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.

[peteb]

2 hours ago, Misdee said:

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.

 

 

A guy I know is a pro bass player, who paid £3k for a CS P bass. For him, the requirement was for the best possible bass that will work for any gigs that he is going to get called for and that meant a high spec P bass. I've played it and it is a great bass and his reasons for buying it make complete sense. 

 

A mate of mine did pick up an Alembic for a very reasonable price and that's great as well. But a P bass is probably going to be more suitable for more gigs for a jobbing pro bass player. 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by peteb

[tegs07]

Probably £1000. However these things are all relative. If you had asked 5 years ago £500 as I had less disposable income. Some people could easily justify £3000. Still cheap compared to a lot of work tools or hobby equipment.

[peteb]

5 hours ago, TimR said:

It's the law of diminishing returns

 

As basses get more expensive there's a point at which the difference to the next bass up is negligible. 

 

I then factor in what I could afford to replace from savings tomorrow. 

 

Then I factor in how long a bass lasts - my current bass is 25 years old and has probably cost me £15 a year so far. 

 

For me the figure for an expensive bass is £1500. I don't think I'd buy an expensive bass - not this year anyway, although think it is time for a new one as my current bass is approaching a point where it will soon become the Bass of Thesius.

 

The BL of the first regular gigging band with a following that I played with, once said to me 'buy right and pay a little more in the first place and it will save you a lot of money in the long run'. He was quite right and I've followed his advice (in the main part) ever since. Whenever I haven't, I've always regretted it! 

 

You don't need to spend big on a bass that will cover every gig that you are likely to get called for. If people were to ask me for advice, I would say these days to buy a s/h Fender American Std Jazz Bass if you need a 4 string bass. You can pick them up for a grand (give or take) these days, and no BL or sound engineer is going to be less than happy if you turn up on a gig with one. You will still be gigging it in 30 year's time and it will justify the additional money if you we originally looking to spend a bit less, many times over. You should note that things change over time - ten years ago I would have advised people to pick up a s/h Stingray, which were really good value at the time and look at what they go for these days! 

 

Edited 34 minutes ago by peteb

[Lozz196]

Good advice Pete

[TimR]

It's going to depend on how much you earn from playing.

 

In the 90s my wife (a grade 8 flautist) bought a flute for £8k. At the time that was more than what both our cars added together cost. 

 

My bass cost £350, a month's wages. 

 

I still have it. 

[Misdee]

58 minutes ago, peteb said:

 

A guy I know is a pro bass player, who paid £3k for a CS P bass. For him, the requirement was for the best possible bass that will work for any gigs that he is going to get called for and that meant a high spec P bass. I've played it and it is a great bass and his reasons for buying it make complete sense. 

 

A mate of mine did pick up an Alembic for a very reasonable price and that's great as well. But a P bass is probably going to be more suitable for more gigs for a jobbing pro bass player. 

 

I'm in complete agreement with you Pete. Under normal circumstances I play a P-style Bass 90 percent of the time. 

 

My personal experience is that I have a couple of boutique P Basses and an ordinary USA Fender P Bass and in terms of sound and overall usability there's no real reason to get a boutique P except I could get the spec I wanted. I love them all, but in terms of playability and tone the Fender at about half the price does just a good a job in its own way. The boutique basses were an expensive and unnecessary indulgence (but I don't regret it).

 

When I see people paying upwards of five grand for a new boutique Precision Bass I just hope whoever buys it realises they will end up with something which at the end of the day is essentially very similar to a much less expensive example. P Basses are so much in vogue it's easy for some folks to get carried away with the mythology and lose sight of the practicalities.