Shocked at the Fender bass prices in Dublin

Rocker

Wandered into a few music shops in Dublin last Saturday and had a look at some of the basses on offer.  Prices are steep, Fender especially.  From around €1400 to over €2200.  And Squier are not 'cheap' either, one was priced at €485 IMSMR.  I got my Aria STB for a lot less than the Squier.  OK it was second hand but none of the basses I tried showed up any major flaws in the Aria.  Possibly when plugged in the difference would be apparent but using the 'in your hands' feeling measure, the Fenders were no better than my bass.  As far as I could tell, the basses were more expensive than the guitars everywhere......

fretmeister

Fender prices have gone up massively. A US standard Jazz was about £1200, now they are £1650 ish.

Basses have always been more than the guitars. More wood = higher price.

guitarfishbay

Yeah massive price hikes recently.

ICBM

fretmeister said:

Basses have always been more than the guitars. More wood = higher price.

I can't imagine the amount of wood is a serious factor really, it's not one of the major costs in a Fender-type instrument if even important at all.

Basses do always seem more expensive than similar quality guitars though, and I've often thought it's because bassists tend to be more conservative and buy fewer of them, and less often - as well as there being fewer bassists than guitarists - so the companies simply need to make a bigger profit on each one to get the same returns.

lustycourtier

Arent guitars generally more expensive over there? Everytime I list a guitar on gumtree, I get so many messages from Ireland offering more than my asking price plus shipping as its still cheaper than over there....