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bass prices, are some worth it?


funkgod

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1 minute ago, Doddy said:

The thing with Fender is that, along with Gibson, they are an iconic brand. The Custom Shop is expensive, and I would guess that most of their custom is from Blues Lawyers. Most working players with that kind of money to spend seem more likely to buy a vintage Fender or look elsewhere.

When I went shopping for my last bass, I wanted to get the best instrument that I tried. As it turned out, it was quite expensive, but what I got was a high quality handmade bass (no CNC), in the configuration that I wanted. The tone wood thing isn't a gimmick and does affect the sound (IMO especially fingerboard material), and I was able to speak directly to the builder about what the best combination was for the sounds I wanted, and he knocked it out of the park. The fact that they were really nice people was a bonus.

I've got a few cheaper basses which I like and gig with, but none of them come close to my high end instruments in terms of quality of construction and sound.

No hidden agenda - just interested in who made your bass? Just intrigued what people go for.

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3 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

But it doesn't help when you have people chucking around phrases like "the china virus" - there's a worrying amount of Americans that hate anything that is built outside the USA. And that's based on prejudice as opposed to do anything to do with the goods themselves.

Yes, that's the problem. Some people don't judge (covering the whole spectrum from "not caring too much" to "hate") goods based on their quality but simply on where they come from. Sad but true.  

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12 minutes ago, 4000 said:

I honestly don’t know why people bother with ‘relic rants’ anymore. I mean, they’ve been going on for years. Some people like them. Some people don’t. No one is going to convince the other of why they’re cool/not cool. So what’s the point?

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!)

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2 minutes ago, binky_bass said:

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 know you did, but everything that precedes it has been said a thousand times before with no change of anyone’s opinion, so personally I just don’t see the point in bothering. 

But hey, that’s Internet forums in a nutshell!😂

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1 minute ago, 4000 said:

I know you did, but everything that precedes it has been said a thousand times before with no change of anyone’s opinion, so personally I just don’t see the point in bothering. 

But hey, that’s Internet forums in a nutshell!😂

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! 😜

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On 24/02/2021 at 07:59, Maude said:

and Rickenbacker have finally caved in to requests to remake it. But they've made something which is different to a 4005, which is fair enough, but I think their pricing is a desperate attempt to ride the coat tails of the crazy vintage 4005 market. 

They're now available new for £5.5k.

 

so they went for  the gibson aspirational lifestyle choice pricing strategy cow poop? 

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55 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

But it doesn't help when you have people chucking around phrases like "the china virus" - there's a worrying amount of Americans that hate anything that is built outside the USA. And that's based on prejudice as opposed to do anything to do with the goods themselves.

Possibly true but there may be an equal amount that just want to support American companies and I have no beef with that. I can’t help but admire the pride the French have for their own products    and the enjoyment they take in consuming them ...

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5 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

Possibly true but there may be an equal amount that just want to support American companies and I have no beef with that. I can’t help but admire the pride the French have for their own products    and the enjoyment they take in consuming them ...

That point is at a tangent. You can support your own countries companies if possible - but actively being derogatory/xenophobic and pushing that narrative is inexcusable.

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1 minute ago, EBS_freak said:

That point is at a tangent. You can support your own countries companies if possible - but actively being derogatory/xenophobic and pushing that narrative is inexcusable.

True but I think the US gets quite a bashing at times ... my personal preconceptions have always been shattered whenever I have been there.

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2 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

That point is at a tangent. You can support your own countries companies if possible - but actively being derogatory/xenophobic and pushing that narrative is inexcusable.

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. 

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17 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

True but I think the US gets quite a bashing at times ... my personal preconceptions have always been shattered whenever I have been there.

Most of the peole I've met over there have been great. However, when out eating/drinking I'm always aware that the person next to you my be 'Carrying'.

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37 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

Possibly true but there may be an equal amount that just want to support American companies and I have no beef with that. I can’t help but admire the pride the French have for their own products    and the enjoyment they take in consuming them ...

Tegs - have you checked out Alpine guitars in France?

They make wonderful basses from locally sourced woods

https://www.alpineguitar.fr

BTW - I am pretty sure we know each other and our daughters are mates.......!🤘🏾

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On 24/02/2021 at 09:06, Doctor J said:

I'd love to know how much they're paid per hour. How many hours of manual labour do you reckon go into your average P bass, let's say since it's as basic as it gets?

It doesn't take long to type "minimum wage vietnam" into Google and find it's 4.42 million Vietnamese dong per month, which is £135. Average monthly salary is 5.88 million dong so their average pay is 1.3 times their minimum wage, as opposed to the UK ratio which is more like double. So even if they're on minimum wage, they're paid 3/4 of the average wage.

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1 hour ago, tauzero said:

It doesn't take long to type "minimum wage vietnam" into Google and find it's 4.42 million Vietnamese dong per month, which is £135. Average monthly salary is 5.88 million dong so their average pay is 1.3 times their minimum wage, as opposed to the UK ratio which is more like double. So even if they're on minimum wage, they're paid 3/4 of the average wage.

Tricky because we don’t know what method is used to get the average.There is also likely to be a huge disparity in wealth and very big variations between rural and urban incomes which could really distort the figures.

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On 24/02/2021 at 09:34, Doctor J said:

There's assembly, yes, but aren't necks and bodies painted and finished by hand too? Don't the same manufacturing processes and automation exist in the USA and Mexico too? I don't, for a second, think your average factory worker in the US or Mexico is living high on the hog, either. Anyway, you can see where I'm going as you expanded through the rest of your post. There's not a lot of the £99 going to the people who made it.

Well I've been intrigued by the whole HB value / price point and done a bit more research on these basses.

The one that got my attention was their flagship BZ 4000/5000/6000 NT range - around £300, partly because it has a classic Peavey Cirrus design with that lovely neck through.

This was a really helpful "warts and all" review (albeit of the 6 string sibling). Few comments worth noting - it's a heavy bass with no passive tone control; the finish a little less than perfect (air bubbles / some wonky frets) -although that does not impact its playability. Vol spike when switching from active / passive. Tuners come for a bit of stick and weakest piece of the jigsaw from comments elsewhere seems to be the preamp. But actually that is all weirdly reassuring: as a lot of us have been wondering how HB can make such fully featured basses for the prices they do! If it had been a little lighter, it could make for a fantastic project bass. Still looks very good value, but I'd hesitate to fork out on one despite the bargain price.

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