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How do you decide which bass to sell?
- Thread starter hypercarrots
- Start date
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
BEfORE you think about a new bass, decide which would go first. Obviously this order can change.
Follow the two step system. 1.) Make a list of every bass own 2.) check the box marked "none of the above". That will give your survivors something to do.
good answer.
If it's easily replaceable and not one you think you'll be missing anytime soon, why not? Zen approach, if it's meant to be, another shall cross your path.
For me it's easier than for most. I place zero sentimental value on tools. Basses are tools.
So the one that gets played the least gets the ax. (Pun intended.) There has to be a reason it was getting played the least. I must like it the least.
That being said I have several basses and feel no need to part with any presently. But if I "needed" to let one go it wouldn't hurt a bit.
So the one that gets played the least gets the ax. (Pun intended.) There has to be a reason it was getting played the least. I must like it the least.
That being said I have several basses and feel no need to part with any presently. But if I "needed" to let one go it wouldn't hurt a bit.
I hear ya! I just recently went on an early 70s Fender Jazz Bass buying spree! Went from one long held 72 to four in a week!
I fortunately can now afford to buy a new bass (s) without having to sell off one or more of the others in my collection.
But back in the day when things were a lot tighter financially, I always based this decision on which bass (s) I played the least. When you go to your collection to grab a guitar, which one do you continually avoid picking up? Unless this is a vintage collectible or one with huge emotional value, then THAT IS THE BASS to get rid of!
Unfortunately for me, back in the early 70s when 50s & 60s era Fenders (pre-CBS as we called them) were easy to find and relatively affordable compared to the insane price tags today, this also resulted in me selling off far too many of what today would be considered highly valued and collectible instruments! (pre-CBS Fender Jazz Basses for example, which were not the $8,000.00+ collector only investments they are today, but a hundred or two bucks out of the local newspaper classifieds)
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In other words, a BUYER'S DREAM SELLER!
I can't tell you how many deals I have been forced to walk away from after making a totally reasonable market value offer to a seller that has way too much emotional attachment to the guitar to make a good business decision.
These days I very rarely even attempt to purchase used basses or guitars from players. Music stores don't suffer from this blinding emotional baggage and it is there where they know when they have a serious buyer who is offering a fair price for what they are selling. (most of the time) Over the last 10 years of so, the vintage guitar BS has corrupted many pawn shops and music stores too. Just go up to a site like Reverb and check out what some of these loons are asking for relatively common mid 70s Jazz Basses in very average to even poor condition! Some of those listing are over a year old with not even an offer being made in all that time!
The sellers who ask a fair market value price for what they have are the only ones selling anything in this buyer's market we have right now.
Man, I should start a support group.
Here are just some basses I've owned then sold...
Alembic 20th anniversary #30 of 200
Alembic élan
Original Koa BC Rich eagle
Custom Hamer cruisebass with 2tek
Pedulla hexabuzz
Pedulla thunder bass 5
Status stealth
1973 fender jazz bass with factory flamed maple neck
1978 fender jazz
1994 Warwick streamer stage II
Original modulus flea basses with lane poor pickups
Modulus quantum 4 turbo sweet spot
That's just some...
I... Am an a$$hole.
Here are just some basses I've owned then sold...
Alembic 20th anniversary #30 of 200
Alembic élan
Original Koa BC Rich eagle
Custom Hamer cruisebass with 2tek
Pedulla hexabuzz
Pedulla thunder bass 5
Status stealth
1973 fender jazz bass with factory flamed maple neck
1978 fender jazz
1994 Warwick streamer stage II
Original modulus flea basses with lane poor pickups
Modulus quantum 4 turbo sweet spot
That's just some...
I... Am an a$$hole.
If you still owned them all you couldn't play them all.
I don't see your story as a bad thing. You owned and played some great basses. Then you moved on and got different great basses. What's the problem?
That makes perfect sense. That's the same realization I had at the end of my process - I realized that I loved the idea of having this bass, but wasn't actually using it for anything. I'd admire it, hold it, play it a little once in a while, find it interesting, but I would always choose another instrument for everything that actually needed to be done. I'd fallen for the look of it a long time ago, when I first started playing, and felt like I had to have one. But the idea of the bass never translated into it being vital for me. It was a good instrument - an excellent one, in many ways - but it wasn't me.
Yer right about the whole vintage market mojo crap. I see things all the time with crazy asking prices.
Ive owned a number of pre CBS Fenders and some are very special, but people have this attitude now that JUST BECAUSE something is 30 years old or more it must be worth a lot of money.
I've seen old Hondos from the 80s on Reverb for $500.
You see old Teiscos and such that people used to scoff and laugh at selling for more than a grand. Used to be you couldn't give those things away.
I mean, I love weird old Asian and Soviet bizarro instruments and am a big booster of el cheapos but come on.
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I was starting to feel like a hoarder. I tried to think it through, but any one of my Dingwalls would be perfect. My head started to hurt.
So, I put em all up for sale. Last one to sell must be the keeper.
Looks like it'll be the Super PJ5.
But now I'm on a roll. Amps, cabs, all those silly FX boxes, guitars, pianos, it's all going.
One bass, one amp, a couple fEarfuls and my looper. That's where this is going.
By the time I'm done I'll have enough dough to kite in warm water in the winter!
Where did all this gear come from? Talkbass! For thirty years, I had one bass, one amp.
Keep it simple.
So, I put em all up for sale. Last one to sell must be the keeper.
Looks like it'll be the Super PJ5.
But now I'm on a roll. Amps, cabs, all those silly FX boxes, guitars, pianos, it's all going.
One bass, one amp, a couple fEarfuls and my looper. That's where this is going.
By the time I'm done I'll have enough dough to kite in warm water in the winter!
Where did all this gear come from? Talkbass! For thirty years, I had one bass, one amp.
Keep it simple.
I really appreciate all that's been said here! I am not alone! Lol 
My first 2 REAL basses were a MIA Fender Jazz and a Precision as a backup. I am SERIOUSLY considering going back that route to where I got on this Merrygoround.
I find an odd comfort in knowing this is as much of a brain drain to others as it is to me at times. Lol
My first 2 REAL basses were a MIA Fender Jazz and a Precision as a backup. I am SERIOUSLY considering going back that route to where I got on this Merrygoround.
I find an odd comfort in knowing this is as much of a brain drain to others as it is to me at times. Lol
I've heard it said many times by behavioral psychologists that people tend to make decisions immediately and unconsciously, especially purchases, then come up with a lot of justifications after the fact. So that rings pretty true when I think of the number of basses and guitars I bought and kept, when I had plenty of practical reasons why I didn't use them regularly. Usually based on things that I register as being cool from childhood and adolescent memories.
I like that idea of having one bass and one amp, but can never bring myself to do it. I currently have about 4 basses I play regularly and another 4 I play occasionally. I just like them all and my musical tastes and preferences will likely fluctuate over time, so I will be covered.
I don't think I would be as courageous to let the one that doesn't sell be the deciding factor on what I keep though. That being said, my Dingwall SuperJ P/J 5 gets the most playing time, so you didn't do too badly!
i know someone on AGF who has that one in, one out rule about acoustic guitars. he bought a new one, and was truly agonizing over which of his guitars he had to sell. he didn't need the money or the space, and one poster nailed it for me - he said "just change your rule".
These days I tend to end up with a flavor of the month kind of relationship with my collection. I will tend to gleam on to one particular instrument and focus on playing that for up to a month exclusively, and eventually I start feeling like I am ready for a change, and then I'll go to the rack and pick out something else. (I currently have 17 basses to choose from)
At the moment I have been really digging my new Fender Japan JB62-US Sunburst. Really awesome instrument! Closest sound I have found to my original 60s era guitars in anything contemporary. Makes sense since the JB62 is essentially a 1962 reissue, right down to the Alder body and vintage USA pickups.
At the moment I have been really digging my new Fender Japan JB62-US Sunburst. Really awesome instrument! Closest sound I have found to my original 60s era guitars in anything contemporary. Makes sense since the JB62 is essentially a 1962 reissue, right down to the Alder body and vintage USA pickups.
