Me neither. For my taste, there are just as many hit or miss instruments in either realm. People confuse cost or materials with potential personal satisfaction.
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Who prefers mass produced over boutique?
- Thread starter Cygnus X-1
- Start date
Me neither. For my taste, there are just as many hit or miss instruments in either realm. People confuse cost or materials with potential personal satisfaction.
Exactly one of my main selling points for 'em. When I first started bass, I played a few entry level 5 and 6 string basses and the B was so floppy that I basically thought I'd never get into the lower register. My Conklin is set up in a way that the B string sounds very consistent with the E string and you might not be able to tell the difference if I play an F on either string.
Why don't mass production companies fix the B issue? They still sell 'em with the issue, so it's not financially in their best interest to fix it....unless a major competitor begins to steal their thunder! Plus if you don't know that there's a difference between a given 5 string and a MTD, you won't know what you're missing and the low B won't be a deal breaker.
For the most part, it all comes to mass demand. Very few people are looking for something with a MASSIVE low B, unlined fingerboards, active electronics that cover a large spectrum of tones, etc.
One thing I forgot to add earlier is that working directly with the luthier, it's quite possible to design your own bass! It's even cooler when you design something and people think it's a good idea and order some of your ideas on their bass!
So you're saying that only a small percentage of people who can afford boutique don't buy boutique, and the only reason they wouldn't is that they can't afford it? I don't know if that's true at all. I see tons of people who can easily afford better use off the rack basses.
It's Fender for me: they sound and feel the way I like. There are a great many better bass players than I, with a myriad of sophisticated desires and demands on their instruments, but that ain't me.
If I had a boutique bass, I'd likely be thinking "wish this was a Precision."
No offense, guys, but I'm a minimalist. Bells and whistles repel me; a good old factory made canoe paddle is where I'm at.
If I had a boutique bass, I'd likely be thinking "wish this was a Precision."
No offense, guys, but I'm a minimalist. Bells and whistles repel me; a good old factory made canoe paddle is where I'm at.
I've seen tons of people who are pretty dern loaded who intentionally play inexpensive basses. My lil Indie/Americana town worships inexpensive, junky, and beat up instruments as some sort of badge of courage. Nice gear means you're part of the establishment, etc. I just find a strange irony that the tofu eating people preach about fighting The Man, but buy gear from The Man. (shrug)
Very much so.
The divisive part is when people start making judgments of what someone "ought" to value, or judgments what someone else needs.
And often there's this misconstrued idea that because a player uses such and such thing, that now I'm not complete if I don't have it. My good friend unfortunately bought into that idea all the time and was never happy. That he "needed" such & such guitar because his hero used it. Please.
As Doug Pinnick once said in concert, "Don't ever let anyone tell you your dick is too small!"
And I follow it with don't let anyone tell you should have and don't have, including me
The OP was asking for a survey really. I'm not going to tell Anthony Jackson, "oh you don't need such an expensive bass." I'm not him. It's all context. What sound and look do you need?
Tone DOES matter. The question is, what kind do you want?
And often there's this misconstrued idea that because a player uses such and such thing, that now I'm not complete if I don't have it. My good friend unfortunately bought into that idea all the time and was never happy. That he "needed" such & such guitar because his hero used it. Please.
As Doug Pinnick once said in concert, "Don't ever let anyone tell you your dick is too small!"
And I follow it with don't let anyone tell you should have and don't have, including me
The OP was asking for a survey really. I'm not going to tell Anthony Jackson, "oh you don't need such an expensive bass." I'm not him. It's all context. What sound and look do you need?
Tone DOES matter. The question is, what kind do you want?
I had the same issue with my Status Stealth bass. I had never heard a low B that was so clear and piano-like. Something that actually balanced against the E string and didn't sound like something from a different instrument. For my money the Status Stealth bass, given, amoung other thigns, it's monocoque carbon-fibre construction, is the best low B around. And that just isn't available from a production bass or at production prices.
The interesting thing about value is that it can be market driven and in the eye of the beholder. If you're getting a custom that doesn't exist mass produced, how does one interpret value of somethere where you have no real alternative? It's easy to compare a Rob Allen MB2 to a Godin, but then you have something like the Mouse 30 that's really in a league by itself.
For the most part, when you buy a new boutique instrument, you'll probably take a hit selling it. It's financially better to buy one that's used, but sometimes you still run into the issue that what you want still doesn't exist!
I personally don't worry about the value of my gear since I buy to keep! I also work really hard to make sure I'm well within my means and don't need to sell stuff. Always brings a tear to my eye when I see someone get their dream bass and hafta sell it for a hefty loss. Does it bother me that my Conklin might only sell for about 1/2 what I paid for it? Nah.
Fortunately, there is a good amount of used high end stuff out there. Would I get a new Musicman for $1400 or a used Zon?
I'd go for the Zon! I've actually not bought a new bass in the last 10 years. Actually, I could never imagine paying full price for a high end bass when there are so many good used ones out there.
I'd go for the Zon! I've actually not bought a new bass in the last 10 years. Actually, I could never imagine paying full price for a high end bass when there are so many good used ones out there.
I just got a Status Matrix Series 1 bass this week, it should come in the post on friday. That is a bass with a Status preamp, Status pickups (the best electronics going outside of Alembic and Kubicki imo!), a solid walnut body and a graphite neck, which was hand made in Rob Green's Essex workshop. Without a doubt, a high quality, hand crafted instrument. even though I estimate it to be around 18 years old, it's in fabulous nick. I will confirm it's age via emailing Rob the serial number. I should also add that any problems with it and I can have Rob work on it for me. How great is it to see a guy sticking by basses he made nearly two decades ago?
And whats more, I got it used for £500. What an absolute steal! You can find high end gear for excellent prices if you look hard enough and have patience. I scouted forums for a long time looking for a Status bass at a good price.
And whats more, I got it used for £500. What an absolute steal! You can find high end gear for excellent prices if you look hard enough and have patience. I scouted forums for a long time looking for a Status bass at a good price.
The B string is usually the weak link on a 5 string. My first fiver had a lousy B. The best low B strings I have played happen to be on the boutique basses I own: Dingwall, Sadowsky, and Ken Smith.
OTOH, by the time most people get that beat up old gear, it's gone through a few hands, which puts the power back into the people's hands ultimately. I don't know...we could go through this back and forth all night. Let's not
It's all wrong, it's all very decadent, who cares? Let's have fun while we're here...
Who's more "The Man", the independent craftsman building basses in a small workshop or the multi-national conglomerate building them in Asia or Mexico?
The Man...meh! All companies are run by men (or women). Just because they're large doesn't mean they're not run by men with jobs and families to feed, too. They could easily go bankrupt if instrument fashions and trends change. We're not talking about big oil here.
Not necessarily, but 100% of the people who can't afford them won't buy them (hopefully we've all learned our lesson about irresponsible use of credit). The analogy is akin to saying that a Chevy is better than an Aston Martin because there are more Chevys on the road. If you were to remove the issue of price, many more people would buy the higher end product.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Sorry for laughing...I used my student loan to buy a boutique bass!
