Why the hell am I favoring my cheaper basses??

[IanA]

I have a mim Precision as a backup to my Nordys for when I go to "those places"
Had a Nordstrand pickup fitted to it and it now holds its own against custom shop and vintage precisions for sound. Fit and finish is where it is not even close to the more expensive instruments. It is made of several pieces of body wood, the neck finish is naff, the pickup was weak, the bridge sucks (hipshot on the way)
I really love the bass though, and sometimes it is my go to bass

 

[MojoPenguin]

IMHO it's not so much about price, but about feeling. If you're more comfortable with a guitar that's the one you happen to pick up, value is non relevant.

 

[radioripster]

his thing really taught me what's all the fuss about a P. Press play/rec/hit the stage and forget about it this thing will do it all and likely sound better than all my other 9 jazz bass style basses in any scenario ...just greatness

Yep...nothing truer.

 

[jjmuckluckjr]

Love that PG. Whaddathey call that?

Not sure,it came that way. I think it's called copper matte, or something along those lines. It was the first thing that drew me to that bass. I've always had a soft spot for black basses. They just seem to bring more swagger, with a hint of danger. But the copper really pops.

 

[Nev375]

If I had a Toyota and a Ferrari you can bet the Toyota is going to see a lot more miles and daily use.

 

[chris_b]

Cheap/expensive. . . . price doesn't matter.

What they sound and play like and what you play on them is the only thing that matters. Use the bass that makes you happy.

 

[markmeloney]

So according to my photo of the current lineup all I do lately is play AND practice with my Squier VM pbass and Tune Bass Maniac. As much as I love the Zon and XL2 they just seem to sit there. I know this has been beaten to death but I am just so shocked that I am favoring my two basses that combined price equal not even half of the Zon and more so the XL2. So when this funk happens to you guys do you end up thinning the herd or keeping them for the chance you will have a taste again for them down the road?

basses are made of wood. wood is a biological material and can vary greatly. A bass made by a master builder who put thousands of hours into it's construction can still sound terrible if the wood sounds bad. likewise a cheap bass that by some random accident got a piece of wood with a nice resonant tone can sound great. as long as it has good fret work and nice pickups, which is something a lot of cheap basses lack. every once in a while you get a surprise. that's why it's important not to buy a particular kind of bass just because one of your idols uses it, or you may be disappointed. gotta listen for yourself

 

[markmeloney]

I have both the sr1205 ($1350 canadian) and a used sr505 ($500 canadian) and I actually kind of prefer the 505. the body is thinner due to the cheapness, but I find this actually sort of adds to the growl of the tone. I think the thicker body vibrates less or something. only problem is the pickups on the 505 have some hum. probably needs some sheilding. it's a lot easier on m back though at roughly half the weight

 

[markmeloney]

could also be that your cheap bass has newer strings and it's tricking you

 

[Old Blastard]

could also be that your cheap bass has newer strings and it's tricking you

What is this "newer strings" of which you speak. Wait, I'm supposed to change them? That's hasn't happened in years!

 

[markmeloney]

What is this "newer strings" of which you speak. Wait, I'm supposed to change them? That's hasn't happened in years!

once I went 3 years without changing mine, and when I finally did, I was blown away. I had spent a lot of time before that frigging around with my eq trying to figure out why I didn't sound like bryan beller haha. didn't even occur to me that the strings made that big of a difference, but they really, really do. if the nice bass has old ass strings on it, that alone could make it sound worse than the cheap one

 

[KF2B]

This phenomena - appreciation if you will - indeed is a fascinating one...

I also have a few nice bases that are on par with their price tags and yet my go to bass is a cheap Asian JB copy I bought used from a gas station!
It sounds good, it looks good and above all it feels great (not talking about setup here, I´m talking about the overall feeling of enjoyment I have playing it).

Price tag may have a lot to do with the quality of technical aspects what comes to materials, parts and execution of a bass. Price has yet little to do with the overall process of how we perceive a bass on an emotional level. - Personally I´ve been left feeling cold with more higher priced instruments that do what I supposed they were capable of doing than I have by cheap beginners basses that surprised me positively. - Why? That is the million dollar question and I can only guess.

I think part of it is the fact that their execution and materials are of lesser quality and thus more prone to personality (most certainly being not so nice personalities but yet some turning out superb!) That and what psychological economics have taught us on appreciation and intuitive biases. Enter my beloved Dame Sanctus M200:

 

[BecDeCorbin]

I regret selling any of the bases I've ever owned. Had I kept them I'd have quite a collectors collection of '70's Fenders and Rickenbackers. Of course had I NOT sold them I wouldn't have what I have now (some of which is still collector's grade stuff). My go to for some time has been my $400 Steinberger Spirit and just added an Epi Thunderbird Pro V which while it wasn't "cheap" was about 1/3 the cost of the Gibson version. Plus I'm gassing for a Danelectro Longhorn, another $400 bass. For me the lower cost stuff plays well and sounds great, and if someone rips me off for it I'm not as heart broke as I would be if I lost my high end classics.

Can't tell from the photo if the Steiney has the strap hook on it or not. If not get one, makes it easier to get it into a much more comfortable playing position.

I'd like to know where to get one, I can't find one anywhere...

 

[DwaynieAD]

I've been playing my affinity p and my music man a lot lately. Fender jazzes have been hanging on the wall

 

[ThePresident777]

They're all made pretty much the same way, out of the pretty much the same stuff. Often the only real price difference is a matter of materials cost which is often cosmetic. A AAAAAAAA top doesn't do anything for the instrument except make it better looking and more expensive, but you can get a nice solid color finish over a 5 piece body for a lot less and not hear the difference. And the real differences that matter to a player have no cost difference. The shape of the neck carve is hughly important to a player but doesn't affect the cost at all. A few pounds weight difference can be massively important to a player but doesn't effect the cost at all. There is no massive cost difference between alnico or ceramic, or between 5000 turns of wire or 7000, but the perceived difference can be make or break. Pickup placement has no cost at all but it can sell an instrument.

It's just like clothing. Two pants cost the same to make but one sells for twice as much because people will pay it. They'll pay the hugh difference because the other pair of pants looks like prison or hobo garb, or because it doesn't look like prison or hobo garb.

So, no, I'm not surprised to see cheaper instruments being preferred over more expensive ones.

 

[Snibborwocky]

Currently I'm favoring my Sire V7 5-string over my other basses that are twice the price because the sound and tone is just incredible. The preamp is hands down the most awesomely insane feature on a budget bass that I have ever played. It just proved to me that sometimes quality is not always in the price.

 

[ThunderV]

The heart wants what the heart wants. Seriously, what you're really talking about is roughly 20-22 frets and 4 to 5 strings stretched to 34 or 35 inches. A bass is a bass.....some are nicer than others, but sometimes less is more. Also, when I watch another band, I would much rather see someone totally get down on a $200 Dean as opposed to someone playing root notes and following the rhythm guitar riff on a Carl Thompson Bass that costs $5000.

 

[micguy]

A good bass is a good bass. Cost is irrelevant, until you find a really good one that you can't afford. My most expensive and irreplaceable instruments have been donated or sold. I have a couple that weren't cheap, but nothing all that expensive. I sometimes pick up a Rick in tge store (my first bass was a 4001), and... don't bond with it at all.

 

[BoomSTICK]

Well..... I've been thinking about the same thing after playing a MIM Jazz from the local GC. The thing played incredible taken right off the rack. After playing it for about 15 minutes, i decided to plug it in to an amp! Yep, sounded great. For comparison, I also played a MIA Jazz N3 and it also sounded great. Three times the price great? Not a chance! I guess with the more expensive basses you pretty much get all of the features out of the box. That and resale value if that matters to you, will be better on the fancy bass.

 

[stringthrough]

I've experienced the same thing. I've owned ken smiths, elricks, lulls, sadowskys and fender custom shops, musicmans and g&ls (all gone now) and I couldn't be happier with my modified mim roadwarn 50's P and 60's J. I can't quite put my finger on why that is but it might involve some combination of 1) not wanting to show off with baases that exceed my talent and skill, 2) caring less about dinging these working-man basses, 3) feeling that these mim's are comparable in quality and features to 50'-70's fender basses, a time near and dear to my heart, 4) feeling less guilt about spending $900 for basses than $1,500-3,000.

Also by modifying them (something I wouldn't do with an expensive bass) -- both have steel rod reinforced all rosewood Warmoth necks and the P bass has had its pickup replaced with a Delano -- I've made these basses "my own".