Buying blind: Win or fail?

[MultiScaleMale]

Blind fails for me would be just about every MusicMan bass that I've bought. I really, really like the idea of them but then quickly fall out of love with them. I've flipped maybe 8 of them over the years. Mad respect for the build quality, meh on the tone for how I play. Was very, very hopeful that a 5 string Caprice would surface. No chance of that happening now. I still have a Caprice that I converted to fretless.

My Alien Audios have been great, the first two I purchased were not my thing due to the 35" scale. I flipped those, the others will stay forever.

When Matt Pulcinella was building I bought five from him. Three are still with me, the wenge neck Level 5 just didn't get a tone I liked. Looked great but the wenge neck wasn't my thing. The other one that I sold was great, but redundant after I bought a black and maple 5 JJ from him. Black and maple is difficult to beat.

Basically what I've learned over the years is that when I spec out something, it turns out nice but when I let the builder do their thing it turns out great. I'll start with my general preferences but let the fine details up to them from now on. For mass produced items, it's best to try in person. Little details will make a big difference and you'll find one that really speaks to you over the others. Maybe it's as simple as a better set up or fresher strings or maybe the neck blank was made with wood that is more "alive". Maybe the specs on the potentiometer and the capacitor (both usually +/- 10%) are more magically matched, but there will be something special and you will know that's the one.

 

[Gizmot]

I’ve written in various posts over the years that buying online, sight unseen and without touching and playing an instrument is a gigantic roll of the dice and should be avoided. Have i ever bought an instrument online without examining what i was getting firsthand? Yes - and all i can say is that I’ve been very lucky. I’ve never been ripped off or gotten an instrument that was less than completely satisfactory. Basses I’ve bought online include a Warwick Streamer, an EB MusicMan Caprice and a G&L L2500. All of these are nice basses and I’ve enjoyed every one. But - I’ve been lucky so far.

 

[eekamike]

I've been lucky so far: every bass I've bought online I've loved.

• Fender Precision Deluxe (used): Dream bass. The N3 pickups aren't as nice as I had hoped they would be, but I'm still more than satisfied. My Ampeg SCR-DI fixed that right up.
• Ibanez SR 1206 (used): First foray into more than 4 strings, bought because 1) the pickups and 2) small string spacing for my smaller hands. Love it. Weirdly enough, I kind of wish the string spacing was a little wider. I'm so used to the 4 string that sometimes it's hard when I'm jumping a lot of strings.
• Cort B4FL (new): first fretless. This was a winner, holy cow. Cheap, and nicer than anything I had played in that price range. I love the bartolini pickups and the feel of the neck. To be honest, I do wish the bridge was a little nicer, but for the price, I'll look over it.

I'm scared to try again though: I've played Fenders before and the other two were already gambles in general, so I think low expectations helped. If I wanted another 4 string, I think my expectations would be hard to meet without playing something similar first. That said, I've been eyeing another Cort...

 

[chadds]

I buy with minimum 24hr approval. No questions asked return. I pay shipping one way. Sometimes both ways. I’ve been doing that since before the internet. We used to use phones. To talk on.

 

[jd56hawk]

I currently own ten basses, all purchased online, all gambles that paid off big.
It's called bass savvy.

 

[conttador]

I’ve bought ALL my instruments online! I’ve bought them all except for 3 on this wonderful forum, the other three were bought on ebay. Thankfully no fails; knock on wood!

I’ve owned 6 different Ken Smiths 2 I got on the Bay and the other 4 here. 2 of the four were traded here and that went smoothly and the other two were purchases.

I bought a ‘77 Jazz in 2010 from the bay at what I thought was a fair price

I have a PreGibson Tobias, a Prat 6 string, a Modulus TBX and a Sadowsky NYC Modern. All have been great purchases in my mind! I usually ask a lot of questions though and sometimes I buy & sometimes I don’t. The biggest advantage buying here is that there is no sales tax and it’s been my experience that most folks here are very honest.

 

[Shepsdad]

I have about 15 guitars and basses that I’ve bought online, none were fails. With that being said, all have been new, and from dealers that have a return policy. It helps that I can do a proper setup myself. My biggest fear when buying online is the guitar getting damaged in transit and having to deal with a shipping company and their claims department.

 

[coy garcia]

None were fails...almost all needed a setup and others a pro setup or repair...no big. .

 

[makanudo]

Win:
Harley Benton MB-5 SBK.
Squier CV 70's Jazz.

Fails:
None yet.

Jumped based off of reviews and word of mouth. Buddie had a Squier CV Telecaster and after playing it I bit I jumped on a good deal on a CV jazz 4 string and is my main noodling bass. Sitting right by my desk.

Jumped on the Harley Benton because one morning I saw the bass the world video and started looking more into them and decided what the hell it's so cheap and seems so great what's there to lose. Yeah it's better than expected. The feel sound and looks are amazin. Hardware and paint are cheap but I think it adds to the mojo and it's going to 'relic' sooner. I bought it as a beater if you will after all. Well yeah sure but now it's the main gigging bass.

 

[Flaked Beans]

Over the years I've bought a number of instruments online. I thought it would be interesting to list the ones that worked out and the ones that didn't. All are quality instruments. My criteria for the failures is: would I have bought this if I had been able to play it first? Most of the failures I kept for a while before selling with exceptions described below. Feel free to make your own lists.


Wins!:

Ken Smith KSR 5MW
Carvin Icon
Keisel Xccelerator
Roscoe SKB
Modern Vintage MVJ4
D'Angelico Excel 59 guitar


Fails:

Eastman T386 guitar: shorter 24 3/4" scale difficult for my big hands. Otherwise a great guitar and bang for the buck.
Fodera Monarch Standard: generic sound, expensive
Kinal MK21; neck was uncomfortable. I ate the return shipping and restocking fee as I knew I would never bond with it.
Carvin BB75: Beautiful bass but sound was nothing great. I took advantage of the 10 day return policy.
Warwick Corvette $$: Had a noticeable dead spot at the 7th fret on the G string.

You are doing just fine. Spent much more than you (on basses) and I don't care about it. Still have 18 of them but whatever, enjoy your wins and falls (not to mention that you're a great bassplayer!) Cheers!

 

[Basehead]

I've bought my last 14 basses online and most were wins. I still own all of the following WINS except for the Squier (which was an AMAZING bass).
WINS:
EBMM Sterling 5 - eBay
G&L L-2500 Series 750 - Sweetwater
Alleva-Coppolo KPB 5 - Bass San Diego
Mike Lull PJ5 - Reverb
Squier Vintage Modified Precision 5 - Reverb
Ibanez SR2605 - Sweetwater
Ibanez SRH505F- Sweetwater
Ibanez SR5SMLTD - Sweetwater
Ibanez SRSC805 - Sweetwater
All of my other 4 Ibanez basses - eBay/Reverb

FAIL:
Luckily, only one. Ordered an '07 Ibanez SR655PBBM on Reverb that was damaged in shipping (nice chunk of clearcoat/finish that came off, found in the case). It was odd as there wasn't any damage to the box or case so not sure how it happened. I took photos of my unboxing and sent those to Reverb who handled the return (very well, I must say!)

 

[ashtray]

I’ve bought a LOT of basses blind (40? 50?) - or mostly blind (Craigslist meet up). In most cases, the instrument did not meet the condition I expected, and I’d put it on my workbench, strip it completely down, clean every screw, fix electronics, sometimes a quick fret level and re-crown/polish, and do a full setup. After that most were wins.

When I get a bass and it’s ready to go AND in tune, with fresh strings, straight out of the case - I’m not sure what to do! It doesn’t need a full teardown and setup, so I don’t get to bond with it at that level of “bringing it back to life”, so I can only play it! Hahaha I mean, that’s a GOOD thing, but still a surprise usually.

 

[hypercarrots]

i always make sure there are pictures to avoid failure.

 

[tb-player]

Pretty much every bass I’ve owned I bought online… somewhere between 30-40, if I had to guess? The “failures” were usually returned. The rest were wins, although most were eventually sold… some for a handsome profit. If I lost money, I just considered it rent.

No bass purchase is a total failure, though. In almost case I learned what I like & don’t like. Same with custom builds. I’ve slowed down almost completely, as of late. But I don’t regret any of it. I’ve played some really nice basses. And the ones I still have… they’re perfect (for me!)

 

[Pings Bass]

I've bought two basses online, both wins.

1. Used Tribute L2500 from GC, killer deal
2. New Ibanez SRF706, better quality than expected, no issues

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Over the years I've bought a number of instruments online. I thought it would be interesting to list the ones that worked out and the ones that didn't. All are quality instruments. My criteria for the failures is: would I have bought this if I had been able to play it first? Most of the failures I kept for a while before selling with exceptions described below. Feel free to make your own lists.


Wins!:

Ken Smith KSR 5MW
Carvin Icon
Keisel Xccelerator
Roscoe SKB
Modern Vintage MVJ4
D'Angelico Excel 59 guitar


Fails:

Eastman T386 guitar: shorter 24 3/4" scale difficult for my big hands. Otherwise a great guitar and bang for the buck.
Fodera Monarch Standard: generic sound, expensive
Kinal MK21; neck was uncomfortable. I ate the return shipping and restocking fee as I knew I would never bond with it.
Carvin BB75: Beautiful bass but sound was nothing great. I took advantage of the 10 day return policy.
Warwick Corvette $$: Had a noticeable dead spot at the 7th fret on the G string.

I’ll take a flyer on an amp or speaker cab. Instruments?? Not on your life.

 

[elgranluis]

I think the only Fail I can recall is the guild starfire II (Córdoba music). The bass was fantastic, but It wasn’t Red, so I was unable to bond with it.

 

[SLO Surfer]

I’ve had outstanding luck buying online, site unseen. I’ve kept 4 and sold 2. I was on the hunt for a nice Precision and don’t have many stores with good supply to try things out in my area. So I bought 4 p basses online at one point while trying to settle on a keeper.

Kept:

1998 Warwick Fortress 5-string ordered brand new from Warwick via local Warwick dealer in 1998. Bought in person, but ordered and paid for it sight unseen.

1998 EBMM Stingray Fretless bought new old stock off eBay in 2003. Great instrument, can make it sound like a fretted or fretless stingray whenever I want with technique. Don’t desire a fretted stingray in addition.

2012 Limited Edition Fender American Standard P-bass, hand stained mahogany (only 150 made) bought well used off eBay in 2015. Dream bass that wears roundwounds.

2018 Moollon Classic P-IV ordered directly from Moollon in 2018 (3-4 month build wait back then). Nowhere to see or try these before buying unless you can find an owner willing to let you have a go on theirs. Dream bass that wears flats and sees the most action out of my quiver.


Didn’t keep:

2012 60th anniversary Fender American Standard P bass in charcoal frost with a maple fretboard. Bought used off eBay in 2014. Tough call between keeping this and the limited edition P. Miss this outstanding and beautiful bass but just didn’t need to keep it.

2001 Fender Hot Rod P bass bought used off eBay in 2014. (Really just a solid a p/j). My other p basses had a much better P sound than this bass could get with its p pickup soloed. Great bass, but I wouldn’t have bought it if I had tried it out in person against an American Standard.

I’ve had good luck buying basses online. When buying online it’s with the mindset that I’m paying to try it out, not to buy and keep it. Then if I liked it enough to keep I’m stoked, and if I didn’t want to keep it I have sold it for my buying price and got my money back or even made a little cash out of the deal.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I think the last bass I bought blind was my Carvin SB5000. It is a great active Jazz. I honestly do not think I ever bought a bass blind that was a disappointment.

 

[MisterUbu]

I'd chime in with a little different experience, the instruments bought online I bought through middleman services for Yahoo Japan auctions, a pretty rough experience in my case
Losses (auctions)
- A yamaha Motion B Mb3. I won it for $50 as the second bidder 5 hours before the auction closed. Celebrated prematurely when I found out I had to eat the massive shipping cost + several BS fees the middleman service charged me (which included a "special packaging fee" which was essentially a large rectangular box filled with bubble wrap, I'm incredibly lucky this bass was small and compact, and made it in one piece, I really should have taken a photo of the box). Had to trek across the city to the southernmost Fedex pickup spot there is here, and got it as described, in cosmetically bad condition but working. All I really had to do to get it playable was clean the ever loving bejebus out of the hardware, add strap buttons, pickup springs, and strap buttons. While a Motion B was on my GAS list for a while, and it was a good bass to be honest, overall I didn't bond with it. I currently have it on consignment at a local music store here hoping earn my money back. A misadventure in bass flipping for sure!

An ibanez BTB 400.
- I tried again and made a more expensive bid. Shame on me for not realizing my last mistake of not thinking about the massive shipping costs. I realized it wasn't worth it bringing it across the ocean only to not bond with it and sell it. Had it disposed by the middleman service. Ate a little over 100$ that could have perfectly gone to a new smartphone from Aliexpress.

and this doesn't include the time I almost bid $800 for a Hohner Steinberger copy thinking it was a real one due to the body decal. I was lucky to be able to retract my bid for that!

Wins:
This for stuff I did keep. A Greco Go II g*itar I bought from a local music store sight unseeen during lockdown when in store visits were banned. I thought it looked cool and would have been a great addition to start actually learning the skinny string. Outside of a terrible 3 day return policy on consigned items I was really happy with it.


.... I think I'll stick to limiting my online gear shopping to parts and accessories, with the largest items I'd order being pedals.