Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
You're maybe not gonna like this...
- Thread starter Mustang Surly
- Start date
-
- Tags
- like
You can have $5000+ in your complete bass setup and sound mediocre if that is the skill level at which you play, or you can be a 20+ year veteran and sound awesome (or at least as max amount of good you can on the setup) with a $500 setup. We've heard about it and seen it before, gear snobs are typically all for name brands instead of what exactly they need to or should use. Now everyone has favorite brands they just grown accommodated to liking however it's really a to each their own and in the end it's whatever feels good in your hands, what sounds the best to you, what options the gear provides you and what you can afford.
You sell me an old bass with rusty strings for $20. I put straplocks on it (all my basses have strap locks). It's a $50 bass. I put some new strings on it (I wouldn't play old rusty strings with who knows what crawling all over them). It's a $75 bass. If I like it, I buy a decent soft case to protect it. It's a $225 bass. Oh, a strap. It's a $255 bass.
And I haven't even begun to put the hardware I like on it. Or pickups. It'll be $500 easy by the time I'm done.
And I haven't even begun to put the hardware I like on it. Or pickups. It'll be $500 easy by the time I'm done.
In other news, the boss drove a $100,000 car to work today and the janitor drove a $700 car. They both arrived on time.
I have to agree. I've owned some pretty pricey Basses in the past but they're all gone. What remains are 4 Basses, none above $1000 and 2 $500 or less.
I'd be proud to and do play all of them on stage. What are they?
2004 Fender American P $729
2011 Fender Highway One J $689
2016 G&L JB2 tribute $389
2017 Fender MIM P bass $500
All quality instruments. I did do a bit of hunting for them but they're out there and they are negotiated prices, not MAP.
To be fair, a comprable American STD P Bass would put me over $1000 by a couple of hundred.
Yep. You get what you pay for.
Although this isn't a very good comparison since it relies on one tone and doesn't get into quality at all. A lot of what you are paying for in a higher quality instrument is one that isn't going to fall apart, is easier to play, can be easily adjusted, and isn't a boring carbon copy stamped out on a Asian assembly line.
But point made: a $20 bass with bad strings sounds like @$$.
Although this isn't a very good comparison since it relies on one tone and doesn't get into quality at all. A lot of what you are paying for in a higher quality instrument is one that isn't going to fall apart, is easier to play, can be easily adjusted, and isn't a boring carbon copy stamped out on a Asian assembly line.
But point made: a $20 bass with bad strings sounds like @$$.
But ask the janitor which car they'd rather have. Then ask the boss if he could do the janitor's job.
Totally agree. 500-1000 (new price) to me is the workhorse range. You get everything you need just not everything you may want perhaps.
MIM Fenders, Epiphone or Ibanez make a ton of great options in that range. Right now I only own G&Ls for electrics and I still feel that way. I just wanted some stuff my way and was willing to pay a bit more for it.
Some boutique prices are steep for me though. It would be hard to justify for the return on investment, and I’m factoring in my own happiness as well as ergonomics in that.
I own, play and love some specimen that exceed the $1k range myself.
I like the woods, the workmanship, the looks and the feel of these basses. The tiny gimmicks.
I like basses made from local woods, carefully selected and stored for a decade, by local luthiers that do not just make another bass to sell, but work with passion and the goal to create something that is as much beautiful as it is functional.
I don't mind at all that they cost a small fortune, if you consider the work and materials that went into them, the prices are often quite fair.
The one thing I have no illusions about, however, is that I don't NEED them. I could just get a decent used bass for six hundred bucks that was CNCed in the far east and play just as well, loose maybe a fraction in sound - which usually is the fraction that gets lost in the mix anyway. If I had to, I'd be good with one of those.
I totally understand and it's nice to have those choices. I hear your passion.
Agreed. How many of us are or aspire to be soloists? We are predominately ensemble players.
To be honest, I've not heard many bass solos that say anything to me. But the power of the symphony belongs to us.
To be honest, I've not heard many bass solos that say anything to me. But the power of the symphony belongs to us.
I recently acquired a Lakland 55-94 Deluxe after selling my 55-02 Deluxe. The 55-94 costs around 4000$ the 55-02 around 1600$.
The tone is 80% the same. however, huge difference in terms of quality, craftsmanship, finish attention to detail.
What I'm trying to say is tone is just a very little part of the price. The rest is mainly the finish and fancy options.
Pretty much like a car. Some love high end cars, others don't care about it and are fine with cheap cars. In the end you start form point A to B the same way.
The tone is 80% the same. however, huge difference in terms of quality, craftsmanship, finish attention to detail.
What I'm trying to say is tone is just a very little part of the price. The rest is mainly the finish and fancy options.
Pretty much like a car. Some love high end cars, others don't care about it and are fine with cheap cars. In the end you start form point A to B the same way.
I had own a very cheap bass when I started (Harley Benton) and I had no complains about its tone. But I had complains about everything else. Quality of components (tuners bending, screws falling off while playing), neck diving (in a Jazz model!! it was due to the neck being of wood and the body of only God knows what), playability, etc...
Also, I have some guitar player friends who own cheap basses just to fiddle around, and those issues are also present.
Of course, in a video you can not feel all that issues.
And I need to say that the difference in tone exists and it is remarcable when I play them, but it is not the main issue with super-cheap basses. The main issues are about construction, reliability and playability. Tone issues could be improved with strings, pickups and electronic upgrades. Construction and playability issues are harder to fix.
Also, I have some guitar player friends who own cheap basses just to fiddle around, and those issues are also present.
Of course, in a video you can not feel all that issues.
And I need to say that the difference in tone exists and it is remarcable when I play them, but it is not the main issue with super-cheap basses. The main issues are about construction, reliability and playability. Tone issues could be improved with strings, pickups and electronic upgrades. Construction and playability issues are harder to fix.
$20 sleeping bag or a $5000 down comforter; I test them by by placing both on a memory foam mattress to sleep off a post-marathon happy hour.
madbass6
Inactive
- Jan 13, 2009
- 2,428
- 1,295
- Disclosures
- I do not give consent to use any of my photos ! please respect that. thank you.
Never mind the Basses , Facial expressions at the end of the video priceless! lol. good playing too!
I agree 120% with vinnie Bs comment!
infact he beat me to it!
