Your Rig - where's your biggest cost?

[Riff Ranger]

$460 total bass+mods (used Electra X700JB [Futura], new Lace Alumitone pickup, new Gotoh hardware)
$550 used Mesa Buster! 200 1x15 combo
$150 new Night Owl Industries Oscar preamp

 

[DanGR]

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".

My most expensive piece in my rig is my cabinet. It's a Greenboy Fearless F112 custom with a 2 space rack to make it a combo. At a little over $1,300 if it were stolen or destroyed I'd do it all over again. Why have a great sounding bass if it isn't being reproduced with justice. It's like putting used tires on a Porsche.

 

[Uncle Ernie]

I bought all used, but the bass was such a still that even after upgrades it runs at about 40% of the amp, and proly abou even with the pedals.

 

[ddezz]

I have a Stingray 5 HH, a new Genzler Magellen 800, Greenboy Fearless F112, Greenboy Fearful 15 sub. I am retired and thankful that I can afford this great gear and sometimes play out because I want to rather than I have to. It is fun to be a senior citizen who can suddenly pound the audience with deep bass whenever he wants to paralyze them and make them all dance.

 

[richntiff]

Need an option for ‘don’t say anything when your wife outspends your bass rig and you say it’s cool just to keep the peace’

 

[wvbass]

Hmm....here's what I use for many/most shows.

Spector NS4CRFM...$750
Dunlop Superbrights...$15
Strap...$30
Schaller S Locks...$25
Line6 G70...$400
Protec Contego Gig Bag...$100
Darkglass B3K...$230
Zoom B3n...$150
Sadowsky DI...$250
Aclam Pedalboard...$0
Alto TS312...$300
George L patch cable kit...$50
Spectraflex Baldee cable...$20
Ultimate Support GS-100...$30

So, I carry about $2350 in gear to a show, if you overlook the fact that I usually have a second bass with me. My most expensive single item is the only one I bought used - my bass. I didn't realize until I made that list that my wireless unit is the second most expensive part of my live rig.

 

[amper]

Hmm…In my case, my basses are the most expensive parts. I paid $1000 USD used for my piezo fretless StingRay, and a bit over $1600 USD for my Corvette Proline. If purchased new today, they would easily both be well over $2000 each, though Music Man no longer offers a piezo option; it was discontinued several years ago.

I paid $700 for my Walkabout Scout, used, which was $1700 when that model was discontinued earlier this year (last year?). My current bass pedalboard is five BOSS pedals, and is supposed to be six, so maybe about $600-800, all told, there? They are a mix of new and used. I buy used whenever I can.

If I take both basses to a gig, I guess I'm probably carrying over $7K worth of gear.

But, if I were going to buy a new rig right now, I'd probably go for a Mesa Subway D800+ with two Subway 1x15s, and that would not be cheap, $2697 from Sweetwater.

 

[roccobass]

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".

Bass for sure!

 

[amper]

Bought a new Ric 4003 in 2015 that set me back about $62,000.

$60,000 of that was a completely remodeled kitchen. She got a new kitchen and I got a new bass.

Therefore, for me, the bass is the most expensive part of my “rig”.

hurr durr, the little wifey jokes are sexist. Women play bass and men cook, too. My brother is a chef.

 

[Ian Lewis]

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".

Bass AUS$11k, amp $1k, cab $2k, pedal $0.5k, iPad (charts) $2k.

 

[HaveBlue]

Sound comes primarily from my bass so that's what I spend most of my money on. Ballpark figure: about 50/30/20% respectively on basses, amps and pedalboard. The demand for lower stage volumes reduces my brilliant TecAmp/Vanderkley stack to a low volume stage monitor so no need for further investments in amplification. All the audience is ever going to hear is my Bongo and Stingray through the DI of my Basswitch IQ DI

 

[Kirk Bryant]

My best bass (new) cost three times as much as my best amp and cab combined. I’m finding now my high end amps and cabs are going to be around a grand each, a bit more for the best.
My best basses are going to be two to six times that much.

 

[Mastodon2]

I think amp and cab are the most important part of the tone. You can play a cheap bass through good amp and cab and sound good, but if you play an expensive bass through a cheap amp it will probably not sound good.

That said, my main bass would have cost upwards of £4500 new, before VAT is added (though it was originally purchased in Euros) and there simply aren't many amps that cost that much.

My amp isn't massively expensive, I run a Markbass Ninja 1000 into a MB Ninja NYC 2x12 and a MB Traveler 2x10, but it was the perfect amp for the sound I wanted.

 

[InternetAlias]

My bass cost $100
My amp cost $200
My processor cost $30
My cables cost $15
My strings cost about $200 a year

go figure

 

[e-rock62]

My main bass is a U.S. Reverend R5L. I think I paid $875 for it several years ago. It is one of five in the Birdseye maple finish and near mint. Today it would probably bring $1200 or more. My other bass is an ESP C-305 modded with U.S. EMG pickups and electronics. I think I paid just under $500 for it.
My amp is a Genz Benz Shuttlemax 9.2 and Genz Benz Uber 4x10 4 ohm. 900 watts in a small, lightweight package. I paid around $500 for the amp and $450 for the cab.

 

[davimoto98]

I’ve definitely spent the most on my bass, with my pedalboard coming in second. It really depends on what your usual setting is, along with your tastes. For me, I play in a church setting and we get broadcasted globally every week, so I really had to invest in the instrument first and foremost. I had to go from my cheap P-Bass to an incredible sounding Dingwall; just like the saying “polish a turd, it’s still a turd.”

For pedals it’s the same thing, but to a lesser extent. Again, it depends on the setting and your taste. I actually don’t use an amp (to everyone’s dismay). I use IEM’s and have a really nice mix of everybody. Our sound engineers prefer us going direct, and it still sounds great. To make up for it, I do amp+cab modeling and it gives me the same satisfaction. Hope this helps!

 

[Murv M]

My current most expensive is my Ernie Ball Music Man Classic Sting Ray 5 which I found used for only $1350 since they go new for around $2700. I also found on eBay a couple months ago an Overwater by Tanglewood 5 string jass bass at a bargain price of $580 that plays and sounds as good as a USA Lakland 55-94
that I had. I have owned many nbasses in my 40 plus years of playing with this high end being a Pedulla and the Lakland but my two current ones suit my needs. As for the amp I currently use a Fender Bassman 500 with a Fender 4x10 Rumble cabinet. I have owned bunches of amps as well such as Ampeg SVT Heritage, an old Ampeg fliptop, Eden, Mark Bass and many more. My current Bassman I found used for only $750 in near new condition and it has the old school Fender sound that I like. I also have a Hartke kickback that I replaced the tinny sounding speaker with a JBL clone that I have around $300 in. I don't used pedals so I have right at $3000 in both basses and amps even though they are probably worth more.

 

[12BitSlab]

hurr durr, the little wifey jokes are sexist. Women play bass and men cook, too. My brother is a chef.

Thou dost assume too much.

The scenario I painted is exactly how things came about.

Moreover, Mrs.12BitSlab is wonderful in the kitchen while no one in their right mind would ever eat anything that I prepared.

 

[Kevin Colt]

collectively, I have a small fortune invested in instruments and amps but individually I never paid more than 4 franklins for any one piece. I don't use pedals. the two p basses I use the most are worth way more than what I paid for them now. all told though, it's pretty much even across the board.

 

[ccfalkner]

Bought a new Ric 4003 in 2015 that set me back about $62,000.

$60,000 of that was a completely remodeled kitchen. She got a new kitchen and I got a new bass.

Therefore, for me, the bass is the most expensive part of my “rig”.

That's how it works at my house also.