Is My Jay Turser Bass Rare?

[PaytonCy]

I've been thinking about selling my bass guitar to get an upgrade. I can't find mine online anywhere, though. It's a Jay Turser four string. There is a bass guitar by Jay Turser that is exactly the same, except it is a five string. That's the Jay Turser JTB-445. Here's a picture, Link Removed I found my four string version on Ebay, where it says, "rare." They are selling it for around $195. Is my bass rare? I bought it at a yard sale for $50. Does anybody know where I could take it, or how much it's worth?

Thanks!

 

[PaytonCy]

I believe the previous owners added the purple hawk sticker. I've replaced the strings with Ernie Ball Slinky Nickel Wound strings. Also have had to re-solder the output as one of the wires came undone. Here is a picture of the instrument.

 

[MEKer]

I've been thinking about selling my bass guitar to get an upgrade. I can't find mine online anywhere, though. It's a Jay Turser four string. There is a bass guitar by Jay Turser that is exactly the same, except it is a five string. That's the Jay Turser JTB-445. Here's a picture, Link Removed I found my four string version on Ebay, where it says, "rare." They are selling it for around $195. Is my bass rare? I bought it at a yard sale for $50. Does anybody know where I could take it, or how much it's worth?

Thanks!

Rare only in the sense you may not find another easily. But rare sure does not always equate to valuable. Jay Turser was the cheapest line made by Washburn (good for starters to see if the player really wants to play bass perhaps). And $195 is waaaayyyy over-priced. You can find some really good plain ol' Washburns for that price which can be dang good basses as an upgrade from the Turser (such as the lower model numbered XB series).

 

[Joe Nerve]

If your Jay Turser has 3 and 1 tuning pegs (which I'm pretty sure some did), then it's rare. The 3/1 thing is trademarked by Musicman, and whenever those headstocks pop up on other basses, and they catch it, they put a stop to it.

I'll add though that the rarity of it won't add anything to the value, as technically it's a lawsuit bass (not that anybody is going to sue you for it ). Those basses were decent quality for the money from what I remember. A local dealer near me used to sell a lot of them. Used they would probably sell for what that Ebay person is shooting for. That may be a bit high actually.

So yeah... if the headstock looks like this, it's rare. If it has 4 tuning pegs in a row, not so rare. Value wouldn't change either way.

 

[B-Mac]

Rare only in the sense you may not find another easily. But rare sure does not always equate to valuable. Jay Turser was the cheapest line made by Washburn (good for starters to see if the player really wants to play bass perhaps). And $195 is waaaayyyy over-priced. You can find some really good plain ol' Washburns for that price which can be dang good basses as an upgrade from the Turser (such as the lower model numbered XB series).

Jay Turser is not affiliated with Washburn. I believe you have them mixed up with Oscar Schmidt which is Washburn's lower line of instruments. US Music Corporation owns Jay Turser.

US Music corporation also owns Washburn and Oscar Schmidt, but Jay Turser is not affiliated with Washburn.
U.S. Music Corporation - Wikipedia
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I own a one of a kind Jay Turser 5 string ABG and it is really gorgeous. I am amazed every time I take it out of the case.

I'm not very good at 5 string, but it sounds good unplugged. Plugged in the B string is very loud and the E string is softer and then the strings get louder as you go across the fret board so I am guessing the saddle needs sanding or the piezo under the saddle needs resetting or a little bit of both.

Based on my limited experience, I would not knock Jay Turser without giving them at least an honest try.

 

[jd56hawk]

No matter what, if you can get $150 for it, consider yourself lucky...it's $150 you can use for a Sterling SUB Ray or a Ray 34 if that's the kind of bass you like.

 

[Paulabass]

Rare is hard to qualify. The huge mega factories that crank out basses for 100 different brand names usually have a minimum run of a thousand. With 6 billion people on earth, yeah that's rare. As just another Asian bass in the price point, no.
You paid the right price, and with some cleanup and new strings, if you make a few bucks on it, good for you.

 

[Jason819]

I've got this Jay Turser corvette copy and it plays very nice. Does anyone know if it has a model # ? Mine looks like it had a sticker but it's gone ..

 

[two fingers]

I've got this Jay Turser corvette copy and it plays very nice. Does anyone know if it has a model # ? Mine looks like it had a sticker but it's gone ..

Welcome to TalkBass!!!!

You may get more traction if you start your own thread. Maybe title it "Do you guys know anything about this Corvette copy?"