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You will develop your taste vs what gets the job done quick.
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Classifieds - What's wrong with it?
- Thread starter metalstorm
- Start date
Learn a skill, wrench at a store.
Build up a clientele of working musicians, or gigging hobbyists, or semi playing dreamers.
You will develop your taste vs what gets the job done quick.
...except in cases where it is complicated with Bass Hoarding Personality Disorder (BHPD), in which case the number of basses owned trends toward infinity, with the limit being reached only if (a) storage space becomes fully utilized and moving to a larger property is impractical, or (b) divorce forces the sale of said basses in order to be able to pay one's attorney and one's spouse's attorney, with any small amount that may be left over ceremoniously given to the departing spouse as a consolation prize, thus leaving the bassist with only the shirt on his back, one set of used bass strings, a half empty box of Quaker Instant Oatmeal, a couple bags of Ramen noodles, and his concert ticket stub collection.
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Oh, I already do set-ups and general tech work for a few bands. I've developed my taste, but I am on the pickier side. What usually happens is I'll buy a weird (or out-of-production) bass online hoping that I'll bond with it, and it'll be close, but someone else in the local music scene will try it out, love it and I'll sell it off to them.
I often do wonder about that, especially when I see the same bass changing hands 3 or 4 times within a short period of time. It's awesome that we can find such listings on here! For example:
March 2017:
SOLD - FINAL PRICE DROP - Alleva Coppolo LM5 Olympic White - Stunner
Nov 2017:
SOLD - Alleva Coppolo LM5
Aug 2018:
SOLD - Alleva Coppolo LM 5 Deluxe Super light (7.2lbs)
Ask me in a few days whether these three guys got rid of it because it was a lemon or for some other reason.
Obviously, I'm expecting it was the latter.
I have "taken a chance" and bought several basses on here that had changed hands several times in a short while. In a few cases, the bass was just absolutely STELLAR and I found myself thinking that the seller must have been either NUTS or DESPERATE to let it go. But in most other cases, the bass was "just OK" or less when I received it, but then after I adjusted the truss rod and saddles, and perhaps changed the strings, it was instantly transformed into the awesome instrument that I was hoping it would be. In ZERO cases (out of now about 50 purchases) did I receive a total lemon. In one case, the owner had over-filed the nut under the E string on a fretless in his overzealous pursuit of mwah, so it buzzes badly at the first "fret" position. So the seller gave me a $100 credit toward getting the nut replaced. I still have to do that so that I can play the bass. And in another case, the $4900 bass arrived with undisclosed scratches and a chip, and the seller gave me a $350 credit, which I thought was reasonable enough. In the other 48 or so cases, the bass was perfect except for needing setup work. I continue to be amazed by the number of bass owners who clearly do not know how to set up their bass. In several cases, I found myself feeling guilty and sorry for buying a bass away from someone who probably thought they were selling a lemon (because when it arrived it played like crap), when after just 15 minutes with the wrenches it became totally awesome.
I should point out that out of about 50 basses purchased, less than 10 of them did not need any setup work in order to be perfect. In other words, more than 80% of the basses needed a proper setup in order to play great. I am pretty picky about setup, perhaps more picky than most folks. I like my basses to play absolutely perfectly, and to me, perfect means low action (low enough for two-hand tapping), perfect intonation, and no buzzing unless playing really hard. In other words, my bar is a little higher than just being able to play Louie Louie. But if I were to lower the bar a bit, so that the criteria is "the bass plays reasonably well, without buzzing, and without excessively high action", I would say about 60% of my purchases arrived that way. I would also add that only about 4 or 5 of them arrived with perfect intonation. I thought that everybody knows to adjust the intonation after changing strings, but clearly not everybody does that. Not doing so makes you play noticeably out of tune above the 12th fret.
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Do you go to shows where the genre of music isn't your thing?
Build out an experiment bass and hand it to a player in a situation you have on your ? list and see what happens.
I swear, for the longest time I saw MM+J basses in SF as the answer to a problem the P+P basses had solved a long time ago
If the old funky thing is questionable, but the necknand body or fine, I see no reason not to upgrade it's hardware and see how it does passed around your local practice spaces.
Always fun to see a country take to something you thought a thrash metal guy would be best suited to play.
Yeah, personally I think that you will have a high sucess rate with fretless and six string instruments. Some people dont realise how difficult fretless is to play, or how wide the neck on a 6 string is.
I'm saving all my gear to sell in the afterlife.
Tom
Tom
Being a multi-instrumentalist, I see it as part of normal growth and discovery of a new instrument. I did the same with drums and guitars for years before finding what works for me best. I’ll get there eventually on bass as well.
Some folks just buy stuff to try stuff, and then turn around and sell it to try more stuff. That's cool.
And then, sometimes some folks sell stuff because they ended up not liking the item. But often times they won't say that in the ad because it could reduce the attractiveness of the item (in the eyes of potential buyers). Here's an example......two differently worded ads for the same exact bass for sale:
"Awesome MIA Fender P bass. Only three months old. Mint condition!!! Never gigged. Ready to rock! $1000 shipped CONUS."
"MIA Fender P bass. Bought it new three months ago. The tone is somewhere between average and below average, and it's uncomfortable to play. What a disappointment. So I don't want it anymore and I'm hoping someone will buy it from me so I can just get rid of it. $1000 shipped CONUS."
The latter ad might be the truth, but the former ad is what gets posted. Welcome to planet Earth!
One great way of gaining experience is to play more than one bass.
By buying, selling, and trading.......you can experience every brand one bass at a time.
Basses by mail.....it's a lot of fun!
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I've bought a few custom basses over the years that I sold rather quickly. Usually it has nothing to do with the quality of the instrument itself. For me, it always comes down to a personality match between me and the bass. Sometimes what shows up just doesn't tick all my tonal preference boxes. I've also had a couple basses that showed up only to sound remarkably similar to another instrument I own and I decide i don't really need one or the other. And while players have a room full of instruments, I've never owned more than 5 basses at any one time. So, if the new bass doesn't show up and edge out one of the old favs, then it's off to the classifieds.
I am in this exact position right now. I ordered a Kiesel Icon 5 bass and loved it when I received it. However, I discovered Dingwalls a few months later. As a result, the Kiesel wound up sitting lonely and unplayed in the closet. Great bass, just the third or fourth best I have now.
However, unless someone offers to buy it soon, I'm going to have it converted to fretless and then put my 4 string Frankenbass fretless on the chopping block.
Basically, I just have too damned many basses that I don't play. I could use the cash.
You sir, are someone I need to visit!One great way of gaining experience is to play more than one bass.
By buy, selling, and trading.......you can experience every brand one bass at a time.
Basses by mail.....it's a lot of fun!
This!
I've never even considered asking a seller why it's for sale. It doesn't suit you for some reason. The tone isn't to your liking, your checking account balance is low, whatever. I don't care, as long as you describe it accurately.
All but one of my basses were bought used. Somebody else's rejects are my keepers, except for the occasional one that doesn't suit me.
I don't sell often, but in 18 years on ebay, I've never once been asked why I'm selling. If I'm selling something, it's obviously because I don't want it or don't need it any more. If you have any questions about the bass or guitar, I'll be quick to answer, but if you need me to come up with some answer to satisfy your curiosity, I'll consider you a potential problem buyer. I might even block you from bidding.
I’m a P bass owner and player from way back in ‘73. I love that old bass and still have it but there came a time when I thought I needed a 5 string P bass. That was going to be my new thing. It turns out it just didn’t work for me. There was nothing wrong with it but I didn’t love it so I sold it. It happens.
I’ve learnt not to bother. You aren’t likely to get a truthful answer from someone who’s knowingly selling a faulty instrument.
Right! I think the instinct is to 'explain' so not to imply the bass was/is terrible. But, yeah, don't care. I have 2 basses. I only really play my jazz. Thinking of selling my peavey patriot. Good bass, but it is collecting dust. I understand sellers don't want to think what OP thinks: "hey guys! I'm trying to unload this POS on some unsuspecting person."
I've found TB sellers to be the most honest vs ebay and reverb even, because theres a community of sorts and one doesnt want to be 'that guy' who screwed over someone.
True. But if you want to engage in long-distance transactions (and for some of us with limited local resources that's the biggest part of our shopping options), you have to go out on that limb.
And that's why my credit card security department and PayPal are so valuable.
I don't blame you for giving up if you've been burned, but after dozens of long-distance purchases I've been richly rewarded, as have a lot of bass shoppers.
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