What exactly IS a high end bass?

[steve4765630]

Not trying to be an asshat but their are high end basses made outside the US. Tune and Moon in Japan, Lado and F bass in Canada, Status in England, a whole bunch of them like Hotwire, Sandberg, and Ritter in Germany! I could go on. I am sure ther are brands I have never heard of in Czechoslovakia and Italy, and most likely even in Korea and Mexixo but I haven't heard of them yet. So I agree except the USA part.

I hear you. That's true, Clover, Ritter and others are included. I was mainly excluding "cheap" imports.

 

[StarscreamG1]

What about basses that are considered high end but have uber low end tones? Does the low end tone cancel out the high end price? How will this affect the price of tea in China?

Thats great!

I tend to be more in this way of thinking. This may be shocking to some, but I consider the Peavey Cirrus to be a high end bass. Granted, some of the finer details aren't top notch like my Conklin, but I have no problem grabbing a Cirrus or complaints on how they play.

I would consider a Cirrus 'high end'. I was lucky enough to play one recently and everything about it said 'high end' to me.

What I consider high end is care to detail -- every detail from a rolled fretboard to the type of wood used to quality of design and playability.

High end is also the $$ amount past where one can pay and that amount is different for each person. But I don't think the quality of the axe is reflective of its price all the time. Its more craftsmanship and product quality as I said before. Now unfortunately most 'high end' stuff begins in the $1500 range which is above what I can do so what can I say.

That being said there are some 'high end' quality axes with a working persons price -- some Fenders and the Squire VMJ series as well as your average Peavey IMO.

What a high end bass is NOT!

A high end bass will not have the following:

-It will not say Squier on the headstock
-It will not say MIM
-It will not be made in China
-It will not sat SX or ESSEX
-It will not be made in Korea

Oh I so not agree with this. I played a Peavey Cirrus, a hippy skippy Fender American Precision, a Fender Jazz something or other and then a Squier VMJ all in the span of 30-40 minutes. All back to back and that SQUIRE blew the Fender Jazz on its @ss, was every bit as good as the Pbass and was right up there with that Cirrus. The Squier was $279, the Cirrus was on sale for $1500...... If I had $1500 in my pocket I would have bought the Squier and called it a day. (well I did end up with the Squier.... layaway rocks LOL).

I think some view 'high end' as price and materials used in construction but the way the 'low end' is getting, the lines between the two are blurring more and more IMO and what 'high end' will be eventually is the boutique basses hand made out of freaky exotic wood etc etc ...

 

[mutedeity]

The term "high end" is both subjective and arbitrary, in my opinion. The term "boutique" is even more so. If you like your instrument and it sounds good recorded and played live, giving you the tone that both you and the listener, engineer, sound person and so on like, it is high end. If it plays well for you, it is also high end. If you like the look of it, it is boutique. The amount of money you spent on it is irrelevant.

 

[Munjibunga]

I'd say $3K (street) and up.

 

[mutedeity]

I'd say $3K (street) and up.

Per kilo or pound?

 

[Mousekillaz]

If you can afford to buy it, it's not high-end.

 

[Music_for_life]

fender roscoe beck 5 is high end it doesnt matter the price but matters the quality....not many basses better thant that. Stingray 5, the same. Peavey cirrus the same.