Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Who prefers mass produced over boutique?
- Thread starter Cygnus X-1
- Start date
I got your point. It was obviously stupid (your term), as I pointed out, ignoring what I was saying.
I got his point fine, I merely pointed out that in life, those pesky details can make an oversimplification appear to be what it is.
You obviously like to keep it simple so by all means do.
read "zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" for an interesting treatise about quality. it might also inspire you to learn how to repair the clutch on your porche.
I would NEVER own another "Boutique" Bass. I had an Unobtanium 8 string custom made for me a few years ago. It was made by monks living in the Himilayas. The pickups were hand wound by the Dali Lama himself. The neck was shaped from a plank taken from Noah's ark. The bass had no knobs because it used telepathy to sculpt its tone. I literally came everytime I played it which is why I had to wear diapers onstage.
Then one night as I was leaving a gig I found my dream bass. As I was disposing of the diaper I had worn at the gig in a dumpster I noticed a bass sticking out from underneath a dead hobo. I rolled the stiff hobo over and found my excaliber!
It was an ancient Kay hollowbody that the hobo had apparently been using as a port-o-potty. It also looked as if if had been attacked by giant beavers and then set on fire. The neck was held onto the body with used band-aids and it only had one string which apparently is made from an old shoe lace. It's pickup and electronics are constructed from an old tube grammaphone which frequently delivers powerful electric shocks to my groin when I'm playing.
No amount of money could ever get me to part with my mojo bass machine.
Then one night as I was leaving a gig I found my dream bass. As I was disposing of the diaper I had worn at the gig in a dumpster I noticed a bass sticking out from underneath a dead hobo. I rolled the stiff hobo over and found my excaliber!
It was an ancient Kay hollowbody that the hobo had apparently been using as a port-o-potty. It also looked as if if had been attacked by giant beavers and then set on fire. The neck was held onto the body with used band-aids and it only had one string which apparently is made from an old shoe lace. It's pickup and electronics are constructed from an old tube grammaphone which frequently delivers powerful electric shocks to my groin when I'm playing.
No amount of money could ever get me to part with my mojo bass machine.
I do.
I just never had and appeal to spend ridiculous amounts of money on a bass. My budget doesn't allow me and anyways they just don't appeal to me.
If I have more money and played more fusion, funk or was looking for modern hi-fi sounds, then maybe, just maybe.
I'm always GASing for more passive vintage sounding basses.
P,J, Stingray, Ric, Hollowbodies, G&L, etc.
Doesn't mean I don't like looking at photos of 3K+ basses.
But right know I have a rule in which I wont spend more than $1500 on any bass. All of the basses I have and want are below that budget, all but that 4003 Jetglo Ric I've been longing for so much
I just never had and appeal to spend ridiculous amounts of money on a bass. My budget doesn't allow me and anyways they just don't appeal to me.
If I have more money and played more fusion, funk or was looking for modern hi-fi sounds, then maybe, just maybe.
I'm always GASing for more passive vintage sounding basses.
P,J, Stingray, Ric, Hollowbodies, G&L, etc.
Doesn't mean I don't like looking at photos of 3K+ basses.
But right know I have a rule in which I wont spend more than $1500 on any bass. All of the basses I have and want are below that budget, all but that 4003 Jetglo Ric I've been longing for so much
I play what I like, don't care if its mass produced or not. I don't understand this. You can get some quality mass produced basses every bit as good as boutique basses. there's crap out there too. Just like I don't understand how people wil only play certain boards or body woods because they sound better. Ok, maple is birghter than rosewood. But with an electronics change I could make that rosewood board bass brighter than the maple one. Its the whole package people. Just plug it in and play. Let your ears and hands tell you.
- May 30, 2000
- 4,707
- 257
- Disclosures
- Creator of: iGigBook Sheet Music Manager
Nothing personal, but personal preference is subjective. Quality is objective.
In my experience, a good handmade instrument offers better build quality, attention to detail, fit and finish, material selection, and design refinement than a mass-produced, built to a mass-market price point instrument.
This I believe to be true however you always have situations where an instrument doesn't work for a particular person regardless of the quality.
Mass market basses have increased in quality i.e. outsourced instruments from some boutique manufacturers AND some older mass market basses have a cult following i.e. old Fenders even though the components are, well, cheap as all get out! I'm referring to things like the bridge on a 51 PBass compared to a more modern bridge that allows for more precise adjustment.
You don't want to get rear ended while in a Pinto.
Because I'm rather accident-prone, it would be dangerous for me to invest in a boutique instrument. But I prefer the mass-produced stuff; while some people might feel that playing a really common instrument (i.e., Strat, P-Bass) leads them to play and sound like SRV or Jamerson (and maybe it does for them), I look at it as more of a blank canvas. If there's nothing special about the instrument itself then the focus ends up being more about what you're doing with it.
I've never owned a bass worth more than $1000, but I have played 'em. I can say with confidence that I would like to own a higher end bass simply based on what I've played, but I'm still really happy with my Korean Spector.
Over the last 6 years I have been lucky enough to be able to afford boutique instruments. Some I bought but eventually sold because they were missing a certain something. I also sold a Fender MIA J5 Deluxe that I still reget letting go of. Currently I own 2 boutiques that are the best instruments I've ever played. However, If I was in the market for another bass and came across a "killer " massed produced I would buy it.
1. I was familiar with that book back in the 1970's.
2. I'm a former Porsche owner. I sold it back inthe late 1980's.
3. When I had the car (for over ten years), I changed the clutch... once. The book didn't inspire me to do it, I just wanted to see what a new clutch and a lightened flywheel might do for my car.
4. I also knew Porsche master mechanics who would also question your quality assumption.
If you actually read my posts minus your baggage you might see my point. Then again, maybe not.
It is interesting that many people who wouldn't spend $1500 on a bass would spend far more than that on a few. It's still the same amount of money spent.
I've seen people go through four or five or even more instruments looking for a keeper. They played a boutique bass that was a keeper but couldn't justify the cost... even though it was actually cheaper especially considering depreciation in the long run.
I've seen people go through four or five or even more instruments looking for a keeper. They played a boutique bass that was a keeper but couldn't justify the cost... even though it was actually cheaper especially considering depreciation in the long run.
It is interesting that many people who wouldn't spend $1500 on a bass would spend far more than that on a few. It's still the same amount of money spent.
This is a really good point IMO. My second custom bass will soon be finished and though that will give me two ~$2k instruments, the actual value of my collection has stayed the same or even decreased in the last couple years. Rather than seven basses between $500 and $1200 I had before, I'll have my two Stambaughs, an acoustic Takamine and my Carvin B4 as a backup.
- May 30, 2000
- 4,707
- 257
- Disclosures
- Creator of: iGigBook Sheet Music Manager
If you don't have thousands of dollars to spend on a bass or any other item, it's okay because there are plenty of things that are in your price range that you can buy. Don't hate if someone has the ability to want and obtain something that you don't.
And a damn fine bass that DJ5 is. You have to spend a considerable amount more money to beat the sound and the quality.
- Oct 17, 2006
- 731
- 21
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Aguilar Amplification, Dunlop/MXR
+11111111
I've always wanted a Fender Jazz 5-string but I don't trust the consistence in their quality control. For that reason, I went with the Alleva Coppolo LM-5 jazz bass. A lot more expensive but for me, more playable and I know I'm getting an instrument that is built very well and in the highest of quality.
My thing is that I'd rather pay a couple of thousand or more for something I want than pay hundreds of dollars for something I don't want. Hundreds or thousands doesn't matter. It's all a lot of money. Life is too short. With that said I paid under $2000 for my mass-produced Musicman and I love it.
+70.......My philosophy in a nutshell..............go boutique if that's your thing and don't let ANYONE tell you otherwise...........
It's really like this; If you play for a living you play whatever fits the sound you are looking for and (this is the important part) you play whatever is the easiest to play for hours on end.
That being said when I was very active, I played a 6K+ Moonstone and a 1.2K American Schecter. I played the Schecter 98% of the time which was for thousands of hours and for thousands of dollars. I played the Moonstone at the tux gigs.
I don't play either now because I moved to 5 string. Cirrus to Douglas and I play the Douglas more than the Cirrus, I like my Ibanez a lot also.
I also played fretless as often as possible, but dark stages limited that quest. It was a J Bass with a Modulus neck that I changed back to wood. Nothing like bare wood rubbed to a shine.
I don't care what it cost if it feels like me, and money won't make it better, though I do like those hand crafted instruments. The Ferrari is a fine ride but I won't drive it to work.
That being said when I was very active, I played a 6K+ Moonstone and a 1.2K American Schecter. I played the Schecter 98% of the time which was for thousands of hours and for thousands of dollars. I played the Moonstone at the tux gigs.
I don't play either now because I moved to 5 string. Cirrus to Douglas and I play the Douglas more than the Cirrus, I like my Ibanez a lot also.
I also played fretless as often as possible, but dark stages limited that quest. It was a J Bass with a Modulus neck that I changed back to wood. Nothing like bare wood rubbed to a shine.
I don't care what it cost if it feels like me, and money won't make it better, though I do like those hand crafted instruments. The Ferrari is a fine ride but I won't drive it to work.
