The Bass Company

[truckin88]

they still have ebay auctions!

 

[Platypus_Of_420]

im gettin worried about it, it'll really blow if they get outta production. i wanna buy a pau ferro FB for my JJ before they do atleast

 

[tbone0813]

I did a search for their company, and it says that thebasscompany.com domain is up for renewal.

 

[DaBassman]

I emailed Derrell recently and he said they were doing mostly custom shop basses and then I asked how to get info on custom basses but he never answered me back, which is very unusual for him.......................
They still had 3 on ebay

 

[DarrellTBCtech]

Hi guys!!

It's Darrell. Sorry I haven't posted in like a year--we've been very involved in a lot of stuff here at The Bass Company. Up until now I haven't had any solid information to give, but here is a brief outline of what's been happening and what going to happen with us here at The Bass Comany.

Regarding China:

We are currently in the process of phasing out our China operation. We loved the country and the people, but it was preventing us from achieving our other goals stateside (e.g., a custom shop and/or signature artist series lines). Our last shipment has come in and there will be none after.

Regarding our website:

Originally our website was handled by a third party and, through a series of miscommunications and/or mistakes, was not renewed in a timely fashion. This resulted in our domain name being disabled, and attempts to restore it were rejected due to the third party who originally registered it and the policy of our registration company. The registration company that we used has been giving us the runaround regarding exactly who owns it and who can own it, but we believe that it should be resolved in the next week.

Regarding the custom shop:

Throughout this transition, we've been looking for a good place to open a US custom shop. The custom shop will be offering most (if not all) of the options you've been asking for in the past year. Before you cringe: we're going to do our best to maintain our current pricing structure (of course, the price will be relative to the options requested), and will make it a priority. We've hit a great spot in the market with our Chinese line, and we're going to try and keep our place there. As soon as any information regarding this becomes available, the website will reflect it.

Regarding our current Chinese stock:

In the meantime, we're going to deplete our current inventory ASAP in order to avoid having to move it to the new custom shop. This means a fairly drastic price reduction/sale to ensure movement of stock. The warranty will remain the same, as will the 7-day return policy. I'll be posting a few of these basses as soon as I'm done posting here, and will do my best to post as much as possible in the coming weeks.

Regarding my lameness:

Again, I'm really sorry about not posting lately. I realize that it's let a lot of our customers feel almost neglected by us, and that was never my intention. Throughout this transition, I will be more accessible via this forum, and want to thank everyone here who has continued checking this thread and who is still with us.

<3

 

[RobbieCanuck]

Thanks for the update, Darrell. I'm still really enjoying my 500ss and was curious what was up with TBC.

 

[DaBassman]

Darrell,

These two comments seem to be the opposite...
"Our last shipment has come in and there will be none after"

"We've hit a great spot in the market with our Chinese line, and we're going to try and keep our place there"

Sorry, but I don't understand. Are you continuing the China line?
Great to hear from you!!! Best of luck!

 

[Platypus_Of_420]

good to see you're still around, thanks for all the help with the order i made on the jazz too a while back.

by the way, will it be possible to buy a pau ferro fretboard for chinese manufactured models once you find a custom shop and move, etc.?

 

[SBassman]

Well, it's good to at least hear from them, and know the basses - one form or another - will still be on the market.

I'm not quite sure I understood the comments either, and what it ultimately translates to regarding the typical price of a bass to come out of the new custom shop. I guess we'll see ...

 

[pilotjones]

Darrell,

These two comments seem to be the opposite...
"Our last shipment has come in and there will be none after"

"We've hit a great spot in the market with our Chinese line, and we're going to try and keep our place there"

Sorry, but I don't understand.

Sounds to me like Chinese production is ended, but they are going to try to keep the same place/spot in the market (that place or spot being characterized by price, quality level,and feature set) with US-made basses.

If they figure out how to make the same or similar product, with American workers who make many times Chinese workers' wages, they'll have figured out something that no one else has been able to do. Spector wasn't able to do it even producing in eastern Europe, so they went to Asia for the cheaper line. The original European "cheap line" became the "middle line". G&L, MTD, Peavey and others, of course, went straight to Asia.

Ernie Ball has put out the cheaper domestic SUB line, but it is still far more expensive than the Chinese TBCs.

My guess is that they'll have to up the prices as compared to the Chinese production basses, and justify this (not necessarily in a negative sense) by the "custom shop" idea, that you can specify some options.

 

[SBassman]

I thought their concept of actually setting up a small shop they controlled in China was a novel idea, compared to what everyone else does.

It would be interesting to see a company try:

- Getting the necks, bodies, and initial finishing done in China
- Doing the last steps of finishing, wiring, final fretwork, assembly, and setup in the U.S.

Maybe that would be a combination that could yield good prices yet higher quality than most imports.

 

[DarrellTBCtech]

Darrell,

These two comments seem to be the opposite...
"Our last shipment has come in and there will be none after"

"We've hit a great spot in the market with our Chinese line, and we're going to try and keep our place there"

Sorry, but I don't understand. Are you continuing the China line?
Great to hear from you!!! Best of luck!

Sorry about that! As pilotjones posted, I was referring to keeping our place by essentially replacing our Chinese line with our American line.

One of the custom shop's main functions will be to offer the customer more options at a price that's much more affordable than basses of comparable quality on the market today, while maintaining a relationship with the customer.

While China produced really great instruments, it hindered our ability to cater to many customers' needs. There was a lot of bureaucracy in China, and Jack just wasn't able to interact as much as he would have liked with our customer base.

 

[g00eY]

oh man... i really want a bass from TBC. kinda sucks to be 15 with no job.

 

[Planet Boulder]

I thought their concept of actually setting up a small shop they controlled in China was a novel idea, compared to what everyone else does.

It would be interesting to see a company try:

- Getting the necks, bodies, and initial finishing done in China
- Doing the last steps of finishing, wiring, final fretwork, assembly, and setup in the U.S.

Maybe that would be a combination that could yield good prices yet higher quality than most imports.

That has worked well for Lakland, though their initial work is done in Korea.

 

[SBassman]

That has worked well for Lakland, though their initial work is done in Korea.

I didn't know that - interesting.

I always thought a good candidate for some of this was - Rondo. They practically give the SX's away. You would think there would be a market for selling those basses hot rodded. Most people who hold them for any length of time hot rod them. I'll bet people spending 150 for an SX would also be open to spending 300 for an SX that comes with better tuners, pickups, and a good setup out of the box. It would seem to me there's room in an equation like that for paying for tech time and still turning a better profit than just selling them stock.

 

[JAUQO III-X]

I didn't know that - interesting.

The difference between the USA Lakland and the Lakland Skyline series.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=249495&highlight=lakland

 

[dgce]

I always thought a good candidate for some of this was - Rondo. They practically give the SX's away. You would think there would be a market for selling those basses hot rodded. Most people who hold them for any length of time hot rod them. I'll bet people spending 150 for an SX would also be open to spending 300 for an SX that comes with better tuners, pickups, and a good setup out of the box. It would seem to me there's room in an equation like that for paying for tech time and still turning a better profit than just selling them stock.

I've often wondered the very same thing! It really seems to be a no-brainer to me. I don't know, is there something more to these overseas manufacturing situations than we know about?

r

 

[jamesblue]

I have a free idea. Get American teens to do the work for cheap! Run it like a fast food place, but keeping quality up.
I can't do it, but TBC might. Good luck, really, I'd buy a bass.

 

[Hollow Man]

Good luck with everything Darrell. You guys seem like you've got a pretty solid operation, and before all the confusion set in, I was about a single mouse click away from buying one. If you guys come back strong, I imagine there will be a line of folks ready to pick a TBC bass up, and I'd most likely be one of them.

 

[Stock R]

I've often wondered the very same thing! It really seems to be a no-brainer to me. I don't know, is there something more to these overseas manufacturing situations than we know about?

r

Isn't that what the brice and agile line ups are suppose to be for?

Oh man. I just bought my brice hxb-405... If i knew those single M's were coming out....