Musicman fans

[dsanders]

I agree with Gospel, I would love an HH Bongo 6. I wish Lakland and MM would come up with a good 6 string.

[JBFLA]

My $0.02 worth -

 

Seems the Bass Builders and Luthiers are pretty well divided between those that want to offer custom built/individually designed basses at a custom price, and those that wish to appeal to a wider (i.e. typical) buyer.

 

The 1st is of the Nordstrand/Sadowsky/Ritter Benevente/Lull/etc group who are offering something special to a group of discriminating buyers (or, people like me who lucked into an exceptional deal).

 

The 2nd group (MM/G&L/Lakland Skyline/etc) consists of those who are targeting their market for the group of players who are looking to upgrade without over-extending their bank account.

 

The 2nd group have a tougher task as they need to appeal to a wider market base... lots of product that varies as to the needs of the demand of the market.

 

The 1st group only need satisfy those that are pre-determined to look at them as a possibility.

 

The 2nd group (MM/G&L/Lakland Skyline/etc) makes model changes to satisfy a void in their market share; i.e.- MM move to provide HH, HJ models of the 'Ray.

 

It's business, and nothing more. Those who relish the original 'Ray design are not likely to move to a competitors model. The new models are designed to attract attention from competitors.

 

For example - the only bass I've held on to for the last 20+ years is my B00*****/pre-EB 'Ray (despite my recent Lakland/Hoyt/Lull purchases).

 

http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0UwCFAmsYd!B29ybnnjsBI0TUc52fYmO8SD*ANMs142WQyKdzAhXaAbeYzi4bimyM5Dug!!K*VBkfNq!jJgedvlS7n3JSiXqx62su5kI5X1sco2rx4ZmxQB0X0dYFUaZH/DSCN4348.JPG.jpg

 

I don't believe it can be replaced by anything of recent manufacture - but the efforts of those 2nd group builders are not aimed my way.

 

There's also something to be said for the group of budget basses that are offering great instruments at great prices. Certainly, this is an effort to introduce new players to the possibilities that are available.

 

Bottom Line is that this could be the best time to be experiencing GAS. Though the business seems more segmented than ever before, the gear available to all players is wonderful. If there ever was a time to 'play everything you can, and buy what sounds/feels right to you', this is it.

I wish I had these options back in the '70s.

 

Jim