Yeah, considering the difference in average price between bikes and basses a Fender, jazz or otherwise, could be considered the equivalent of a racing road bike and the similarity kind of holds. You could argue that even the occasional QC issues and weird products are not that far off… not to mention the hype and the brand cultism 
Now: what is the bass equivalent of a pedelec/e-bike? 
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Every motorcycle wreck I have been in, even the one super slow one where the bike just went down at like 5mph in grippy gravel, has resulted in deep gouges or scratches somewhere on my helmet. I just shake my head at the “no helmet” crowd. It’s idiotic.
Helmets, gloves, and over-ankle boots. Always.
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There’s not much to compare in general, lol. Mountain bikes in general are pretty expensive. And the aftermarket components are out of this world expensive. 
basses are much much cheaper even at the custom dingwall or fodera.
Back in 2005 the weight reduction started at about $1000-$1500 per pound, 
I don’t get the ‘no helmet’ thing either. Actually, that ‘debate’ can be pretty vitriolic on cycling websites…
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Yeah that just plain stupid. Cyclists are too heavy and damage is usually done to the higher mass and the noggin sits right at the top perfect place to stop any moving mass, lol. It makes more sense on a motorcycle but at speed it’s still a massive damage.
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I had an Independent Fabrications 29er Single Speed built with Jeff Jones titanium H-Bars, Chris King Hubs and headset, DTSwiss wheels, Thomson seat post and other parts. It had Shimano Crank Hope Mini hydraulic brakes,and Eggbeater pedals. Painted carbon black. Had several Brooks saddles for it. I had a lightweight WTB saddle but the Brooks were so comfortable. Cost as much as a car. Good ain’t cheap and cheap ain’t good when it comes to Mountain Bikes.
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I had the steel frame space frame with ti Jeff jones bar started off with 2 speed but then it’s so limited I put the Rohloff hub on and single ring. Love it much more, then I shipped it to Thailand, the guy who bough it turned it into a roadie hybrid, 
Hmmm! On my defense, he paid me well,
Speaking of Ti, these are some of my Ti bikes
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Speaking of bikes compared to basses, I have always ridden pretty low level bikes, too. I used to dream of Campagnolo gear, while simultaneously thinking I’ll never be rich enough to afford a Record (Super Record didn’t exist yet). I recently thought about buying $30 bottle cages to save 30 g. Then I decided to just leave it until I can afford some $1k mid-section wheels. Also, I ride my city bike every day, my road bike once a week, but I spend hundreds on the road bike every year. Next to nothing on the city bike. I wonder why. 
This would be a pedelec, from the vantage point of a roadie, a guitar hero guitar or a children’s guitar:
I am a big supporter of e-bikes: It’s just great that more people get to ride, ride higher, farther and be out in nature. And they’re great tools to commute. And the knob-and-knicker heads riding them are less of a problem on bikes than in cars. 
Personally, I’d love a recumbent, but I am worried about the sweat factor when going to work. Any experience with that?
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When I got my custom Seven Axiom steel, I love steel frame, my friends thought I’d go the DuraAce Groupo but I ended up with the 105 build set and I was never disappointed it’s never miss-shift or misbehaving. I love that bike. On my first ride at Griffith Park I was the last one up the climb but the first down the mountain probably because I was the heaviest
That said I’ve ridden some scary mountain bike trails but road riding is by far the most dangerous activity in SoCal. drivers don’t know what to do with the cyclists on the road. They thought we made of foam.
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I’ve got two steel framed bikes, the oldest is a 1982 Holdsworth Professional (531 tubing) that was a friend’s bike when we were at school. His father gave it to me over lockdown, his son has long emigrated to Australia, and its refurbish became my lockdown project. It looks wonderful, but by modern standards, rides like sh!t!!
The second is a 10 year old custom built Enigma. That bike is lovely to ride. It’s got 10 year old 10-speed Ultegra on it, but I won’t change it as it’s perfect as it is!
I’ve also got two carbon bikes, one an Uber-lite climbing bike, built for long alpine rides and more recently used for Everesting. Then there is my aero 1x. Now that is a bloody fantastic bike to ride, and surprisingly practical, considering it’s only got 11 gears!
There are yet more….and I shouldn’t forget the Wattbike. In reality, I do more km on that than any other of the bikes!
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This are my summer bikes…
…and this is the one I ride now
I started commuting some years ago and I ride almost every day. The only thing keeping me away from riding is practicing bass/guitar and of course, my wife😅
#nohelmet🤣
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That’s not very smart. This is coming from someone who’s had multiple concussions.
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Yeah. I’ve had enough 2-wheeled incidents (and near incidents) that were completely the fault of others to learn that no matter how good you think you are, it’s just a matter of time really. And in every single time things went sideways (or over the bars, for that matter), my helmet had scratches or gouges of some kind. About half the time or more, my gloves were severely abraded too.
Helmet always, gloves always. And on motorcycles, boots always.
It’s not just a speed thing either. Two of my three worst fuckups were at under 10mph.
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I like to ride most of the time in casual clothes without clip less pedals, or cycling kits or helmets, or backpacks etc… I think everybody should be free to do what he wants as long as he don’t put others! in danger.
Never wanted to start a debate about helmets, I have some. I just don’t use them, except it’s cold outside and I have to put something on my head anyway).
Sure I get, it but If you’re riding in traffic with cars then not wearing a helmet in my humble opinion isn’t super smart.
I’ve had concussions from mountain biking / skiing / climbing / motocross etc and it has definitely affected my long term memory. There are whole parts my life I have pictures of and zero recollection of any of it.
You have one brain and when you damage it you can’t order another one from Amazon.de
Do what you want of course, but there are hopefully people who love you who don’t want to be feeding you food through a straw for the rest of your life because someone was texting on their phone and ran you over.
Helmets may not be cool, but brain damage is super uncool.
My road bike was my main source of transportation for a few years, I probably put close to 3k miles on it and whenever I had to ride in traffic I always had a helmet on. Not worried about my ability to stay on the bike, but drivers are idiots. Luckily I live in WA and we have some very expansive bike path trails to ride on that can more or less take you anywhere in the greater Seattle area without ever having to enter traffic. Those rides I never wore a helmet. Never been involved in an accident but had a couple close calls, all of which were from pedestrians surprisingly. There was this hill by the house I grew up in, couldn’t tell you the grade but it was STEEP and about a half mile straight downhill. Couldn’t resist. Started at the top, about midway down I checked my speedometer and it read 48mph. Scariest thing I’ve ever done. Surely would have died in a crash. Oh to be 19 again…
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Anyway, I’ll go practice some bass. 
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