What makes certain basses expensive?

One factor is supply and demand. If a bass (or any item) is popular and scarce, it will cost more.

 

As has been discussed at length here, it boils down to the overall quality of any bass from that brand. High-end basses use better parts, it plays better, sounds better, less problems down the road.

What many people say about MIM vs MIA Fenders: you can find MIMs that rival a MIA bass, but you have to search longer for it. Most MIAs are really good quality, some MIMs are too. Chances of you getting a lemon is higher with MIM, statistically.

My 2 cents.

 

And 'where' they are made. Taxes are incredibly high in CA, IL and NY for example compared to TX or VA.

 

Some high end expensive basses don't play better or sound better. Some also have lots of problems down the road.

It is a question you cant really answer properly too many opinions. There is a threshold however of better made parts that cost a certain amount. $700 basses and up generally have better hardware etc, but as lots of people have found out they can get the TONE THEY WANT out of a cheaper instrument.

For me personally i want the most amount of tonal versatility possible on my instrument to help facilitate me

 

Also hand made... means lots of man hours .... from a skilled craftsman who needs to make enough $ per hour to live.

Also on custom basses wood choices can increase the cost A LOT

 

What makes a Porsche more expensive than a Chevy? Why is a custom made chopper from West Coast Choppers more expensive than a Yamaha?
Because one of them is hand made and the other is made in an assembly plant from batches of pre-fab parts. Expensive instruments are usually made by either one person or a small group in a small shop. Not only does the craftsmanship excel but so does the quality of the parts used. To quote Frank Zappa, " Is that a real poncho or is that a Sears poncho?"

 

1 word. "QUALITY"

quality of materials
quality of workmanship
quality of QC process
quality of pride in the manufacturer for that product

 

Age plays into the price as well.

 

people are willing to pay that much

 

OP, that's actually a good question, especially these days when many of the cheapest instruments are actually very good. When I first laid hands on a bass in the late 70's, there was cheap no-name crap, pro-quality stuff like Fender/Gibson, and high-end stuff like Alembic. With no real knowledge or money bias I gravitated to the high-end stuff. My first real bass purchase was an Alembic that I got for cheap because it was snapped in two (!) and repaired (very well). It just felt better to me than the 70's Fenders, which felt cheap and clumsy to me. I was able to play more easily and cleanly on the Alembic (and later on a Tobias that I lusted for but never could afford).

The good:
It played like a dream. The sound was super-responsive, and the tone controls were incredibly versatile. It stayed in tune for months at a time no matter what the weather (Chicago has crazy temperature and humidity swings). I would literally need to tune it only when I put new strings on. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, could make that bass hum or buzz. Every note sustained equally and felt balanced. Construction-wise, it was impeccable. There were no gaps anywhere, the woods, electronics and hardware were obviously put together by expert craftsmen, the ebony on the fingerboard was to-die-for gorgeous, the fretwork was killer (and stayed killer for years).

The bad:
To tell the truth, I expended a lot of effort trying to make the Alembic sound like a Fender (although I didn't know that's what I was doing at the time). I ended up putting a Bartolini P pickup between the two existing pickups (I was young and stupid). Although it was a great bass and sounded good in any context, it didn't have the dirt and grunt that makes for those classic and authentic tones you hear on so many records.

Why am I ranting about this? Because I'm old and my mind wanders. But also, to give a little perspective. The Alembic (new) would cost much more than a Fender. A late 70's Fender, which some of us considered overpriced assembly-line crap at the time. It was worth the extra money, because of the exotic woods, custom electronics, solid brass machined hardware, and expert workmanship. But... That didn't and doesn't mean that you would like the sound better.

I personally strongly prefer the feel of a nicely designed hand-made modern instrument, but I love the sound of a vintage Fender (plus a great low B string ). For me, I've only found one cheapo bass I ever really loved, and that was an ugly, beat-up unlabeled Epiphone prototype owned by a friend. Amazing, one-of-a-kind, cheap and incredible sounding. I wish I liked cheaper basses more, but I always gravitate to more expensive ones because they feel better to me. I don't really like the ergonomics of most Fenders, even when they are well set up.

Given all that, sound and feel are very personal, so if you are lucky enough to love the sound of cheap basses, then the more expensive ones are not worth the extra money TO YOU.

There are many excellent pickups available these days. One of the current favorites is Nordstrand. In the 70's I was a big fan of Bartolini. There is also Fender, EMG, Fralin, Delano, ... The list goes on. There is no standard, and again it's a pretty personal thing.

I have swapped pickups on quite a few basses, as have a lot of other players. It seems to be quite common on low-end basses especially. On "better" instruments I would not call it an upgrade, but rather fine-tuning the tone of the instrument.

 

Certainly Cost of production can be a factor, but when deciding what the selling price. But generally they can go for a price point. if they go for the right pricing they can sell alot even though their margine is low, they can make a lot of money. If they don't sell many they have to have a very large Margine to make it worth while. Generally you can pay alot for "Pretty" but that doesn't mean it is going to sound or play good.
BUT just because a guitar is expensive doesn't make it a better guitar. SX is a perfect example of a company that sells very nice guitars at very low prices are are better playing and sounding than some guitars that sell for for 5-10 times as much, but are SX guitars flawless? Manytimes No. But SX sells **** LOADS of guitars. But their quality controll where it counts is very good (things that are meaning full for playing and hearing) You can spend lots of money on a Flawless beautiful guitar that really isn't very good sounding or playing.

 

Reputatation
Quality
Production time
Amount of hand building
materials

 

Regarding the bold print....I think the $700 is highly subjective. There is no single balance point where everything above is great and everything below good to marginal. More of a sliding scale. You are MORE LIKELY to get a really nice instrument if you spend (IMO) $1,200 or more for a new well set up instrument, although there are some gems at lower prices and turds at higher prices.

Even though this may be true and a strong consideration for how a manufacturer prices product, it should not be important to the customer in assessing value unless where it is manufactured has a significant impact on quality and/or content. I hold up Lakland / Skyline as an example. Not a lot of difference, in my experience, in build quality, material content between the two, making Skyline an exceptional value.

Absolutely!!!

Absolutely!!!

 

Last week I played a $4500 bass. It was incredible.
Everything about it made it worth $4500.
Would I pay that? No.
LeFay basses, check them out.

 

to me below 1000$ it has a lot to be desired, of course the quality will vary from basses to basses and from manufacturer but still too many basses are difficult to have the action low, have a good sound without putting more money into it and too often with the fender brand you need to schims because they aren't able to make the neck joint correctly.

then you have the 1000$ through 3000$ that are still mass produced instrument but with better construction methode, better componant, better sound, easier to set the action like you want etc.

then 3000$ + are costum shop for the most part where you can have whatever you want and it will play so well you won't beleive it.

 

Hype.

 

Isn't $700 still import-land these days? Play everything, purchase what makes your heart thrill with the anticipation of playing. But keep a P Bass around. 50% of BLs will ask if you have one...

 

You won't be able to understand until you realize that wood affects the tone so much less than you think. How tight the wood grain is? That's like asking an Olympic runner why his shoelaces make him run faster.

Once you plug that guitar in, whatever wood it's made out of becomes very negligible.

Look on this forum and look up the squier vm and cv series. All below 700$ and almost always get great reviews.