What would you pay for the right bass/tone?

[Jonny Walker]

[quote name='steve-soar' post='212714' date='Jun 4 2008, 07:46 PM']Go on then....[/quote]

[tauzero]

Having found an on-line calculator, I can say that I have spent the equivalent of £2k for a bass which was perfect for me. It was £900 20 years ago, and I chopped in my Fender P and my Hofner B2 for it and took out a loan for half the money. But once I played it, I had to have it, it was that good. The fact that I still have it is probably testament to how good a decision that was.

Incidentally, is it only me that places the playability of an instrument as the first and by far the greatest priority? There seems so much obsessing about "tone" amongst bassists, and all the going on about different tonewoods and pickups and fingerboard woods and makes of nail varnish. There are certain bounds within which I'd want a bass to be (it would have to have decent sustain, for example) but what I want is a lump of wood (or other material) which is really really nice to play and produces a signal which I can f*** with to my heart's content. If the electronics are disastrous, they can be sorted out, but if the bass is crap to play but with fantastic electronics, I wouldn't want to know.

As for how much I would pay - I would have to sell instruments to raise money, but given the right bass, I'd pay up to around £3k. What's scary about certain other instruments is that top-end violin [b]bows[/b] go for more that I'd spend on an entire bass.

[Dubs]

[quote name='Shaggy' post='212221' date='Jun 4 2008, 12:03 AM']How much would you spend on a car? How much does that car depreciate compared to a bass? How much more pleasure do you get from playing your bass?[/quote]

I’d agree with this point a lot. I’d feel happier spending more on a bass than a car, any day. If you bought a 2nd hand bass for £1500 then in 6 years time you wanted to sell it, you can guarantee that it’s very likely to have retained a lot of its value, however, with a car you can almost guarantee it’ll be worth sh*t all. That’s why I don’t feel too bad about spending cash I can’t necessarily afford on a bass because I know that if push came to shove I’d be able to get a lot, if not all of my money back on it. That’s just how my mind works though and how I justify it to myself (and my girlfriend), and I don’t own a car I probably should with some of the gear I own.

[Jase]

I prefer to buy second hand, 3 basses, 2 second hand and 1 new. Over all cost, approx £1200.
My rig is second hand too...Hartke, £300....£1500 for a set up that works for me, I would probably have the same tone if I spent £1500 on a rig and £1200 on a bass.

[Cantdosleepy]

[quote name='birdy' post='212362' date='Jun 4 2008, 10:51 AM']To me its all about 'spare' cash that I have which determines how much I would spend.

If I won £10 million on the lottery I would have no problem paying £30K for a 1960 stack knob jazz but at the moment thats unattainable.[/quote]

Word.

Assuming no lottery win (and I don't play the lottery, so that's a solid assumption), £650. And it would have to be a dream bass.

[molan]

[quote name='tauzero' post='215968' date='Jun 10 2008, 10:24 AM']Incidentally, is it only me that places the playability of an instrument as the first and by far the greatest priority?[/quote]

Playability is top of my list too!

Looks & sound are obviously important but, with my limited ability, I really value something that just feels right.

[Dubs]

[quote name='Cantdosleepy' post='216027' date='Jun 10 2008, 11:35 AM']£650. And it would have to be a dream bass.[/quote]

tight arse

[Hellrazor]

Taxi cab!!!

Erm. Yeah. Sorry.

Well, most of the basses that've grabbed me tonally have been around the 500 quid mark luckily (cos I can afford that.)
HOWEVER I did pay over a grand for my most recent acquisition, but it was worth every penny as it sounds marvelous when cranked, and will only appreciate in value
Win/win.

[Cantdosleepy]

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='216222' date='Jun 10 2008, 03:09 PM']tight arse [/quote]

And to think, I nearly complimented you on that Big Muff and copy of Kid A in the photo you posted a day or so ago. You big meanie!

seriously, though, I'm a hobby bass player. My MIJ Jazz (Ұ 75 000 when I bought it in Japan - about £350) is as good an instrument as I'll ever need. I like food, wine, travelling etc etc too much to invest heavily in something that I don't need.

[Dubs]

[quote name='Cantdosleepy' post='216237' date='Jun 10 2008, 03:28 PM']And to think, I nearly complimented you on that Big Muff and copy of Kid A in the photo you posted a day or so ago. You big meanie!

seriously, though, I'm a hobby bass player. My MIJ Jazz (Ұ 75 000 when I bought it in Japan - about £350) is as good an instrument as I'll ever need. I like food, wine, travelling etc etc too much to invest heavily in something that I don't need.[/quote]

Haha I was just pulling your leg It’s definitely a different priority for different people. I love music and bass so I don’t mind spending a relatively large amount (as long as I can realistically afford it) and almost all of my education has revolved around music/playing etc. If you could find your “dream bass” for £650 then that is a mega result in any case.

PS – Radiohead are one of my all time favourite bands [i]ever[/i] and the effects in that pics are only the ones that are out of favour at the moment (my other set up is close to the door downstairs as it gets taken out of the house all the time and it’s a pain in the arse to lug it up and down the stairs after every time I use it - I'm a lazy arse)

[Cantdosleepy]

My tickets to see Radiohead in London arrived yesterday! I'm so very excited!

Just teasing you with the 'meanie' stuff.