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Beautiful basses you wish you'd bought.

jd56hawk

jd56hawk

Sep 12, 2011
18,717
42,163
The Garden State
#1
There's nothing quite like buying a new bass, and nothing worse than missing out on one and regretting it.
Especially when it's something you might never see again.
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#2
You know, I can't really think of any. I've seen lots of beautiful basses, but I never regretted not buying them. The ones I didn't buy were all; way too expensive; didn't fill a niche in my herd; or, were right handed (and I'm not). About the only bass I regret not buying (and wasn't particularly beautiful, anyway) was a very early model Eastwood Bass 4. I think the very first ones were 34" scale, and a long scale hollow body bass is the only thing I'm still missing...:whistle:
 
#3
im a sucker for the explorer body style (even though my fortes are funk and jazz :D)......and, although Im not a P-bass fan (or not a fan of single pickup basses in general), I almost pulled the trigger on a single split '83 Ibanez Destroyer with hsc in awesome condition ...beauty is in the eye of the beholder and i fell in love with it on sight, but let it go.....Im kind of glad though because I wound up buying a 2014 Ibby Destroyer with P/Js, which is really what I wanted, and the pickups in a tighter pattern than the '83 P/J Destroyers (including the P in the sweet spot)....so it worked out for me :)

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#6
Zero regrets. There are two instruments that, if I could have possibly afforded them and if they'd been for sale (neither was the case - hell, I couldn't afford them now) I'd have regretted not buying. 1934 000 12 fret Martin, 1945 D'Angelico archtop. Both sounded incredible. Perfect instruments. You rarely meet those. And i got to play them both, which was something. Very happy with my basses and my amps.
 
#7
I finally got a Maton JB4 Fretless Bass last year. I wanted to buy it but missed it when it came up for sale several years ago. Hard to find an 8.4lb neck thru with ebony board.

It replaced an 11lb Ibanez Musician Fretless boat anchor I had stopped taking to gigs 10yrs ago.
 
#8
If I let a nice bass go by, it was always because I had a different one in mind that I was either waiting for or saving up for.

The only one I really regret not putting hands on was a lefty Warwick Vampyre Dark Lord that a friend of mine had right down the road. He had it for a month or two before he sold it, but I was too busy to swing by and try it out. And I didn't want to part with the cash at the time. I only know of two in existence, here in the States anyway, so if one of them pops up again I will probably buy it reflexively.

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#10
Nothing to see here.

The only two instruments that I wish I could've taken out of the shop - a brand new PRS bass back in '87 and a second-hand Bourgeois acoustic in '96 - were not bought for the very same reason:financial inability to come anywhere near the amount that was required for me to become their new owner, no matter how badly I wanted them.

I've never taken a pass on an instrument that I liked and could afford at the same time.
 
#16
In the late 90s, I played a Pedulla Pentabuzz with a gorgeous flame maple top at a Guitar Center. It was used, priced at $1599. It was the most amazing instrument I had ever played ... mwah for days, the exact tone I hear in my head, etc. I went away to think about it for a few days, and it sold. I ended up buying another high-end fretless elsewhere (a Roscoe), but it never lived up to the Pedulla. And then, prices skyrocketed on the Buzz series of basses (for good reason imo). The happy ending is that I recently found a Buzz that I could afford, and now have it as my main instrument. Since I've gravitated back to four strings as my favorite format, this works out great.
 
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#17
Back in 2006, I tested a beautiful Dingwall Super J with P/J pickups. It was black, with black pickguard and maple fretboard, which looks fantastic IMO. To this day, I think it's the best bass I've ever played, and I wish I'd bought it. But I couldn't imagine spending that much on a bass. In fact, I still can't, but I know if I'd taken the plunge I wouldn't regret it today. It would have eliminated all four-string GAS; I'd just have my 2003 Fender J and that Dingwall.
 
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#19
jd56hawk said:
I know exactly what you mean.
Whenever I plug this is, I forget all about every other bass I've ever played.
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Yup, got one of those, too! A refinished tribby:

sally 2.jpeg


In single-coil mode, it's the only jazz bass I'd ever want.

She hasn't been getting quite as much playtime since the SB-2, though.
 
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#20
An early 70's Fender J, that a local luthier (Paul Saunders, who is now semi-retired) fitted with DiMarzio J-PUPs, VVT controls that were also pull switches for coil switching (the two Volume controls) and control bypass (Tone control).

Played like a dream (even to me as a player of only 6 months), especially after he had not only refretted and setup the thing, but also refinished the neck. Had that growly, mosnterous, funky J tone! Man...

Can't even remember what he was asking for it. But to this 17 year old (at the time), anything was too much!

Other than that, there really hasn't been another instrument that I was "Jones-ing" for, with exception of my now 99% done P-bass copy...

EDIT (3 minutes later)- actually, yes, a Spector NS-2 from the late 80's. Yeah, would love THAT tone (think Alice In Chains)!
 

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