Your Rig - where's your biggest cost?

[superdick2112]

Basses = Main 2 are USA Spector NS-2 and NS-4 basses, with 3 Jazz, 3 Precision, 1 Ric and a few others on occasion.
Amp = Phil Jones M-500 head, with 8-T & 16-B cabs. Too darned heavy to gig with anymore, so go-to rig is an SWR Headlite driving two Hartke 112 cabs.
Pedals = Mix of Boss & MXR, but slowly being replaced with a variety of boutique pedals.

Biggest expense was my USA Spector NS-4, purchased brand-new, and worth every penny that it cost.

 

[Mikey F]

Everything is in ears these days for me so it goes Bass, compressor, DI.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Mulling this thread over and reading some of the "interesting" responses, I realized that I have WAY MORE invested in any one of my acoustic guitars than anything else, individually and as a group.

 

[HawldieMPB]

Amp, specifically the cab was the most expensive.

 

[headband]

My current go to bass is a custom made Nordtrand 5'er, my rig is a Genzler Magellan 800 with Greenboy Fearfull 1212/6. None of it is cheap, it all sounds great and the bass is a bit more in $$ than the rig. No pedals.

 

[hardtop]

Well, my amp is probably the most expensive part of my rig, but I think a high quality bass is the best place to spend your money. If I am comfortable on a instrument, its built well and set up nicely with good sounding pickups/electronics, I like to think I can sound decent through most amps of reasonable quality.

 

[CoffeeLove]

I want all my gear to be awesome, and so it is. However, I am not a big pedal guy. That said, if I were to sell all my gear, my instruments would be worth exponentially more than my cabs and amps combined.

 

[fauxtoe]

My money seems to be going into the pedal board as of late, but my main two basses are still worth...wait...I should add this up...nope. My current pedal board is now equal to one of the basses even if I only take what’s on it. If I add the other pedals I switch out then it’s now worth more. Dang that added up quick! That’s what I get for buying pedals of the more boutique flavor.

My amp and cabs I picked up used well under new prices, but if I had purchased them new it would also equal everything else.

 

[Thumpin6string]

Bass by far. Even though I did the labor, there was well over $1000 in the wood, custom built graphite neck, hardware and electronics. Worth every penny. My amps were purchased used and I've always got great deals.

 

[1bassplayinfool]

3.5K in amps and cabs
5K in basses (4)

It's good stuff though

 

[hintz]

Definitely my basses! I love my Darkglass/fEARful combo, but I spare no expense for what is comfortable in my hands

 

[Rip Van Dan]

For your "usual" gigging rig, do you have more invested in your bass, your amp/cab(s), or your effects?
I see some effects and realize that one pedal can cost more than an amp (and that's OK if it's your thing) and a few of them will easily be the "big investment" in a rig. Then again, some folks rock an MIM Fender and no pedals through a SVT with 810 - there the amp's the biggest investment (for the sake of this poll, consider "amp and cab(s)" as one "component".

I've always had my biggest investment in my bass. For a long time that's because I was going for "as good as I can get for pretty cheap" on my amp, and had no FX. I've gotten more comfortable spending more on an amp (and cabs), and have the FX that I want now, but with my Zon, the bass is still my biggest chunk of cash.

Please consider this on your "usual" gig rig, with one bass, one amp, and your gigging pedal board. I don't care if you have 20 basses, or 25 amps, or a room full of pedals. That skews things. Just "1 bass vs 1 amp/cabs vs 1 "set of pedals".

That's a bit of a tough one. I got a crazy good deal on my Fender MIA Jazz because I was working at a music store when a guy traded it in. However, if I were to try to replace it, my only option would be the Fender custom shop as it uses a maple neck with 7.25" radius and a thin 60's era neck profile with a shallow C shape. Basically it's a maple version of the neck that was on my 1965 Jazz bass. The "re-issues" all come with 9.5" radius. In addition to that the neck has white binding, which Fender evidently only did in 1966 and 1982. By the time I mate that with the Olympic white body with white pickguard, white pickups, and white "strat-type" control knobs, I'm looking around $3500 or so. I didn't pay anywhere near that price, but it is the most valuable bit of my gear.

My amp I bought used from the designer (David Nordschow) and it was the amp he used on his test bench when designing Eden speakers and cabs. He also hot-rodded it up to 800 watts bridged, which is how I use it. If I were to find one for sale now, I'm probably looking at $800 to $1000 without David's signature and power upgrade note on the bottom of it. The cab I use is easy. I paid $999 for my DNA-410 cab in 2015. They are around $1050 now.

Of all the things I bought, if looking at price paid, the amp and cab would win. But if I had to replace my gear, my bass itself would be the most expensive piece. So I selected the "bass" button in the poll

And, just in case you haven't seen it before, here's a shot of my gear with an "Old Dudes Rule" sign in the background:

 

[interp]

My go-to amplification is always the same these days: Walter Woods head + EA VL-208 cab + EA VL-110 cab. The most costly item in the overall rig depends on which of my two basses I use. One bass costs five times what the WW costs, the other costs one half of the WW.

 

[The Nameless]

I was always taught the order of importance was the same order as my signal chain. Brain. Heart. Hands. Strings. Bass. Amp. Cabs. My education cost the most. My sprituality and passion would be hardest to replace. My strings are the only repeating, constant cost. My basses are my biggest single gear investment. $800 for a brand new Fender American Deluxe Jazz 5. $1800 fer a used, '90 Warwick Streamer Stage I 5 fretless. Amps? Who cares? I bought a billion. I sound just like me thru all of em. But I like what I like. Demeter pre? $350. Crown amp? $100. SWR cabs? A 410 and a 4x8? $400 total. And an SWR Super Redhead. $400. But I could use any amp or cabs. Good amps should be invisible. Bad amps are, too. If ya know what yer doin. I don't use effects very often. But have a few. $100. The bass, as a whole, is the most important gear investment. But Head, heart and hands, and the education thereof? The wisest investment, thus the most expensive.

 

[baxter_x]

The bass is the most important to me. Where you play it or plug it in, you always have your tone.
Here's my weapon of choice:

 

[el murdoque]

My current most used setup:

Bass: Just shy of a grand.
Amp head: Just shy of a grand.
Cabinet: Just shy of a grand.
Pedalboard: Just shy of a grand.

 

[mouthmw]

I voted amp. My typical gigging rig is Highway One P (I put EMG GZR in it), effects, GK2001RB + GK NEO 412. Cost wise, got the bass and amp used and they come close price wise (with emg upgrade), but I included the cab into price so it’s most expensive then. My pedals actually cost more than my P. If I’m gigging my brand new American Pro Jazz though, that would make it the single most expensive item then.

 

[chris_b]

For the last few years my go-to gig rig has been a Sadowsky Jazz through an Aguilar AG700 into 2 Barefaced cabs. The bass is by far the most expensive item I take out, followed by the cabs then the amp.

 

[k31bassman]

My amp/cabinets are worth more than my typical "gig" bass. I have an Alembic and a Ric, but most of my current gigs call for a P. So, I just usually grab a couple of my "parts" Ps or PJs.

 

[Spidey2112]

I was famished when I saw my poll options, so I chose...

... "All about the samee".