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Quality or quantity?

Quantity or Quality?

  • Quantity

    Votes: 31 9.1%

  • Quality

    Votes: 281 82.2%

  • Just here for the results

    Votes: 30 8.8%
  • Total voters
    342
#61
Jeff Scott said:
After three pages of responses, we still don't know what you (the OP) would do. ;)
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Id probably buy all that I wanted, lower priced and expensive included, and regret it later. Haha. But I thought maybe everyone here would be able to knock some sense into me. I mean I don’t have huge financial responsibilities like a car payment or super expensive rent, so I can definitely organize my finances to pay for my dream bass collection, but I do want to be smart with money and not bite me later down the road. So I’m in limbo here. Haha
 
#63
Dougflores said:
Everyone makes a good point that the quality of mass produced basses have increased drastically. I bring this topic up because I own a few short scales that I enjoy playing, with all costing me under $600. I also splurged on a Kiesel headless bass which was pretty pricey, but I love it. I also have dream basses on my wishlist, being a Dunable and a Rickenbacker, both quite expensive. But I also crave the new short scale Sterling Stingray which is affordable. I just don’t know if having so many basses is practical to begin with. Maybe I just need to convince myself that I don’t need so many basses, even if I think it would be cool to have them.
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I have 10, and it's definitely NOT practical to have that many, especially when 4 of them sound identical and I rarely use the other 6. But I don't care :D I don't believe you need to spend $2000 and up to get a good bass, and some of my cheapos are quite excellent, but there definitely is something to be said for the quality of higher priced basses. I notice it every time I pick them up.
 
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#64
...for the record, Sir Paulie has stated that he paid paid 50 DM (at that time, $208.50.) Adjusted for inflation, that equals $437.50... (amounts approximate.) Musician's Friend's current price is $2869.99. Hmm...
 
#69
stingray69 said:
Define quality.

Not being facetious - but an appropriate answer would depend on it.

For example - here is a nice parts bass I built, all from preowned separates using high quality parts (American Standard 5 Jazz body from E-Bay, neck & Ulyate pickups from a previous project).

Total outlay for slapping putting together is about $300 dollars (body). But even if you had to buy all these separates to assemble it, it would still come in well under 2-grand.

This would free up the rest to obtain other gear, backups, etc.

View attachment 3750419
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I'm with you Sting,
I'm very confused on what is meant by quality.

From what I'm reading it seems like the definition is that it cost over $1500.
But we're not talking about any manufacturers or models, just price.

So, I'm going with I'd buy the bass I liked and felt good in my hands.
One day at GC, I played an EB0 that was excellent for what it was.
I didn't buy it because that wasn't what I was looking for.

However, I also played a Rick that I wouldn't want even if you gave it to me,
and it cost 8 times more.

057912
 
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#70
Dougflores said:
Hello all,

Let’s say you have around $2,000 dollars of disposable income and decided you wanted a new bass. Would you get one expensive high end, boutique, American made etc... bass, or would you buy as many lower priced basses as you can? What is your reasoning behind your choice? Just curious and thought it would be a fun way to pass time during everything going on now.
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I think you phrased your question into two extreme poles.

I sit somewhere in the middle although I voted for quality over quantity. I certainly wouldn't buy as many squires as I can because they are too iffy to be considered as a real reliable instrument but OTOH I wouldn't feel the need to spend 5k on a sadowsky.

So in my case it would be something along the lines of: If I had 5k usd to spend, I would buy a good USA PBass, Jazz Bass and Stingray for the same amount or even less. Those 3 bass guitars would suite my different sonic needs way more than a single Sadowsky ever could for example.

Are the above mentioned worse than a sadowsky quality wise? I wouldn't say so, played plenty Sadowskys and a ton of Fenders and well built Fenders (even am. stds) mostly felt on par quality wise to a sadowsky. Does Sado have better quality consistency though? For sure.

Instruments must be well built but as a professional you also want to have a collection of bass guitars that are considered "the root of bass sound" to suit different needs. It is where I come from with my logic.
 
#72
Hurricane Jimmie said:
So Anyway, I just spent about $2k on a new walnut Ric.
I've been selling a lot of other gear with the goal of having one primary bass.
So I fall in the quality category.
I just happen to have grown comfortable with the Ric 4003.
But I could play any of my gigs with a well set-up $300 bass.
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You could......but why wouldn't you find your bass of your heart and play it forever.
 
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#73
Dougflores said:
Everyone makes a good point that the quality of mass produced basses have increased drastically. I bring this topic up because I own a few short scales that I enjoy playing, with all costing me under $600. I also splurged on a Kiesel headless bass which was pretty pricey, but I love it. I also have dream basses on my wishlist, being a Dunable and a Rickenbacker, both quite expensive. But I also crave the new short scale Sterling Stingray which is affordable. I just don’t know if having so many basses is practical to begin with. Maybe I just need to convince myself that I don’t need so many basses, even if I think it would be cool to have them.
Click to expand...

Try making a list of what you really need in terms of tone range, form factor, and features, and then try to find as few basses that embody as many of these qualities as possible, and then that would cover all your needs. Beyond that, it's simply your wants, not your needs. If you can have one bass that cover all of them and with a low price, that would be the best case scenario.
 
#74
Quality and quantity, total under 2000 !! 20200316_092451.jpg
 
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#77
dramatwist said:
...for the record, Sir Paulie has stated that he paid paid 50 DM (at that time, $208.50.) Adjusted for inflation, that equals $437.50... (amounts approximate.) Musician's Friend's current price is $2869.99. Hmm...
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And the price didn't go up till Paul started using it again in the late 80's. Definitely a "Paul plays one" thing if you ask me.
 
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#78
It depends. I have had good and bad experiences with both. My highest priced (quality) basses are currently my favorites but we’ve all seen the posts here about, “My MIM P kills my MIA P” or, “My Squier is just as good as my MIM”, etc. I know what I’d do in that situation but I can’t speak for others (only because I know exactly what I want the my next bass to be).

Using Fender as an example because that’s what most people here seem to play, you can buy 2 or 3 MIMs for the price of one MIA depending on model. You might be more likely to hit on one that speaks to you or feels right than just the one MIA.
 
#79
I have always had a more frugal and utilitarian approach to most things, especially my bass collection - considering lasting value, most bang for the buck, greatest utility, best tone over fashionable or popular choices. I have to play all my basses, try not to have any closet queens or collector's only pieces. That said I have always tried to have at least one "WOW!" instrument but not necessarily expensive but a nice vintage piece or something with provenance. YMMV.
 
#80
Dougflores said:
Hello all,

Let’s say you have around $2,000 dollars of disposable income and decided you wanted a new bass. Would you get one expensive high end, boutique, American made etc... bass, or would you buy as many lower priced basses as you can? What is your reasoning behind your choice? Just curious and thought it would be a fun way to pass time during everything going on now.
Click to expand...
I would either buy a $2,000 Kiesel, or 50 of those $40 Glarry’s
 
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