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What goes on in your head when purchasing a bass

#43
xxcody2gunsxx said:
I'm wonder the thoughts that one has when purchasing a bass these days? New or Used.
The reason I ask is that it seems that people will pass up a prestige like bass with all the bells and whistles ,handcrafted from a small time luthier company that costs a lot of man hours and $$ to make ,for a Well known name that doesn't hold a candle these days to the quality or craftsmanship of these small time luthiers .
I.E . I spent 5k on a well crafted bass from a small business owner .I sell/trade it for 3k "no bites" even offer it to a Rickenbacker 4003 for a trade and get blown off o_O
Yet when I throw out a name brand "fender with issues "or even a Pat Wilkins bass they come running .
Right Now I have very awesome deals to be had with a couple of Lower Groove Basses on the market Yet, Everyone is jumping on the brand wagon for a cracked Warwick I also have for sale .
Click to expand...
What goes through my mind when I buy a bass is, what can I do to it.
 
#44
"Do I really need it?" The answer is invariably "no."

Couple weeks ago I almost pre-ordered a way-cool shell pink Squier Bronco from CME. Just $199, why the heck not? Because it would just gather dust. This realization officially killed my GAS, and I don't see it coming back.
 
#46
xxcody2gunsxx said:
I'm wonder the thoughts that one has when purchasing a bass these days? New or Used.
The reason I ask is that it seems that people will pass up a prestige like bass with all the bells and whistles ,handcrafted from a small time luthier company that costs a lot of man hours and $$ to make ,for a Well known name that doesn't hold a candle these days to the quality or craftsmanship of these small time luthiers .
I.E . I spent 5k on a well crafted bass from a small business owner .I sell/trade it for 3k "no bites" even offer it to a Rickenbacker 4003 for a trade and get blown off o_O
Yet when I throw out a name brand "fender with issues "or even a Pat Wilkins bass they come running .
Right Now I have very awesome deals to be had with a couple of Lower Groove Basses on the market Yet, Everyone is jumping on the brand wagon for a cracked Warwick I also have for sale .
Click to expand...

I buy tools for what I need and not real interested in reselling them. And pretty stinking happy with my well known brand bass and the art I can create with it. So are my band mates and every sound engineer/ producer I've worked with I might add. Not to look down on those that have $5,000 basses, but the truth is a $5,000+ bass is not going to make me a better, more successful bassist.

As you may have gathered, I'm not the one to ask about herd mentality, as I tend to buck convention in search better more cost effective approach.

Good luck on selling your collection.
 
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#48
Ima lefty player so buying something require a lot more research before I commit to anything because selling it back or buying used is very difficult or a take such a big loss that it isn't worth it. So I may search for a few months or a year.

so what I have do work for me
 
#49
With respect to buying anything more expensive than the standard price for a servicable item, I always come back to this thought. It's one that has been hinted at by a number of responders, but not specifically named; "The Theory of Diminishing Returns". If an item provides you with 98% of what you want, how much are you willing to pay to get the remaining 2%. For me, I am not willing to pay 4 or 5 times the standard price to get that added 2%.

Thump on,

One_Dude
 
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#50
1. Does it make me happy and/or does it fill a gap?

2. Can we afford it? This considers prioritization with other expenses, thoughts about the future value of the money I'm about to spend, and, most importantly, my wife's OK.

Das it mane.
 
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#51
It depends. In some cases it's simply a matter NEW SHINY. I bought my Vintera P purely because of the color, and even though I've never gotten along with P necks. I've been enjoying the bass and I'm glad I bought it. In other cases, it was because I wanted a solid, dependable, comfortable, affordable bass. Enter a Fender Hwy One Jazz that was my main player for years.
 
#52
I build my own basses. Being a Physicist/Engineer, when I've got parts coming in for a build, I've already done simulations of the pickups and circuitry I intend to use in it (I don't have any basses with the same pickup configurations - I aim for diversity in a relatively small number of instruments). I've done simulations of the comb filtering that I'll get from the pickup's positions, in the combinations that the circuitry will give me. I have a good idea of about where the weight will be, though in the present case the body is one that's been picked out of Warmoth's lightest stuff - it won't be heavy, just a question of how light it will be.

What do I think about? When will the body arrive? I know within a couple weeks, but not exactly when it will ship. Exactly how much will it weigh?

And, of course, will the thing sound good? - I have most of the next instrument "prototyped" - pickups and circuitry on a different body (which looks a bit goofy, as pone of the pickups is a J style in the middle of a big soapbar route).

I also think about "do I have all the parts?" - I think I do; just ordered some walnut for a thumb rest to match the top yesterday, that should be the last thing I need to order.
 
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#54
xxcody2gunsxx said:
I'm wonder the thoughts that one has when purchasing a bass these days? New or Used.
The reason I ask is that it seems that people will pass up a prestige like bass with all the bells and whistles ,handcrafted from a small time luthier company that costs a lot of man hours and $$ to make ,for a Well known name that doesn't hold a candle these days to the quality or craftsmanship of these small time luthiers .
I.E . I spent 5k on a well crafted bass from a small business owner .I sell/trade it for 3k "no bites" even offer it to a Rickenbacker 4003 for a trade and get blown off o_O
Yet when I throw out a name brand "fender with issues "or even a Pat Wilkins bass they come running .
Right Now I have very awesome deals to be had with a couple of Lower Groove Basses on the market Yet, Everyone is jumping on the brand wagon for a cracked Warwick I also have for sale .
Click to expand...

Haha,
I recently bought both.
A luthier made beauty and a plain Fender.
I also enjoy both.
It's a bit weird. When I play the Fender I wonder how it plays so well even if it's relatively cheap and machine made. When I swap to the Le Fay, I have to admire the beautiful craftsmanship and instantly realize how much better it is in every single aspect. Yet, when I switch back to the Fender, I wonder how it plays so well even if it's relatively cheap and machine made. When I swap to the Le Fay, I have to admire the beautiful craftsmanship and instantly realize how much better it is in every single aspect.
 
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#55
Why I think the small time luthier bass won't sell:
  • To drop $3000+, for most people it has to be a bass they REALLY want.
  • Most people want basses with good resale value.
  • There are probably very few (if any) reviews available.
  • If the luthier is really obscure, nobody will want to take the gamble for that kind of money.
  • Your bass isn't going to show up in a whole lot of searches.
  • Being unknown your bass is probably not going to get a lot of clicks.
  • All online purchases are a gamble, to a certain degree. Being a used and unknown bass at a hefty price tag - the gamble becomes HUGE.
What I look for:
  • Something that suits my needs (punchy sound, a little bit of versatility, lightweight, short scale, something I like to look at).
  • Good price.
  • Resale value or ease of return if it has issues or I hate it.
 
Last edited:
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#56
xxcody2gunsxx said:
I'm wonder the thoughts that one has when purchasing a bass these days? New or Used.
The reason I ask is that it seems that people will pass up a prestige like bass with all the bells and whistles ,handcrafted from a small time luthier company that costs a lot of man hours and $$ to make ,for a Well known name that doesn't hold a candle these days to the quality or craftsmanship of these small time luthiers .
I.E . I spent 5k on a well crafted bass from a small business owner .I sell/trade it for 3k "no bites" even offer it to a Rickenbacker 4003 for a trade and get blown off o_O
Yet when I throw out a name brand "fender with issues "or even a Pat Wilkins bass they come running .
Right Now I have very awesome deals to be had with a couple of Lower Groove Basses on the market Yet, Everyone is jumping on the brand wagon for a cracked Warwick I also have for sale .
Click to expand...

My bass buying process:

  1. "Ooh, that one looks pretty nice."
  2. *Check price tag - CYOA*
    1. *wince and move on*
    2. *wince but keep looking*
    3. "Not bad, only have to eat ramen noodles for a month to afford it."
  3. Does it have the feature set I want? (5 strings, active ideally with a passive mode, something other than Jazz pickups, styling that won't raise too many eyebrows)
  4. How does it feel in my hands? How's the string spacing? Neck feels solid but not chunky?
  5. *Plug it in & mess with it, or listen to YouTubes of it - CYOA*
    1. "I can't really find a sound I like". *hang it back up and move on*
    2. "Yikes that's bad... but that's better. Can't turn up that knob too far, I guess."
    3. "Man, I can't get a bad sound out of this thing."
  6. Start agonizing:
    1. "Do I really need another bass?"
    2. "Do I really need to spend this much on a bass right now?"
    3. "Do I really want to eat ramen noodles every night for the foreseeable future?"
    4. "Do I really want to sleep on the couch tonight?"
  7. "No, I really shouldn't..." - *Leave store/close browser tab*
  8. *Come back in an hour, or next day* - "I know I shouldn't, but I have to"
  9. Grab bass/put in shopping cart.
  10. Pull out credit card.
  11. Last chance, no turning back after this..
  12. Hand it over.
  13. "OMG, what have I done"
  14. Take bass home.
  15. Put bass in back of closet.
  16. Avoid family accountant until smoke stops coming out of her ears.
In fairness, I don't go bass shopping very often, and my last one ended up being a birthday present from the family accountant because she saw me spinning my wheels between steps 7 and 8. When she sees that she knows it's a good buy, just more money than I want to see leave the bank account at once.

To your OP, personally, a $5000 bass that isn't a "big-name boutique" is going to be a very hard sell. Even among bassists trading in this tier, some names are better known than others. You're going to have a lot more luck moving a Sadowsky NYC than you are a May or a Skjold. Even makes with some artist recognition, like Mayones (Mohini Dey) can be problematic.

We know these names got big because they made really good instruments. This pricepoint is high-stakes poker for builders, they would have gone outta business years ago if they let even one bad bass out the door and someone let the Internet know they spent $5k on a dud from Brand X. So when you see one of these brands, you say "okay, I at least know what I'm getting into for 5 grand". But a Wyn bass? Even though they're ultimately held to the same standard, and are still around despite that, we still say "if they were really worth $5k I'd have heard about them before now". The problem being that when Sadowsky sold his first bass, nobody knew his name. We all start out as "no-name brands", and the reason you haven't heard of a luthier is more likely simply that you haven't been listening.

It's not logical, it's not rational, but it's an innately human thought process. Especially when it's difficult/impractical to go out and get the thing in your hands (as it's been for the last year and a half or so). But it makes a $5000 small-shop bass a huge gamble on the resale market.
 
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#57
Nervous excitement is the best way I can describe my last 2 purchases, both used around $1200. They worked out great, though. The first was local, and after I bought it, I couldn't sleep because I wanted to keep playing it. The 2nd was from Reverb, and I couldn't sleep because of the anxiety I had. For one, I'd never bought a used bass online before, and honestly, I wasn't too worried about getting a turd of a bass, but this was when the Covid panic started. Going by guidelines back then, that NBD was actually a week of me staring at this brown, rectangular monolith in the basement.
 

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