No lust in Jazz Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 I'm thinking about buying a Fodera or similar, can you enjoy a bass that you've paid around £4000 for and what, if any, are the pitfalls of owning and gigging high end basses? Quote
Lozz196 Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 My most expensive bass was a 77 Precision at £1300, and my current one is a £1200 78 Precision. I`m not worried about knocks as being that old they already have some legit road-wear. But if I had a shiny new £4000 bass I`d be terrified of that first ding. Quote
stingrayPete1977 Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 By the rules of Basschat someone will be along to tell you they use their Ritter for digging the garden or shovelling snow off the paths once a year as their Squier is far superior Cost is all relative anyway and it depends if a few dings bother you , I would own and use one as I dont care about resale values, I have never bought a bass with selling it in mind and never made any money on one, my jazz has more marks since I bought it in November than EBS Freak has on all his gear including cabs he has owned for years! Quote
EssentialTension Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 Personally, I wouldn't pay £4000 for a bass and I also wouldn't take it to the pub. YMMV. Quote
Platypus Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 Not sure why this thread is in 'off topic' Quote
EssentialTension Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 [quote name='Platypus' timestamp='1421511157' post='2662133'] Not sure why this thread is in 'off topic' [/quote] The same could be said for many threads. Quote
Grangur Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 Fwiw IMHO if you're asking this question you can't aford the emotional trauma and stress of the worry involved in taking a Fodera out on a gig. You could, of course, get some good insurance. But the question is, what is your feeling when you do ding your favourite bass? Can you claim and get every slight scrape fixed? Good luck whatever you choose to do. Quote
chrismuzz Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 Just buy the Fodera, and hit it a few times with a hammer, you will be less bothered about road wear then Quote
No lust in Jazz Posted January 17, 2015 Author Posted January 17, 2015 [quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1421514581' post='2662170'] Fwiw IMHO if you're asking this question you can't afford the emotional trauma and stress of the worry involved in taking a Fodera out on a gig. [/quote] You're probably close on this. The thing is, I gig my fenders without a second thought to damage or theft, they're uninsured whatever happens happens. I just wondered if other players have translated this mind set to an instrument costing 3 - 4 times as much. [quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1421514581' post='2662170'] Good luck whatever you choose to do. [/quote] Thanks Quote
No lust in Jazz Posted January 17, 2015 Author Posted January 17, 2015 [quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1421515247' post='2662176'] Just buy the Fodera, and hit it a few times with a hammer, you will be less bothered about road wear then [/quote] Hmm..... Road worn Fodera's there has to be a market. Quote
Drax Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 IMO there's a difference between a 'stock' bass and something unique. Assuming insurance, a £4k Fodera is replaceable with a near identical model, but a £4k vintage XYZ, could have a neck shape / tone / feel that was irreplaceable. Still wouldn't be digging the garden with it, just less paranoid locking it in the boot. Quote
pnefc42 Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 Had 2 GBs (a Rumour 4 and a Spitfire 4) built for me by Bernie in 2002 & 2007 respectively and gigged them both regularly. I ended up preferring the Spitfire so sold the Rumour back to Bernie a few years back now. The Spitfire picked up a few (inevitable) dings over the years which eventually got to the point where it bothered me so last year I had it refinished. Sorted! 😀 Quote
skej21 Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 (edited) [quote name='Drax' timestamp='1421518658' post='2662232'] IMO there's a difference between a 'stock' bass and something unique. Assuming insurance, a £4k Fodera is replaceable with a near identical model, but a £4k vintage XYZ, could have a neck shape / tone / feel that was irreplaceable. Still wouldn't be digging the garden with it, just less paranoid locking it in the boot. [/quote] Surely a 'stock' bass is less likely to be replaceable? If you own a 2002 Fender US Standard, you can't replace it with the EXACT same model as it's not in production anymore. You'd have to get the 2012 US Standard instead which will have a large number of differences, such as neck profile, pickups, colours etc. If you bought a custom bass, you could ask them to make you something MUCH closer to your original one and are quite likely to remember working on the original for reference. If I had a bass and needed to replace it, I'd understand it wasn't going to be exactly the same but I'd want the same love, attention and detail to go in to it and you'd get that if you went back to a custom bass builder like Fodera IMO. Edited January 17, 2015 by skej21 Quote
Black Coffee Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 Most expensive bass I owned was a Dingwall ABII which cost £3,000 I loved playing it, loved the sound but couldn't relax in case I got a ding in it. As for cheaper basses, it's not that I don't look after them the same, I just don't panic that much if I get a nick in it. Unless I became exceptionally rich and could afford to replace a Fodera at will with the ease of a financial speedbump I wouldn't spend that amount of money again. About £1,000 is about all I would invest, any more and my worry level rises too much. But that's just me, others may say it works for them. Quote
JapanAxe Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 Most of my guitars and basses cost £1,000-£2,000. I don't worry when I gig them, but I do look out for them. I just bought a TSA bass case, and if I do ever fly to a gig, I have to wonder which bass I will put in it... Well it would be the Sandberg, as it's the least irreplaceable of my 'stable'. Quote
lojo Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 Ive never owned a bass worth more than £1250 second hand, but I would happily invest any amount of money into a bass if I liked it and was sure Id recover almost all of it when I wished. However, I would not take a bass to a pub gig that I wasn't prepared to ding. Quote
Dad3353 Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 How many here leave their Bentley in the garage for exactly this same reason..? [size=4] [/size] Quote
Roland Rock Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 My five string is pretty high end, but I gig it in all sorts of places. It has accumulated dings, but what the hell, it was made to be played. I can always get it refinished if it gets really bad. Quote
stingrayPete1977 Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 I've put more little marks and small dents on my basses at home to be honest, my wife knocked the upright hoover over onto my upright bass when it was a few weeks old Quote
martin8708 Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 I play / gig a 63 Precision , it's pretty worn and battle-scarred and one more ding or dent just adds to the character of the bass. 99% of the audience don't know the value of any instrument , but I never let the bass out of my sight in case the 1% scumbag tries to help himself to it . On the other hand , I occasionally get the " you need to treat yourself to a new bass , mate " comments . Quote
Drax Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 [quote name='skej21' timestamp='1421521576' post='2662278'] Surely a 'stock' bass is less likely to be replaceable? If you own a 2002 Fender US Standard, you can't replace it with the EXACT same model as it's not in production anymore. You'd have to get the 2012 US Standard instead which will have a large number of differences, such as neck profile, pickups, colours etc. If you bought a custom bass, you could ask them to make you something MUCH closer to your original one and are quite likely to remember working on the original for reference. [/quote] Yeah I guess I was thinking of the £4k vintage instrument, and inevitably Fenders. Given how erratic they are in build, it would be a complete one-off. Agree though if it was a Custom build from anywhere that's still building basses, it would be replicable. [quote name='martin8708' timestamp='1421527755' post='2662394'] I play / gig a 63 Precision , it's pretty worn and battle-scarred and one more ding or dent just adds to the character of the bass. 99% of the audience don't know the value of any instrument , but I never let the bass out of my sight in case the 1% scumbag tries to help himself to it . [/quote] Martin - do you ever take a different bass if you're playing a gig where you know you won't be able to keep that close an eye on it? Quote
martin8708 Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 [quote name='Drax' timestamp='1421529341' post='2662425'] Martin - do you ever take a different bass if you're playing a gig where you know you won't be able to keep that close an eye on it? [/quote] Sometimes I will take a 58 American Vintage re-issue , but we always have at least one member of the band watching over the gear , especially during loo-breaks or trips to the bar . The current band I'm with don't even know that I play a vintage Fender , to them it's just a beat up bass. Quote
spectoremg Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 If you've got the cash to meet the GAS crack on. But if you're worried about damaging it get yourself something cheaper to gig with. By the law of diminishing returns a £4k bass ain't gonna sound that much better than something a quarter of the price, especially in the lager infused acoustics of the Dog and Duck at 11pm on a Saturday night. Quote
leschirons Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 I spent £3000 on an Fbass and gigged it about 4 times. Absolutely fabulous instrument but was too worried about getting it knocked over and whatever. Sold it. Complete waste of time buying it. Quote
Black Coffee Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 [quote name='leschirons' timestamp='1421534821' post='2662535'] I spent £3000 on an Fbass and gigged it about 4 times. Absolutely fabulous instrument but was too worried about getting it knocked over and whatever. Sold it. Complete waste of time buying it. [/quote] Been there done that , several times and I've finally learned my lesson Quote
.jpg.518c69c2d9e1581799f3c11301dc2da5.jpg)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.