You are not alone @binky_bass... 😉
Instead of speaking of boutique basses, I prefer the term luthier basses, because this is what are my basses and if I've gone that path, it's because I couldn't find what I was looking for in mass produced instruments when I started playing fretless bass 40+ years ago, yes I really started with a fretless as it's the bass tone I hear in my head.
Before the first fretless I had an awful Maya EB-2, then a way better Ibanez SoundGear SDGR 800, but I was simply noodling, and then came the first fretless, a now long gone Aria Diamond Violin that had been defretted by Christophe Leduc to my request and fitted with EMG pickups including a piezo pickup: It sounded ace and made me want to take lessons to learn music, but I was attracted by the fretless ERB, hence these luthier made basses that started my love for these instruments, because I had no other option available back then.
That said, I like some vintage instruments too for what they are, and even if I'm a vintage Fender expert (some mates here can confirm this), I don't own any Fender vintage instruments anymore, because they don't meet my requirements at all.
It's all about tone, nothing more, and, yes, I fancy coffee table fretless basses as well as ultra well thought instruments designed around efficiency and tone.
So, please, accept that we don't all like the same stuff. 😉