Specifics that Make One Bass Better than Another

[thegummy]

1 hour ago, spectoremg said:

This helps make a bass better than most 

Sub-optimally placed tuning pegs? *hides*

[Twanger]

19 hours ago, thegummy said:

I've actually watched some of that before and really didn't like it.

Does he get into physical differences or is it all politics?

I watched it. He actually makes extremely good points extremely well.  In this context, it boils down to this. If you buy a US made Fender, you'll get better bits - tuners, pups, bridge, probably wood as well. You'll get a bass built by people who were better paid, and were maybe more motivated to do a good job. But it's perfectly possible for a particular MIM Fender to be a better musical instrument than a particular MIA Fender. And whether its worth spending over £1000 more on the US Fender is entirely up to you. My feeling (and this is not advice, just my feeling) is that if you can't see something that would get you to spend more money other than the glamour of the decal on the headstock, then don't buy it. If the MIM floats your boat as well as the MIA as a musical instrument, then go for it. £600 for a usable, quality musical instrument is absurdly cheap. Then, if you learn through your experience of playing that there actually were good reasons to buy an MIA, sell the MIM and buy the MIA. The money you lose on the resale is a very cheap price for an important learning experience. It's a cheaper one than buying the MIA and later realising that you didn't want the damn thing in the first place.

And the other point is that if you only have £600 to spend, then buy a MIM. If you only have £300, then buy a Squier. And so on until you hit the magic line beyond which there is no joy in playing the bass. That line is in a different place for different people, and changes with experience.

[thegummy]

Don't think I'd buy into the idea that the higher paid workers would be more motivated to be better. The factory in Korea that made my J has a very good reputation for consistently putting out very well made instruments whereas the Gibson USA factory will pay higher wages but not necessarily have that same reputation.

Just to clarify, I'm not trying to decide between a Mexican and American Fender; I already have a Schecter J bass and would like to know specific things that would be different if I bought a more expensive bass to see if it's ever worth doing it. Not that that nullifies your advice, just clarifying

[Twanger]

It's not all politics and no, he doesn't get into physical differences.

[thegummy]

18 minutes ago, Twanger said:

It's not all politics and no, he doesn't get into physical differences.

What else does he talk about if he doesn't actually talk about the basses themselves?

[thegummy]

When I watched some of it before, it seemed like he was trying to convince people that it's more ethical to pay a lot of money to someone to build a bass than buy one from a company who may not pay their workers as much.

Apart from not agreeing with his political opinion, it made it sound like he was almost admitting the Asian factory instruments are actually on par with his, hence having to introduce this other incentive to buy his. Couldn't watch it all though, it was too long and I wasn't liking what he had said so far. It's a shame it wasn't a textual article that I could read a lot faster.