If You Had £3000 For a Bass ....

[ChrisLovatt]

£3k? Modulus Funk bass. Either that or a new Stingray.

Or a custom one from Alpher Instruments. Damn they make some nice stuff.

[DJ '65]

For something different I’d love to try a Skjold, not even sure which model. I’d go with your gut and try and get your dream bass.

side note. For my 50th i got my dream guitar, not cheap but well worth it as it controlled my GAS. So whilst that is a good thing for my bank balance and better half it left me feeling a little empty..... so I moved onto bass!

Edited February 12, 2019 by DJ '65

[Owen]

MTD, Sadowsky etc. From LONG experience of buying and selling the bottom line is that you can get your £ back out of it. We all think "it will be the one" - so often it is not. If you have bought the right bass for the right price 2nd hand you can simply shift it on and buy something else. There is an element of fun just changing things every 2 years. Judicious buying makes this easy peasy.

FWIIW I have been through everything apart from Rickenbacker and have settled on Shuker.

Edited February 12, 2019 by owen

[TheGreek]

On 22/01/2019 at 10:56, tom5string said:

Maybe some German engineering:

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

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

I only like the Divas....but I like them a lot..

[TheGreek]

If I had £3k for a bass I'd be harassing the seller of the Alembic SC for sale here...or....

Save £25 for the price of entrance at the LBGS,  take your own headphone amp and play as many basses as I could. I'd be getting my my local Bass Bash too....how far are you from the forthcoming Midlands Bash? Ask other attendees with out of the ordinary items to bring them along. 

Oh, and try an ACG....or speak to Andyjr1515...or get a nice Spector...an Overwater???...How about a GB?? 

[tauzero]

On 23/01/2019 at 15:38, BigRedX said:

I wouldn't get anything custom built before trying as many other examples of the luthiers work as can.

When I first discovered bass forums on the internet Jon Shuker was very much the "in fashion" UK custom luthier, and I do have to say that the photos on his web site of the basses he had made looked very tasty indeed. I exchanged several emails with him and was pretty much ready to have him build me a fretless, when I actually got to play some his basses at one of the Manchester Bass Day events. Nice as they looked I simply couldn't get on with any of the instruments he had on display when it came to actually playing them. I saved myself from a very costly mistake.

I'm very slightly annoyed with myself because I took a couple of basses to Jon Shuker to have some work on them, picked them up a month or two later, and never took the opportunity to ask to have a play on one of his creations. The Uberhorns look lovely but I don't know what the necks are like.

[NancyJohnson]

We're all different, aren't we.

£3k burning a hole in my pocket; I don't suppose it matters if it's my birthday or not, really.  if I could find one, a Spector Forte 4X ('Spectorbird'), a nice quality series one Hamer Cruisebass, or a Lull Thunderbird...

[prowla]

Easy: 3 Rickenbackers.

[PatrickJ]

8 hours ago, tauzero said:

I'm very slightly annoyed with myself because I took a couple of basses to Jon Shuker to have some work on them, picked them up a month or two later, and never took the opportunity to ask to have a play on one of his creations. The Uberhorns look lovely but I don't know what the necks are like.

Went to see Jon on Friday.  He showed me a number of neck profiles and I got to play (unplugged) on a couple of finished basses (series 2 and a horn).  Necks were fantastic, gentle C profile, not too thin but overly thick - it was at that point I pretty much made my decision to go with a custom Shuker build.

[Muzz]

The short answer to what the necks are like is that they can be what you like; Jon will make them the way you want. I took my custom build back to him after a couple of years because I wanted the neck slimming/reprofiling, and he did a fantastic job...and popped some Luminlays in the while he was doing it...😊

[Deedee]

I think I could be tempted to go for a Status Graphite, either a Series II Classic or the Chris Wolstenholme model 😍 . I'm loving the early 90's SII that I recently bought and would be very interested to compare it against these newer models, different preamps etc.

 

[gareth]

On 21 January 2019 at 20:29, ped said:

Personally I wouldn’t go for a custom build unless you know exactly what you want - even then, there are so many factors that make a bass sound great I don’t know if I could say for definite what would work with what when I’m paying for it. Not easy to sell either. That’s why I’d go for something that I can try first.

Yes exactly right

i always think of kit cars

what are the chances of the resulting car being better than a mass produced car?

[Al Krow]

34 minutes ago, gareth said:

Yes exactly right

i always think of kit cars

what are the chances of the resulting car being better than a mass produced car?

Not sure that's necessarily the best analogy? 

There is an element of craftsmanship that has been largely taken out of car production.  

Ask the same question about a piece of jewellery. Is a one-off or small run exquisite piece no different to something produced by Gerald Ratner? 

[EdwardMarlowe]

When it comes to basses, I have very simple tastes - I like a P bass. Nothing else really does it for me (though on day I night have a p-bass made with a Firebird-shaped body). With three grand to blow on gear, I'd likely hit the Fender Mod Shop and buy a P Bass with very late 50s styling (in metallic Turquoise with a gold anodised guard, and maple board), and a matching Strat. 

[visog]

On ‎09‎/‎02‎/‎2019 at 11:08, LukeFRC said:

Ever since I started playing I wanted an early Warwick Thumb bass - the first proper bass I tried was a friends 5 string thumb and it is just a beautiful bass. My 30th present came a year early as bass and finances collided and I got my dream bass - a stunning 1985 Warwick thumb with a few ‘custom shop’ factory features...

it then spent 4-5 years on my wall not being played. Ergonomics were ok but the tone and how it played never was first of second choice for the things I was doing. At meet ups with other bassists the Thumb was always popular and people enjoyed playing it but I just didn’t click with it. 

I recently traded it for a bass I was expecting to like but not love that I would try for half a year or so and move on. But from first play I realised it was a special instrument for me and my technique-  I’ve tottaly clicked with it and it gets most the playing time now.

my thoughts...

Follow your GAS if you can afford, don’t hoard but try out things that you want to try out 

some things can’t be done off the shelf - if you know what you want, go custom.

some makers build on a custom basis, if you like their work find s way to try it then that’s a good idea if you know and like the builder. 

Custom instruments don’t hold their value, either be prepared for the loss in value if you end up selling it on, or really really know what you’re after.

I still think some instruments come together and seem to have some magic. Personally I would rather have a great instrument that is 90% what I want than a 100% my spec and wants that is a competent but not a great instrument - my temptation given £3k to spend would either be to try something I had Gas for (secondhand so I wouldn’t loose too much if it didn’t click) or try lots to find something that is great - someone local to me has an early stingray. On spec it’s ok, in your hands,even with corroded strings on it absolutely sings. 

This is really good advice. One way of looking at custom basses is that you become the designer... So that means you better know ergonomics, electronics, tone and playability...

Which you might, if you're experienced with many basses, or a professional and have specific needs. But, if you're not, then there's scope for a sub-optimal design or combination of features which fail to live up to your expectations.

So makers like Bernie Goodfellow who offer custom options on a reliable template know what they're doing - with every combination a winner, hopefully suiting your needs. Jon Shuker has more diversity and options so when it works that's great, but there's more scope for creating an idiosyncratic bat-mobile of a bass. 

My recommendation is to find a great bass you like from a maker and adjust the features to meet your needs, checking with the maker that it wont crapify your bass.

Edited February 17, 2019 by visog

[PatrickJ]

2 hours ago, visog said:

My recommendation is to find a great bass you like from a maker and adjust the features to meet your needs, checking with the maker that it wont crapify your bass.

This is the approach I'm taking.

I met Jon on Friday and he let me try out a couple of his basses, I like the design of the Horn so will go with that, perhaps a slight tweak to the cutaways to make them a little more conservative.

Bodywood I'm going to play safe and go with Alder.  That's the same as my Sandberg and Mayones basses so I've got an idea on weight / tonal properties.

Pickup's, Aguilar single coil Soapbars.  I have aguilar single coil pickups on my Mayones and think they sound great so again I feel fairly safe on that choice, no changes to placement.

The thing that sold me on a Shuker build was the neck profile.  I'm quite fussy on neck but I found his shape very comfortable.  He had a few sizes in the work shop so I was able to find the most comfy for me.

[4000]

A gorgeous '73 P bass I played recently. Or possibly another custom Sei.

[Chris2112]

On 17/02/2019 at 07:59, prowla said:

Easy: 3 Rickenbackers.

You can get firewood cheaper elsewhere, try a garden centre. 

[prowla]

1 hour ago, Chris2112 said:

You can get firewood cheaper elsewhere, try a garden centre. 

I do know someone who has a penchant for burning the Hondo II Ric copies!

[4000]

17 hours ago, prowla said:

I do know someone who has a penchant for burning the Hondo II Ric copies!

They deserve it. Horrible things.

Sadly I couldn't get a Ric I wanted for £3k these days.

 

 

 

[TheGreek]

Have you thought about the SimS pick ups which are currently virtually being given away (£250 for the pair) in the Marketplace? P/J/H options - If you buy the pair there are 15 permutations. Check YT using "Enfield" as the tag for videos.

[Jono Bolton]

If I had £3000 to spend on a bass, I probably wouldn't spend £3000 on a bass. I would spend maybe £1K, tops, but my tastes are simple and I only really like P Basses. In fact, I only really like the one I've already got. I'd probably just get it a decent set-up and spend the rest on something else. I may be tempted to splash out and buy the Fender 50s Precision in pink or the Squier Classic Vibe Precision in Sonic Blue that are for sale near me, but I'm not an overly GASsy person.

[EdwardMarlowe]

On 21/02/2019 at 11:17, Jono Bolton said:

If I had £3000 to spend on a bass, I probably wouldn't spend £3000 on a bass. I would spend maybe £1K, tops, but my tastes are simple and I only really like P Basses. In fact, I only really like the one I've already got. I'd probably just get it a decent set-up and spend the rest on something else. I may be tempted to splash out and buy the Fender 50s Precision in pink or the Squier Classic Vibe Precision in Sonic Blue that are for sale near me, but I'm not an overly GASsy person.

It's funny, when it comes to guitars, I want LOTS, but with basses, I'm perfectly happy with a P bass; I have a rosewood board model (actually  Brandoni, but its guts are all Fender, and Brandoni bought out all the old Fender Japan necks and bodies, so it kind of is a Fender just made by not-Fender), I want a mapleone. IvI had silly money I'd buy two or three more colours, but with bass as I say I don't crave the variety I do with guitar. 

[Al Krow]

On 17/02/2019 at 20:10, PJ-Bassist said:

This is the approach I'm taking.

I met Jon on Friday and he let me try out a couple of his basses, I like the design of the Horn so will go with that, perhaps a slight tweak to the cutaways to make them a little more conservative.

Bodywood I'm going to play safe and go with Alder.  That's the same as my Sandberg and Mayones basses so I've got an idea on weight / tonal properties.

Pickup's, Aguilar single coil Soapbars.  I have aguilar single coil pickups on my Mayones and think they sound great so again I feel fairly safe on that choice, no changes to placement.

The thing that sold me on a Shuker build was the neck profile.  I'm quite fussy on neck but I found his shape very comfortable.  He had a few sizes in the work shop so I was able to find the most comfy for me.

Let us know how you get on P-J. The horn body shape does look really good.

I very recently had the opportunity to buy a used custom bass - story behind it is that its current owner realised very shortly after getting it that was not something he could bond with. What a shame. He's got it up for sale for only half of he paid for it and it's less than a year old. It's a lovely looking bass and the finish is superb. But having tried it out and been very tempted by the look and the discount I left thinking that, in terms of everything I'm looking for, my Yamaha BB NE2 was a much better bass for me. In addition, having bought my Yammy used, I have the security of knowing I could move it on for a similar or better price to what I paid for it.

I actually left feeling very chastened about the need to make sure you know exactly what you want and are going to be getting from your custom bass.

Edited March 3, 2019 by Al Krow

[bassfan]

On 17/02/2019 at 20:10, PJ-Bassist said:

The thing that sold me on a Shuker build was the neck profile.  I'm quite fussy on neck but I found his shape very comfortable.  He had a few sizes in the work shop so I was able to find the most comfy for me.

One of the many reasons I love my shuker. The neck is just sublime. 

Looking forward to seeing some pics soonish.