Your most and least expensive basses

[leftybass54]

Cheapest lefty bass:
Ibanez miKros GSRM20 short-scale. Great little P/J-PUPs bass, bought new for only $129 + tax on eBay. Nice sounding, guitar-sized backup.

Most expensive lefty bass:
1979 Rickenbacker 4001 Mapleglow. Bought used in 1986 for under $800 then, but if I'd kept it, it would surely be worth a lot more now!

 

[Jinobass1]

My Least Expensive bass is $145.00 pig nose

Most Expensive is Fender Jazz 65’ or P’63?…All Original for about 11G’s a piece

 

[ryco]

Least expensive is my "P" that I bought for $200 out of the back of a van in '80. Since it was "pre CBS" which was a big deal at the time I modded the heck out of it adding two S Duncan QuarterPounder Jazz pups to make it a JPJ and a Bad Ass II bridge.

Most expensive is an '04 MM Sterling I bought from Baba for $850 in '07.

 

[crucislancer]

Least expensive: Fender parts Jazz, which I believe cost me just under $300.

Most expensive: '99 MIA Standard Jazz. $1300, this past November:

 

[OldFenderPlayer]

My Least Expensive bass is $145.00 pig nose View attachment 4296882 View attachment 4296889
Most Expensive is Fender Jazz 65’ or P’63?…All Original for about 11G’s a piece

Your Jazz Bass is a dead ringer for my ‘65 Jazz - Olympic White with matching headstock. My neck date is June ‘65. Yours?

 

[arbiterusa]

My basses all have one thing in common; I paid way less for them than they are worth. The silver one on the right cost a whopping $169. I then put fifty bucks worth of tuners on it.

We are not counting the gutting of the active electronics, plugging of the redundant tone control holes, spot patching and refinish of the “raw” (it isn’t) ash body. Thought about a ceruse and in theory I still could but am not going to. The paint was maybe ten bucks or so. I like the silver with grain look.

 

[JimmyM]

My basses all have one thing in common; I paid way less for them than they are worth. The silver one on the right cost a whopping $169. I then put fifty bucks worth of tuners on it.

We are not counting the gutting of the active electronics, plugging of the redundant tone control holes, spot patching and refinish of the “raw” (it isn’t) ash body. Thought about a ceruse and in theory I still could but am not going to. The paint was maybe ten bucks or so. I like the silver with grain look.

View attachment 4297037

I do too, but I could still see a snappy looking ceruse on it. You'd have to dig the grain out quite a lot, though, which may not be worth it to you.

 

[bassplayer8953]

Least expensive: Peavey Foundation, also an LTD parts bass I assembled as a platform for a set of EMG active pickups I acquired. Most expensive: Ric 4001 and/or a Gibson Thunderbird.

 

[stevieg]

The least expensive bass I ever bought is a 1962 Jazz that I bought from a classmate at university for $150.00.

I've been offered $200.00 for it which, while a profit over what I paid, I had to admit she is not for sale.

By the way the candy red beauty with a white pickguard included both "ashtrays" as well and individual string mutes.

 

[Marty Forrer]

Least expensive: Fender Jazz assembled from parts I collected, only cost was a set of SD Apollo pickups.
Most expensive: Early 90s Wal. Can't remember the price but I did not like it. Sold it after a couple of months.
Also a Tobias 5 string.

 

[DC Stevens]

LOVE that VC bass! (...and I love mine too!) Cheers!

 

[Frank Vozak]

My expensive basses were all brand new off the floor at Halpin Music Co in Alton, IL in 1967
1967 Mustang Bass--$250 Now valued at $1600
1967 Jazz Bass----$350 Now valued at around $3500
1967 EB-O $250 now valued at $1500
But then again in 1971 I bought my first new car an AMC Gremlin for $1600 and now I drive a 2013 Volvo S 60 which cost $16,500 two years ago.
All sold years ago for much less than I paid except for the EB-O which went for $800 for close to mint.

Started playing again and the tie for least costly and 2 of the 4 basses I now own are a
Squier Mini Precision for $149 and a Glarry PB II for $159 the other two both cost $329 two years ago--a short scale Squier Jaguar Bass and an Acoustic Fender CB-60.

Multiple commenters have pointed out to me that the purchase price for the three '67 basses with inflation would have been closer to the current value comparing 1967 and 2021 prices equalized for inflation and currency revaluations.

I wish I could afford what I once owned but that is what retirement will do for you

 

[Dave Neal]

Cheapest brand new bass is this Harley Benton
MP-4EB. Basically a Sandberg copy. At the time it was around the 300 dollar mark. I got curious because of all the seemingly good appointments on it and wasn't wrong except for the pups and pre which suck. I complained to Thomann and they refunded me $75 bucks.

Most expensive I think is my Kramer DMZ 6000B.. a bucket lister and in minty condition...

 

[OldFenderPlayer]

$1,800 - Most Expensive Bass. A 1966 Fender Precision Bass purchased in 2017 off Craigslist in Richmond, Va.
$125 - Least Expensive Bass. A Brownsville Beatle Bass purchased in 2015 off Craigslist in Richmond, Va.

Both are reliable, stable instruments and have been used on gigs. The '66 P-Bass is my #1, although all my current gigs are with my Samuel Eastman upright bass.
View attachment 4296839

Correction: The Fender is a 1967, not a 1966 as I stated in the original post. I must have been looking at someone else's post and their '66 P-Bass when I submitted mine.

 

[squarepeg]

 

[Syl_Funky_bass]

Least expensive: Squier Classic Vibe 60's Precision Bass (bought a couple of months ago used for €230 = $280).

Most expensive: Fender Victor Bailey Jazz Bass V signature (bought in 2019 used for €1600 = $1950).

Both basses can be seen and heared on my YouTube channel or Instagram profile
.

Update:
Most expensive bass: Stingray5 30th Anniversary. $2400

 

[B-Mac]

My least expensive would be my Glarry and Exquisite basses. However, two of the Glarry's were free from Glarry Music. They had contacted me in 2019 back when there was quite a bit of chatter about new inexpensive basses of which I was contributing to at the time. As a result I was contacted directly by Glarry to receive a free bass of my choice in exchange for doing a video review. I told them I'd love to, but wasn't set up to do videos, so they told me posting information in forums would be fine which I did. The price of the two basses at the time was $56 and $64 so we're not talking about a huge windfall, but free is as cheap as you can get unless someone is paying you to take a bass off their hands. I didn't even pay shipping.


2019 Glarry GP
2019 Glarry GJ
View attachment 4293507 View attachment 4293510

My most expensive basses, based on brand new street price (not MSRP), even though I purchased them used except the Eastwood, would be:

• 2011 Gibson Les Paul Standard oversized body
• 2014 Fender American Deluxe Precision
• 2016 Fender American Standard Jazz
• 2017 Gretsch 6128 Thunderjet
• 2019 Eastwood Backlund Rockerbox
• 2012 Dean USA Jeff Berlin Signature Patchwork
• 2009 Rickenbacker 4003 Mapleglo
• 1993 C F Martin B-1e

View attachment 4293513View attachment 4293515 View attachment 4293516 View attachment 4293517 View attachment 4293519 View attachment 4293521 View attachment 4293523 View attachment 4293525 View attachment 4293526 View attachment 4293528

Honorable mentions would go to my:

2006 Gretsch 6073 Electrotone
2014 Fender American Limited Edition Sandblasted Special
View attachment 4293549 View attachment 4293550
After just reading @JimmyM #96 post I have to reveal that the most paid was $1,300 for the ‘my most expensive’ shown above.

Some of these I did get at a very good price, especially the Gretsch 6128 and Martin B1-e.
The Gretsch was dumb luck and the Martin was from a tip from @mikeoso

Just an update on the expensive end:

MIA 2002 GMW Custom Cadillac w/Dean (MIK) bolt-on neck Rio Grande Humbuckers Passive

2010 Dean USA Motto 34-inch active J bolt-on

 

[Felix Lopez]

[This invalid link has been removed]

 

[aus_bass]

Most: Lakland Skyline ~$1200
Least: Squier Affinity Jazz ~$400

 

[MMiller28]

I have a Squier Affinity Precision and a Fodera Monarch Elite.