What is an expensive bass?

[miles'tone]

An expensive bass is one that is just that bit more than you can afford, whatever your circumstances. 

[Misdee]

To me, what is an expensive bass depends not just on the price but on what I'm getting for the money. £3000 is a lot of money if it's a boutique P Bass which ultimately offers only notional advantages over a decent regular P Bass at a fraction of that price. If I'm buying an Alembic then three grand is a bargain.

 

At what price point a bass becomes expensive is open to debate, but what isn't open to debate is that nice basses have become more expensive. Allowing for inflation, high-end basses are significantly more expensive than they were in the past and that trend shows no signs of abating.

 

For the equivalent price of a Wal with a fitted hardcase or Warwick Thumb Bass in 1989 in 2025 you can get a Spector Euro NS2 . For the price of a Status Series 2  in the late '80's you can now get a Stingray Special.

 

 

[tom.android]

What about a cheap bass that requires upgrades to be properly useable? Or that requires a lot of expensive work from a tech etc?

What about a bass that costs £2k, gets used for a bunch of paid gigs, then you break even selling it later adjusted for inflation? Was that expensive or was it basically free?

 

Or a mid priced bass that warps or the truss rod breaks or whatever - that’s the one that feels the most ‘expensive’ in the long run to me. 

[snorkie635]

I'd say anything beyond £1500 is expensive in my view. Although I have basses costing more, none do a significantly 'better' job. Simples.