How do YOU make sure you're not buying a lemon...

[crucislancer]

I check the body and neck/fretboard for any cracks, check the neck for neck twist , and make sure the truss rod is in working order. After that, it depends on what I am buying it for. Just need the body and the neck? I’ll take it. Expecting a playable bass with no wiring issues? I’ll set it up right then and there for my playing tastes and give it a proper test.

 

[Honch]

Say, Martin did a lot of LEMONs in the acoustic guitar during the late 60's and first half of the 70's. The jigs for cutting the bridge onto the top, and measurements had worn down and needed to be recalibrated. But they didn't detect this, customers didn't detect this because of the unwritten - there's no money above the fifth fret - rule, so they didn't care or detect that at the 12th fret the notes were not intonated, and couldn't be fixed. In Scandinavia, the brand Landola had the same problem, they didn't detect that the fretboard ordered from Japan was measured in inches instead of millimeters instead, so about 10 years of Landola guitars went down the intonation drain. Those are LEMONS to me. Don't know if I've seen this in basses though. Maybe some story exists of early Korean cheap copies.

 

[basslayer]

I don't buy anything used of which I don't have an intimate knowledge. Obvious damage will stop me. That in mind I look for anything to make me think it's a fake like a removed serial number or components that I don't recognize. An example of a recognized component would be the heavier hipshot replacement bridge on an epiphone. I know what they do to a bass and I like it so it won't deter me. If all that checks out, then I check all the controls, check for neck bowing, check the intonation, check the action, and the fret work. If any of that is off, I will try to talk the price down because of it.

 

[MrBKerth]

Check the I check the input by wiggling to make sure there's not a crackling sound. Check the neck to body joint. Check the pots and any obvious defend in hardware. Check the frets. I try to be certain to look for stripped screws. It's no deal breaker but it sucks trying to shim a neck with a stripped neck screw slowing you down.

Make sure it's comfy to play obviously and take a quick look at the strap buttons for separation, movement, indented into the body etc.

Look at the truss (I won't fuss with a guys setup in case i don't buy), and if it looks to be unmolested I check the relief by eye (sometimes with a feeler gauge). This is usually enough to satisfy me.

 

[slagbass]

If it says "Sadowsky" on the headstock, my biggest worry is picking the right colour.

For Fenders, lots of good advice has been given. On my list:
- Play it unplugged first. IME good basses have a resonance that you can detect before you plug them in.
- Play every fret and listen for rattles or unusual "live" and "dead" spots. Focus on the G string around frets 4 to 7. If it has a dead spot, that is likely where it will show.
- Use the strings as a straight edge and fret in several locations to test for neck warps. Sighting the neck won't cut it.
- Play it plugged in and see if it has the tone you are after.
- I don't get too hung up on action, intonation, fret wear or cosmetic stuff. I consider them "negotiating points" I can toss out to knock the price down if I'm interested.

 

[Ric5]

How do YOU make sure you're not buying a lemon...

Don't buy the yellow ones.

 

[Pilgrim]

To me the neck is the #1 issue. Check the truss rod!!!! if the neck is straight, flat with no twist, no ski jump and frets have life .. its good. The body as long as its in one piece is next. Things like pups ,tuners, pots wire and bridge can all be replaced. Best bet it to play it let your ears and hand be the judge.

^^^There you go. If it's a bolt-on neck, then a twist in the neck or an obvious truss rod problem is about all that you need to worry about. Paint is easy to check visually and if the pickup(s) work, the rest is cheap details.

 

[BazzTard]

How to not buy a lemon?

easy, if it's yellow, walk away, don't look back!

you're welcome.

For me it's all about the neck. Everything else can be replaced, knobs,pups,bridge,tuners,nut.
If the neck is straight,ie not twisted,and the rod has movement,and the frets are ok,then it's a matter of does the price fit the rest of the bass's condition?

PS just read the post above,d'oh! great minds!

 

[JamPlay]

unplugged put the body of the bass against your belly. play a low F on the first fret of the E string. it should vibrate against your body. yes it's an electric bass, yet the pickups are amplifying an acoustic sound. the bass must have a strong sound w/o an amp..those are the good ones in my opinion..the basses that don't vibrate can get loud of course, yet have no depth...for real! good luck

 

[Humbled]

I buy it if I like it.

If I bought it without playing it first, and then don't like it, if I have a return privilege, I send it back.


If I own it with no return privilege, and decide I don't love it... I sell it, trade it, or, more frequently these days, give it away to a teenager who thinks it's awesome...

It's the circle of life, or something like that...

 

[klokker]

you play it before you buy it.
If you cannot, you roll the dice. We all do it.

good luck.

Yup. Where I live it's rolling the dice every time for me.

 

[ninjaaron]

Warped neck and stress fractures in the body. Any structural problem. Idiotic to judge a bass based on setup.

You really can't know much about an instrument until you set it up. Sort of a pain, really.

 

[PhasedArray]

Some good advice here, thanks....

 

[Robert B]

I think everything has already been pretty much covered, but I would add that I always bring a tuner to make sure when I'm checking it out it's tuned to standard pitch. I've played instruments before that I thought played like a dream until I found out they were downtuned a 1/2 step or more. Can't say for sure, but I suspect a few music stores I've been in did that deliberately to enhance the playability of their instruments, because I found it it on every bass I played. I suspect that could also mask or move dead spots on the neck, but that's just speculation on my part. Whether it's been done deliberately, or the tuning has just relaxed over time, I can't really assess an instrument properly until it's tuned to standard pitch.

 

[Robroy]

I'm curious what others testing process is when checking out a new USED bass? Particularly if it's sold as is with no return.

From the more obvious ones like looking for scratches or chips in the finish, fret buzz, balance, etc, up to more rigorous detail inspection. What is you're personal checklist of things you always look for before paying?

I don't do anything mail-order unless it has a quality guarantee.

Period.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

[QUOTE="Gravedigger Dav, post: 16943398, member: 259903" Tuners and bridge aren't pitted and work

by 'pitted', do you mean tiny little dips in the metal?[/QUOTE]
yes, little pock marks in the metal you can polish out. Corrosion.

 

[JIO]

But the thing is. "Lemon" for me is a dud, something that is fraught, or haunted (even cursed) at the manufacturing. In Sweden we call it a "wolf", or a bastard, dud, something that is badly made from scratch by bad luck. Friday afternoon items, the odd one. It lacks that MOJO whatever you try to do. Those ones that are supposed to come out well from the factory, but doesn't, but really passes the QC's anyway. Like you can pick two neighboring basses with a serial number alike but one last digit, and compare them, and for some unexplainable reason, one of them turns out to be that lemon.

Lemon for me is not something that you can fix afterwards with a reasonable amount of setup. Lemon for me, is when even a highly skilled luthier can't do anything about it, and says "I've seen much better examples of this". To me, a lemon can even be a design flaw inherent in the bass from the start on. I e that ALL items spit out from the production lines are so on the verge that they are about to self destruct ... but, just a fluke if they make it. I tell you what, I call ALL half acoustic basses, like Hofner basses, and Epiphone 335 like basses, lemons. All electric basses should be solid. Not even boutique "chambered" ones. They just resonate badly and feed back badly at certain notes at low volumes. Dead spots by the truckloads. So I consider them lemons right from the drawing board.

But as always YMMV when interpreting what is lemon and not.

Linguistics (which I'm always a fan of) aside, I mostly agree w/you other that the last part as the use of these non-solid basses over the decades has proved otherwise. And personally, I just completed a custom chambered J and it sounds awesome countering each of your con-points. If it's a lemon then I'll have another please!

 

[Honch]

Linguistics (which I'm always a fan of) aside, I mostly agree w/you other that the last part as the use of these non-solid basses over the decades has proved otherwise. And personally, I just completed a custom chambered J and it sounds awesome countering each of your con-points. If it's a lemon then I'll have another please!

Yes, but as I said, earlier, what's a lemon for me it's not a lemon for you. This is just about taste. Also, neck diving (which can't be fixed as easily as other gnarls or wear-outs) is a lemon to me, but to most people a total non-issue.

 

[JIO]

Yes, but as I said, earlier, what's a lemon for me it's not a lemon for you. This is just about taste. Also, neck diving (which can't be fixed as easily as other gnarls or wear-outs) is a lemon to me, but to most people a total non-issue.

Humm.., I'm confused. I still agree with you, and yet don't follow your logic. Neck-diving (as you call it) is a design flaw in terms of not considering the correct balance - a bad initial design decision which has nothing to do with being a dud or the other qualifiers of 'lemon' as you first introduced. In spite of that design flaw, it could at the same time sound great. A 'dud' according to your introductory definition would give all the appearances of a decent instrument but regardless would never be what we refer to as 'a keeper' because of relatively unspecified reasons... as in, "I can't put my finger on it - but I just really can't be comfortable with this bass", or.., "no matter what I do, I'm not wanting to play or keep this bass for reasons I'm not clear on". I know that feeling and I bet a lot of players do also. I'd consider that bass "a lemon" according to your 'wolf' definition - "some unexplainable reason". Neck dive is clearly explainable and has little to do with taste.

 

[Honch]

Humm.., I'm confused. I still agree with you, and yet don't follow your logic. Neck-diving (as you call it) is a design flaw in terms of not considering the correct balance - a bad initial design decision which has nothing to do with being a dud or the other qualifiers of 'lemon' as you first introduced. In spite of that design flaw, it could at the same time sound great. A 'dud' according to your introductory definition would give all the appearances of a decent instrument but regardless would never be what we refer to as 'a keeper' because of relatively unspecified reasons... as in, "I can't put my finger on it - but I just really can't be comfortable with this bass", or.., "no matter what I do, I'm not wanting to play or keep this bass for reasons I'm not clear on". I know that feeling and I bet a lot of players do also. I'd consider that bass "a lemon" according to your 'wolf' definition - "some unexplainable reason". Neck dive is clearly explainable and has little to do with taste.

Yeah, but most players I know of, really doesn't care for the neck dive, they play their basses just as well, so they don't consider it to be a lemon. As it is, say any Fender Precision or Jazz bass, now and then, very rarely, it can occur with a heavier body that doesn't neck dive at all. Brand new one. And if I encounter such a specimen, I'll say "Hey this is the first P or J bass that I don't consider a lemon". Hooray! Chances are that Fender didn't even think twice about this, it's just a fluke on my part. Same with dead spots. If one should happen to stumble over any P or J bass that doesn't have this C sharp dead spot in the g-string... well, not a lemon. But that's a fluke. That item can still neck dive though...;-)

Most Moses graphite necks I've come across have been lemons. Other people are happy campers with them. Still, what's a lemon for you ain't a lemon for me. Maybe a gripe...oh, grape it's called!

Sorry, puns aside. But I tell you one thing. If you've asked me 25 years ago, I probably wouldn't be able to understand any talk of, these "dead spots" or "neck dive" or playability, or Mojo. I was a happy camper with most anything. As you get experienced, all such things dawns on you, very slowly, and you turn into that cork sniffing prickly nitpicker with an eagle eye for detecting all gnarls within a split second. Or lemon sniffing. You can't help but hone it during the years.