I've been around serious High End audio as a hobbyist and journalist/reviewer for twenty years and the same questions get asked there. The same question always comes up: Why do these things cost so much? Alembic basses and Wilson Audio loudspeakers ALWAYS generate that question.
The answers are the same in both cases. They are both small companies passionate about building the absolute best products they possibly can build, at the cutting edge of technology. Being small they have few economies of scale, and both work with exotic and expensive materials that require particularly excellent craftsmanship. Alembic's woods and Wilson's proprietary composites (used for speaker enclosures) are hellaciously expensive. They pay their people well and view them as investments, not cost centers. Furthermore, there is a greater demand for both products than their makers can supply.
I have owned my Alembic for eight years, and for the last year and a half had the incredible good fortune to have a review pair of Wilson MAXX 2 loudspeakers in house. I can't afford them, even at industry discount - they're $49k per pair at your local hifi hut - but the experience of being in the presence of something special, seeing the care taken in the design and build, not to mention their one of a kind sonic performance, is identical to what I experience with my Alembic. I will miss these speakers like I have missed no other component that has passed through my music room for review.
It is ironic that one pays a few hundred bucks for a bass or a pair of speakers that embody the work of hundreds of people, but thousands, or even tens of thousands of dollars for products that embody the love and dedication of a few dozen artisans. But the handmade bass/speaker has something that can best be called soul and the mass produced product ain't got that for jack. Artisanal products are worth what they cost because of the aesthetic and ethic of the people who build them.
It seems utterly insane to me to spend $10-20k on a vintage (read old and beat up) Fender just because it's old and beat up. It's still just a Fender and it does well the few things that Fenders do well. I suspect many of those doing this are collectors, like a couple of watch collectors I know. But at least they wear their fancy watches once in a while. My guess is that many of the instrument collecting fanatics never even play their instruments. Would you play a Clapton provenance Gibson that you paid $250,000 or more for? I think not. Instruments are made to be played, not mounted like a moosehead or stored in a vault.
A Fender Jazz (and I've owned half a dozen, including two currently) is a brilliantly designed simple tool that functions well. My Stan Sig Std is a work of art, a thing of joy, beauty and inspiration. Even after eight years, there are times I just sit and look at it for enjoyment. When I leave this planet, she is going back to Santa Rosa. If I'm not here to cherish her, I want her to go home, where she will be loved as I have loved her.
