What defines Quality and what's it worth?

[kevmove02]

I hope someone will help me out in trying to understand what I think is a contradiction: is it possible to get real quality without paying for it? Case in point: several companies offer Jazz Basses with equivalent features, yet the price disparity is outrageous enough to make you say "someone is telling an outright lie". If it is possible to build a musical instrument for less than $200 and have it perform at the same level as a $1500 instrument, why would anyone ever buy the more expensive instrument?

I am aware that every manufacturing company will offer products that rank as "good", "better" and "best", so I get the price tiers. I also get that with modern manufacturing, it is possible to build an affordable instrument that surpasses the expectation set by its price. What I don't get is the seemingly automatic upgrades that occur when someone buys a "bargain instrument": new preamp, new pickups, new bridge and sometimes new tuners. When you consider the upgrade costs, wouldn't it have been more expedient just to buy the more expensive instrument in the first place?

I will acknowledge that for some, the journey itself is more important then the result. I modded both my Jazz and Precision Bass guitars, and learned a ton from the process. But at the end of the day, I'm not sure that I am better off having done the mods, I could have used the money I spent on the mods and added it to the price I paid for the bass and gotten an instrument with the features I wanted. I'm sure that I could have found a bass that had hotter pickups or a high mass bridge or a preamp that gave me the sound shaping options I desired.

I don't own any really expensive instruments. On the occasions where I played them, I never thought, "My low budget instrument sounds just as good as this overpriced one." On the other hand, I have never said "how can I live with this piece of junk bass after playing this bass that surely fell from heaven?"  So what is the truth? Is there a low cost bass that, without modification, sounds as good as any other bass? Or are we all participating in a viscous cycle of no satisfaction, because the sound we want is just out of our reach? What defines quality in a bass guitar and at what cost can we acquire it?

[ddwilkins]

Yes you can, SX for an example. Also, I'm building mine right now and it will be quality, by my standards and will sound just as good if not better than most basses out there, and will be much cheaper.

[phbrown]

A lot of questions, and I am unqualified to answer but I feel like procrastinating at work right now so I'm gonna answer. I erased a lot of your original post so I could easily see the questions.

Is it possible to get real quality without paying for it?

Yes.

Why would anyone ever buy the more expensive instrument?

The reason some buy the more expensive instrument is because they can and you can't/won't buy it.

When you consider the upgrade costs, wouldn't it have been more expedient just to buy the more expensive instrument in the first place?

It would be more expedient to purchase the instrument that has the properties that you desire. This is only possible if you know what you desire and if you have the cash right then and there. Many times we don't have the money so we have to settle for less right now. The option to mod allows a bass player to continue to play and get closer to the sound they desire.
There is also the fact that your sound changes as you continue to grow as a bass player. Therefore your desire for an instrument could just as easily change.

So what is the truth?

The truth is there are plenty of less expensive basses that can preform such as the SX.

Is there a low cost bass that, without modification, sounds as good as any other bass?

Please see previous answer. In addition lets not forget that the player is also important. We have all heard of a talented musician picking up a cheap instrument and making it sound amazing. Someone gave an example of this by comparing a bass to a man's wife and the results of what could happen if someone is playing the instrument... I might need to go look that thread up.

Or are we all participating in a viscous cycle of no satisfaction, because the sound we want is just out of our reach?

A person's sound will change over time unless they learn how to conquer GAS and learn how to coax almost any sound out of their instrument.

What defines quality in a bass guitar and at what cost can we acquire it?

To me a quality instrument is one that is consistent. You can purchase it at the price of an SX. (disclaimer I have never played an SX so I hope they sound good.)









Thank you for this brief distraction. Now its time to get back to work

[berbie]

After you reach a certain moderate price, the difference in the sound of the bass becomes less.  Things like meticulous crafting, exotic and expensive woods and well crafted control parts that are secure and tight, well finished frets, neat and careful interior wiring and soldering, etc build up the cost.  When you look at the very expensive basses, you can see the difference.  And as a rule, they are easier to play.

To me, they don't sound a great deal better if at all.(than the moderately priced ones)  The old worn saying is true.  The greatest determining facter in how a bass sounds is the person playing it.(his technique, method of digging into the strings, the amp used, etc)  It seems especially true with basses.

That is what I have observed.

[kevmove02]

Thanks for the feedback. One thing I anticipated, but forgot to address is the "great bass players make cheap basses sound good" response. Does really matter if Jeff Gordon can win a race driving a Hyundai? In fact, if Jeff Grodon in fact won a race driving a Hyundai, would many people go out and buy one? There is a video floating around with some Bass Monster playing the strings off of a 5 string Squier, but very few people jumped in and said, "I am not convinced, let me go buy a Squier." In fact, most people said "I don't care how good dude made that bass sound, I still think its a trash bass." So for the sake of argument, let's bypass the "great playere can make any instrument sound good".

Let's assume you have $700 to spend on a bass guitar. Can anyone make the case that they can always build a better bass, starting with an SX as the foundation, than they could buy outright?

Then once you complete that exercise, go out and try to sell that bass. Which bass retains its value? ANd just for the sake of argument, assume that the person you are selling this bass to knows exactly what they are getting. I think its pretty consistent that the builder/modder always thinks that their creation is worth more than people will pay. In certain instances, I thnk this argument holds water, as is the case with a Sadowsky or Ken Smith. But for the most part, a person who buys a low cost instrument, then modifies, rarely gets their investment back on the resale. I'm sure somebody will now interject how they always get their money back, but the truth is that when you go to resell an instrument that is not stock, the buyer normally wants it put back to stock. On a more personal note, buying a modded bass that you don't know the history on is like buying a car without a maintenance history: buyer beware.

[floaded27]

also labor and aesthetic factors into the price of the higher instruments.

LABOR:
Now if you have one guy building each bass, then you have to account for time spent. ddwilkins says he is building a bass that'll be as good as, and much cheaper than most basses out there, but if he's building a quality instrument, im doubting he's factoring in labor simply because its for himself. if something u was building for someone required $100 worth of parts but took u 4 months to build, would u just charge them ONLY $100? heck no! 4 months of ur life went into this. ur time is worth something. which is easy to neglect when you're doing it for yourself.

Now for a huge factory making these basses, the number of basses made will way outnumber the number of basses ddwilkins makes (1) in that same amount of time. and if said factory for example could produce 100 basses for every 1 ddwilkins makes, they are not necessarily paying wages for 100 people. So more product with less labor means we got some wiggle room in the price.

AESTHETIC:
However, ddwilkins can build his bass however he wants, switch it up midway through, or spice it up at the end. whatever he wants. and its different from whatever is out there, even if its modeled after something in particular. and when he builds his next one, it'll be slightly different, or altogether different.

All 100 of those basses from the factor are exactly the same!

so in summary:
Independent of the sound and quality of bass:
1. Individual makers will charge for their labor, which adds to the price of the bass
2. People will pay a premium for something unique/different/custom

[kevmove02]

While a few of you come up with a clever response, I did some quick research on the costs of upgrades. This is by no means an exhaustive list or the best pricing available, but consider this

Sx 5 string Jazz  $129
Bart Preamp       $145
Nordstrand P/U   $185
Hipshot Bridge    $100
Daddario Strings $  21
Total  Costs:     $580

Now how much bass could I get for $580, with no upgrades? I went to Musicians Friend and found 9 basses for that cost. One of the choices was a  Schecter Stilletto Custom 5 and an Ibanez SR505 5 String. Now I have never played an SX before, so I can't really comment on their quality. But If I had the choice of buying a Schecter Stilletto Custom 5 or a Ibanez SR505 or starting a do it yourself project with the SX, I'm buying either the Schecter Ibanez. And before someone says, just as you could find all the parts I listed cheaper, I could find the basses cheaper also.

[kevmove02]

floaded27, that's a great point, which can't be overstated: the value to the individual who is putting the bass together. From that viewpoint, you can completely eliminate the brand name of the starting point, because by the time you finish, you would be hard pressed to prove its the same bass you started with (for those who followed this debate over at Talkbass, this applies if your starting point is a Fender). The carefull assembly of select parts to build a bass that is greater than its parts becomes real once we put our personal mark upon it. True story: I bought one of those el cheapo Ibanez GIO basses for $100. I traded it in about a month later and got $90 for the trade in. The guy doing the trade in loved the matching cross decal that I placed on the headstock. So in that context, I could see how building a bass may get you value on resale. But is that what happens for most DIY projects?

I'm no master craftsman. I can use a solder gun and understand basic wiring. After I finished upgrading the pickups on my Jazz Bass, I promised myself that I would never go through that ordeal again. The number of times I had to redo the work and the number of hours that it took me to finally get a playable instrument was not worth the effort. The experience also taught me that I would never buy a bass from someone who made upgrades on their own, unless I knew they were close to being certified as a luthier.

So if you are the man when it comes to installing/upgrading bass instruments, you might have a new business opportunity. From what I see on these boards, most people ended up trying to sell the instrument they modded for more money than people are willing to pay and end up losing what they invested, both time and money.

[dhagler]

Several random thoughts:

Quality, or the perception thereof, is subjective. The person who claims his SX Jazz sounds as good as a Squier, or that his Squier sounds as good as a MIM Fender Jazz, or his MIM Fender Jazz sounds as good as an MIA Fender Jazz, or his MIA Fender Jazz sounds as good as a Sadowsky, or....you get the idea.

We assoicate quality with a price point, but this association is not always relevant because value also has merit. The Hyundai Sonata is a prime example of this idea.

Those who are in constant pursuit of the ideal tone will buy, sell, and trade equipment in what I believe is a futile attempt. There are so many variable factors in achieving a certain tone, and even if you could duplicate all of them in search of Marcus Miller's sound, if you and Marcus were in the same room playing the same song on the same bass through the same rig set to the same settings it wouldn't be the same because you are not Marcus. I admire my fellow LGM brethren and sisters who mod basses in search of a certain tone, or who spend significantly more money than I do on gear, but I do not envy them. At the end of the day, I am still going to [insert name of church here] and playing my bass for a congregation that wouldn't know tone if it walked up and introduced itself to them (in fact most of them call what I play a guitar).

While a few of you come up with a clever response, I did some quick research on the costs of upgrades. This is by no means an exhaustive list or the best pricing available, but consider this

Sx 5 string Jazz  $129
Bart Preamp       $145
Nordstrand P/U   $185
Hipshot Bridge    $100
Daddario Strings $  21
Total  Costs:     $580

Now how much bass could I get for $580, with no upgrades? I went to Musicians Friend and found 9 basses for that cost. One of the choices was a  Schecter Stilletto Custom 5 and an Ibanez SR505 5 String. Now I have never played an SX before, so I can't really comment on their quality. But If I had the choice of buying a Schecter Stilletto Custom 5 or a Ibanez SR505 or starting a do it yourself project with the SX, I'm buying either the Schecter Ibanez. And before someone says, just as you could find all the parts I listed cheaper, I could find the basses cheaper also.

I would like to make one comment about kevmove's list of upgrades. The bass he upgraded in his scenario was a Jazz, and neither of the two basses he mentioned were Jazz basses. The MIM Fenders are a little more expensive now (maybe around $700) so his upgrades are good if the sound rivals an MIM Jazz, great if the sound rivals an MIA Fender Jazz (which go for around $1500). But what if you do all that modding and then A/B the modded bass with an original SX and hear no appreciable difference? I think sometimes we hear something different because we think we are supposed to given we paid $XXX.XX on upgrades. Also, kevmove's prices are for parts only. If you are not doing the work yourself you must factor in the cost of labor.

I'm no master craftsman. I can use a solder gun and understand basic wiring. After I finished upgrading the pickups on my Jazz Bass, I promised myself that I would never go through that ordeal again. The number of times I had to redo the work and the number of hours that it took me to finally get a playable instrument was not worth the effort. The experience also taught me that I would never buy a bass from someone who made upgrades on their own, unless I knew they were close to being certified as a luthier.

I'm less of a master craftsman than you. In fact, the most I would do to my basses is install straplocks (which I have done). I can put a price tag on peace of mind, as well as my time. And knowing that the work is done correctly, and that the person who did the work will stand behind it is worth whatever I paid for the work to be done. To me, it's like oil changes on my vehicles: I could do it myself, but for not a lot more money I could have it done in at least half the time.

[kevmove02]

Well said dhagler. One of the things that provoked me to start this thread is that I don't really understand how people know their instrument sounds better after modifying it with parts that add to its features. For example, going from passive to active is clearly adding a feature that wasn't there before: a greatly enhanced tone shaping ability. Conversely, I hear people claim that a bridge upgrade gives them more sustain. Under what circumstances would a bass player need to hold a note so long that they would realize that they don't have enough sustain? I must be doing something wrong because I spend alot of time practicing muting strings.

After reading all of the threads that address the subject of modifying your bass and how great these SX bass seem to be, I visited the Rondo website and came really close to ordering one, just to see what all the hype was about. Just as I was about to hit the order now button, I got an email notification. It was Yamaha notifying me that they shipped a part I ordered. That's when I remembered this experience:

A couple of years I discovered that alot of the more popular praise and worship songs use phrasing that can only be done properly on a 5 string bass. So I did some research on Ebay and found a listing for a RBX765a Active 5 string. I checked the reviews on it and it seemed most people thought it was a pretty good bass, so I place my bid. 2 days and $125 later, I was the proud owner of a 5 string bass. If you're wondering why I got it so cheap it was because the horn had a 1 inch gash down to the wood. It seemed odd that this would cause people to reject this bass for that reason, considering that "road worn" instruments are selling for over $1000. I counted my blessings, went don't to the local drug store and color matched some enamel nail polished and repaired the gash. I replaced the strings and performed a complete setup. It been flawless up until the nut brought last week, which I am replacing for the sweet sum of $7.95.

Now someone can claim that they could buy an SX and mod their way into having a bass that sounds as good as my 5 string Yamaha. The difference would be that for about the cost of an SX (and a bottle of nail polish) I got a bass that I didn't have to make a single mod or spend anytime trying to get it up to snuff. And more importantly, I have never had to say, "my bass sounds just as good as. . ."

[floaded27]

Well said dhagler. One of the things that provoked me to start this thread is that I don't really understand how people know their instrument sounds better after modifying it with parts that add to its features.

it depends on the part being modified. sometimes i do think people be making stuff up..."yo, i put these new straplocks on and now my bass sounds as good as the bass that so and so plays". i wonder about how much difference u get between this or that bridge, a bone nut vs plastic nut, etc. But things like pickups and preamps, can be like night and day improvements on a bass. and sometimes its just cheap electronics, so paying for quality almost guarantees better performance.

when i put the audere in my bass i took out that pre that comes with the schecter custom 5, and it looked like it couldve been a midterm project for a high school shop class. it looked cheap and performed just as it looked and the audere was a well noted improvement.

While a few of you come up with a clever response, I did some quick research on the costs of upgrades. This is by no means an exhaustive list or the best pricing available, but consider this

Sx 5 string Jazz  $129
Bart Preamp       $145
Nordstrand P/U   $185
Hipshot Bridge    $100
Daddario Strings $  21
Total  Costs:     $580

Now how much bass could I get for $580, with no upgrades? I went to Musicians Friend and found 9 basses for that cost. One of the choices was a  Schecter Stilletto Custom 5 and an Ibanez SR505 5 String. Now I have never played an SX before, so I can't really comment on their quality. But If I had the choice of buying a Schecter Stilletto Custom 5 or a Ibanez SR505 or starting a do it yourself project with the SX, I'm buying either the Schecter Ibanez. And before someone says, just as you could find all the parts I listed cheaper, I could find the basses cheaper also.

quick comment on this.
#1 u cant add strings as an upgrade.
#2 ur adding nordstrand pickups (great reviews) which are more expensive (and often more highly favored) than the barts that come with the ibanez or the sucky (my opinion) EMGs that come with the schecter.
#3 for the schecter, u'll find yourself wanting to upgrade that pre, so add that to the cost of the schecter as well.
#4 u can subtract the $100 for the bridge because that may not be totally necessary.

and last but not least, neither the Schecter nor the Ibanez are Fender clones (different string spacing, neck dimensions, scale, etc). So if you find yourself as that "gotta have that fender style bass" neither of these alternatives are worth the purchase. and if u hate the Fender clone (i did for a good while, still not that fond of them) the SX upgrade route would unlikely be an option.

[malthumb]

I would probably approach this from a different direction.  Quality, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.  Instead of trying to attach value to quality, I would start with..."How much should a bassist expect to pay for a performance-worthy bass?"  By that I mean a bass that you would be willing to use in a live performance setting.

After you establish that level, all other options or modifications would need to sort of earn their way in.  Even then, we have to realize that some of the optional content lends N-O-T-H-I-N-G to the quality of the sound.  That is why I propose setting the baseline at least amount of money to spend on a performance ready instrument.

Now, for a Fender Jazz / Precision type of bass, I would set that number at around $450.  You can get a decent used passive Fender MIM for that price.  You can get an SX for less, but in my limited experience with SX (donated one to a school, one to a church) I would want to upgrade them before I played them in front of a large crowd.  I do occasionally play the 5 string I donated to a church when I play at that church.  It'll pass, but the tone quality is in my opinion nowhere near that of any of my own 5 string basses. 

For a more modern type of bass, I'd probably set the number a little higher, maybe $550,  because you are almost always dealing with an active instrument, so you have a preamp included in the material cost.

Now, back to the quality thing.  This is something that we deal with in my company.  How does the customer define quality?
 
There's FUNCTIONAL quality / reliability.  How well does the product do what it is supposed to do and how reliably does it do that?  For a bass that is how good and solid is the tone?  How powerful is it?  Do you have to crank it to 11 just to be heard over the organ?  Does it distort at high volume?

There's CONTENT quality.  Bling.  Goodies that don't necessarily translate into function.  Cool pickguards and pickup covers and bridge covers.  Gold plated or black tuners and bridge instead of the standard stainless.  Mahogany core instead of basswood.  Of course the wood CAN (but doesn't always) impact the sound (functional) quality.

There's PERCEPTUAL quality.  This includes workmanship, both visual (pretty grains, precise contours, unique body design, well filed frets) and tactical (feel and speed of the neck, joint alignment, balance).

Different people attach different levels of importance to each of these areas of quality.  And that is part of the reason we have so many choices as bassists.  Different products excel in different areas of quality.  The more expensive brands like Alembic, Ken Smith, MTD, Roscoe, Lakland, Sadowsky, excel in pretty much all areas and charge for it.  For those who don't VALUE top quality in all those areas, these brands are over-priced.  For others, the ability to get exactly what you want with top notch quality is an affordable luxury.

Peace,

James

[kevmove02]

I love it! After attending some "corporate" sales training, it changed the whole way I approached buying. I recognized when someone was "gaming" me and when I was working with someone who really understood their product, understood my needs, and recognized how to meet their need to sell something while meeting my need to buy something.

You bring up 3 very key points: first, it's hard for me to acknowledge functional quality without a proven track record of reliability. I have never personally seen nor played an SX bass. That doesn't mean that they aren't functional; I just haven't encountered anyone who owns one. Second, content quality is easy to fake on the surface. For me, fit and finish makes all the difference, like when you get in a well made car and close the door. You know what I'm talking about! Third, perceptual quality, can be long term or fleeting. I remember owning this 1987 Honda Civic, It was an ugly yellow with rust spots all over the place! The driver side door lock was broken and the passenger side door handle was missing! When I would fill the gas tank, the gauge would go up to 1/2, then go back down to E, so I had to keep track of how many miles I drove to make sure I didn't think the tank was half full when it was actually on empty! Despite all those problems, that car never broke down. Not in the middle of heatwaves nor in the a blizzard, it just kept running. My wife and I thought we would get rid of it once it broke down. It never did. We eventually gave it away to some college kid. I will always equate quality and reliability with the Honda brand. Now Toyota is a whole different story now . . . I know there are many great brands of bass guitars that don't get the respect they deserve. I know there are bass players who plug away on inexpensive instruments and could care less about what people think about the name on the headstock. For me, having "Fender" on the headstock gives me the comfort and assurance that I am in a long line of great players doing their thang on a great instrument. Rondo has a long way to go before I could say the same for them, especially when people say "It's a great bass for what you pay for it."

[browntree]

Here's my few pennies on the matter... IMO... My first bass was a Squirer (a single tone button)  and then I got an Alvarez 5 string (treble and bass).  As I learned more about technique and playing styles, I realized I needed a 3 Band Eq. I bought a Schecter and modded it.  It had good sound and I still consider it to be a really great bass...I mean it's got like $400 worth of electronics in it.  With all of that being said, I just bought a Michael Tobias 535.

I've had it for about four days and in that time I've done a little studio work, played some gigs, and played at church.  Hands down, it's the best bass I've every owned by far.  Honestly I was skeptical at first that there could be that much of a difference...well IMO there is.  As good as my Schecter sounded with the Fatstacks and Aguilar preamp, it can't even hold a candle to the MTD.  It's not just pickups and electronics that make a good bass.   

I've come to learn that if the quality of wood and construction/composition of wood are also high, the resonance of the woods are remarkable.  I believe that this is what Luthiers capture in their craft; this ability to choose woods for their tonal resonance and also to construct them in a seamless manner  All pickups and electronics do are enhance (pick up) the true tone of the wood. 


Browntree

And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of music, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy. I Chronicles 15:16

[Mysteryman]

With some of these basses I wonder if it's in the cut of the wood. The cheaper basses may be made from maple but is it the best of the wood or what's left over? When you eat beef it still is beef but it may be from a different part of the cow. You can buy ribs and I could buy brisket and make the meat taste like ribs.

I said that to say that you may get the same sound off cheaper parts. Is it worth it? Time will tell. A well kept cheap bass is just as good as a high quality bass. The higher quality seem to hold up better to wear and tear.

[kevmove02]

That is an interesting line of thought. I think we are interchanging the words "cheap" and "inexpensive" as though they mean the same thing. I believe you can purchase an inexpensive instrument and have it last a lifetime of steady usage, while a cheap instrument is destined to fall apart, because the components were not designed to last very long.

While thinking about this, it struck me that it would not be a bad idea to buy 2 "parts" basses from Rondo to build one that has the features I want, without spending a lot of money. For example, If I bought the SX PBG@ and SX Ursa 3 MN BK, I would end up with a choice of ash or alder bodies to go with my maple neck with a rosewood or maple fretboard, and it would only set me back $248. A quick check of allparts.com reveals that if I bought an ash body precut for a P/J setup, it would set me back $265. Add a set of EMG Active P/J pickups for $159 and my out of pocket cost is up to $424 (adding labor costs would make this whole exercise pointless).

Moment of Truth: could I buy a 4 string bass with an ash body and maple neck/fretboard and active P/J pickups for $424? I got close. On Ebay, I found a Fender Deluxe P Bass Special 4-String Bass with hardcase for $399.  So at the end of the day, would my efforts produced a bass equal to the one I could have bought?

[browntree]

So at the end of the day, would my efforts produced a bass equal to the one I could have bought?

I'm not sure your efforts will produce a bass equal to the one you could have baught.  That's tough to answer...it could...or it couldn't...Really, it will come down to how well you can do the labor.  Grant it, you aren't paying for labor, but you must replace the paid labor with equally as good labor.  This is the first bass you are building right?  My first guess is (as with anything) there's going to be a trade off (a learning curve), given this is your first build.  Luthiers spend lifetimes mastering the craft of instrument building. 

To me, it's not worth building a bass unless you can get access to the top notch woods/wood compositions that the good Luthiers use.  You can get the pickups/electronics and other hardward fairly easily.  I think this is why most folk mod out a bass. 

Browntree

And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of music, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy. I Chronicles 15:16

[floaded27]

To me, it's not worth building a bass unless you can get access to the top notch woods/wood compositions that the good Luthiers use.  You can get the pickups/electronics and other hardware fairly easily.  I think this is why most folk mod out a bass. 

actually it might be. i doubt any of the great luthiers decided on Monday that they would attempt to build a bass and went exotic wood shopping on Tuesday. U probably need some honing of the skills on the lesser expensive woods. Now access to tools for the craft i would say would be a real decider on undertaking a project like this.

[browntree]

actually it might be. i doubt any of the great luthiers decided on Monday that they would attempt to build a bass and went exotic wood shopping on Tuesday. U probably need some honing of the skills on the lesser expensive woods. Now access to tools for the craft i would say would be a real decider on undertaking a project like this.

There is far more that goes into wood choice other than just buying a piece of wood.  Environmentally controlled curing, different cuts of the grain, types of wood, etc... You are right Floaded27...some of the pieces of wood they choose take careful preparation and choice (depending on how long the wood has cured, or other conditions). 

That's just my point...
they don't just buy a piece of wood and start building... it takes knowledge of resonance, and wood quality... Unless you know this, well you are just choosing a piece of wood that you heard someone mention (mahogany, bubinga, maple, etc...).  You could take say for example a piece of bubinga and cut four different slabs from the same piece of bubinga.  Each cut can have a different tonal resonance.

Browntree

And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of music, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy. I Chronicles 15:16

[dhagler]

Based on what I read about building, it sounds like an activity with a learning curve associated with it. The first bass you build would be what you would learn from so the second bass would be an improvement, and the third an improvement on the second, and so on.

I have admiration for you guys, but not envy.