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TB RR thread: Show those $10K+ basses!

#42
lucas vigor said:
If you are into swords, you can use this as an analogy:

There are cheap machetes from home depot that cost 12 bucks. There are souvenire display samurai swords for under 200, and then there are the premium handmade katanas that cost over 2000, and take a year to build according to traditional methods. A serious student of Kendo or Iado would be able to tell the difference.

A murdering thug just wanting to kill people and chop heads would be fine with all three types of weapon I just mentioned.

THAT is the difference between a ten thousand dollar bass and a 150 dollar SX.

of course, once you go past 2000 bucks or so, differences in tone diminish....I will grant that....but the personal attachment and even love you feel for your instrument....that's a different story...how can the cheapo basses do that for you? Well, if you are a weekend warrior, amatuer or beginner....it might not matter...but if you are a passionate about your bass, treat it like a friend and respect it...it is like a samurai's sword.....
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This makes perfect sense to me now. so it about the value the individual gives the instrument. The sword metaphor makes sense, I guess being 18 and still a begginer/intermediate player I'm more of a murdering thug at this point. However ican tell the difference between the low end ibanez I have and my slightly higher end ibanez I have, and then between that one and the $2000 fenders I've played at music shops.

Anyway
apologies for 'hijacking' this thread. I, too, would like to see some $10,000 basses!
 
#45
DaniKettu said:
How beginner are you really? I mean not many beginners have 62 jazz basses.
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Lol, for the record I do NOT have 62 basses, YET!!!!!!

I have 4 maybe 5 no 4 yeah 4, look I can't even keep track of 5 or less, I'd be screwed with 62. :D

I have A 1962 Jazz - Shell Pink
A Classic Vibe Jazz - White & Tort
A Classic Vibe Precision - Sonic Blue & White
A Squier Standard Series Jazz - Slowly refinishing.
 
#47
Everyone knows that butterflies are lethal. Second only to rabbits...

killer_rabbit.jpg
 
#53
nickbass79 said:
Here's Mine
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Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of the huge upper horn area on these single cut basses, but I'd be a liar if I said it was anything but gorgeous.

And honestly, if someone asked me what a 8K-16K dollar bass looked like, id search Fodera and show em something just like this.

And they'd probably say, "damn, that does look expensive"

And I'd cry because I may never know what it's like to own one, : (
Ahhh, maybe one day!

Nickbass79, you wouldn't want to mail that to me, for a few years, would ya?
I'll be sure to take real good care of it. I promise. :D
 
#54
BlackndWhitetie said:
What makes a bass worth so much?
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nostatic said:
The fact that I prefer it. The market determines the price of an instrument, while the individual owner determines the value.
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BlackndWhitetie said:
I wasn't trying to be rude, or even judgemental. I was just curious, the most expensive bass I've seen was about $2,500 and the most I've read about before this thread was about $5000 or so (excluding vintage). I wasn't judging you guys or your basses I was just asking what sets these apart from the rest.
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Nostatic is right. He likes it. He'll pay that much for it. I know, it's a lame answer, but it's still true. As to 'why' he likes it more then other basses, there's a myriad of reasons. The biggest factors are usually the following:

  • There is the name factor on some of the basses, where the cost is a bit higher just because it's not a Fender or an SX or whatever.
  • Aesthetics is probably the biggest difference. Those expensive basses are just plain pretty to look at. They're works of art in addition to instruments.
  • If it's custom, you get specifically what you want down to the finest detail.
  • The scarcity and rarity adds to the value. It's always fun to say "I've got one of 20 of these ever made," or even "this is totally unique from anything else made." Adds a big coolness factor. It's also cool when people come up to you and go "what in the world is that bass you're playing?"

The truth is that a $2500 bass (or maybe even a bass 1/2 that price) isn't going to be vastly different then a $10,000 bass in a practical sense. If you took 25 pro bass players, and played 5 basses that cost $2000 and 5 that cost $10,000+, I doubt that any of them could tell the difference. They would probably know quality when they hear it, but quality tone is already present in a $2000 bass. There's been numerous studies like the one described above where people can't tell the difference. However, those studies also show conclusively that perceptions of the product change drastically when prices are known to the subject/listener. All of the sudden, that expensive bass sounds 4 times better.

One big exception is the body styles, especially on the Fodera basses like the one pictured above, or Benaventes. They are pretty different.

It's kind of like cars. It's been shown over and over that a well-equipped sedan like a $80,000 Mercedes or a BMW is not that different performance-wise or comfort-wise from a $400,000 Maybach sedan. Sure, the Maybach WILL be nicer, and WILL be better equiped, but not 4 times better. The same could be said for the different basses. However, pulling up in the Maybach will turn a whole lot more heads then pulling up in a fully loaded Acura, and probably put an extra little pep in one's walk. For some people, the extra money is worth it.
 
#56
1SHOT1HIT said:
Lol, for the record I do NOT have 62 basses, YET!!!!!!

I have 4 maybe 5 no 4 yeah 4, look I can't even keep track of 5 or less, I'd be screwed with 62. :D

I have A 1962 Jazz - Shell Pink
A Classic Vibe Jazz - White & Tort
A Classic Vibe Precision - Sonic Blue & White
A Squier Standard Series Jazz - Slowly refinishing.
Click to expand...

Playing for less than 6 months and you own 4 basses? Wow. I've been playing more than 3 years and I still have 1.
 
#57
Ubersheist said:
Nostatic is right. He likes it. He'll pay that much for it. I know, it's a lame answer, but it's still true. As to 'why' he likes it more then other basses, there's a myriad of reasons. The biggest factors are usually the following:

  • There is the name factor on some of the basses, where the cost is a bit higher just because it's not a Fender or an SX or whatever.
  • Aesthetics is probably the biggest difference. Those expensive basses are just plain pretty to look at. They're works of art in addition to instruments.
  • If it's custom, you get specifically what you want down to the finest detail.
  • The scarcity and rarity adds to the value. It's always fun to say "I've got one of 20 of these ever made," or even "this is totally unique from anything else made." Adds a big coolness factor. It's also cool when people come up to you and go "what in the world is that bass you're playing?"
Click to expand...

There also is a performance factor as well. I've played and owned a *lot* of nice basses. They all had their merit but for me Fodera has just a little extra. The playability, the sound, the attention to detail...they all combine to push me a little bit further with the instrument. While you can argue that I should be able to do that no matter what is in my hands, the reality is that for me it isn't the case. Some instruments, due to their ergonomics/tone/playability, lead me different places. I would love to spend less, but once I played them it clicked. It won't click for everyone as everyone is a different player.

For the record the bass that really is changing the way I play is this one. It is a little over $1K shy of the $10K target, but I will end up getting a fretless custom with the same spec that will hit that. It is a phenomenal instrument that begs me to pick it up and leads me into uncharted territory in my music. That is worth the price of admission.

As an example, an excerpt from this morning's hit. Looped the bassline on the fly then solo'd over it (live loops remain a work in progress for me). My soul is still writing checks that my hands can't cash (yet), but I wasn't playing like this a year ago. A big part of that is due to working with Ant but the bass plays a part.

http://soundcloud.com/nostatic-trio-plus/solo-bit-west-coast-blues

mgs-1.jpg


mgs-3.jpg


mgs-4.jpg
 
#58
Dan B said:
Well, it's not my bass, but for $10,000 you can have the Mother and Father of all 55-94s.
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1GwLF.jpg


Also comes in Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, and Purple.
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It's an ESP Bardic, a tetsuya signature model, though obviously inspired by the 55-94. It looks like it shares the same electronics as the Lakland 55-69, which would also set it apart from the regular Bardic. It's a special edition for L'Arc~en~Ciel's 20th anniversary and there are only 7 of each color. There is some nice case candy, including the pink flight case itself!
 

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