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How Much Did That Cost?
- Thread starter Five Six Seven
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I hope I don't offend anyone here, as I'm sure we all LOVE bass, and I do too, but I've always felt that the instrument I play is "just a bass" and I don't have to spend a ton of money on it. It is extremely simple in design, and the cost of maintenance is low as well. I've got a really nice Schecter that has every feature I want. I had even spec'd out a Carvin that was similar, but Carvin didn't offer 35" scale. My Schecter has
Swamp Ash body
Maple Neck
Maple Fretboard
Ebony block inlays
35" scale
String-through body bridge with top load option
All black hardware with Grover tuners
EMG 40J and EMG 40DC active pickups
Master Volume/Blend/3-Band EMG Active E/Q
Black Tusq Nut
Aged Natural Satin Finish
I got it for $470 new. It's usually found in stores at $670. Most of this is cosmetic, what more could I need? I could see a bass costing more if it was made of a very rare or endangered wood body, or if Lemmy puked on it or something...
Swamp Ash body
Maple Neck
Maple Fretboard
Ebony block inlays
35" scale
String-through body bridge with top load option
All black hardware with Grover tuners
EMG 40J and EMG 40DC active pickups
Master Volume/Blend/3-Band EMG Active E/Q
Black Tusq Nut
Aged Natural Satin Finish
I got it for $470 new. It's usually found in stores at $670. Most of this is cosmetic, what more could I need? I could see a bass costing more if it was made of a very rare or endangered wood body, or if Lemmy puked on it or something...
Join me outside a McDonalds so we can scream at Big Mac buyers that the McDouble is just fine, they are being ethically something or other.
Then we hit a mom and pop deli to harangue the customers and tell them Subway is just fine by us.
Then we can end at a boutique pizza place and ask the customers why they are wasting their money when Pizza Hut has a $10 special everyday.
Fascist 1% illuminati Outback Steak House customers think Sizzler is too good for them!!!
Sorry; if you want to rant, you're on your own. Aside from the logic, morality - whatever - of very expensive basses , all of which get debated and argued about around here ad nauseum, the fact is, they are what they are - toys for rich people. And, if I was a rich people, I'd have a few of them, too. And don't kid yourself; so would you. $15K Alembics and this week's Ferrari, are how rich people remind themselves that they are rich people. And how they let you know, too. So, just take a deep breath; relax, and ignore them. Stop looking, and they'll go away...
Meat is murder, and I only consume prolitarian locally sourced cruelty free cage free tofu.
That expensive stuff in the sanitary packages is way worse for you than the tofu made by people that don't have food safety certificates.
By extension I only play basses made from trees that fell over and split themselves organically as an act of self sacrifice.
The extra cost is from luthiers that work only by candles made from bees wax, using hand tools BC electricity is pollution.
The finish is made from the secretions of undocumented migrant farm workers, so I may help my fellow man and not have to expose myself to harsh chemical toxins.
That expensive stuff in the sanitary packages is way worse for you than the tofu made by people that don't have food safety certificates.
By extension I only play basses made from trees that fell over and split themselves organically as an act of self sacrifice.
The extra cost is from luthiers that work only by candles made from bees wax, using hand tools BC electricity is pollution.
The finish is made from the secretions of undocumented migrant farm workers, so I may help my fellow man and not have to expose myself to harsh chemical toxins.
No. Why would I waste the time worrying about what something I don't care about costs?
Find something productive to do.
Find something productive to do.
my friend takes what is for them an expensive vacation every year with her husband. they save all year for it, scrimping on things so they can take a cruise or spend two weeks in alaska. my husband and i have never taken a vacation involving travel or cruises - to us, it's more satisfying to have basses, guitars and decent cameras and gear for those things that we use all year every year.
i have no problem with the idea of a company that buys or manufacturers high quality materials and pays their employees a living wage with benefits charging more. one larger acoustic guitar company i know of pays low paid workers to do their stuff, and their guitars are often over $2,500 each. so if every employee was making double what they're making, i'd expect that price to be reflected in their instruments. and if all their great quality materials were sourced here, they'd cost more, and that, too, would be reflected in the prices.
and then there's the marketing budget, packaging, the costs of maintenance, graphic design for the packaging, and let's not forget shipping materials, lawsuits, warranty work and insurance. a boutique company isn't huge, so they can't spread those things across tens or hundreds of thousands of instruments.
i have no problem with the idea of a company that buys or manufacturers high quality materials and pays their employees a living wage with benefits charging more. one larger acoustic guitar company i know of pays low paid workers to do their stuff, and their guitars are often over $2,500 each. so if every employee was making double what they're making, i'd expect that price to be reflected in their instruments. and if all their great quality materials were sourced here, they'd cost more, and that, too, would be reflected in the prices.
and then there's the marketing budget, packaging, the costs of maintenance, graphic design for the packaging, and let's not forget shipping materials, lawsuits, warranty work and insurance. a boutique company isn't huge, so they can't spread those things across tens or hundreds of thousands of instruments.
That used to work, but the evil people caught on."Never attribute to malice what you can attribute to ignorance."
I can play. $15,000.00 guitar about as well as I can play. $500 guitar. There is a point of diminishing returns. That point is different for everybody. Some can justify it, others cannot. Personally 1,000-1,200 is my cut off, but I'm not a pro nor am I Scrouge McDuck.
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Other hobbies like motorbikes, bike racing, skiing, fishing ... are much more expensive. So if I had the money, i wouldnt even bat an eye to spend 10,000$ for an instrument. If it is an excellent instrument and really comfortable for you, you will probably keep it for the rest of your life.
TL;DR;RIAB (Read it all before)
Why does anyone need to understand another person's motivation or justification for how much to spend on a bass? How much positive or negative affirmation do people need? If there's one thing I've learned from Talkbass, it's that there are an endless number of opinions backed up by and endless number of analogies, none of which really matter in the end.
Why doesn't anybody ever ask "Which bass should I take with me during the zombie apocalypse?"
Why does anyone need to understand another person's motivation or justification for how much to spend on a bass? How much positive or negative affirmation do people need? If there's one thing I've learned from Talkbass, it's that there are an endless number of opinions backed up by and endless number of analogies, none of which really matter in the end.
Why doesn't anybody ever ask "Which bass should I take with me during the zombie apocalypse?"
As has been mentioned already, Uprights are another beast altogether. My current upright bass is considered not much more than a tinkertoy by serious guys and it set me back 1500. Then I bought gut strings for it (300 for cheap ones)
Whenever I scrape up the cash, my dream upright will cost me around 5 grand, set up exactly how I want it and that price is just starting to get into normal prices for those things. I decided if I want it, I'll have to sell my Harley to get it. I don't see it as depriving my family if I sacrifice one toy for another.
Whenever I scrape up the cash, my dream upright will cost me around 5 grand, set up exactly how I want it and that price is just starting to get into normal prices for those things. I decided if I want it, I'll have to sell my Harley to get it. I don't see it as depriving my family if I sacrifice one toy for another.
Id do it if I had the coin, Although I wouldnt be doing it just because its expensive or nicely made, Its because its the only way I can get the exact tone for sure that I want. Id get a wal. Now that being said, I dont care if they were 600 or 6000, Id be buying it for the tone it produces. sure, I can get close with other basses, but I like what I like. Been fascinated with that bright clean tone for years.
I saved for 18 months (no coffee or lunches) so I could get my custom bass. Its worth every cent.
It has timbers from all around the world in it, some was hard to source in Australia to the point of needing a Plan B, but after months of searching we found what we needed. The time & effort that goes into these basses is crazy.
There isn't another bass in the world the same as mine. It's mine. It's beautiful. It sounds amazing. It plays like a dream. It makes me want to play it every single day.
It was hand made. Hand sanded. Hand finished. The first time I saw it it was lumps of timber on a workbench. I know the hours of work that went into, unlike something off a production line with workers that need to meet a quota of basses made today, I can see the love that went into building it. You can feel it when you play it.
I'll buy another one if I can save for it again. There's nothing like it.
It has timbers from all around the world in it, some was hard to source in Australia to the point of needing a Plan B, but after months of searching we found what we needed. The time & effort that goes into these basses is crazy.
There isn't another bass in the world the same as mine. It's mine. It's beautiful. It sounds amazing. It plays like a dream. It makes me want to play it every single day.
It was hand made. Hand sanded. Hand finished. The first time I saw it it was lumps of timber on a workbench. I know the hours of work that went into, unlike something off a production line with workers that need to meet a quota of basses made today, I can see the love that went into building it. You can feel it when you play it.
I'll buy another one if I can save for it again. There's nothing like it.
Sounds awesome, well done!
Please post a pic if you have one.
From RJ's Custom Shop in Sydney Australia
drool
How many people have a $6k-20k motorcycle/boat sitting in their garage they use half the year? I use my basses all year long and generate a not insignificant amount of income when using them.
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