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Do you recall "The One that Got Away"?

#41
4 basses for me that I'd like back.

genuine '51 P #0374 - stolen from my car after a gig. NYE 1970. SHoulda gone to see Band of Gypsys.

'68 Guild Starfire I ordered in black, new. Had to sell it for rent. Bad choice.

Early '60's Gibson SG/EB-6. Quite rare, evidently. I have no excuse for letting that one get away...

'76 Alembic SSB Series 1. Traded a really nice white early '60s Gibson EDS 1275 for it that I wouldn't mind still having, too.
 
#42
I had, a catch and release situation like Against Will put it. a Kramer Spector NS5 beautiful transparent red with subtle quilted maple, a neck like I've never felt before. unfortunately for me i had let the comsumer mindset consume me and i had way over bought basses and really needed money, I had posted 3 very nice basses for sale and no one was buying either of them despite being very reasonably priced. if only one of them were to sell I woild be fine. but my bank account was draining and I panicked so I posted the NS5 for sale and had a buyer arranged for payment the next morning. I made a nice profit on it but I literally haven't been happy with a bass since... not even a more modern NS5XL which I also Sold. currently my main bass is a very nice headless Status S3 5 string but I'll likely be selling it and going back to a Bongo 5. I Had acquired a very nice Bongo 5 during the time with my NS5 and since i liked the Spector so much I let it go. it was probably the 3rd best bass I've ever had after the NS5XL and NS5.
FFD0FA69-D438-4C34-9979-AFA7FF7595C2.jpeg
 
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#44
Traynor TS-15. I don’t remember what I did with it. What a cool sound this amp had when Master push switch was set to HI.

That and my Fender Musicmaster bass that someone borrowed from a locked room at the College.
 
#45
It was an black Greco Super Sound jazz bass. It had a maple fretboard with black block inlays and even included the chrome pickup cover and "g" embossed ashtray.

The ebay seller wanted $500 and I was so tempted even if I would be overpaying a bit at the time but I then had to consider that purchasing this bass meant I'd be dead broke until I got my next paycheck. Sure I could have maybe negotiated something with my parents to borrow money but it wouldn't have been a good look on my part so I reluctantly let it go and it eventually sold. Sadly, I never found another Greco jazz bass close to that one.
 
#48
In 1976 a bass playing friend offered me a P-Bass which might possibly have been a pre-65 and a Traynor amp as package deal for $500.

I had a pregnant wife (who'd given me a Japanese fretless for Valentine's Day) and was saving money to buy land to build a cabin on and though I had a well-paying job at the time, every penny went in the bank. Besides, I already had a bass.
 
#49
Yes i certainly do remeber...

I was a t the local guitar shop and spotted a Fender P-bass, Amercian Deluxe, early 2000's model. The one with a double jazzbass pickup. I wanted a black one with rosewood fretboard but this one was kind of Lake Placid blue with a maple board. I played it, borrowed it and played it at home. I played it through my rig and it played and sounded like a dream.

I gave it back the day after, spent a couple of days deciding. It was not black and it did not have a rosewood freatboard after all...

Got back to the stor maybe two weeks later only to realize that the bass was sold. The big irony was that the bass had hanged in the store for a couple of months before i borrowed it. That´s the one that went away for me.

Maybe two years later i finally bought the black one with the rosewood freatboard only to realize when i got the bass that the finish was very poor and that it had a dead note on E. New strings and an open E just died. the tone E died on all places. The guy at the store said he had never encountered basses like that one.

I got my money back, but i think about that bass that got away often.

This is the model:
FPAMDLX.jpg


On a side note:
Fender basses with black finish do look bad even today. Very few coats of paint is to blame for that. It´s a miracle that the they pass the QA on premium basses such as the Fender Elite series from 2019.
 
#50
Basses that got away? There have been a few, but TBH, I can't remember them. In my quest to fill the 25 spots that will make my herd complete, there are different... categories, I guess... of basses. The spots for a particular model of bass (eg., Gibson Thunderbird, Rick 4003) were filled long ago. Same for particular brands (eg., Gretsch, Danelectro). The other spots are simply types of basses (headless; active; long scale set neck, etc.). And, that's where all the "one that got away" basses have been. The reason I don't remember them, is because I didn't really want that individual bass - and no other; and I was pretty sure that something equally suitable would be along pretty soon. And... I was right. I'm happy with all the ones that I have. To the point that I can't recall - much less miss - the ones that got away...
On the other hand, there have been some cars; motorcycles (especially motorcycles); and guns, that "got away" which I'm still kinda peeved about. That Norton 850 Commando Roadster, for example...:bawl: But, my philosophy has always been "If it got away from you, GOD didn't want you to have it - so suck it up..." Still wish I hadn't overslept, and missed that Norton, though. Or, for that matter, that 5 year old '67 Mustang Shelby GT 350, that I could have had - for $1,500...:whistle:
 
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#51
Jigmay said:
A friend was selling a B00 MusicMan Stingray in a very rare gold color. (I can't even find a pic on the net.) He let me borrow it for a week. Strung with Optima flats this thing had amazing tone and played perfectly. I've never owned a 'Ray and b/c the neck neck had been refinished, and it was expensive, I passed. He sold it to a guy in Italy. Italy?!?

Man, I still kick myself...
Click to expand...
What is a B00 ?
 
#54
Back in the 90's this shop near me had a Les Paul bass that was the ugliest maroon color. It sounded amazing, especially distorted, and I played it every time I went into the shop, but that color put me off for months. Finally I resolved to get it and eventually refinish it but someone had bought it the day before I went in. I sold pretty much everything a couple of years later and I probably would have sold that one, too, so I guess no big loss.
 
#55
There is a little record shop in the neighbourhood. They had an original Danelectro short scale bass in the window one time and I seriously considered bringing my Cube 60 in there to try it out but it got sold.

Same with a Dan Armstrong see-through bass one , but I don't regret that so much. Wouldn't work for what I play in the earthy roots-department.
 
#56
Maybe four years ago or so I missed out on this Wal mk1 that sold for $1700. The Birdseye maple facings were peeling away from the core which needed to be addressed, but still, a Wal for that price? That was an absolute steal even four years ago. Nowadays people sell Wal basses for like eight times that price... there will never be a wal bass for sale for 1.7k ever again, and even though I didn’t have the cash at the time, I still feel like that’s the one that got away I’ll never forget it... ugh, wal for 1.7k :crying:

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#57
I remember seeing a mid 60s P at GC about 15 years ago for something like $2300. Looked original and in good shape. I should have bought so I could sell it now it but I hated the neck profile so I walked away. Meh I don’t but instruments to make money so no regerts I guess.
 
#58
Graham Maby was selling a 70s Mustang Bass on reverb (or maybe ebay) and I endeavored to sneak in at the last second and snake it. But having never played a Mustang and not being aware of how much I would come to love the model, I underbid. I think I entered $1300 and it went for around $1600. I’ll never forget its butterscotchy beauty. I don’t know if it was a yellowed Oly or what, but…knowing what I know know, I woulda bid a lot more.

A lot more.

Ugh…
 
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#59
Just this week I hesitated a little too long hoping for the price of a Fender Custom Shop NOS '59 Precision to drop ... it was already reduced and a good deal for a very nice instrument. Well, it sold yesterday and I'm BUMMED. I hope one of my fellow TBers got it.
 
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#60
Years ago, I had my Fender and Squier Musicmasters but found a white one locally on CL at a great cost. I snapped it up.

This was before I had anyone around with luthier skills and I had no idea what a "setup" was all about. The action was high enough to do the limbo under and I could never quite get it in tune. Someone made me an offer that was more than I thought so I let it go.

Would have loved to still have that hanging with my other SS's.
 
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