• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Looking at used basses is just so depressing lately...

#61
The flip side of high buying prices is that you can also sell or trade your current gear for more $$$.
With as many as I currently have, I don't allow myself to acquire another BG without getting rid of one. So I guess I'm set.
Whether my gear has kept up with inflation or most mutual funds over the years, that would be an interesting question. (Probably not overall, but some items gain more than others. Wish I'd bought 100000 of those Akai Deep Impact pedals when you could just order one brand new from Musician's Friend.) Of course, using said gear on gigs makes me money - and makes me happy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bassdude51, westrock and FishDub
#62
FishDub said:
Before I speak, no offense to my TB people. Its just so sad whats happening with USED pricing nowadays. I dont want this to get political please but I am just so discouraged with what the used pricing has turned into. So many examples to cite but:
A year ago--
800-900 for a US Fender P or J, now 1200-1800.
200-300 for a Squier CV p or J, now 500-600.
1800-2500 for an Alembic Spoiler, now...no comment.
2200-2800 for an XL/L2, now 3800-5k
1200-1400 for a Spector Euro 4, now 2k+
500-700 for a USA MMSub, now 1100-1200
I get these are asking prices and there are some good deals to be had, and I can go on and on but man this is getting ridiculous..
Click to expand...
It looks like they're being bought too as at least half a dozen I saved on Reverb have sold as well as MGR, eBay and GC used, so obviously others are not so depressed as they have money to spend and enjoy their bass playing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ElBecko59
#63
It is a really good time to sell off gear you don't need and a really bad time to buy new gear. I am happy that I have more than what I need to be satisfied playing bass. The people I feel sorry for are new college grads and young people just starting out in life because it is going to be incredibly difficult for them to ever own a home.

I completely identify with what you've said! Inflation has outpaced wage increases and world events have impacted supply chains in ways that make life financially difficult for most of us.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Outbush, Outtaseezun, Pedulla-Player and 3 others
#66
Bonafide said:
Nah, don't over analyze it. What is even more common in the used gear world is sellers sitting on gear for months even years. No one is getting what they are asking for on (Reverb, Ebay, CL etc) Even here on TB there are several in the classifieds that have been listed for 1-3 years.

I have gotten killer deals the past few years as sellers need buyers.
Someone just posted yesterday about how 'nobody' is buying.

Outside of a rare gems, it's not a sellers market, it's a sellers smoke screen that all companies and uneducated sellers are desperate to to try to maintain.
Click to expand...

I agree, I've sold a couple of basses recently for what I paid for them (well under what Reverb would say is their value) and it took a surprisingly long time for them to sell.

I will also add that a lot of the basses OP listed are all from pretty "hyped" brands, not that they aren't quality instruments (I assume, I've never played an Alembic), but there are great deals everywhere for Ibanez, Yamaha, G&L Tributes and non-CV Squiers. i.e. Brands that don't have some mythos associated with them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pedulla-Player, Bonafide and FishDub
#67
I'm on reverb multiple times daily lol, and I have really noticed squier's and epiphone going up. Fender's price point passed me up yrs ago which is why I eyeball the squier's . Epiphone has always been my brand of choice and luckily I've got most of the models I want but $400 & $500 a yr ago is floating around $600- $700 now.......
 
  • Like
Reactions: FishDub
#69
You have to consider the big picture when trying to understand pricing. It's definitely true that flipping and on line sales causes prices to go up but there's more. Many companies, especially in the boutique market have extremely long waiting lists to get their products which makes used products and those that are available more valuable. Moollon which has a cult following used to take 6 months back when I ordered a bass then it went to a year and now I was informed by them that the waiting list is 3 years! I have a Roscoe on order that's been over a year. Looking for Sandberg bases, most are sold out with ETA's of July to the end of the year. Blues Deville mostly sold out as well. So it's not all politics.

To be honest, I've had a couple of less than stellar purchase on Reverb that also make me shy away and more willing to pay a price for new. I got a Music Man Stingray fretless, it was hard to find negotiated a decent price and it turned out the truss rod was frozen and had to spend some money to get it fixed although, he could only adjust it but said it may need to be replaced. I got a Suhr bass from a shop and the neck had been warped so now I am more inclined to order where you can make a deposit and then have time to come up with the rest and get exactly what you want with a great set up from the start.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Sam Dingle and FishDub
#71
What scares me the most (here in the states anyway) is the absolute lack of fear of going into MASSIVE debt among people under 40.

I simply can't even imagine buying a $500,000 house if I don't have half that to put down on it (at least). But I know lots of younger couples making RIDICULOUS mortgage payments. They also make $600 car payments on new Tahoes and Lexus SUVs.

Some of them are musicians. And these guys will FINANCE a drum kit or a $8,000 PA system for their band.

Their monthly payments must be INSANE.

Let me put it to you this way. PART of the reason houses are so expensive is people having a PAYMENT mentality. You get to the end of your month and there's $3,000 left. You think "Well, I can afford a $2,000 mortgage payment and still have money in the bank!" Next thing you know they're putting a transmission for their car (that isn't even CLOSE to being paid off) on a credit card because there isn't enough in the bank to cover it.

If we were only able to put a grand a month away in savings I would be losing my mind. And yet there is a HUGE percentage of people here in the US who.....

1).....slide into home plate every month BARELY making every payment, AND....

2) .....think they "deserve" another bass or a new car or a bigger house or a $10,000 Disney vacation and manage to somehow squeeze one more payment into their budget.

It literally makes my stomach uneasy to even imagine living that way.


Do NOT finance a bass (or amp or pedal or whatever music gear) especially if you already have one and don't make a living playing music. That is simply idiotic. Period. Dumb. Stupid. Ridiculous. Insane. Not very bright. Stop it. Put down your freaking computer mouse, or phone, or iPad and go for a walk while you give yourself a lecture on not being an idiot.

I haven't heard any economists or "experts" saying this. But I think PART of this inflation is due to people who only care about surviving another month having gotten back to zero (or close to it) in their bank accounts.

You do not "deserve" anything you can't pay cash for with the obvious exceptions of a shelter and food and the POSSIBLE exception of a car. Everything else, if you can't hand over the money for it, you can't afford it and shouldn't get it.


Before you light into me, I have been FLAT BROKE TWICE in my life. And I practiced what I preached back then. Once I slept on a friend's couch for two weeks. When I got my own place, I got a mattress from a family member who was getting a new one and put that sucker on the floor of my bedroom. My clothes were literally stacked on the floor. I used paper plates and a plastic cup I had gotten from a baseball game a few years earlier. I drove a 15 year old car with 275,000 miles on it and clawed my way out with ZERO debt. I've lived it.

Make a mortgage and a credit card a LOT harder to get, and enforce WAY lower caps/limits on them. It will hurt for a little while. But after a few years IQs will rise and we'll settle into better times.

/rant

Edited to fix multiple excited thumbs typos.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: MarkJC8, Garret Graves, jmattbassplaya and 32 others
#73
Spidey2112 said:
... or that lamp, over there.
Click to expand...
upload_2022-5-1_11-53-33.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: eastcoasteddie, Rat Blitz, JRA and 5 others
#77
westrock said:
Just be glad you're not looking for a used car or truck.
Click to expand...
Very true. I was so screwed by it with COVID. Sadly it's unavoidable but it happen. I saved up a decent amount for a new car for school but when it all happen with the virus everything skyrocketed. Thankfully my aunt gave me her very old car so I'm happy to get something that will last me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FishDub, Green Knight and westrock
#78
The used market is very sad. It makes me wish I jumped on things quicker but at the same time it makes me happier to not pull the trigger on things I do not really need. Now with clothes however it seems they weren't affected at least not by much...!
 
  • Like
Reactions: FishDub
#80
There is a major discrepancy between asking prices and negotiated prices. Look at all the Gibson triumphs everyone is suddenly unloading, or the pedullas … one Modulus Bassstar has been on eBay for years. The prices are high, sure, but they're not selling very quickly. I wonder if TBers of high standing can manipulate the used bass market by picking this or that bass as a good deal that will only rise in value etc.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FishDub and JES

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back