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"What bass should I buy?" -maybe don't?

"We must shift America from a needs, to a desires culture. People must be trained to desire, to want new things even before the old had been entirely consumed. We must shape a new mentality in America. Man's desires must overshadow his needs."

Paul Mazur of Lehman Brothers. Around 1924.
Well, it worked - and not just in "America"!
 
The other day someone made a thread asking what bass they should buy. They had a couple of US made Fenders and a Rick and was looking for a new addition to the collection but didn't want to spend over $5000. Now I'm not a financial success story with plenty of money in the bank for a rainy or unemployed day so far be it from me to give spending advice, but does it strike anyone else as unwise to make major, or even minor bass purchases with what's going on in the world? From paycheck to paycheck workers to people with lots of money in the bank, correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me no one's financial future is particularly secure right now and maybe luxury purchases aren't the best idea for the time being.
It's for you. If you want it, buy it. Doesnt really matter if you're playing out at the moment. Right?
 
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I've never understood the "which bass do I buy?" In any circumstance.

The specs for most basses is easily found online. If you need to try before you buy.go and try. Even if you have to make a day trip out of it.

What I like and what someone likes can be two very different things. What bearing does my opinion have something personal to someone else.

I guess I can share my experience with certain instruments. Beyond that, I rarely will even join in on those sorts of polls in TB.
 
The world economy is based on commerce occurring not on money being saved.

This is true, the real devil, it could be argued, is speculation - not spending.

With that being said, given the market's downturn, if I had an extra $5k lying around right now, I'd be tempted to invest it over anything else.

Still, even with a little cost averaging, I'm still hoping to come out of things better off, though thankfully I'm relatively young and can still assume some healthy risk.
 
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Spending discretionary money for non-essentials during a downturn is somewhat patriotic because it adds to the tax treasuries, and provides support to businesses and workers.

Seriously? :roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:

"Patriotic" is one of the most over and incorrectly invoked words on the planet. It's become just another dog whistle in our present state of society.

This crisis will pass.

That much at least is very true. :)

Covid will eventually go away. And in all likelihood it will take a number of people, patriotic or otherwise, with it. Disease recognizes no philosophy ;)
 
Jim K, brother, I hope it all goes well, but in the words of my own doctor, be careful in the hospital, 'they're full of sick people'. I just about fell off my chair.

Gorn, of course it's none of my business. And I find free advice is worth what you paid for it . . . .

I can only put it in terms of what I would do. Right now, who knows how long this is all going to go on. I've survived a bankruptcy, and several times in my life when I couldn't buy the lettuce off a Whopper. So this makes me REAL careful, and if this was me, I'd kick myself to have spent a couple grand on an axe, only to have this go on way longer than I thought, money gets real tight, and now I'm short to go to the grocery store and keep the lights on. I would be far happier to wait and eat well with my bills current, and I would not be able to endure letting my wife down for a guitar.

But that's me. These are nerve-wracking, unsettling times, and what the hell, if it takes your mind off things, who am I to say what you should do. I only know what I would do.
 
More than 70% of the U.S. economy is comprised of consumer spending. Whether it's toilet paper, electric basses, or – in the words of the late Robin Leach – "champagne wishes and caviar dreams," one could potentially argue that any spending restraint will only compound the damage wrought.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

Without consumers, many of our large corporate institutions have no reason to exist. The health of our economy is not determined by the fate of companies, but by the consumers who purchase good and services from them. If everyone cuts back on spending, you have recession (or worse, depending on how much everyone cuts back). There's a reason people pay attention to the Consumer Confidence Index. It's a bellwether of overall economic activity going forward, much more so than the stock market.

Rather than bailing out large companies (yet again), it would have made much more sense to me to give that money directly to the people (since technically it was their money to begin with) so that consumers would continue to spend more freely and keep the wheels turning. Trickle Up economics.

If you want to spend, then spend. If not, then don't. Finding one's own level of comfort and risk in all of this will be different for everyone.
 
The other day someone made a thread asking what bass they should buy. They had a couple of US made Fenders and a Rick and was looking for a new addition to the collection but didn't want to spend over $5000. Now I'm not a financial success story with plenty of money in the bank for a rainy or unemployed day so far be it from me to give spending advice, but does it strike anyone else as unwise to make major, or even minor bass purchases with what's going on in the world? From paycheck to paycheck workers to people with lots of money in the bank, correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me no one's financial future is particularly secure right now and maybe luxury purchases aren't the best idea for the time being.

No worries, Gorn! Darwinism is always in effect! I just sit back and watch the show! :thumbsup:
 
I should add that I find threads like these very illuminating in gauging consumer confidence. We have a lot more in common other than just the fact that we're all bass players, and we share the same concerns to different degrees. For those of us whose social networking is narrowly focused on sites like Talkbass, I find it very helpful.
 
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Two questions; what do you want? and what would you be happy playing?

Pawn shops can be a great source for inexpensive, used equipment. You have to be careful that you don't buy someone else's problem. You might not find exactly what you want, but you might find something you're happy playing.

#frugalbassist
 
The other day someone made a thread asking what bass they should buy. They had a couple of US made Fenders and a Rick and was looking for a new addition to the collection but didn't want to spend over $5000. Now I'm not a financial success story with plenty of money in the bank for a rainy or unemployed day so far be it from me to give spending advice, but does it strike anyone else as unwise to make major, or even minor bass purchases with what's going on in the world? From paycheck to paycheck workers to people with lots of money in the bank, correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me no one's financial future is particularly secure right now and maybe luxury purchases aren't the best idea for the time being.
Your right, as usual. I bought a 1200 bass a couple months ago. Don't see any major purchases again for the foreseeable future. Hunkering down and spending very little until this thing blows over.