Just browsing through the Basses for sale on Basschat today and I was very surprised at the sums of money asked for basses. TBH a lot of the models are unknown to me but if I were to put a guestimate on the average price asked, it would be around £2000. Very few cheap bases, bases < £350, a lot around the £750 - £1000 figure and a surprising number at way above the last price. I too found that new basses in Dublin shops were way more expensive than guitars.
So are bass players more affluent? Is bass playing an older person thing, something to do when you get fed up churning out endless blues licks?
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. [Albert Einstein]
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I'm a bass player too.
I've played a beautiful bass, a mayones I think it was, and it was stupendously good. My old musicman sub (USA one) was astonishingly good too, but this handmade beast was brilliant. Fanned fret.
Are bass players more affluent? No, I don't think so.
Older person thing? Again, no, I don't think so.
Do you do it when you're fed up of blues licks? Nope. You do it when you want to go back to being a musician again.
However, having said that - the interesting question is: Are basses more than guitars? Yes, and no.
If you look at the new prices for Fender basses vs. their guitar equivalents, then they are about on a par - basses are maybe a bit more.
Are cheap basses crap? Again, yes and no. Some of the new ones are pretty terrible. Some are ok. Received wisdom is that the Yamaha cheapies are actually flippin' great for the money.
@Drew_TNBD is right - the Stingray is a brilliant bass. And it's actually not that expensive even new when you look at guitar equivalents. I got my made in USA Stingray EQ3 with active electronics for about £1450. It's incredibly well made, it sounds great, and it was extremely well set up out of the case. A really good, really well made USA guitar will cost at least the same, maybe more.
I also have a MIM Precision - it's a 50's Classic Precision - with a nitro finish. I bought it second hand for £500. It's superb. At least as good as any USA standard I've played. Probably better than all of them. It's seen as a 'sleeper' over on bass chat, and they don't come up often - you have to snap them up quick if you want one used for good money. I'd say it's better quality than any £500 guitar I've played.
In the expensive territory, above £1k and beyond, I think the reason you see more basses for sale in this bracket over on bass chat is the sheer quantity of high/very high quality small makers available. Far more than guitar. Active, passive, classic styling, modern shape, headless, 4 string, 5 string, 6 string, exotic woods, fan frets, fretless.. you name it, they are out there and there's loads of them that really really do play and sound fantastic.
If you list out guitar manufacturers in that bracket that you recognise as at the top of their game, there's far fewer than basses..
Fender (ish), Musicman, Rickenbacker, G&L, Lakland, Sandberg, Alembic, Wal, Status, Dingwall, Maruszczyk, Lull, Pedulla, Spector, Vigier, high end Yamaha, high end Ibanez, Shuker, Overwater... it goes on and on. And they are all just really really high quality. They are worth the money. So bass players buy them, and then bass chat is the obvious place to trade them or sell them. So much choice, variety, innovation and difference. Far more than in the guitar world.
But don't basses just go "donk, donk" at the bottom end? They can do. But they don't have to..
I'm an odd ball. I've got some sensible basses. A Stingray, A MIM Classic 50's Precision, and a '74 Precision which was much less than a '74 Strat or Tele would have cost. For all of these I spent less than I would have done on an equivalent guitar IMHO.
Oh, and then there's the small matter of dropping over £6k on a '64 Precision which is the most I've ever spent on an instrument, ever. Is it the best bass ever? Nope. Does it sound 10 times better than my MIM 50's Classic? Nope. Is it 3 times better than my '74 Precision? Nope. Is it 4 times better than my Stingray? Nope. So why the hell did I buy it? Because when I first played it, it spoke to me like no other instrument has ever done in the past.
I've spent at least twice that on basses in the last 10 years. Fucking ridiculous when you think about it!
I'm not locked in here with you, you are locked in here with me.
I'd estimate that most of the guitarists I know have spent similar sums, but it's spread over 4-5 guitars.
Sounds like a dick.
I think we spend equivalent amounts but guitarists spend more on pedals. If I just bought guitars and amps instead of pedals I'd have quite a few more.
https://speakerimpedance.co.uk/?act=two_parallel&page=calculator
Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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Or even a guitar section.
https://speakerimpedance.co.uk/?act=two_parallel&page=calculator