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What is Your Price Comfort Level?

#61
crustychef said:
My limit was $1500. As of last week it's $2000. I got my other dream bass and sold two plus loaned myself some cash from my savings account to get it. I don't do credit at all any more. So it's either save up from my weekly allotted spending money or sell something. I'm married but have no kids yet and no house to fix up and my car is paid off too. Financially I'm in good place for once in my life. I feel so growed up.
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I know what you mean about feeling "so growed up." Once you reach a certain place and age you can't help but be more responsible and practical about your purchases.

Another example about being growed up: About a month ago I tried out (and played for about an hour) a new Fender American Deluxe 5 string jazz bass. Loved it! Beautiful, amazing, well crafted, great sounding and very versatile bass. Did I want it? Oh, you better believe it! (And I was tempted). Am I going to buy it? No. It's not so much parting with that much money (which I have) but more from the stand point of, why? I work a very long week and barely have anytime to play the three basses I already have. So to spend that much money on a bass that will barely get played is to me, stupid and finacially irresponsible.

Yeah...I'm growed up too!
 
#63
My self imposed limit is between $1500 and $2000. Currently I'm using an Ibanez GSR200 that has served me well for the past couple of years, but I'm looking to upgrade. Next year when I do make my next purchase, it will be cash. I like not having bills.
 
#64
From a cash-flow standpoint, my wife and I are debt-free with substantial savings socked away, so there isn't really any limitation there. That said, my personal comfort level is right around $2000 used, dictated primarily by the price range of the basses that I enjoy and a lack of perceived return in value for basses above that price range. IMO, of course :)
 
#65
The only money I use for anything bass related comes either from selling gear or from selling reptiles I produce or buy to resell so it is a self sustaining addiction.

I try to keep purchases at $1000 or under which is easier because I only buy used gear.
 
#67
It's been a long time since I actually spent money on a bass. Been doing a LOT of selling and trading the last few years. If I had to buy something outright, I'd say $1000-$1200 would be my ceiling. My last trade was a bit uneven but I find I'm playing the bass I got way more than I was playing the bass I traded away. I'm also having a bass built for me that I hope will cure my G.A.S.................for a while!
 
#68
600 is the highest I have paid, and the highest I would go for an instrument. Especially with the amount of used gear available out there, there's no reason for me to go broke. Granted, I am not a boutique bass player at all. I actually had some guilt paying that kind of money for my bass, but since it was a discontinued model and it was "the one", I went for it.
 
#69
My comfort zone seems to be $1500. Generally, I save up gigging money towards a new instrument or whatever, so theoretically, the comfort zone is whatever I'll be able to afford in the short run.

Full disclosure: I've been saving towards a Sadowsky since the end of GWB's first term in office, but that's because next year's my 40th birthday.

I also think that the whole question is kinda ridiculous for me because, if it weren't fir TB, I wouldn't have to think about how much I habitually sound on basses because I wouldn't be constantly looking for a new bass.

EDIT: I tell a lie. It was the second year of his second term. My pre-caffeine counting skills are on the remedial side...
 
#72
The most I've ever spent is $1,500, but I could envision going higher for a "lifetime" type of bass, like a Dingwall Super J or Mike Lull. Let's call it $3,000. At this point, it's all academic, because with five basses and a minimal gig schedule, I'm not buying anything, and I literally don't have the space to store another bass. I'd need to sell before I could buy.

I have serious GAS for a Tele-style guitar though. Go figure. My guitar price limit is much lower, because I haven't played guitar on stage in almost 20 years. I think it needs to be a G&L Tribute ASAT Classic.
 
#73
$1200. That's about the replacement cost of my BB70F, the only bass I play regularly now and the only bass I think I'd actually replace if I lost it somehow.

My L2K is the only other one I play at all anymore, but it's more of a collectors/sentimental value item these days (I taught myself fretless on it, it's old enough to treat as an incipient-vintage bass, etc). If I lost it, I don't think I'd try to replace it.

My BB76F sits in its case most of the time nowadays after I got my BB70F. Worthless resale-wise, so it'll just remain part of the collection. Wouldn't replace it if I lost it.

My 4003 also lives in its case and wouldn't be replaced if it went away either.

If were actually gigging, I'd get a spare BB70F, but this time with maple sides, the all-maple 5 piece neck, and a coil splitting switch for the humbucker. That would come out to about $1200...

LS
 
#74
My comfort level is either, a) the amount I get from selling another piece of gear, or b) 10% of my annual bonus from work. I just used the latter method to buy a new fretless, and hit the dollar amount almost exactly.
I also have no problem taking advantage of 12 months same-as-cash from Guitar Center every few years.
 
#75
I don't think a dollar amount is the right measure of spending limits. Someone could spend $4000 on gear and feel it less than someone spending $400; it all depends on your income and overall financial situation. If you can't pay for it outright (not on credit) you can't afford it.
 
#76
I don't hold money as an important factor, just a means to an end. I'd spend a million bucks on a bass if I had it and wanted the instrument. Luckily I keep away from trying out uprights so that temptation won't happen anytime soon. I did spend 7k on this:
DSC02634.jpg

I ended up selling it to another tb'er to help finance my condo.
A means to an end... you can always sell or buy a bass.
They are just tools you use to get to what is the core of the expression, which is music and that's not something that is present in an inanimate object like a bass or guitar.
 
#78
My budget is always under $400. There are still amazing deals out there so I never buy new unless it's strings or a certain pedal... even if I have lots of cash on me I never blow wads on new... I'd rather eliminate bills. It is limiting, but if you can figure it out it works. You can find quality (Japanese mostly or sometimes American) from $150 (most Japanese) to $400. I have lived out of state and visited pawn shops in Pennsylvania, Colorado, Missouri, Southern Arizona... even Long Island (sic) (where buyers are frequently raped because of our insanely high living standard) frequently for cool gear. It's out there. Even Ebay. I nabbed a Japanese made Ibanez Roadstar II RB630 for $120. Every bit as good as an American Fender which I have owned many times. Amps are a bit more tricky unless it's Peavey or an off brand. The problem is that people now gouge prices in their equipment. For example: if it's a Fender or even a Squire they put it $50 to $150 (for a MIA/CIJ or MIJ Fender) below street price... and for some older Japanese Fenders they are more than the street price. They still sell 1998 MIM Fenders for nearly the same price it was purchased for. I see that alot with Japanese basses. It's common for an Aria or BC Rich selling for well over $1000 to 2000. And friggin' Carvins for $100 less factory cost... and if it's deemed RARE it's already overly gouged arbitrarily. Even with Aria Pro II instruments. I remember when you can nab a Peavey T-40 for $150 with a case. Now I see them over selling $350 without a case and bashed up.
 
#79
D.A.R.K. said:
A means to an end... you can always sell or buy a bass.
They are just tools you use to get to what is the core of the expression, which is music and that's not something that is present in an inanimate object like a bass or guitar.
Click to expand...

I agree. Music first and tools second. It's just funny hearing it from a guy who would spend several thousand dollars on a bass, since that kind of discretionary spending is usually for people who rank tools as their number 1 priority. You'd think if heart and soul mattered more to you than gear, you'd save a bit of money and concentrate on your playing, right?
 
#80
Some people view the instrument as more than just an inanimate object. I suppose some can separate the tool from the process, but I find all of the pieces of the puzzle to have some degree of importance.

And people can spend money *and* concentrate on their playing. Is the "saving money" thing some ode to asceticism? Maybe we need to go to a monastery to be "serious" musicians. Part of the starving artist thing. Perhaps those who are self-actualized only need an SX to achieve bass nirvana. As for me, I prefer to be inspired in-part by my instruments. My day job allows me to (within reason) search for and buy the ones that do. And then I work my arse off to find/play gigs (over 50 so far in 2011) where I can express my "heart and soul." In fact, time to head out now. Downbeat is at 8pm...
 

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