Half of what they're on retail for at guitar center 
the real price is under the used category Lol
the real price is under the used category Lol
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How much are bass guitars truly worth?
- Thread starter el_Bajo_Verde
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For most of my life I thought of BMWs as yuppy cars (in case that isn't dating me enough, I'm 61). You would still have to give me a Mercedes before I'd own one- but that's because they're more luxury than performance oriented and I'm a performance guy. Yes, if you can spend enough you can get a fast Mercedes, but you're probably talking 6 figures.
And, for most of my life I drove cheap cars because I liked to race and couldn't afford a fast car. So it was cars for transportation, bikes for fun. I only ended up on a BMW lot because they sold Mini-Coopers and I wanted to check one out. Long story shorter, test driving a used 330i they had showed me how much 4-wheel fun I could now afford so I spent 2 very fun weeks test driving every other car I could afford that I thought would be fun to drive, and the BMW turned out to really be "the ultimate driving machine" that they claim it to be. I've been driving BMWs ever since- if you get them used with the warranty and maintenance contract they're cheaper to drive than a new Honda. My current 330i is 10 years old and has about 140K miles on it and still drives and feels like a new car.
You pay more for quality- if it's important to YOU. And while I had lots of fun driving my cheap Ford Falcons back in the day, I love driving a car that performs the way my BMW does. The same way you can play any song on a $200 bass that you can on a $2000 bass, but if you're trying to do more than just "get to the grocery store" it's probably going to be more fun and come out better on the better instrument. I still like my MIM P bass, but my Carvin and Stingray are just better basses- they play better and sound better, and I expect they will last longer. Just like the difference between my last Honda (a fine car) and my BMW.
I think something starts to happen after the $1500 price point.
A friend of mine has an American Custom Telecaster. It is the most perfect guitar I have ever played. Everything feels so sweet and not one component, from the hardware to the electronics to the neck joint feel as if they are not all in perfect harmony. Every time we jam I pick it up just to admire it and gently play an open chord if only to feel it ring against me. No seriously, its that good!
You'll never get that from anything less than master craftsmen. I'm not saying it happens every time, but it happens. Theres just some sort o' mojo to an instrument made with care by an expert. Im the biggest defender of cheap guitars you'll ever find. But I do know the difference between "great value" and pulling excaliber from the stone.
But I promise you guys now and forever no matter how wealthy I get (huge sarcasm there) I will never pay more than 2k for something that is essentially no more than an outlet for my sadistic impulses. Basses were made to be beaten and spanked!
A friend of mine has an American Custom Telecaster. It is the most perfect guitar I have ever played. Everything feels so sweet and not one component, from the hardware to the electronics to the neck joint feel as if they are not all in perfect harmony. Every time we jam I pick it up just to admire it and gently play an open chord if only to feel it ring against me. No seriously, its that good!
You'll never get that from anything less than master craftsmen. I'm not saying it happens every time, but it happens. Theres just some sort o' mojo to an instrument made with care by an expert. Im the biggest defender of cheap guitars you'll ever find. But I do know the difference between "great value" and pulling excaliber from the stone.
But I promise you guys now and forever no matter how wealthy I get (huge sarcasm there) I will never pay more than 2k for something that is essentially no more than an outlet for my sadistic impulses. Basses were made to be beaten and spanked!
I once had brain surgery. I got a bill from the surgeon that said:
Surgical procedure on cerebral cortex: $50.00
Knowing where to cut: $50,000.00
Surgical procedure on cerebral cortex: $50.00
Knowing where to cut: $50,000.00
For exemple i think my bass you see on my profile pic cost less than half of what I paid, raw material speaking.
Ebony fingerboard, 1 piece of Top grade Flamed maple, custom pickups, electronics, Silver inlays.... It's a cost.
Around 10 month of total time building, let say 2 to 3 weeks of pure work by hand...
Let's say 1/3 material, 1/3 work, 1/3 fame and brand image.
This is for a famous Boutique bass.
For a XXxxx JazzBass, I forbidden myself to spend more than 500$ because this is the price of Material, building and i refuse to pay the brand image. My point of view of course.
Ebony fingerboard, 1 piece of Top grade Flamed maple, custom pickups, electronics, Silver inlays.... It's a cost.
Around 10 month of total time building, let say 2 to 3 weeks of pure work by hand...
Let's say 1/3 material, 1/3 work, 1/3 fame and brand image.
This is for a famous Boutique bass.
For a XXxxx JazzBass, I forbidden myself to spend more than 500$ because this is the price of Material, building and i refuse to pay the brand image. My point of view of course.
Half of what they're on retail for at guitar center
the real price is under the used category Lol
Funny thing is, all the basses on the wall at GC are heavily used, but being sold for the "new" price. Some are even damaged.
And the "used" basses are in better shape than the ones on the wall!
I remember walking into GC for the first time ever, it was such a foreign concept to me. I thought, "this bass is worth HOW MUCH? And I can just grab it and play it?
Funny thing is, all the basses on the wall at GC are heavily used, but being sold for the "new" price. Some are even damaged.
And the "used" basses are in better shape than the ones on the wall!
I remember walking into GC for the first time ever, it was such a foreign concept to me. I thought, "this bass is worth HOW MUCH? And I can just grab it and play it?
You've got a point there
And yeah, I once bought a new acoustic bass but asked to get a new shipped to the store since the one they had was messed up. But then I returned it and got my money back
At least they do returns I do love GC though, well their pedal market. Ive gotten a lot of my pedals from their used section cause they had good deals
Some reasons and some numbers have been given in this thread but there's been nearly no attention paid to the difference between, for example, one neck blank and another. i.e. What species of wood have you chosen? Is the wood in that neck blank flat sawn, quarter sawn, even grained or variable grained, knot and void free or did it come out of the Home Depot bargain bin? Has it been cured for a year or two under something like controlled conditions before being delivered to the luthier or machine operator or is it as green as a 13-year-old at a school dance? What glue was used in the assembly of that 3- or 4- or 5-piece neck blank? All of these and more will affect the cost of materials in an instrument and all have a discernible influence on the playability and sound of the instrument. The greater your experience the more you will discern and vice versa. And note that I haven't even mentioned such nuance as neck profile and what it takes to make it comfortable for most players. That's not material, it's workmanship and workmanship costs more to get from luthiers with skills than from rookies or one-size-fits-all machines.
So, you can extrapolate that to all the other parts and pieces that make up a bass and see how rapidly and effectively a good axe can clean out your wallet. There are some wonderfully playable and nice sounding instruments for less than $600 (new) but the studio will magnify their shortcomings as will the talent and skill of journeyman players on a stage. What's a bass truly worth? There are way too many variables to allow narrowing it down to one number.,
Opinion here: if you can't feel or hear a meaningful improvement in your playing when you switch from a journeyman's bass to a high end bass it's likely a waste of time and money to get the fancy one. Unless, that is, you can afford it and really want it. Sometimes that's the best reason on Earth to buy it. Even if it gives somebody heartburn online.
Labour is the big one, followed by components and wood.
Good components will last forever and not break. Cheaper ones might last forever (they're still going strong on my first-ever Slammer by Hamer bass after almost 20 years) but there's less certainty there. What difference this makes to the sound is up for debate.
Good wood I guess is important, that can be expensive.
Labour is the biggie. Having a top-end luthier with his 2 assistants work on your bass, filing every joint, every fret, hand-carving the body and doing the finish by hand will take a lot more in man-hours than a mass-produced Squier equivalent. Since it can be assumed that these people will be of a much greater experience, they will therefore expect to be better-paid than their mass-producing factory-working counterparts. And also, since more man-hours are going into your single custom-made bass, it therefore needs to cost a lot more for them to be able to turn a profit (which at the end of the day they need to do - they're running a business and have bills to pay and mortgages to manage).
Will it mean the bass that you want? That's all a matter of personal taste. Some people want a custom bass, other people are perfectly happy with a totally stock one for a modest price. Everyone's different, which is why we're blessed with such a vast array of choices.
Good components will last forever and not break. Cheaper ones might last forever (they're still going strong on my first-ever Slammer by Hamer bass after almost 20 years) but there's less certainty there. What difference this makes to the sound is up for debate.
Good wood I guess is important, that can be expensive.
Labour is the biggie. Having a top-end luthier with his 2 assistants work on your bass, filing every joint, every fret, hand-carving the body and doing the finish by hand will take a lot more in man-hours than a mass-produced Squier equivalent. Since it can be assumed that these people will be of a much greater experience, they will therefore expect to be better-paid than their mass-producing factory-working counterparts. And also, since more man-hours are going into your single custom-made bass, it therefore needs to cost a lot more for them to be able to turn a profit (which at the end of the day they need to do - they're running a business and have bills to pay and mortgages to manage).
Will it mean the bass that you want? That's all a matter of personal taste. Some people want a custom bass, other people are perfectly happy with a totally stock one for a modest price. Everyone's different, which is why we're blessed with such a vast array of choices.
A bass is worth what you are willing to pay. A custom made bass will cost more due to the hours, tools, materials and expertise needed to create one. I have an Alembic Persuader and a custom Dave Pushic ( both under $2000) they feel, play and sound better than any assembly line made bass that I have ever touched.
as much as somebody will give you for it.......... not being a smartazz either: Trends, fads, and cultural heuristics will dictate the demand on whether or not an instrument increases or decreases in value ( and value and worth are two different things). Folks will pay a lot of money for a 50+ year old hunk of crap just because of the name on the headstock even if the instrument itself is inferior in quality to another instrument from a company of less pedigree
In addition to the everything else already mentioned there are the not so obvious overhead costs of running a business that has to be factored in to the product price.
Rent or Mortgage plus facility maintenance
Utilities
Tools
Vehicles and Fuel
Insurance
Annual local, state and federal tax
Employee pay and benefits (more skilled and reliable employees cost more)
Licensing fees
Training costs
Accounting costs
Computer and software (IT)
Shipping and tax on materials
Local cost of living (Costs of running a business varies significantly by city, state and country)
Theft or damage not covered by Insurance
Marketing and Advertising
Other unanticipated stuff
Rent or Mortgage plus facility maintenance
Utilities
Tools
Vehicles and Fuel
Insurance
Annual local, state and federal tax
Employee pay and benefits (more skilled and reliable employees cost more)
Licensing fees
Training costs
Accounting costs
Computer and software (IT)
Shipping and tax on materials
Local cost of living (Costs of running a business varies significantly by city, state and country)
Theft or damage not covered by Insurance
Marketing and Advertising
Other unanticipated stuff
Truly worth?
Or what they actually cost to manufacture?
Well, every step in the chain should charge like 20-30 percent advance in profit otherwise it's no use producing it. If they think they can flog a dead horse, or sell if for that price it's worth it. Building any guitar is not rocket science. If it ever was. You could as well say "what are watches really worth?!"
Buying a Rolex won't show more accurate time than a Casio at 50 USD. It's all where you want something else too, than just a a) watch b) car c) bass guitar. It's the same now going on with cell phones. You just can't have the same iPhone as the cleaner in the office! You just must BRAG (like the Rolex) with your phone. So therefore, a clientele has requested their needs, and doesn't want the same phone as the riff raff. In the beginning, cell phones were actually an item for the upper class only, and then as competition became fierce and everything went down in price, anyone could choose from a great plethora of models basically below and around the same price. Oil sheiks doesn't want this...they want:
Solarin is a new smartphone promising 'military-grade' security
or just under $14,000 USD! A bargain, a steal! Let's buy two of them, on residing at the cabin by the sea we've got! I actually know the people who created this, and have tried the prototype too. Nothing that will be obsolete again in 3 years time.
Or what they actually cost to manufacture?
Well, every step in the chain should charge like 20-30 percent advance in profit otherwise it's no use producing it. If they think they can flog a dead horse, or sell if for that price it's worth it. Building any guitar is not rocket science. If it ever was. You could as well say "what are watches really worth?!"
Buying a Rolex won't show more accurate time than a Casio at 50 USD. It's all where you want something else too, than just a a) watch b) car c) bass guitar. It's the same now going on with cell phones. You just can't have the same iPhone as the cleaner in the office! You just must BRAG (like the Rolex) with your phone. So therefore, a clientele has requested their needs, and doesn't want the same phone as the riff raff. In the beginning, cell phones were actually an item for the upper class only, and then as competition became fierce and everything went down in price, anyone could choose from a great plethora of models basically below and around the same price. Oil sheiks doesn't want this...they want:
Solarin is a new smartphone promising 'military-grade' security
or just under $14,000 USD! A bargain, a steal! Let's buy two of them, on residing at the cabin by the sea we've got! I actually know the people who created this, and have tried the prototype too. Nothing that will be obsolete again in 3 years time.
You know, they extract diamonds out of mines by the ton and yet people pay thousands and thousands of dollars for what is basically a rock.
Sorry to be off topic, but I LOL when you mentioned the yen increased in value. I wish that were true. The dollar has been stronger for the last 3-4 years.
I got my first Warmoth build back 10 days ago, used quality components throughout (walnut body, graphite neck, John East pre, Delano pickups, 2TEK bridge) and had it oiled and assembled by one of the best local luthiers--John Brown's Guitar factory. Holy Crap! Freakin' sustain monster with about 10-15 tone variations and previously unknown playability. Now I'm going to try to sell my '62 Fender Jazz so I can get another build.
