Buying a bass, sans strings question

[Double E]

I'd be suspicious...why has it been stripped of the parts? Besides, complete Ripper basses typically list in the $500 - $650 range with very few exceptions. The hull of the bass with a questionable past would not be worth $300. I would offer $150.

 

[eukatheude]

tester?

Sorry, i meant multimeter, we call them testers where i live.

You can use one to check if the pickups are working.

What is the highest I should pay to take this gamble?

I wouldn't pay more than 200.

 

[FatherG]

Consider how much it will cost you to "fill the holes" - add that to $300 and see what you can buy without gambling!

 

[bassgod76]

Sorry, i meant multimeter, we call them testers where i live.

You can use one to check if the pickups are working.



I wouldn't pay more than 200.

Once again, this bass is just the bass body with original bridge and bridge cover.

I offered 200, he countered with 250

 

[eukatheude]

Oh, i thought it had only the pups without the pots. I DEFINITELY wouldn't pay 250 for that.

 

[bassgod76]

Oh, i thought it had only the pups without the pots. I DEFINITELY wouldn't pay 250 for that.

What would you pay?

 

[Double E]

You almost have to assume that the bass was cannibalized of it's parts because it was not playable when it was whole. The seller would have to do some heavy duty convincing to make me believe otherwise.

So unless you have some true affinity for this particular bass and you are willing to end up with either a large luthier bill or wall art, you should just steer clear of this altogether.

IMHO...YMMV...etc...

 

[singlemalt]

^^^yep^^^ This is a money pit.

Take your $300 and get something you can play today. Save a couple hundred more and the TB classifieds are your oyster, grab a pearl.

 

[202dy]

I am glad to see eomeone else who thinks this as well. All the basses I have had or built that was the last thing I worried about was the quarter turn thing. Nothing wrong with doing it because you are only erring on the side of caution. Look up Carl Thompson on youtube and see him torque a bass with no strings. I was cringging but nothing popped that you could hear on the video.

Why would you cringe? As long as the nut turns easily nothing bad will happen. In the rare case that something bad did happen, that would indicate a problem at the manufacturing level, i.e. assembly, glue, wood, or engineering.

 

[bassgod76]

Yeah, I cancelled our meeting. Thank guys. Too bad. I'd love to own an old Ripper.

 

[bassgod76]

Here's the link

Link Removed