Eldon Tyrell

Yeah, looks like that's the road we are on 😞

Yes, they may have to "reconsider" their pricing strategy in a year or two. I don't see a fairness issue though. No one is forced to pay the new price. There are plenty of alternatives. As mentioned, I doubt anyone, apart from the fan brigade, will pay these crazy prices anyway. BTW, I just got myself a used G&L L2K instead of the Special. As it is used, I still have some money left to get myself a used P bass (my "Motown", old school bass) too. Happy days 😁

Good point. I have seen it so many times in my work place that "temporary" measures somehow turned into permanent ones. So, yes, I agree, there is a very high probability that the prices will stay like that or go up even more. Not sure if that will be good news for EBMM though.

I still think that EBMM, faced with a huge Covid related reduction in production capacity, is probably trying to protect its main market - the US. They want to make sure that they can make enough basses for them at an only slightly increased price. If people outside the US still want MM bass this year, well then they will have to cough up the big money. As @40hz rightly said, only the die-hards, the fanboys and fangirls, the hard-core loyals (buying only one brand) will do so. Looks like EBMM does not really need the regular EBMM buyers from Europe this year but they probably did not want to say: "we are not selling to markets outside the US this year". So, they came up with these ridiculous prices to achieve pretty much the same. I've seen something similar on reverb where some US retailers offer shipment to the UK but ask for ridiculous shipping fees. Again, they are probably not keen on shipping to the UK but instead of banning UK customers, they just charge stupid fees to put them off. Well, that's at least my suspicion.

Agree, it is a 70s rock machine. I am still on the hunt for a used P to put in the Fender pure vintage 63 pickup to have a more Motown-ish, 60s p to complement the Cutlass.

Exactly

Oh, slightly off-topic but reading about California and the crazy new prices I can only strongly recommend to anyone who is planning to buy a new Special or Bongo to watch this video 😎

or EBMM has indeed higher costs but tries to avoid charging significantly higher prices in the US by charging customers in the UK (and maybe in the EU, still waiting for Thomann's answer) much more instead

It really is totally bonkers for a standard production model. I mean, for that money I am getting a custom US Spector Forte 4 with EMG PJX pickups, the US Haz 9V (instead of the Aguilar OBP-2) and a gloss black finish (instead of the standard matte finish), so pretty much a NS-2 (minus the crown inlays).

Bongo 4HH Stealth Black £3249 Bongo 4HH Harvest Orange £3249 Bongo 5HH Stealth Black £3349 Bongo 5HH Harvest Orange £3349 Bongo 6HH Stealth Black £3549 Bongo 6HH Harvest Orange £3549

Thinking of it, maybe we all should get one of these, kind of, "limited edition" EBMM basses. BD mentioned in the weekly newsletter "production at the factory is less than 50% of normal capacity so supply with ber very limited". So, with low supply and probably low demand due to the crazy prices, they may well become rare collector's items and valuable in the future - the EBMM COVID-19 Collection 😎

Isn't that what's called a rhetorical question? 😉

Same here. I cannot really see anyone paying these crazy prices. 😱

Well, the HH is officially off my 2021 wishlist now; however, I am still looking for a Stingray Classic in natural with maple fingerboard. Let me know if anyone wants to part with one 😁

£2999 for the HH in the Raspberry Burst? Well, in best Dragon's Den manner: "I am out" 😎 Still waiting for Thomann to tell what they are going to charge. However, I doubt their prices will be closer to the US ones (only $100-200 more). Well, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Ok, I know, this one is not really cheap but I think it is worth it. I posted this in another thread today: I recently came across an EBMM Cutlass and that one is a killer. Admittedly, I am not so keen on the look of the pickguard but the neck feels great and the sound is amazing. It has what my Fender Ps missed: balls, big balls 😎 Man, this thing makes the room shake and, during Christmas, it literally blew the Christmas cards off the fireplace mantel. It has some real oommph, unlimited bottom end. Love it! As far as I know, Andertons has the last one (in ivory white) available here in the UK.

You are not alone. I used to own a US Pro P bass in CAR. It sounded ok and the neck felt ok. I liked the look (CAR is one of my fav finishes) but I just did not bond with it. I sold it within 6 months. I also used to own an AVRI 58 P bass. Great sound and looks; however, the neck was not too my taste, so I ended up selling that one as well. I sometimes do miss it though. I recently came across an EBMM Cutlass and that one is a killer. Admittedly, I am not so keen on the look of the pickguard but the neck feels great and the sound is amazing. It has what my Fender Ps missed: balls, big balls 😎 Man, this thing makes the room shake and, during Christmas, it literally blew the Christmas cards off the fireplace mantel. It has some real oommph, bottomless low end. Love it!

And lawyers like J.A. will be more than happy to help customers getting their well-deserved money 😎

@drTStingray - Would love to get the HH in Burnt Apple for the old price. Unfortunately, the only HH model that Andertons is showing for £2,199 (jet black) is out of stock. The new H models now start at £2,749, several are listed for £2,899 and one at £2,999. Therefore, the HH version in the new colours (in my case Raspberry Burst) will cost at least £100 more than that (i.e., £2849-£3,099). So, find me the HH in Burnt Apple for the old price (£2,199 or £2,299, that's what the now "old" HH models go for) here in the UK and I'll buy it tomorrow! Looking forward to hearing from you 😎

I get that prices go up for many reasons (higher costs for material, Covid restrictions etc). However, this still does not explain the huge difference between the increases in the US and here in the UK. I am still waiting for Thomann to tell me what they are going to charge for the new Specials. As mentioned before, it would be interesting to see whether it is a UK only phenomenon or a wider issue. Problem for EBMM is that, thanks to the internet, we can easily compare prices and rightly wonder why we are getting such a poor deal. As not many are hard core fans who only ever buy one brand and one brand only, we most likely just switch to another provider.

Well, if you still need a lawyer, then I strongly recommend unleashing Jim Adler 😎

Well, let's hope this letter will never come and is not just delayed like so many other letters/parcels/packages etc. 😉