If You Had £3000 For a Bass ....

[E sharp]

I'm doing something similar , but it's my 50th this year .

Taking a punt on a Bogart build .

Never played one but done loads of research , and part of me is still a bit hesitant , but what the hell - you only live once .

Good luck mate . With that sort of money , you're never going to get a dodgy instrument - it's just down to whatever floats your boat

[Machines]

I'm far too fickle to assume i'll keep what ever i'd order from a custom luthier, and the depreciation on them is shocking (and the marketplace is flooded with boutique customs currently). I'd get a couple of £1500 ones instead, if not 3 x 2nd hand good ones.

[Linus27]

I would more than likely buy a 1970's Telecaster bass or a 1970's fretless Fender Precision.

[Muzz]

I'd be straight to Jon Shuker...I've got my next build spec all ready and waiting 🙂

I'd also agree with Ped, though - you need to be sure of exactly what you want a luthier to build for you, or be equally confident that you'll keep it anyway: I'll keep the Shuker I had made for my 50th forever, because it was paid for (in part) by all my friends and family. Happily, it's also a great bass for me, and gets used nearly every gig 🙂

[tom5string]

Maybe some German engineering:

https://www.marleaux-bass.de/bass_consat_custom.html

I like the instruments and Gerald is a really nice person.

[Aidan63]

Take a trip to the Bass Centre and try a bunch of basses out there's a great range of new and preloved to try, would be aday well spent I'd think. Bass Gallery too I guess. Good luck with the search

[BigRedX]

14 hours ago, PJ-Bassist said:

I love this idea, if I was in an originals or a covers band that did unique arrangements I'd go for this.  Not something I'd consider for my dad rock pub band - perhaps for my 50th?

In that case I'd trawl through the more interesting selections in the Basses For Sale section on here buying and selling until you find something you really like. I suspect that might not even have to spend all of your £3000.

[bassfan]

14 hours ago, Al Krow said:

What a (bloody wonderful!) problem to have! 

Don't settle for second best. Get yourself a Yammy BBNE2   

I know I would get one... I’d only use 4 of the 5 strings though....

Personally I’d look at Shuker or Status, dependent upon your needs, active , passive, graphite neck, pups......

[4000]

16 hours ago, Cat Burrito said:

I think you could get your birth year bass within that price range and still have money left over to have a cool break somewhere. I went to New York for my 40th and looking back a few years later, I find that preferable to a bass I would have probably sold on at some point. 

I wish I could get a birth year bass for that. Double it and then some...

For my 40th I had a custom Alembic made, sadly now sold due to weight issues. Budget was slightly more than yours; would now be probably be going on 3 times that.

You could get a decent custom for £3k (Everson, ACG, SEi or GB, just about, or numerous others) or a vintage (but not too vintage) bass. Depends what floats your boat.

 

[Daz39]

Yeah - if I knew exactly what I wanted i'd be looking at an ACG or an Alpher. Failing that i'd spend a morning noodling at Bass Direct and then decide on something snazzy, Mayhap a Roscoe, Dingwall or Spector. Mmmm bass.

[dyerseve]

You could get lucky and find a Ritter Roya 5 for that much. easily the best bass I have ever played or heard. Its a lot of money but its a helluva lot of bass too!

[EliasMooseblaster]

The trouble with this thread is it's started me looking at the BC Marketplace again!

There's a lovely-looking Ken Smith going on there coming in sub-£3000, though it would depend on you being interested in a fretless 5! You just know it'd be a cracking instrument, though.

[mouthmw]

Stingray Special and pocket the rest. No doubt.

[thodrik]

For £3000? 

Well, the first thing I would do is to find a bass worth £8000 and ask why the bass for £8000 costs so much more than the basses I can find for £3000...

Apologies.

Seriously, I think that the best idea for the original poster would be to head to Bass Direct or the Bass Gallery and try out a number of the modern non-Fender builds and seeing which one he likes the best. Each bass player has different likes and dislikes so buying a really expensive instrument without trying it first is pretty risky unless you know exactly what you are getting and you have complete faith that the chosen bass is 'the one'. Walking into Bass Direct and 'stating, "Hi there, I am looking for a new bass and I have £3000 to spend' would surely result in a pretty awesome day. 

I love the process of looking for basses and trying them out. My bass buying days are done for the foreseeable future though. Okay, maybe a Mike Lull T-Bird...

[Daz39]

13 minutes ago, thodrik said:

For £3000? 

Well, the first thing I would do is to find a bass worth £8000 and ask why the bass for £8000 costs so much more than the basses I can find for £3000...

Apologies.

Seriously, I think that the best idea for the original poster would be to head to Bass Direct or the Bass Gallery and try out a number of the modern non-Fender builds and seeing which one he likes the best. Each bass player has different likes and dislikes so buying a really expensive instrument without trying it first is pretty risky unless you know exactly what you are getting and you have complete faith that the chosen bass is 'the one'. Walking into Bass Direct and 'stating, "Hi there, I am looking for a new bass and I have £3000 to spend' would surely result in a pretty awesome day. 

I love the process of looking for basses and trying them out. My bass buying days are done for the foreseeable future though. Okay, maybe a Mike Lull T-Bird...

Yes - whilst stating your budget is often a recipe for being sold something (cars!) - you would, in somewhere like Bass Direct, be able to choose from about 80% of the stock in there - with several dozen in the £2.5 to £3k bracket and in a range of styles and sounds. Just make sure you play them through either a fairly neutral sounding amp or the closest available one to yours (otherwise this thread will turn into 'what Bass and Amp should I get for £4k?')

[bubinga5]

I would all over a Zon in a second.

[CameronJ]

£3k? Easy - an ACG, Alpher or maybe even a US MTD.

[tauzero]

Headless Sei Flamboyant 5-string with hexaphonic pickup (either magnetic or bridge saddle) and magnetic pickups in Warwick Thumb position.

[binky_bass]

From personal experiance, I'd use that money to tour a few basses...

With the exception of Fodera (massively overpirced in my humble opinion, but they do keep their residual value quite well) you could buy two VERY nice high end basses second hand from here, Reverb, eBay etc. and try them out for a few months, then sell them on and try a few more until you really find what you're looking for, once you've honed in on what you want you can then confidently buy your perfect bass.

ACG are great instruments, I'd also put a vote in for a USA Conklin though I'm not sure what you'd get for 3K as they are pricey beasts! Overwater make superb basses too. You could probably find a Wal somewhere for circa 3K, they keep excellent value and sell quickly.

Unless you know EXACTLY what you want, I'd lean away from custom made and definitely look at pre-owned, why spend 3, 4, 5, 6+ grand on a bass when you can buy it pre-loved for a third of the cost!

Happy hunting sir, let us know what you get!

Edited January 22, 2019 by binky_bass

[Conan]

You could buy a number of decent-good basses for £3000 or less... Having seen the quality that is available now in the under-£500 sector, you could buy an instant collection! 

[TorturedSaints]

19 hours ago, Bigwan said:

ACG. You can thank me later. 

Another vote for ACG.  I have a lovely J-type 5 string (which was originally built for someone else).  ACG J-type 5   Different enough to be different, but not too extreme looking or sounding.  If you want something a bit more non-traditional look at the Recurve or Krell basses Alan does.

[Conan]

6 minutes ago, TorturedSaints said:

 I have a lovely J-type 5 string (which was originally built for someone else).  ACG J-type 5   

Lovely! Although I think you were much more sensible buying it second hand. I wonder how much less you paid than the original buyer... 

[Grassie]

Something by Status-Graphite.

[Beedster]

4 hours ago, binky_bass said:

You could probably find a Wal somewhere for circa 3K, they keep excellent value and sell quickly.

Unless you know EXACTLY what you want, I'd lean away from custom made and definitely look at pre-owned, why spend 3, 4, 5, 6+ grand on a bass when you can buy it pre-loved for a third of the cost

Yep, if I had £3k I'd buy another Wal, superb instruments, and one of the few that a) you can't recreate more cheaply (i.e., you can build something every but as good as the best Fender from Warmoth/Allparts and aftermarket hardware, but you ain't going to get anywhere close to Wal) and b) will almost certainly have gained value should you need to sell it. 

[cLepto-bass]

I often day dream about my ideal Alpher bass so would probably go down hat route. Alternatively, a Wal.