How much for a Warwick Streamer 7-String

[Tightanic]

Hello,

yesterday I visited one of the local guitar shops and didn't expect to see anything special, but in the hindmost corner of the store I discovered a Warwick Streamer Stage I 7-String to my great surprise. The fact that actually liked the bass a lot surprised me even more, and I am seriously considering buying it. These are the specs:

-Must have been built somewhere in the ninetees (definetely nor one of the new ones)

-Bartolini soapbars and 3 band electronics

- 34" Scale

The bass is in an overall good condition, it plays and sounds great, but besides its dead old strings, there are several indicators for its age like rusty frets which are still working, so this seems to be only a cosmetic issue, several scratches and marks (mostly) on the back, and a little dirt and dust here and there. I've posted two pictures, but they don't show any detail, just for an impression of the bass:

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Now my question is: How much can the store charge for this bass? The tag says 4350,-, but my prof assumed that this is still the price in "Deutsche Mark", the former german currency, because he remembered seeing this bass at the very same store many years ago. One "Mark" was about half an Euro. However, to my thinking the price of 4350 € is much to high, so what could I propose to the seller, any suggestions?

Thanks alot in advance,
Johannes

 

[needmoney]

That looks like a killer bass! I'd say it's 4350 DM as well. That much in Euro's would be INSANE! You should definitely buy it, not very often you see one of those!

 

[vene-nemesis]

If the bass is in such condition go talk to them offer 2k€ for it with a ful set up, new strings, warwicks wax and a reasonable price in a case for it.

 

[SurrenderMonkey]

How dare they present a bass in such a poor condition and ask for that much money. Can't they FIX THE FRETS!

I really don't get it when shops sell instruments like that and can't be bothered to spend an hour (max) making it presentable.

 

[Baryonyx]

What a find! You've got to try and snap that one up! It's obviously a custom job, and Warwick customs are ridiculously expensive-I know one guy who has dropped £2500 on a 5 string Vampyre! So, when they're new you don't get a whole lot of bang for your buck. See if you can work a good deal out on this beauty!

 

[Tightanic]

Thanks for your replies so far, seems like something around 2k seems to worth negotiating. Maybe I should mention, that this store is kind of known for his free style price policy, being the grandfather of all music stores in town - and there is also a LOT talking to do, the owner loves to boast the uniqueness of his goods (not joking), and that always takes quite a while, especially when you decide not to agree...

Surrender Monkey: It's really a shame, I agree. Nevertheless, displaying instruments that haven't been cleaned or restringed for years happens much to often. Here in Germany things have become much better because since competition is huge by now (big mail order companies tend to have better pricing), but still many shops can be found where no one cares about the guitars they stock. But maybe there is also something good to it, because talking down a price should be much easier with some rust on the frets, right?

 

[brisonic]

Looking at the strings, it seems like the low isn't super thick. I think I would love a 7 with a low F#,

 

[bassteban]

One thing confuses me about his bass- the frets are rusty, & Warwick has to my knowledge always highly touted their *bell brass frets.* Also to my admittedly limited knowledge here, brass does not rust..?

 

[themajorrager]

One thing confuses me about his bass- the frets are rusty, & Warwick has to my knowledge always highly touted their *bell brass frets.* Also to my admittedly limited knowledge here, brass does not rust..?

from my limited dealings with brass i have found that it will oxidize and discoulour over time. if it comes into contact with salt it will also turn green.
i had to polish my warwick brass frets every couple of weeks to keep em at their best.

 

[john turner]

i remember seeing a price list for warwicks in '94 i think at a namm show. they were one of the few companies offering 7's at the time (other than bill conklin of course ) but they were ridiculously expensive - iirc the cost from the custom shop for a 7 was approx $3k -more- than the custom shop 6 string price.

 

[john turner]

another thing - a bass being dirty/having old strings/corrosion/etc in a shop is not necessarily a bad thing. can help to bring the price down .

 

[Baryonyx]

i remember seeing a price list for warwicks in '94 i think at a namm show. they were one of the few companies offering 7's at the time (other than bill conklin of course ) but they were ridiculously expensive - iirc the cost from the custom shop for a 7 was approx $3k -more- than the custom shop 6 string price.

They are quite fond of charging very, very high prices!