Renting out a bass?
 

Moderators, please feel free to move this if it is in the wrong place.

I currently ran into a situation where I can no longer play bass at my church. I am the only actual bassist there, but one of our guitar players is willing to give it a shot.

The church wants to either rent one of my basses or buy one from me. Which would be the better option? I'm not sure that I want to sell a bass, but I have 4 and could use the money for a project I'm working on for one of my basses or on a new cab.

The bass I would be renting/selling is a Schecter Stiletto Extreme 5.

Thoughts?

selling it is much easier logistically. With renting you have to figure out what happens if its damaged, lost, broken, etc....selling would also get you the full moneys worth in one payment.

Have you considered simply donating a bass to the church? If not one of your own basses, then something inexpensive like an SX or Squier. Good karma, and you might even be able to get a tax deduction. :)

If that's not an option then my advice is to sell, not rent. Then there will be no stress about wear & tear on the instrument, or who assumes liability if it's lost/stolen/damaged, etc.

What price would you rent or sell? I see a buy it now on ebay for $225.

I wouldn't rent it out, I'll tell you that! You are asking for trouble. I know it is church and everybody is honest and careful but we all know mistakes happen and if you're smart you won't make one by renting it out.

Thanks for the strong opinions guys, it's helped out a lot. I would donate one, but, to put it simply, I was asked to step down temporarily due to a situation that I don't know that I want to post here.

What would be a fair asking price for this bass? I don't want to ask too much, but I don't want to give it away either.

why dont they just buy a bass elsewhere?

Sounds like there's an issue present that would make selling it outright the only option. If I had been asked to step down for whatever reason I'm not sure I'd want to deal with them renting my bass.

If they pay you in cash, you might still be able to write it off as a donation...if you've a good tax man anyway!

Just help the church in locating a decent bass through your local classifieds / Craigslist. It doesn't have to be fancy. At my church, the bassist is only using a Samick and it sounds fine.

I'd just let them buy elsewhere, especially if you like the bass. A "good deal" for them will likely be pretty low for you.

I would tell them to look elsewhere, but I could use the money right now. I'm thinking of asking 350 for it, but I can't part with it for any less than 300. It had crossed my mind that they may try to lowball.

$350? Get your supporting membership & post it in the TB Classifieds. I bet it'd sell within a few hours or a few days at the most.

You might feel obligated, but you are not required to sell it to the church just because they showed an interest in it.

This has bad idea written all over it. No way I would rent it, and no way I'd sell it to them for less than it was worth.

Check the classifieds to find what others have sold for. Same with Guitar Center used and Ebay. Then you'll know what it's worth.

I would never ever recommend renting out of your basses, that is a receipe for disaster.

If you really do feel the need to give them one, sell it to them.

We cannot provide direct price quotes for non-supporting members. Sorry. Just look at tb classifieds and ebay, you should get enough market research from those two sources.

If you want $350 ask $350. They will then say wel will you take $300 and you will...

Well I think I'm just going to point them in the direction of a decent bass for whoever ends up playing. Hearing my fiancee's response to the situation kind of set me straight and made me realize how light I am making the situation seem.

With a handle like "Cougmeister" I can see why you don't play at church anymore. I don't know what a Schecter Stiletto Extreme 5 looks like(and I shudder to visualize it) but best keep that one for your Satan metal band. Hey why not just get the church a Dano longhorn? Cheap and has that angel harp kinda look. ;)

Cougmeister has no reference to what you are thinking of. I really liked the callsign cougar when I was younger, and came up with the username as an Xbox gamertag. That's just what I use now.

Uncalled for even in jest. I think you should sell see what the church is willing to pay and I also recommend becoming a supporting member those basses are nice and should sell if priced right I would also look at Craigslist if you want to go local

is it bad that i kinda want to know what went down with the church?