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Bass prices going up?


72deluxe
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Am I out of touch or are bass prices rising significantly? I know the cost of everything goes up, but Basschat always has been fairly reasonable for secondhand gear (very good in fact!). It's been so good that I normally buy something new and then a day later someone puts the same item for sale on here, barely used, for little over half the price I paid for it. But I digress...


I only ask because I have just noticed a Fodera on Thomann:

[url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/fodera_monarch_deluxe_5_dyer_oak.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/fodera_monarch_deluxe_5_dyer_oak.htm[/url]

A bargain at only £9778.18. I know it's oak, but what else is in it? Platinum? Einsteinium?

I also notice that German-made Warwick Star Basses are £1951.21 which seems quite expensive to me ([url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/warwick_gps_star_bass_4_cw_hp.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/warwick_gps_star_bass_4_cw_hp.htm[/url])
By comparison, a R*ckenbacker (which will never be sold on here) is £1586.65 ([url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/rickenbacker_4003_mid_ebass.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/rickenbacker_4003_mid_ebass.htm[/url]). Perhaps it is cheaper because they haven't changed it in 33 years and economies of scale are finally kicking in?


But as I say I could be out of touch?

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The Star Bass does seem a little on the high side, especially when you see the 3,000+ euro RRP, but I guess that is low volume German manufacturing. With the quality from the Far east now so good it almost makes it seem not worthwhile to build a bass like that (without crazy expensive tonewoods etc) in Europe, but I guess there are still enough buyers who feel that the Far East basses are inferior or have a stigma attached to them.

Fodera on the other hand is one of the largest can of worms you can open on here :D

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The friendly guy at bass direct will decry Warwick as being too expensive for "machine-made" basses in Germany (as they use CNC routing and machine control for their construction etc.) particularly in comparison to other hand-made instruments that are cheaper. But given the general price of basses, I imagine it is very tricky to work out where to place a price as "good value" versus "cheap", whilst also trying to break-even/make a profit. I don't envy their job setting prices at all!

Looking at the prices of Fenders on bassgear.co.uk (in the previously sold new instruments section) I see that Fender Custom Shop ones are £2500 or there abouts so £1500+ is the going rate for a "high-end" bass??

I will have to ask how much the luthiers on here charge!

But I was astounded by Fodera - am I misunderstanding?? Observing the number of switches and knobs on their basses makes me wonder how many variations of configuration you can have, and also feel sorry for their testing team...

EDIT: Looks like the best place is the secondhand market on here, particularly as GrammeFriday just sold a MTD AG5 for £700. That bass was lovely, and I weep that the purchaser was not me.

Edited by 72deluxe
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[quote name='72deluxe' timestamp='1444297827' post='2881934']
I imagine it is very tricky to work out where to place a price as "good value" versus "cheap", whilst also trying to break-even/make a profit. I don't envy their job setting prices at all!


I will have to ask how much the luthiers on here charge!

[/quote]

It must be very difficult, Fender have been getting it wrong for years now - look at the financial trouble they are in!

My Shuker was great value - Jon under-priced it but stuck to his original quote. Should have been £1700 for a 5 string P Bass/Telebass. It is absolutely beautiful. 9 rows down, fretless on the left [url="http://www.shukerguitars.co.uk/pbass.html"]http://www.shukerguitars.co.uk/pbass.html[/url]

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[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1444298576' post='2881947']
...It is absolutely beautiful. 9 rows down, fretless on the left [url="http://www.shukerguitars.co.uk/pbass.html"]http://www.shukergui...o.uk/pbass.html[/url]
[/quote]

Is that the one with maple fingerboard? Lovely! Is it very bright sounding with that??

I wonder with Fender if it was overproduction? When manufacturers move some of their production to a cheaper country to compete on price, it starts a race to the bottom and competition based largely on price. They are then effectively competing with themselves, as people who buy the cheap versions perhaps won't consider a more expensive version due to lack of satisfaction with the cheaper version of their own brand. Or, they may consider the more expensive version no better value (if they are not discerning) and might think it is a rip-off. In any case, if quality in the cheaper country improves then the brand has real problems differentiating itself from its cheaper version. With price being the item emphasised, trying to highlight quality becomes hard.

Fender seems to have done quite well selling the same bass for 50+ years, in the same way Gibson has done with their guitars. They still seem popular!

I thought that Fender had got into trouble getting involved with Guitar Center in America and taking on their debt, as well as doing "household" or "lifestyle" items like Fender sound systems (like in the Chrysler Crossfire) and stuff that wasn't really guitar related, as well as their unstoppable and unsustainable spending spree (Genz Benz, Charvel, Gretsch, SWR, Jackson, Hamer, EVH)? Gibson and Marshall seems to be doing spinoff products too, like the horrible Gibson studio monitors or the Marshall DAB radio and hifis. I wonder if the Marshall one will have a peak at A like the 4x12 cabs do?

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[quote name='72deluxe' timestamp='1444299784' post='2881974']
Is that the one with maple fingerboard? Lovely! Is it very bright sounding with that??

[/quote]

It is actually Pau Amarello, or Yellowheart. Tougher than maple, and Jon thought it would stand up to wear better than maple. I have flates on it now, and it lovely and deep and thumpy, just how I like it!

As for Fender, I've always been baffled by economics, in particular the need for growth. It looks to me as if the chasing of that growth, especially in a changing market (guitar music going in and out of fashion) is what has caused a lot of their woes.

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