What is the most you'd personally pay for a new bass?

[Ralf1e]

12 minutes ago, Sparky Mark said:

Imagine what these would cost if they were from the USA.

Well go on tell us

Edited December 21, 2022 by Ralf1e

[Wylie]

$800 tops.

[Sparky Mark]

1 hour ago, Wylie said:

$800 tops.

We all wish. My one and only USA custom build would cost at least twice that. 

Edited December 21, 2022 by Sparky Mark

[Sparky Mark]

2 hours ago, Ralf1e said:

Well go on tell us

I thought I said "imagine". It's entirely up to you. 

[jazzyvee]

3 hours ago, Sparky Mark said:

Imagine what these would cost if they were from the USA.

I think Jaydees are great sounding basses and in my view great value for money. They really should be more expensive. 

[Paolo85]

At this stage I'd say £300. Should I start gigging I could probably in principle stretch to £600-800 if the money is there. But that's assuming I feel the need for it. I have spent the past year trying to fugure out/put together my ideal low-cost bass (a process that, with all the trial and error, has actually not been low cost at all, but lots of fun) and I plan to continue doing that. Spending a lot of money on a bass might feel like defeat

 

[Sparky Mark]

One of the best, most melodic bassists I have ever seen was playing a fiesta red Squier precision. Possibly a decent Japanese one but only worth a couple of hundred pounds back then. I doubt he's on here either.

[BlueMoon]

9 hours ago, Sparky Mark said:

One of the best, most melodic bassists I have ever seen was playing a fiesta red Squier precision. Possibly a decent Japanese one but only worth a couple of hundred pounds back then. I doubt he's on here either.

Yep…..totally agree.  Having loads of expensive doesn’t necessarily make you a better player!

[Ralf1e]

10 hours ago, Sparky Mark said:

One of the best, most melodic bassists I have ever seen was playing a fiesta red Squier precision. Possibly a decent Japanese one but only worth a couple of hundred pounds back then. I doubt he's on here either.

One of the best most melodic bassists I have ever seen was playing a bassoon. He was a friend of mine and my accountant as well as a fellow church musician. He could play by sight reading, sing like a bird and learned drums as well.

He later bought a bass guitar and asked if I could advise with teaching books etc,

I asked him why he wanted to learn bass guitar when his bassoon playing was so beautiful. He said "ralph to be honest your beautiful melodic bass playing makes me feel inadequate"

That made me cry and it still does leave me fighting back the tears as I write this today. I had felt the same about him.

Moments like that don't come too often in life.

[Steve Browning]

My two SVLs were £2,500 each (at artist rate). That is a lot to pay for what is, superficially, a fairly bog standard design etc.

 

What I was happy to pay for was the craftmanship involved in creating them. For example,. how many Precisions have wiring of that standard in them? I doubt the Custom Shop are that meticulous.

 

If I buy another bass, it will follow the trend that seems to have started. Both of my most recent purchases have been early Tokai or Greco basses at around £600 each. They are truly excellent instruments and so I am minded to look for Tokai/Fernandes/Greco basses, if one comes up. 

 

[Ralf1e]

2 minutes ago, Steve Browning said:

My two SVLs were £2,500 each (at artist rate). That is a lot to pay for what is, superficially, a fairly bog standard design etc.

 

What I was happy to pay for was the craftmanship involved in creating them. For example,. how many Precisions have wiring of that standard in them? I doubt the Custom Shop are that meticulous.

 

If I buy another bass, it will follow the trend that seems to have started. Both of my most recent purchases have been early Tokai or Greco basses at around £600 each. They are truly excellent instruments and so I am minded to look for Tokai/Fernandes/Greco basses, if one comes up. 

 

Wow. That is attention to detail

[Cat Burrito]

On three occasions I have spent £1500 - a Gibson Thunderbird, asecondhand Red Rickenbacker (my main bass) and a new Rickenbacker years ago when they were cheaper. There was a 1978 Fender Precision many years ago that may have been around £1500 but it got sold when I got divorced a few years ago. It'd be worth a lot more now.

 

I sold the first Ric as at that time I felt it was a lot of money to have tied up in a bass (I did one gig and recorded one song, losing only £50 in the resale). I then relaxed and the T-bird and the Ruby Red Ric have seen a lot of active service.

 

Potentially, if I could afford it, I would potentially spend a LOT more if I really wanted something but until I get my retirement payout in a few years, that won't be a reality. I think as long as you are not getting into debt with anything, do as you will. I was happy with just two Squiers for years. I've only ever spent this much when i have had money. 

[CookPassBabtridge]

This is a really interesting question. I am currently testing my threshold having obtained a quote for what would be one of my dream basses. It was just south of £8k - nearly fell off my chair when I first heard it. With it being a 2 year wait I am in a fortunate enough position to be able to save up the requisite funds in that timeframe. But it would mean not spending anything on other ‘nice’ things in the meantime. Is the pleasure it would give me worth the cost? Would the anxiety of what else I could have used the money for constantly bother me? I just don’t know. Another option would be to reduce the spec to something more reasonable, but would I regret that too? Prices are only likely to go up as well, so I’m pretty sure it will become unobtainable before too long, do I strike now while I can? GAS can be a terrible thing! 

[sirmuppet]

It really depends on the instrument. Last bass I bought cost £1200 but import fee's took it to just shy of £1500. I'd been waiting for years for this bass to be released and it was one of 350. They will make more but judging by the preorder of the next colour it may be in a very reduced qty. Most I've spent on a new bass was £1800 and that was for the USA 60th anniversary Jazz bass. I'd spend that again as I think it's an excellent bass. I did spend £2300 a few years ago on my acoustic. Again a rare Bryan Adams signature model and being a fan and really likeing the guitar I bought it. That said the non signature model was £400 cheaper, had no electrics, ugly headstock (In my opinion), no binding and was a natural wood colour. For the extra I got the signature, a bridge and goose neck pickup combo, binding on the fretboard, nicer headstock and vintage sunburst finish. I'd have paid the extra 400 just for all that without the name attached.  

 

Really I guess it depends on what it is and circumstances at the time but I'd buy any of the above again had I not the first time. Then again if something cheaper or more expensive came up I liked thenif I could afford it I would. 

[mario_buoninfante]

One thing that seems a recurring theme here and elsewhere is the idea that prices will go up.

I don't wanna be a partypooper, but there's no way prices will always go up.

Hard to predict when this will stop, but it'll happen at some point even if momentarily.

Especially considering that the number of boutique bass brands increased exponentially in the last 15-20y.

What was a "unique" thing until 20-30y ago, is becoming the standard now.

Let's just consider how many people on BC, or even on this thread own a boutique bass.

And that to me means that prices, also for boutique basses, will go down.

Actually for mass produced one prices have already dropped (ie quality you get for money spent).

Just my opinion though.

Edited December 22, 2022 by mario_buoninfante

[ead]

The most expensive new bass I've bought was a custom ACG at a bit over £2.5k, amazing bass and I will confess to being a serial ACG user.  As a counter balance I really enjoy the sub £500 pre-loved bracket and I currently have a couple of instruments in that price bracket that are both excellent.

[Sparky Mark]

1 hour ago, mario_buoninfante said:

One thing that seems a recurring theme here and elsewhere is the idea that prices will go up.

I don't wanna be a partypooper, but there's no way prices will always go up.

Hard to predict when this will stop, but it'll happen at some point even if momentarily.

Especially considering that the number of boutique bass brands increased exponentially in the last 15-20y.

What was a "unique" thing until 20-30y ago, is becoming the standard now.

Let's just consider how many people on BC, or even on this thread own a boutique bass.

And that to me means that prices, also for boutique basses, will go down.

Actually for mass produced one prices have already dropped (ie quality you get for money spent).

Just my opinion though.

Nobody know what will happen long term (10 to 20 years) but in the short to medium term this view may be based on the probability that energy costs won't fully return to pre February 2022 levels, increasing the cost of just about everything in the supply chain from raw materials to production to distribution. Additional friction to certain import/export activities could also be inflationary.

The GBP/USD exchange rate shift has increased UK prices of US imports by approximately 10% over the past year. Who knows when that might change? Currently there are more indicators of prices rising for some time to come rather than falling.

Of course certain marketplaces might soften for other reasons, i.e., baby boomers and generation X die away along with their demand for Alembics, pre CBS Fenders etc. 

[Rusco]

I paid heading towards £3K (I can't remember exactly how much) for a new Stingray Special when they launched. That was an aspirational bass and one I'll never sell so worth that much to me, but probably not in strict £ terms, dunno.

 

I'd stretch the budget for something unique or special like a YoB vintage Fender but honestly looking at what you can buy for £1500 I think anything over that is diminishing returns (for me) as a pure instrument... and my playing simply isn't good enough to exploit any differences 😂

 

[Ralf1e]

baby boomers and generation X die away along with their demand for Alembics, pre CBS Fenders

Treachery 🤣

[mario_buoninfante]

13 minutes ago, Sparky Mark said:

Nobody know what will happen long term (10 to 20 years) but in the short to medium term this view may be based on the probability that energy costs won't fully return to pre February 2022 levels, increasing the cost of just about everything in the supply chain from raw materials to production to distribution. Additional friction to certain import/export activities could also be inflationary.

The GBP/USD exchange rate shift has increased UK prices of US imports by approximately 10% over the past year. Who knows when that might change? Currently there are more indicators of prices rising for some time to come rather than falling.

Of course certain marketplaces might soften for other reasons, i.e., baby boomers and generation X die away along with their demand for Alembics, pre CBS Fenders etc. 

 

I agree 100%.

My point is that, considering all you just said, the fact that the actual price of a bass is higher that 5y ago doesn't make it an investment in itself.

It always needs to be compared with inflation, cost of living, etc.

That a Ken Smith (just to randomly name a good brand) is now worth 3k more than in the late 80s, doesn't really make it an investment.

 

Edited December 22, 2022 by mario_buoninfante

[Lw.]

16 minutes ago, Rusco said:

I'd stretch the budget for something unique or special like a YoB vintage Fender but honestly looking at what you can buy for £1500 I think anything over that is diminishing returns (for me) as a pure instrument... and my playing simply isn't good enough to exploit any differences 😂

 

I'd quite like a YoB Fender but I was born in '85, bang in the middle of Fender's worst period so not sure if it's worth it! 

[BigRedX]

In order for "boutique" instruments to become an investment that need the Wal effect as follows:

 

1. The majority of examples need to be basically the same with just minor cosmetic variations.

 

2. There need to be a couple (at least) of big name users who have a distinctive sound.

 

3. Demand needs to exceed supply.

[Sparky Mark]

1 minute ago, mario_buoninfante said:

 

I agree 100%.

My point is that, considering all you just said, the fact that the actual price of a bass is higher that 5y ago doesn't make it an investment.

It always needs to be conpared with inflation, cost of living, etc.

That a Ken Smith (just to randomly name a good brand) is now worth 3k more than in the late 80s, doesn't really make it an investment.

 

Agreed. I bought my Stingray new in 1981 for £415. That's probably around £2k in today's money; about the price of a new one. I might get a small premium because it's a pre EB, but I won't get rich for sure.

[Ralf1e]

2 minutes ago, Lw. said:

I'd quite like a YoB Fender but I was born in '85, bang in the middle of Fender's worst period so not sure if it's worth it! 

1953 I got no chance.😀

[Steve Browning]

5 minutes ago, Ralf1e said:

1953 I got no chance.😀

 

Oh, I don't know. They're cheap enough. 🙂

(see next post - thought I'd deleted the wrong one and inserted the right one)

Edited December 22, 2022 by Steve Browning