Price hike across the brands?

[TerribleTim68]

Price increases are a thing for literally everything, not just strings. I work in the design industry and literally every budget quote we issued over the last year is busted. Life costs more now, it's a fact of the post-pandemic era. Welcome to the new world!

 

[gotly]

Sounds like a great time to grab some flats you never change

 

[Honkey tonk]

The dollar is worth less

 

[Honkey tonk]

The dollar is worth less

 

[Jon Moody]

An honest seller! Maybe it's old stock. The only strings I'm interested in are Precision Flats 45-105.

Hahahah what is this "new old stock" you speak of? I field calls from dealers and artists daily begging for flats. We're still all having problems getting the flatwire.

 

[arbiterusa]

Taking inflation into account, bass strings are waaaaaay cheaper than they were when I started back in the late 80s, i.e. I still paid close to $20 for my first new set of Bass Boomers

Paid $20 a set for Rotosounds back in 1985, still paying $20 a set today.

 

[micguy]

The first bass strings I ever bought (a 4 string set in 1977) cost more than a 5 string set today -in actual dollars.

Strings are cheap. Adjusted for inflation, strings are insanely cheap.

 

[Hounddog409]

Hello string pullers!

I use DR Fat Beams 99% of the time on my basses and had stocked up big time like 2 years ago. It's been convenient and I remember saving a few bucks buying bulk. Now I'm looking to buy again but the prices seem to have gone up since I hid under this rock. Did a search in the strings forum and saw a couple of threads about price increases regarding two different brands from a few months ago. Now that I see DR is also more expensive, I'm wondering if that's the case with all the makers perhaps due to the pandemic related raw material shortage type mess up?

I remember the price for a Fat Beams 45-125 set being around $25 in general and $23 when on sale. Now most vendors sell them for $34/set and the cheapest price I can see is $29. Am I being delusional or what?

I was feeling nostalgic about the times when I'd be playing and recording all the time and restringing weekly but I guess it's a good thing I don't do that anymore.

What do you say?

Everything goes up every year. Should be a shock.

 

[TheReceder]

I suspect I'll have to sell off some gear to get my regular fix of new strings this winter.

I actually got an email from a major gear retailor that there would be significant price increases coming in the near future related to chip shortages and increases in shipping costs. Pretty dark method of getting sales... but I suspect they were looking out for customer interests as well as bumping up sales.

Happy to say that at this time I don't have any wants or needs that need to be fulfilled. Of course... that will probably change after I see tomorrows NBD posts.

 

[Ihaveshingles]

Everything has gone up across the board…
You won't see a NBD in my future, buying right now feels like burning money

 

[beggar98]

Everything has gone up across the board…
You won't see a NBD in my future, buying right now feels like burning money

I'd say buying now is your best bet unless you can keep your GAS in check for 5 years or so. Prices are going to continue sharply upwards for the foreseeable future. Theres not much anyone can do, we've held inflation at bay by manipulating interest rates since the dot com bubble. Time to pay the piper.

 

[gitfiddl]

Paid $20 a set for Rotosounds back in 1985, still paying $20 a set today.

I remember paying $30 for a set of SS Rotos circa 1983. D'Addarios and Ernie Ball were $20-ish, Dean Markley and GHS were $25. I used to buy Kaman Performer bass strings from a little "boutique" called The Music Shop for $19.99. They sold faddish clothing, jewelry, records and tapes too.

Not sure about flats back then. No one I knew was playing them. Lord, the money I could saved if only I'd discovered LaBella flats back then...

 

[Emre Hanli]

I though the poll results could go either way but I'm really shocked that so many of us actually use carrots as currency.