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 

[TimR]

7 minutes ago, fiatcoupe432 said:

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 

I think the point here - for me anyway - is why would I spend £3k on a bass if I'm just doing pub gigs?

[tegs07]

6 minutes ago, TimR said:

I think the point here - for me anyway - is why would I spend £3k on a bass if I'm just doing pub gigs?

I guess it depends on circumstances. I saw The Hamsters play numerous times in pubs throughout the country. I suspect they made a reasonable living and a 3K instrument would be worthwhile. I know a photographer that used a camera and lenses costing way more than 3K to photograph plenty of bands - many playing in pubs.

[Misdee]

21 minutes ago, tauzero said:

 

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.

Yes, exactly my point. 

 

I could go on forever with examples...so why not! In 1984 (such a great year for bass, not least of all because the Bass Centre at Wapping opened its doors and a generation of British bass players emptied their pockets) a new pre-EB Stingray was £525. That's £1725 in today's money. That's half of what a Pino Signature Stingray will cost you now.

 

High-end bass prices have gone up in real terms when most other luxury goods have become more attainable, generally speaking. The reasons for that are probably very complicated, but to a certain extent I think the reason is that manufacturers of luxury products have discovered that a big part of what gives whatever they are selling value in the eyes of the public is a high price tag. The price confirms that what you are buying is superior quality.

 

Warwick can probably make a Thumb Bass more economically now than in the 1980's and their profit margin on each unit will be greater, but by pricing a proper German-made Warwick bass at £7775 they are making a statement about where they consider their basses to be in terms of marketplace position. They are saying we are up there with Fodera, Wal, F Bass et al. Some people might even believe them.

[jazzyvee]

16 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

I guess it depends on circumstances. I saw The Hamsters play numerous times in pubs throughout the country. I suspect they made a reasonable living and a 3K instrument would be worthwhile. I know a photographer that used a camera and lenses costing way more than 3K to photograph plenty of bands - many playing in pubs.

Is that "The Hamsters" with 'Snails Pace Slim' who used to spray his fretboard with WD40?   Superb band, I saw maybe early 90's in at the General Wolf in Coventry and Lichfield Arts doing a Hendrix tribute.

[ezbass]

6 minutes ago, Misdee said:

High-end bass prices have gone up in real terms when most other luxury goods have become more attainable,

Currently enduring a massive bout of ‘Ray GAS, £3k for a US example new and that’s not the most expensive, that’s in Fender Custom Shop money, territory. 

Edited 1 hour ago by ezbass

[tegs07]

7 minutes ago, jazzyvee said:

Is that "The Hamsters" with 'Snails Pace Slim' who used to spray his fretboard with WD40?   Superb band, I saw maybe early 90's in at the General Wolf in Coventry and Lichfield Arts doing a Hendrix tribute.

yep. they were great.

[tegs07]

21 minutes ago, Misdee said:

Yes, exactly my point. 

 

I could go on forever with examples...so why not! In 1984 (such a great year for bass, not least of all because the Bass Centre at Wapping opened its doors and a generation of British bass players emptied their pockets) a new pre-EB Stingray was £525. That's £1725 in today's money. That's half of what a Pino Signature Stingray will cost you now.

 

High-end bass prices have gone up in real terms when most other luxury goods have become more attainable, generally speaking. The reasons for that are probably very complicated, but to a certain extent I think the reason is that manufacturers of luxury products have discovered that a big part of what gives whatever they are selling value in the eyes of the public is a high price tag. The price confirms that what you are buying is superior quality.

 

Warwick can probably make a Thumb Bass more economically now than in the 1980's and their profit margin on each unit will be greater, but by pricing a proper German-made Warwick bass at £7775 they are making a statement about where they consider their basses to be in terms of marketplace position. They are saying we are up there with Fodera, Wal, F Bass et al. Some people might even believe them.

Wages, rents, wages, energy costs, wages, commodity costs, wages did I mention wages?

 

Anyone seen the price of RAM these days? A small prediction that in the near term the price of base metals, precious metals and timber is going nowhere but up. Musicman prices I think just reflect a wider trend. Many Mexican made Fenders now break the £1200 barrier. I don’t think this is simply down to profiteering.

Edited 1 hour ago by tegs07

[Hellzero]

1 hour ago, TimR said:

 

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. 

If you'd read the entire thread, which I doubt, I already gave a real world personal answer.

 

That said if you want something straight out, I'd say that if you are a cheapskate, anything above £100 is going to sound very expensive to your ears, if you are so rich that money is never an issue, I'd say anything above £1.000.000 could be considered expensive.

 

If you're an average John Doe, the limit would be around £2500, so basically above average monthly wages, which is £2633,5.

 

But, as I already wrote, so it will avoid you to read the whole thread, anything expensive is something beyond your budget, so everyone will have a different answer.

 

And, frankly, the argument of the gigging instrument is a bit dull as it's absolutely not the main point to consider.

 

That said any mass produced instrument is, to me (but it's the point here), way too expensive, especially Fender-like instruments, which are basically two planks screwed together.

 

Satisfied?

[Misdee]

11 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

Wages, rents, wages, energy costs, wages, commodity costs, wages did I mention wages?

 

Anyone seen the price of RAM these days? A small prediction that in the near term the price of base metals, precious metals and timber is going nowhere but up.

Some things are more expensive, but  probably some things are less expensive.

 

I don't think that bass makers have become greedy or rapacious as such, more that there has been a cultural shift in how they market their goods and present their worth.  If people will pay, who can blame them?

 

The big question is whether despite the proportionate price increases British people are more able to buy luxury items like high-end basses than they were 40 years ago because they are better-off overall. That's a difficult thing to quantify, but my instinct is that we are better-off, generally speaking. 

[tegs07]

2 minutes ago, Misdee said:

The big question is whether despite the proportionate price increases British people are more able to buy luxury items like high-end basses than they were 40 years ago because they are better-off overall. That's a difficult thing to quantify, but my instinct is that we are better-off, generally speaking

Honestly. I think that they are more likely to take advantage of basses made in countries where wages and rents are cheaper so can make the same thing for less.

[Misdee]

5 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

Honestly. I think that they are more likely to take advantage of basses made in countries where wages and rents are cheaper so can make the same thing for less.

Yes, that's a phenomena that mainly didn't exist back in the 1980's, except for things like JV Squiers and NJ Series BC Rich.

[peteb]

2 hours ago, TimR said:

I think the point here - for me anyway - is why would I spend £3k on a bass if I'm just doing pub gigs?

 

My question would be, why wouldn't you? 

 

I'm guessing that you could afford it and if you had a better instrument then it might make you play better / sound better / enjoy the experience more. Add to that, other musos might take note of your improved sound and more professional quality gear and start to consider you for other projects when they need a bass player, some of which might possibly be a step up from only playing pubs. 

 

[TimR]

1 hour ago, Hellzero said:

Satisfied?

 

Not really. 

 

I was replying to your reply to Tauzero who said that there was too much thinking going in.

 

Looks like there still is...

[TimR]

5 minutes ago, peteb said:

 

My question would be, why wouldn't you? 

 

I'm guessing that you could afford it and if you had a better instrument then it might make you play better / sound better / enjoy the experience more. Add to that, other musos might take note of your improved sound and more professional quality gear and start to consider you for other projects when they need a bass player, some of which might possibly be a step up from only playing pubs. 

 

 

That's an awful lot of variables none of which are "If I'm just doing pub gigs."

[peteb]

2 minutes ago, TimR said:

 

That's an awful lot of variables none of which are "If I'm just doing pub gigs."

 

Not really. It might help you to enjoy 'just doing pub gigs' a little bit more and, possibly, increase your options for other gigs that you might be able to do.