binky_bass

Don't you mean 'blah bleeeee haaaaaaa HAAA ooooooooh pftttttt umaumaumauma GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA' I believe that is the official cry of the insane.

Like last time, I will secretly intercept @Dad3353's straplocks and tell no one... slowly sending him into an insanity spiral. *Bwa ha ha ha!* 😈

I think spending several thousand on a bass that is extremely customised to your exact tastes, scale, wood choices, neck, pickups etc. and that doesn't exist out there in the retail world, and it brings you joy in any capacity be it playing, looking, holding etc. and you can afford it without going into debt, then I see absolutely nothing wrong with it! The same would apply to a vintage instrument that you can't buy new. It's all horses for courses, and if you're perfectly content with a serviceable cheaper bass, then that's all good too! I like to discuss opinions and see where other people place their values, but it is our differences that make us unique, we should celebrate them! (Of course anyone that doesn't agree with me is WRONG!!!! 😁 )

Surely it'll need to be 'Essex Persons', you know, diversity and all that!

Hard to quantify, probably as a rough average 70/30 Bass to player. Depends how aggressive/light handed a player is!

I like buckeye burl... it's my weakness, it's a bit like crack, rather moreish once you had just a taste... I have a few buckeye basses, a buckeye pen and even a buckeye handled chef's knife... I know, its foolish, its vein, its all of the above. But I LIKE IT so bullhockey to anyone who says otherwise! 😜 Jewellery isn't for me, not too fussed by the car I drive, my other tastes aren't overly lavish (save a good bottle of single malt here and there). I like buckeye and I like basses and even better when they're combined! It all really boils down to what we each like in life! Plenty of people on this forum split their expendable income over various Interests and spend less on basses and more on other things, some live a modest lifestyle by choice or otherwise, we all are individuals, we all have our opinions! So long as we're all as content as we can make ourselves and hopefully a few others around us, then we're doing OK. Or, we can fall into the hopeless pit of despair and feel overwhelming guilt for every little luxury we buy because we didn't give that money to someone less fortunate... it's a fair point, perhaps one for another thread. For those who feel this guilt in such a fashion that compels them to tithe away their spare pennies, then I will raise my glass to you and declare you the better person. I helped a fallen granny once, I've done my bit. 😋

This is the point I've debated with. There is nothing wrong with a cheap bass, but there may very well be something a little sinister about how it's made, not just the pennies on the pound some of these people get paid, but the responsibility behind sourcing the materials to make them. Cheap is often cheap because someone is getting a bad deal, and that someone is usually the person who physically made it. I would rather pay more knowing that everything is a fair deal, though I appreciate I am in a fortunate enough position to have the luxury of taking that stance. There is a question of morality between the pros of a cheap bass and the ethics behind its creation and the expense of a custom bass which supports a single craftsperson. The same arguement can be had with almost everything we consume - cheap is cheap for a reason, though buying something expensive isn't always proof of a better product. The choppy waters of ethical buying are often hard to navigate with purposefully confusing currents put in play by those who wish to steer you towards a particular purchase.

Leave my wife out of this!!

It's not the size of the knob that counts, it's the quantity of them!

Also, while I think about it, and in response to no one in particular, if everyone was super thrifty and only ever bought the Harley Bentons that life has to offer, eventually the economy would collapse as a good proportion of industry relies heavily on us, the general public, buying things! Our purchases necessitate jobs, those jobs pay wages to the people that use services that the companies we work for create. So, in actual fact, if we don't have the occasional splurge, implus buy or 'treat' (where affordable) we'd likely see the loss of many artists, businesses and jobs. I mean just image if a giant virus came about and meant we could spend our money within, say, the holiday industry or the hospitality industry, imagine what havoc that would wreak!

It's like those who rant about being vegan*... my response defaults to: cool story bro. You do you. 😎 At the end of the day, we're all opinionated know-nothings! We like different things, that's the glory of being an individual! If we were all the same then we'd all have a Harley Benton and those with Harley Bentons would have nothing to be self righteous about! 😁 *disclaimer, not all vegans rant about being vegan

Sex with a Voodoo doll of yourself is the only true example of a closed infinity loop.

Within the realms of what's possible on your bass, fingers can alter THAT tone/timbre, but obviously you're not going to get a double bass to sound like an Alembic no matter how much you claim you have magic fingers!

My 2 cents: Tone Contributors (Physical Bass Only): Woods - 2% Body shape - 3% Neck construction (thru/bolt on) - 5% Body construction (solid/hollow) - 10% Pick ups - 25% Electronics - 40% Strings - 10% (based on new strings) Hardware - 5% Tone Contributors (How The Player Plays): Hand style (finger/pick/slap) - 65% Attack of chosen style (hard/soft) - 35% That's somewhere close to how I see everything effect the tone of a bass, all in, for me, the wood choice does have a slight impact, but it's impact it dwarfed by the impact of other areas of a basses full construction.

Not to begin delving into the depths of global trade politics, but there are countries out there that purposefully hoard and stockpile rare earth minerals to prevent other countries growing their manufacturing in areas that depend on said rare earth minerals - that is an equally inexcusable practice and is one many-a-nation are guilty of in a vein attempt to hold the upper hand and gain political leverage on a variety of different fronts for their benefit.

Just for you, I'm going to create a new 'Relic Rant' thread every day until you decend into madness and relic yourself to death! 😜

Didn't you know that everyone's opinion is wrong apart from mine? 😁 (You will note the last two lines of that post I wrote did contain some words that are almost exactly what you have posted - it's personal opinion and taste, no one is wrong/right when it comes to what they like!)

I think there is a history to the theory of which country is better. Chinese built instruments are actually, for the most part, quite reasonable these days, however a few decades ago they were more or less total skip fodder.

It is indeed were the costs creep in! A nice thick piece of acrylic stabilised buckeye burl with a complex grain pattern will easily cost as much as a medium priced bass, in fact depending in the luthier, it can cost as much as a USA Fender just for that top wood. But, for me personally, I'm happy to pay that (within reason!) as it makes my bass unique and I love the look. One of my guitars has a blue/yellow stained maple burl top and I could stare at it for days... In fact below is a picture of the section of top wood between the B string (it's a 7 string) and the upper bout, it is worthy of being framed and hung as a piece of art in my opinion. It looks like an alien worm floating through a nebula... I love it. Others may hate it, but for me this guitar plays better that any I have ever had, the tone is just incredible, and it also looks out of this world, literally! For all those reasons I was happy to pay the price, and am glad I did as there is nothing else like it and I would have regretted it if I later saw someone else bought it!

I suppose there is an arguement for artistic value too. I mean I can paint a pretty decent picture of a can of Campbells Soup but I'm guessing most people would rather have the Warhol version... (change art piece/artist to suit taste!) Some of my basses do fall into the category of being a bit pricey, but they were made to order with very specific content that doesn't really exist in the non-custom world both in terms of electronics and aesthetics and I enjoy them equally for how they play and the joy that brings me as well as how the look - much like a good piece of art I can happily stare at these basses for long periods of time and admire the work behind the build. Having said that, I do believe there is a balance in all of this though - for instance (yeah, we all know it!) Fodera have some utterly eye watering price tags, and Alembic even more so, I mean $60,000 for Alembic is just insanity no matter how you slice it! Then there is the likes of ACG were the prices are incredibly reasonable for the outstanding craftsmanship and superb electronics - both on an easy par with Fodera and Alembic, and having played all three, personally in a 'value blind' test, I'd go ACG. It depends on the artist you want to paint your picture, at the end of the day, be it 100 people painting their little section of a 'paint by numbers' picture (I.E. a cheaper mass produced bass), or one truly skilled artist that has made a name for themselves over the years (The ACGs and Foderas of the world) it's your choice to make. Art, like basses is subjective - some are happy with seeing those cheap 'Live, Love, Laugh' wall stickers as art, some would rather a Rembrandt. Whatever you like, what ever you can afford, it's your choice!