New Status Basses

[EMG456]

1 hour ago, Rich said:

 

Not none headless.

 

Thanks- I didn’t spot that image. 

[EMG456]

I’m wondering if it’s all about recognising that the entire market didn’t eventually fall to all carbon fibre instruments. All of Ned Steinberger’s current instruments use a similar neck construction of wood with carbon stiffeners as do many high end and some mass market traditional looking designs. 
And when Rob says that these neck’s essentially sound the same as the graphite models he may be right. All my carbon necked/ wood/carbon necked/ wooden necked basses do indeed sound like basses. 

[tauzero]

47 minutes ago, MichaelDean said:

It's unhelpfully all in it's own Stock Basses section at the bottom.

 

That explains it - it's below the bottom of the window on my laptop screen and the godawful website doesn't scroll the outer frame so I can't get to it. What a f*cking awful website.

[TeresaFR]

2 hours ago, tauzero said:

There's no sign of information on the new basses other than the original link in the OP - "Stock basses" under "Online Store" doesn't have any information and there's no other "Stock basses" option.

 

Incidentally, the website is still stuck in the 1990s with its awful frame-based design and "click to enter" landing page, but for some reason everybody on BC is happy with that but not happy with BD's not quite completely perfect modern website. You can't beat standards, especially if you've got double.

Oh yeah, that website needs a big upgrade, ten years ago for preference.

[SuperSeagull]

Bit of a surprise this news but I'm delighted that Rob is in better health. When I visited their workshop in Jan 2020 to order my S2 bass I was struck by the very strong chemical smell in the workshop - maybe that is something to do with the move to wooden necks. But for me a Status is graphite and headless so I'll stick with mine!

[BigRedX]

There are plenty of "tone woods" whose sawdust can be a serious irritant, and some where it is actually toxic. Just because it's "natural" doesn't necessarily mean it's better for you.

 

And there are plenty of other luthier websites that are equally bad if not worse in failing to have moved with the times.

 

[tauzero]

10 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

And there are plenty of other luthier websites that are equally bad if not worse in failing to have moved with the times.

 

This is a failure in functionality, not just failing to move with the times. Still, it'll stop working once all browsers insist on HTML5 compliance.

[woodyratm]

Some of them look lovely. Weird about the graphite though. 
 

FWIW if anyone wants a 4 string “classic” Chris wolstenholme with neck through and more graphite than you can shake a stick at… hit me up 😂 The dude who recently bought it on eBay doesn’t appear to be paying. Sigh. 

[Boodang]

Status graphite not making graphite basses!

I’m going to be cynical here and say the new basses are cheaper to make and thus more profitable. 

[woodyratm]

5 minutes ago, Boodang said:

Status graphite not making graphite basses!

I’m going to be cynical here and say the new basses are cheaper to make and thus more profitable. 

I agree. Bolt on necks only too 

[Boodang]

1 hour ago, woodyratm said:

I agree. Bolt on necks only too 

Yep, Vigier did a similar thing a few years back. They've been making neck thru basses since the start then it's bolt on necks only. Supposedly for sonic reasons which means it took them over 30 years of making basses to realise they'd been doing it wrong all that time!

[itu]

But no sir, he decided to make instruments for all customers. Retro guys loved those bolt-on cheapos...

[Russ]

Wondering about the new neck construction. From the description on the website, it sounds very much like a standard-ish 3-piece maple neck with carbon rods, much like they did in the 90's, just painted black.  

 

I'll reserve judgement until I've tried one, but I'm just happy to see Rob back at work, and I'm glad he's on the mend. 

 

Incidentally, their website is now over 20 years old, and is very much in need of a refresh... looks a lot like like the one I built for Martin at Sei back in 1998! 

Edited August 12, 2023 by Russ

[LowB_FTW]

I hope these new Status basses kick-start the secondhand market for the older Status basses. I'm still hopeful to get my hands on a T-bass fiver with that ergonomic tuning system.

 

Mark

[Russ]

People tend to overlook the fact that a lot of the sound of a Status comes from the Hyperactive pickups and electronics (super-hi-fi with seriously hyped-up high end) and the phenolic fingerboards - the 90s wooden-necked Statii still sounded like Statii! So the lack of carbon fibre isn’t a dealbreaker. It might have been nice to see a graphite “skin” on the necks though, like Martin Sims was doing on some of the Enfield basses, or that Jon Shuker does on his Jean-Jaques Burnel model. 

 

The Jonas Hellborg model sounded the most Status-y of any Status, and that had a wooden neck. It also had ridiculously overpowered 36V electronics. 

 

Going to miss the all-graphite models though. They had their own vibe, and I loved the coloured variations they were offering. 

[Boodang]

2 hours ago, Russ said:

Going to miss the all-graphite models though. They had their own vibe, and I loved the coloured variations they were offering. 

As you say, it's not so much about the sound as the 'vibe'. Plus they're charging custom prices for a cnc'd wood bass (I know the hardware is top notch but it's not that much!).  

[simisker]

Take away the £600 markup for the LEDs*, and you're in the Dingwall Combustion ballpark. That's another CNC+assembly wood bass... and that somehow gets away without sticker shock outrage.

 

The new Status VMan Signature is £2675 inc VAT.

 

The Dingwall John Taylor Signature was/is £2500 inc VAT.

 

I don't think we're talking outrageous opportunistic price gouging here.

 

Personally, I'm glad that Rob is well enough to be making basses again, and that the door has reopened for me to own a Status that I'd want [headed, phenolic board, awesome colour].

 

 

 

* Admittedly, there's more of an argument about the £600 cost of LEDs. Seems very steep... but I don't know what that entails. Maybe he has to send them to Sims and absorb their markup.

 

[EDIT: Sims LED fitting prices start at £500ish, according to their site. So that would explain that!]

 

 

 

 

Edited August 13, 2023 by simisker
Sims price added for context.

[Russ]

6 hours ago, simisker said:

Take away the £600 markup for the LEDs*, and you're in the Dingwall Combustion ballpark. That's another CNC+assembly wood bass... and that somehow gets away without sticker shock outrage.

 

The new Status VMan Signature is £2675 inc VAT.

 

The Dingwall John Taylor Signature was/is £2500 inc VAT.

 

I don't think we're talking outrageous opportunistic price gouging here.

 

Personally, I'm glad that Rob is well enough to be making basses again, and that the door has reopened for me to own a Status that I'd want [headed, phenolic board, awesome colour].

 

 

 

* Admittedly, there's more of an argument about the £600 cost of LEDs. Seems very steep... but I don't know what that entails. Maybe he has to send them to Sims and absorb their markup.

 

[EDIT: Sims LED fitting prices start at £500ish, according to their site. So that would explain that!]

 

 

 

 

The big difference there is that Dingwall Combustions are made in the Far East, although Sheldon's team does QC and setup at their HQ in Canada before shipping them out. The new Status basses are being made in the UK. 

 

As far as the LEDs go, SimS and Status do a lot of work together - I expect Status prepares their necks for SimS beforehand, with the required routing, slots, etc. And they're only an hour away from each other!

Edited August 13, 2023 by Russ

[simisker]

47 minutes ago, Russ said:

The big difference there is that Dingwall Combustions are made in the Far East, although Sheldon's team does QC and setup at their HQ in Canada before shipping them out. The new Status basses are being made in the UK. 

 

Yup, I know - that was the point I was trying to make. Doesn't that make these Status prices all the more reasonable, then? They're handmade in low volumes by a legendary maker in an expensive manufacturing location. For only a few hundred quid more than a Combustion.

 

Seems reasonable to me, anyway Maybe my idea of good value has being skewed ever since my appointment as a lawyer-dentist

Edited August 13, 2023 by simisker

[Kev]

20 minutes ago, simisker said:

Yup, I know - that was the point I was trying to make. Doesn't that make these Status prices all the more reasonable, then? They're handmade in low volumes by a legendary maker in an expensive manufacturing location. For only a few hundred quid more than a Combustion.

 

Seems reasonable to me, anyway Maybe my idea of good value has being skewed ever since my appointment as a lawyer-dentist

The John Taylor model was a significant markup from a regular NG/Combustion, whereas the Status doesn't seem to be any markup at all.  Must be somewhere in the region of £1,500 for a 2 pickup 4 string model.  

 

In the current market its not a bad pricing model for UK built basses, but I just don't recall the graphite models being much more?

[Boodang]

18 minutes ago, simisker said:

Yup, I know - that was the point I was trying to make. Doesn't that make these Status prices all the more reasonable, then? They're handmade in low volumes by a legendary maker in an expensive manufacturing location. For only a few hundred quid more than a Combustion.

 

Seems reasonable to me, anyway Maybe my idea of good value has being skewed ever since my appointment as a lawyer-dentist

In fairness I'm outraged by anybody using cnc machines and charging custom prices. And just because the prices are comparable to another company doesn't make it reasonable it just means they've jumped on the band wagon.

People can be put off customs as it can be hit and miss, and I guess having a known quantity with a name like Status is reassuring but doesn't justify the price tag. 

I had a custom jazz made recently with graphite stringers in the neck, not only is the hardware top notch and build quality incredible, but more than half the price of what Status are asking.

[simisker]

Boy, this has taught me a lesson about getting involved.

[prowla]

1 hour ago, Boodang said:

In fairness I'm outraged by anybody using cnc machines and charging custom prices. And just because the prices are comparable to another company doesn't make it reasonable it just means they've jumped on the band wagon.

People can be put off customs as it can be hit and miss, and I guess having a known quantity with a name like Status is reassuring but doesn't justify the price tag. 

I had a custom jazz made recently with graphite stringers in the neck, not only is the hardware top notch and build quality incredible, but more than half the price of what Status are asking.

I think it's OK to use CNC machines for the initial cutting and then do the remainder by hand.

That's what Rickenbacker do now.

[Russ]

CNC machines are a) extremely good for consistency, b) quicker than doing it by hand, but also c) very expensive.

 

So I don't see how people expect companies who use them to be cheaper, except for mass manufacturing, where a company will be churning out 100 bodies an hour using multiple machines (the cost of the machines can be amortised more quickly that way). 

[itu]

If you have a CNC machine and some wood, would you be able to make a good instrument?

 

Find some suitable wood, cut it the right way, and then prepare it to the machine. Ta da, we have a blank!

 

Rob makes super instruments, he is able to produce, or should I say, manufacture high end stuff. If prices seem high, we could play like Jonas or Chris, and ask for an endorsement. If it suits Rob, problem solved.