Billy Apple Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Yer Solovair is to Matamp what Docs is to Orange. Or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 How about Status - do they classify as a high end brand? I picked up Streamline yesterday to use for one specific gig this weekend and was totting up the cost and it comes in at about £2,600. The core bass is a ail able at £1,600 but it's carrying about a grand's worth of options that I'd consider to be pretty 'high end' so maybe that moves it from relatively functional into more of a 'luxury' bass? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrammeFriday Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Ah, Millets ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 (edited) [quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1400104750' post='2450933'] It does sound really bad when you put it like that. A lot of folks wouldn't dream of spending that amount on a whole bass, let alone on the options alone! [/quote] That's why I was asking the question At the start price it's a great bass that fulfills a specific need and, in my opinion, there's nothing else out there that compares. At £1,600 I'd say it's relatively expensive but not specifically 'high end'. The options are all functional rather than cosmetic but adding them send the price spiralling. So the question was about whether adding expensive options to an instrument elevates it to 'high end' status or not (as per the OP's question). I'm genuinely undecided about whether I'd call it high end or not. It's definitely a custom instrument built to very exacting standards by a specialist builder but, without the high price of the options, I'm not sure it's what I'd call a really high end bass. Edited May 14, 2014 by molan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 [quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1400097294' post='2450806'] Solovair are made by NPS (Northampton Productive Soc) ... [url="http://www.britboot.co.uk/engine/shop/index.html"]http://www.britboot....shop/index.html[/url] [/quote] A quality heads-up, Sir. Much obliged. Back OT and thinking about what Molan says about added extras - wasn't there a [i]fearful[/i] row here once about an optional £95,000 truss rod cover for one of these booteekie basses? Or am I dreaming it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbird Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 Mind you I think it is more about the player than the bass in a way as I could make a 10 grand bass sound rubbish but a great player can make a 100 pound bass sound awesome so maybe expensive boutique type basses are just a status thing I dunno I know I would not spend thousands on a bass even if I could afford it but if others can afford it and want to get a super high end expensive bass it is up to them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 [quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1400251267' post='2452309']...a great player can make a 100 pound bass sound awesome...[/quote] For playing heavy metal, perhaps..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosebass Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 Beginner, intermediate, high end, boutique? A bass is a bass, some just cost more than others (objective) some are better than others? (subjective) Just spend what you like and rejoice in playing. As he with more insight than me once said ' pity him who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 [quote name='Prosebass' timestamp='1400265328' post='2452494'] As he with more insight than me once said, 'pity him who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing'. [/quote] I think that was Oscar Wilde. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosebass Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 Ladt Windermere's Fan, Third Act [quote]people these days know the the price of everything and the value of nothing.[/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 [quote name='Prosebass' timestamp='1400278940' post='2452667'] Lady Windermere's Fan, Third Act [/quote] The current mrs discreet used to do that play with the local Am Dram Soc, who referred to it as 'Lady Fandermere's Wind'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 [quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1400279409' post='2452674'] It's the same with any market that sees consumers spending lots of their disposable cash. I'm sure there are golf-related products that are entirely unnecessary and insanely expensive which some consumers will swear by. The irony with the bass guitar, of course, is that on a recording it's usually mixed so low as to be relatively indistinct, tonally at least, and a lot of live sound engineers will turn it into so much wolfy boom and nothing else. So any sonic difference between two given models is hugely diminished. Someone above mentioned classical instruments and the money that double bass players spend on their instruments. I play double bass too and actually that particular market has a more obvious value proposition. Acoustic instruments do sound vastly different, and the attention to detail in the construction of an acoustic instrument is considerably more sonically obvious than the same effort put into an electric bass guitar. But yeah, generally: If you're of the "I made a lot of money and it's none of your business what I do with it" brigade (like Gary Barlow for instance), then fair enough, you're probably aware that your returns are diminishing very steeply but you've already justified it to yourself satisfactorily in some way and you'll be content with that so long as nobody ever suggests you fell for some hype and got burned. [/quote] I take exception to your judgemental tone. Who's "getting burned" here (in your oh so humble opinion)? You? No, so away you go and be happy with your own choices and leave others to theirs. Live and let live, they're only basses after all. Not really a big deal when you compare them to vehicles and houses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 (edited) So - Matt Garrison Janek Gwizdala Michael Pope Ettiene M'Bape Yves Carbonne Victor Wooten Michael Manring Anthony Jackson Anthony Wellington Dominic Di Piazza Richard Bona Hadrien Feraud Jimmy Johnson Stanley Clarke Jimmy Haslip Mick Karn Colin Edwin Percy Jones Andrew Gouche Alain Caron There's a list of 20 or so, either great or iconic bassists, who all use 'high-end' basses, a smattering of Fodera, Wal, Alembic, Smith. Are they loaded and just showing off ? Edited May 17, 2014 by ambient Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingus Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 (edited) In the interest of balance, I suppose one thing to consider is that, generally speaking, less expensive basses are far better than they used to be and the best examples are far closer to high end basses in terms of sound and playability than they ever used to be. Nowadays there is a big market in intermediate level basses, many of which are very good indeed. Good quality Far Eastern-manufactured licensed versions of high end basses have revolutionized the market. Also, back when I started playing, if you wanted a certain level of performance in a bass , you had to gravitate towards high end basses, because they were the only instruments that played and sounded like that. You couldn't sound like Stanley Clarke on a Hondo Precision copy or a Shaftsbury Rickenbacker copy ( can I be sued for mentioning that such a bass ever existed ?... if in fact they ever did. Allegedly) , so you gravitated towards something that was fit for the job. That scenario and those aspirations towards state-of-the-art basses is largely a thing of the past nowadays. Both the niches in the market place and the kind of sound and instruments bass players are gravitating towards are all very, very different now, so high end basses are not the universal ideal for bass players that they one were. If you want to use dead flatwounds and sound like some bass player from a slum in Chicago circa 1964 then a Hondo Precision copy will probably do a pretty good job for you. Edited May 18, 2014 by Dingus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 [quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1400429376' post='2453735'] Also, back when I started playing, if you wanted a certain level of performance in a bass , you had to gravitate towards high end basses, because they were the only instruments that played and sounded like that. [/quote] Entirely true. As a sidebar, I recently discovered a box of American guitar mags from the late 80's - early 90's. Even only twenty years ago the price points were far more polarised while low end prices were what we might today characterise as mid-range. (As a digression, one might also note the prevalence of ads featuring scantily clad babes in leather bikinis, each holding the instrument in such an awkward fashion as to suggest they were probably not 'real' guitar players at all). It always depresses me when the focus is upon the supposed unworthiness of high end when there is so much greater scope for joy at the improved quality and comparatively microscopic price of serviceable basses. 'Glass half-full' for the win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Apple Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 [quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1400430516' post='2453749'] As a digression, one might also note the prevalence of ads featuring scantily clad babes in leather bikinis, [/quote] I had a leather bikini once. Paid top dollar for it, but one wash in me Bosch and it was knackered. It shrunk so much even Ronnie Corbett could not get it to cover Kelley's eye. I've been a polyester man ever since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 [quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1400439525' post='2453892'] I've been a polyester man ever since. [/quote] That's shocking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrammeFriday Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 [quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1400430516' post='2453749'] It always depresses me when the focus is upon the supposed unworthiness of high end when there is so much greater scope for joy at the improved quality and comparatively microscopic price of serviceable basses. 'Glass half-full' for the win. [/quote] Agree with this 100%, and with Dingus's post above. A case in point is my MTD Kingston AG5 - insanely great bass for 1/3 of the price of a US model. I couldn't give a toss that it is made in a factory in China rather than in Mr Tobias's log cabin in a forest in upstate New York - it plays and sounds brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 [quote name='GrammeFriday' timestamp='1400458161' post='2454109'] Agree with this 100%, and with Dingus's post above. A case in point is my MTD Kingston AG5 - insanely great bass for 1/3 of the price of a US model. I couldn't give a toss that it is made in a factory in China rather than in Mr Tobias's log cabin in a forest in upstate New York - it plays and sounds brilliant. [/quote] I've always wanted to try the 6 string MTD AG model. There's a video of a guy playing it here [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFmP_fRCz5U"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFmP_fRCz5U[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrammeFriday Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 (edited) That guy IS Andrew Gouche! And he's playing the USA model, not the Kingston. Here's another guy - Bubby Lewis - playing the Kingston version. Interesting to a/b them! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTOGSYBFux8 Edited May 19, 2014 by GrammeFriday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leroydiamond Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 (edited) Not alway[quote name='GrammeFriday' timestamp='1400458161' post='2454109'] Agree with this 100%, and with Dingus's post above. A case in point is my MTD Kingston AG5 - insanely great bass for 1/3 of the price of a US model. I couldn't give a toss that it is made in a factory in China rather than in Mr Tobias's log cabin in a forest in upstate New York - it plays and sounds brilliant. [/quote] Not always true when looking at budget models of the U.S. version. Case in point being Lakland Skyline 55-02 and the U.S. built version, the 55-94. I had the pleasure of an A/B with these babies and The U.S. bass was in a different league. perfectly balanced, resonant and finished beautifully. Everything the 55-02 was not. On the other hand the Sadowsky metro series is right up there with their U.S. counterparts, provided you do not require a chambered body. The issue here though, is that for the price of a metro, you could lay your hands on a 'high end' bass (Whatever that is ). The prices of Sadowsky U.S. models on this side of the pond, are gone through the roof in recent years, but can make for a good used buy. Edited May 19, 2014 by leroydiamond Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painy Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 (edited) If I compare my Cort A6 to the 5 string Warwick Steamer Stage 1 it replaced I'd say the Warwick was maybe 20% better overall (across tone, looks playability and build quality). The tone I can easily compensate for by tweaking the eq on my amp. Looks are very subjective anyway and I can quite frankly live with a little less flaming in the maple. Playability is the area hardest to get around but fortunately in the this case also the area with the smallest difference between the basses. Build quality may not be quite up to Warwick's standard but I by no means get the impression that the Cort is ever likely to fall apart on me. Given a 20% difference in quality but that the Cort is just 20% of the cost (around £800 or less for the Cort or well over £4000 for the Warwick) I'm far less inclined to worry about high end bases these days and concentrate on providing the low end. Having said all that I really really want a Ken Smith! Edited May 19, 2014 by Painy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 [quote name='GrammeFriday' timestamp='1400483742' post='2454166'] That guy IS Andrew Gouche! And he's playing the USA model, not the Kingston. Here's another guy - Bubby Lewis - playing the Kingston version. Interesting to a/b them! [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTOGSYBFux8[/media] [/quote] Yeah, I know it's Adrian. The item on talkbass lead me to believe he was reviewing the Kingston model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrammeFriday Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Easiest way to spot the difference is to look at the headstock. US 6ers arrange tuners in a 3+3 config (like your Modulus); Kingstons are 4+2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrammeFriday Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Easiest way to spot the difference is to look at the headstock. US 6ers arrange tuners in a 3+3 config (like your Modulus); Kingstons are 4+2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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