Man, not sure how much you gain going boutique over a well chosen Ric, Stingray, American Fender, or Ibanez Premium lines. Gotta admit, I'm not in that league, but I'd rather try a few of those higher end production ones rather than take a chance on a custom build.
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Higher end production bass vs 'entry' level custom.
- Thread starter nonohmic
- Start date
The way things are going I'd hold off till sometime next year. ... Prices won't be going up and there's a good chance the market could be flooded with instruments. ... Pick five bass on TB classifieds and watch them. Two below $2000 and 3 above. ... And watch for how long does it take for them to sell and is there many price drops before they sell? ...
IMO the reason you go for a custom build is when you know exactly what you what and can pretty much write the specs down on paper. I'd much rather choose from a bunch of high end production basses rather than a budget custom build that probably wouldn't have everything I want.
My next bass will likely be a StingRay Special 4H. Ivory White, which of course is the color with the longest wait if I buy new. Hopefully a used one will pop up on Reverb or eBay.I should receive my first Stingray5 tomorrow.
Your best bet is to travel to a major city where you can try a large variety of higher end basses in person. Anything else is fairly random guesswork based on opinions other than your own.
I own a $4G and a $339 Squier
Chose Squier over M M @$1700
Frankly main difference between those 2 is pawn shop value
Go “Boutique “ ... When you can afford
Even then it’s a $ game, as all boutiques are excellent with quite similar hardware electronics ; exotic woods makes more $ difference
My 2c
As some other's have mentioned, i'd be looking at the Warmoth necks and bodies if I were you. Get a nice set of your favorite pickups, some good quality tuners and bridge and you'll have a very nice original bass.
Not sure a custom build is going to get you anything that a sub $2k "standard" model couldn't, for the most part.
Having said that, I bought the parts for a bass from Warmoth (body and neck) and the pickups and hardware. It was over $1k wen all was said and done, but it is my favorite sounding, playing and looking 4 string bass ever, and I've owned a decent number.
Does that count as boutique or custom?
Having said that, I bought the parts for a bass from Warmoth (body and neck) and the pickups and hardware. It was over $1k wen all was said and done, but it is my favorite sounding, playing and looking 4 string bass ever, and I've owned a decent number.
Does that count as boutique or custom?
At ~$2K, what would pop up on my radar, in order from least customized to most customized: EBMM Stingray, Sandberg, Option order G&L, Kiesel/Carvin. All have a very high likelihood of delivering a fantastic bass, sight unseen.
As far as customizing, even if you're not getting all the options you would want, getting some particular things that suit you seems well worth it if you're making that kind of investment.
As far as customizing, even if you're not getting all the options you would want, getting some particular things that suit you seems well worth it if you're making that kind of investment.
Think of what you would like in a bass. Then hunt around to the companies which have these options. Then check the prices. If they don’t have them at the price you are happy with go with Warmouth and get the pups and electronics which that bass has. People who say builds will leave you wanting at times may have got the parts and tried and failed...go with what you like man. Anyone who tries to get you to buy what they like aren’t thinking of what YOU may like...that being said good luck hope you get something awesome !
Ive owned a lot of both boutique and lower end priced gear.
ESP vintage 4 is a great bass for 700 bucks, i had an 83 early japanese squire(small letter squire) it was fantastic. The only boutique bass that held its value was my 73 series 1 Alembic. Elrick, lakland and others drop like crazy used.
We all have that urge to get out of the Ford and drive a vett but with basses more money doesnt mean better sound or playability.
In my opinion
Yeah I'm starting to think a nicely spec'd warmoth neck might scratch my itch.
Dude those vintage esp basses look rad af!
They will blow you away how nice they play and sound for the money, a great rock bass especially if you play bars, you can keep the expensive stuff at home..lol
If i didnt have a bunch of 4s id buy that one on TB in a minute.
The world is your lobster.
I wouldn't go full custom. They are too expensive and I need to look at a bass, to feel and hear it before I buy.
You could easily search and find several good production basses for your budget.
I bought my pristine Mike Lull P bass and very knocked about Sadowsky Metro Jazz for close to $2000 each. Either would be fine but both do an excellent job.
My cheap advice play something you enjoy, you will know it when you play it
This is a simple but profound advice. I have basses that cost far less than my most expensive basses, yet I don't necessarily enjoy playing the more expensive basses more, and sometimes the extra coast don't necessarily translate into better tone either. It can be very subjective.
Not reading through this... but, go used. $2000 goes way further used than new. But odds are, no matter what you decide, you’ll get a quality instrument no matter what you do.
White is, of course, the proper color for a StingRay. I wanted white, but had to make do.
Recently bought a Sadowsky MetroExpress (Japan) RV4, the quality difference isn't noticeable compared to my Metroline. For a new bass under 2K, these are excellent, but my preference is for a Jazz type bass, (they do PJs as well). The Stingray specials are also very nice, and lightweight, but the premium Fenders I tried were all heavier than I wanted. I'd stick to an 'off the peg' bass with a 2K, but if I had the budget, it would probably be a Fodera.
