" basses: Fender, Music Man, Gibson, Ibanez, Sire, Sandberg, Reverend, Yamaha, etc. Every bass has its pros and cons--including the expensive boutique ones.

My view is that, for must of us, the bass is not a high-fidelity instrument. I can appreciate the aesthetics and craftsmanship of a boutique bass while also acknowledging that a plain-Jane P-bass or J-bass or Soundgear or Stingray will do the job just as well. Then it just comes down to personal preferences. It's funny, sometimes I'll listen back to old recordings I played on and I can't tell from the sound of the bass if it was one of the boutiques or one of the cheap-o's ("Was I playing the Wal fretless on that song or the Ibanez fretless?")--either way it sounds pretty good to me.

Somewhere along the line it occurred to me that I could buy and enjoy 4 different mid-level basses by selling 1 boutique bass. Nowadays I don't have any basses that I paid more than $1,500.00 for, and several (including my favs) that cost considerably less. I've really enjoyed having the opportunity to play a lot of different basses over the years and see/hear/feel their differences and similarities.
 
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#89
I sold my Alembic when I built my 6 string. I don't really consider it a downgrade though.
mybass.jpg
 
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#92
First deposit for a custom is down, as I've settled on 32" scale, 4 string..and want to try single cut.

Not many opportunities to do that commercially.

Not going crazy with specs tho, it's all about the erg and neck.

If not for that I'd be happy with my fretless jazz and my Squier backup.
 
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#93
Danny O Danny said:
It's funny, sometimes I'll listen back to an old recording and I can't tell from the sound of the bass if it was one of the boutiques or one of the cheap-o's ("Was I playing the Wal fretless on that song or the Ibanez fretless?")--either way it sounds pretty good to me.
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The quote by a CCM bass player talking about his rig and lack of effects or fancy stuff always sticks with me. He said in the house, it sounds like a bass. I often am told, no matter what gear I am using, that I sound like me. I'll take that.

Danny O Danny said:
Somewhere along the line it occurred to me that I could buy and enjoy 4 different mid-level basses by selling 1 boutique bass. Nowadays I don't have any basses that I paid more than $1,500.00 for, and several (including my favs) that cost considerably less.
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I have often had this thought as well. Sell off my basses and go shopping with a three or four thousand dollars for a number of "lesser" basses.

Precision: 4 string, passive, flats ($700)
Jazz: 4 string, passive, rounds ($700)
Fretless: 4 string, passive, rounds ($700)
"Modern" 5 string, active, rounds ($1,000)

Can get a lot of bass (used especially if you're lucky) for $3,100.
But, as one of my "expensive" basses was a gift from my wife, it stays. The other has been with me for 12+ years so it's probably staying as well.
 
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#95
Never had and never will have a boutique bass myself but one of my favorite activity is to have a professional musician giving a try to my basses……….and that happened once again yesterday night.
Long story short, he tried all of my basses and ended up preferring one of my cheapest which is a Frankenstein bass made of a Warmoth jazz neck, Squier CV p bass body and Fender pure vintage '63 pickups with Fender flat wound strings.
He brought his expansive 5 string Ibanez and we gave it a try for 2 songs and put it back on the rack.
That was rather difficult for him to admit but I saw his face turning red and his eyes shining with the little p bass so this and the fact he couldn't stop playing tell me a cheap bass with a very good bassist can do the trick.
I offered him to bring home my humble p bass for a few weeks and his answer was : I will have to think about it !
 
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#96
gillento said:
Back in the day, when I was a Sadowsky (US custom ans Japan) fanboy, I tried a korean Lakland DJ5 with an Xotic RC preamp pedal.
It blew all my Sados away.
In the meantime, I only play passive basses. One of my two main players is a 1983 Squier JV Precision. The Sados have been sold a long time ago.
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Interesting. One of the basses I'm looking at (but unfortunately can't try) is a Lakland DJ5 made in Indonesia. Do you have any experience with those? Thanks.
 
#99
SteveC said:
I guess I think of Alembic and Fodera and things like that as what people consider boutique. Roscoe is (not to me but others) a step up from a "production bass" but not quite in that elite status of those previously mentioned. I would put my Roscoes against any bass, but thats me.
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I guess if Roscoe made their own pickups and hardware that would definitely put them in the boutique class. Speaking of Fodera, I once traded my Fodera + cash for an F Bass and a Roscoe. Not a downgrade, more like a 2 for 1 deal.
 
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