Buying an instrument without trying it out

[GZ2]

How many cats have purchased a bass without seeing it and not liked it once you got it. Just curious.

 

[wolf7883]

Nope...I always play 'em first...Actually, even thinking about doing that scares me!

 

[ironrat]

A SX PJ, great bass! It just needed a setup...and TIs of course!

 

[garp]

Just once. It was a terrific bass, but I simply wasn’t ready to transition from a 34" scale to a 35" scale instrument, so I quickly liberated it without taking a financial loss.

 

[Time Consumer]

Got my spector from bassnw.com, never had a problem, love my bass.

 

[Marill]

where I live, we don't have the luxury of trying out an instrument before buying, because the shops will only stock a limited few models and they refuse to bring a particular instrument in unless you put down money for it - which means you buy it.

So either we need to make do with the limited variety we have, or buy without trying

 

[NoobOnRoad]

Well, you must know what you like. Me right now, since I did it once and regreted it, now I know what to buy without trying it. Short scale,thin neck. Can't go wrong when you know what you like.

 

[rosanne]

I have purchased three basses without playing them first. Two I ordered, so no problem there. The other one I was very unhappy with - it had a loose E string. Don't think I'll be doing that again.

I am fresh out of money so I'm not planning to buy a bass any time soon anyway.

 

[blendermassacre]

for me even playing it once for 5-10 min isn't enough. I really have to play it to figure out if I'm going to like it or not. That being said, I went through 10 basses last year.

 

[bound'n'blocked]

Considering all three Jazz basses I own came from Ebay, then yea, I've never tried one out before I bought it. I'm happy with all three tho! I really dont expect it to be perfect when I get it, I kinda expect to have to do a little work to it.

BnB

 

[Moe Monsarrat]

Every time you order a custom bass you are most certainly doing exactly that. You put your money up based on faith in the luthier. Of course you never know until you pick it up whether your faith (and money) has been well placed. It's your chance to have it your way but sometimes what you think you want turns out to be a mistake. My first custom bass was probably 27 years ago & I ordered it made of purpleheart. Very beautiful but WAY heavy. You live & learn.

 

[Mooblar]

Yes, Just once. It's a 2001 Am Std P Bass in 2005. Slapped a Warmoth Birdseye on Birdseye maple jazz neck on it and it's been my go to bass ever since. Would I do it again? Maybe for an SX....

 

[coreyfyfe]

Nope...I always play 'em first...Actually, even thinking about doing that scares me!

I've bought several now without playing them first. It concerns me slightly, but I try to be as informed as possible before I buy. When I bought my Sterling 5 I played one at guitar center first then bought one on TB. My DJ5 I bought after asking several sets of questions since I couldn't play one locally. I just bought a vintage bass too, came in today, which is usually my number one no-no when it comes to buying stuff online, but it had the specs that I wanted. The seller described it very well, and I'm happy with the deal.

At one point, I got a G&L L-1500 as a partial trade which I didn't like. It was worth it to try the bass since I had never played one and was able to sell it for the exact trade value we had settled upon (actually a little more ).

I wouldn't buy a new bass that I couldn't try first unless it was a hard to find item, a good deal, or a favorable return policy. Used you can most likely recoup your money, new you're screwed.

 

[vinxbass]

I bought a Lakland 55-01 from MF and when I got it and played the first gig with it knew I didn't like it. Thing is though, I kept it and sold it on E-Bay. Don't ask me why I did that, because I just did it. Then I bought an '08' MIA Fender Jazz V thru MF, sight unseen and love it, so you never know what can happen.

 

[pacojas]

my last three basses were bought sight unseen. (i live in the sticks) they are getting major use and i love them. i would do it again. with a 30 day return policy, no worries.

 

[Surly]

return policy, no worries.

........what he said. I called a certain bass store who wouldn't give me good information, but useless sales pitches on the value of "real" vintage Fenders, blah blah. Also they wanted a lot for shipping each way. Shop around and you can get a better deal. All you have to do is click.

 

[timbledum]

I brought a Stingray HH new from the states (to NZ) mainly cuz hardly any stores sell them, and I've never seen an HH over here and really wanted one. I couldn't be more happy!

However I only made the jump because a) I'm very familiar with Stingrays and I've heard on these forums EBMM have a great consistency with their basses, and b) because the exchange rates pretty good atm I was able to get it new for less than I would be able to get it second hand, so if I turned out to be not into it I could flog it off to someone else buying without trying! The only thing I was unsure about was the SLO neck but it turned out to be awesome.

I was very strongly warned against buying without trying though. Heard a lot of very bad ebay "vintage p" stories.

 

[t0t0m]

I bought my basses by not trying them first, put what I want on the list, then look for it..found it then bought it.
Last year I bought 7 basses, and sold 5 of them because I don't like them.

 

[taliesin]

Bought a Lakland 55-01 here on TB a couple of months ago and I've been really happy with it.

That said, I did have the chance to try a 55-01 at a local store so I knew I liked the general feel of the design.

If I hadn't been able to do that I would have a lot more nervous.

 

[nickbass79]

Bought a Carl Thompson 6 Fretless and a Cliff Bordwell 6 Fretless sight unseen and sound unheard. LOVE them both.