What is an expensive bass?

[HeadlessBassist]

As with all things, the number increases as time goes on...

 

For me, it's the £2000 level at the moment. I have basses that are in the £3-4000 bracket, but I'd consider £2000 upwards to be an 'expensive bass'. Of course, it's all down to your personal circumstances, but the Fender range is a good place to start, with the entry level American stuff now starting at 14-1500, and the full Corona-ese stuff now nudging the £2000 barrier and upwards.

 

Anyone else remember when the American Standards were hanging on shop walls priced at £700? They seemed unattainable at the time, too!

[bass_dinger]

9 hours ago, tauzero said:

Put it like this: a box contains a completely unidentified bass which is to perform a completely unidentified function which will fall within its capabilities.

 

Putting it that way, £200 is expensive to me.

 

However, both of my current basses are more expensive than that, because they are special, or rare, or hard to get hold of in the UK.  So, I paid more for them, because I knew that that was the going rate for such instruments.

 

 

[tauzero]

2 hours ago, Hellzero said:

Anything over zero (0) as you'll assess its value by simply looking at it.

 

If you can give it a go, you'll have to assess a lot of specifications before saying x is too expensive and it's always impossible to be objective as there are too many variables here, including personal taste and "wealth".

 

You could also do the maths using the value of the material only without taking into account the added value of the craftsmanship, which again would be wrong.

 

Putting it the way you propose is not a possible option as humans need a point of reference to give a value.

 

Simply ask a non musician not interested in music the value of your instrument and you'll get a better answer, but get ready for a huge disappointment concerning what you consider expensive as it will become highly overpriced.

 

"That's an expensive bass"

 

"Why, how much is it?"

 

"£1000. That one over there, that's a cheap bass"

 

"How much is that then?"

 

"£2500"

[TimR]

2 hours ago, Hellzero said:

Anything over zero (0) as you'll assess its value by simply looking at it.

 

If you can give it a go, you'll have to assess a lot of specifications before saying x is too expensive and it's always impossible to be objective as there are too many variables here, including personal taste and "wealth".

 

You could also do the maths using the value of the material only without taking into account the added value of the craftsmanship, which again would be wrong.

 

Putting it the way you propose is not a possible option as humans need a point of reference to give a value.

 

Simply ask a non musician not interested in music the value of your instrument and you'll get a better answer, but get ready for a huge disappointment concerning what you consider expensive as it will become highly overpriced.

 

The question is what do YOU think is expensive.

 

Not what does someone else consider expensive. 

 

So most of the variables disappear. All your points of reference are fixed and different to everyone else's. 

[tauzero]

19 hours ago, Misdee said:

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.

 

My Thumb NT cost £900 in 1988, which apparently is the equivalent of £2750 in today's money. The equivalent would be a Masterbuilt, €8900 plus shipping. That's wildly outstripping inflation, and shoots past "too f*cking expensive" into "you've got to be f*cking kidding" territory.

[fiatcoupe432]

On 20/12/2025 at 21:12, tauzero said:

I've seen quite a few times people saying that they wouldn't want to take an expensive bass to the Dog & Trumpet, but what is an expensive bass? I've got several basses that I class as expensive basses, but maybe my idea of expensive is calibrated differently to other people. To me, the threshold is £1000, which may just be an indicator that I'm rather old and my Warwick Thumb cost me £900 in 1988, and that was bloody expensive. I think most of us would agree that a Fodera Yin Yang at £7kish is expensive. But where does everyone else place that marker?

 

This isn't about what you get for the money, or any sentimental value, it's purely a monetary thing. What is the minimum price for a bass to be considered expensive?

Expensive or not expensive I would still  take the bass out and play it . What is the point otherwise of owning a nice instrument? It's like buying a nice car just to have it parked in the garage