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Just bought my old bass back, but....

tom once dead

tom once dead

Mar 8, 2008
2,869
244
Brisbane QLD Australia
#1
Just bought my old bass back for $100. Was told it was exactly how I left if when I sold it. Well, when I got back from work I went to plug it in; only to find the input jack plate has been smashed in. I can still plug a lead in and it works fine.

My thinking is to get it repaired, then take the bill round to the seller so he can pay for it. What do you guys think I should do?
:help:
 
#2
First off, what is it? If it's a $40 First Act POS from Walmart, personally I would think twice. If it is something like a Peavey, Squier, Ibanez, etc. - if I were going to play it, yeah, I would most likely fix it up. If it was just because it was my first bass, I'd probably still do it, but it wouldn't be a driving need - more of a "Hey, I've got $20 to blow, I'll fix this up instead of buy pizza"...
 
#5
I (drunkenly) bought a RBX 170 on ebay for A$130 after a few cans on a friday afternoon.
It still had the hang tags, a spare set of strings a stand and gig bag.

The moral of this story?

Don't drink and bid.
Don't assume you will not be outbid if you are the first bidder.
Don't bid on something you don't really need/want.

As a loaner bass, your RBX really is probably not worth chucking a lot of (any) money at.

If it works as it, let your sister use it.
If she want's to keep playing.
Get her something nicer and sell the RBX for $100 again.
 
#11
Kitsapbass said:
If you're talking about one of the sidemount plastic plates for a jack, you should be able to get a metal one for about $6.
Click to expand...

I think they're side mounted. If the damage is small enough, just get a wider jack plate and bolt it outside the damaged area. I had one of those basses, the single P model, can't remember the model number. I loaned it to a cousin who wanted to learn to play and I went over their house a year or two later and saw it sitting in a corner with half the headstock broken off. Things could be worse.
 
#12
Ive accually broken the single P model headstock in half myself (RBX 160). Never moving a foldback from a corner when there is a bass and metal bracing near it again.

Also, being my friend, when he said "Just the same as how you left it" I took his word for it, didn't even take it out of the case until I got home from work.

The input jack has been pushed right in, and is completely loose.
 
#15
tom once dead said:
Also, being my friend, when he said "Just the same as how you left it" I took his word for it, didn't even take it out of the case until I got home from work.

The input jack has been pushed right in, and is completely loose.
Click to expand...

I presume your friend is a musician. Maybe he even plays guitar. Look. He said it was just the same. And YOU said: "only to find the input jack plate has been smashed in. I can still plug a lead in and it works fine."

So basically you could plug in the cord before and the bass played fine and now you can STILL plug in the cord and he bass plays fine. What in the world are you complaining about? To a musician that is close enough. Consider yourself lucky that anyone even knew where to find the bass and could get it back!

And then the icing on the cake is you think maybe you'll drop a bunch of coin on new pups and strings all the while moaning about some minor broken plate! And what? You want to take it some repair shop and get it fixed for what, $40 or so on a $100 bass and then charge the seller? Do YOU play guitar? Fix the plate yourself and call it "education".

Listen. Engage your brain. Get some cheap-ass Carvin strings and slap on there. Give it a good going over and set up. Get a cheap plate to replace the broken one and then "loan" it to your sister [remembering what the word "loan" means to musicians]. Consider yourself lucky if your sister takes up bass and it eventually comes back in the same number of pieces it went out with.
 
#16
bassbenj said:
I presume your friend is a musician. Maybe he even plays guitar. Look. He said it was just the same. And YOU said: "only to find the input jack plate has been smashed in. I can still plug a lead in and it works fine."

So basically you could plug in the cord before and the bass played fine and now you can STILL plug in the cord and he bass plays fine. What in the world are you complaining about? To a musician that is close enough. Consider yourself lucky that anyone even knew where to find the bass and could get it back!

And then the icing on the cake is you think maybe you'll drop a bunch of coin on new pups and strings all the while moaning about some minor broken plate! And what? You want to take it some repair shop and get it fixed for what, $40 or so on a $100 bass and then charge the seller? Do YOU play guitar? Fix the plate yourself and call it "education".

Listen. Engage your brain. Get some cheap-ass Carvin strings and slap on there. Give it a good going over and set up. Get a cheap plate to replace the broken one and then "loan" it to your sister [remembering what the word "loan" means to musicians]. Consider yourself lucky if your sister takes up bass and it eventually comes back in the same number of pieces it went out with.
Click to expand...

:eyebrow:

:rollno:

:scowl:
 
#17
lol @ benji..\\anyway, paying for a repair on a cheap bass is not worth the money. Kinda like paying for an engine repair on an old car (non collectible). Either you or your buddy fix the bass, or just go and find another one like yours for the ame money, without any issues.
 
#18
bassbenj said:
I presume your friend is a musician. Maybe he even plays guitar. Look. He said it was just the same. And YOU said: "only to find the input jack plate has been smashed in. I can still plug a lead in and it works fine."

So basically you could plug in the cord before and the bass played fine and now you can STILL plug in the cord and he bass plays fine. What in the world are you complaining about? To a musician that is close enough. Consider yourself lucky that anyone even knew where to find the bass and could get it back!

And then the icing on the cake is you think maybe you'll drop a bunch of coin on new pups and strings all the while moaning about some minor broken plate! And what? You want to take it some repair shop and get it fixed for what, $40 or so on a $100 bass and then charge the seller? Do YOU play guitar? Fix the plate yourself and call it "education".

Listen. Engage your brain. Get some cheap-ass Carvin strings and slap on there. Give it a good going over and set up. Get a cheap plate to replace the broken one and then "loan" it to your sister [remembering what the word "loan" means to musicians]. Consider yourself lucky if your sister takes up bass and it eventually comes back in the same number of pieces it went out with.
Click to expand...

This is a trust issue more than anything. If your mother says she didn't touch your bass while you were away at college, and you come home to find it in three pieces, are you going to say, "Well, it could have been worse!"? To me, I certainly would not tolerate a smashed-in jack, and I would be taking it in for repairs the next day, bringing a receipt back to the person who damaged it. I really do not see your point, and I'm pretty sure you're not going to like it if one of your friends borrowed it and returned it with a large crack down the length of the neck, even it it "doesn't affect playability". Are you going to shell out the money to fix it, or are you going to fix it yourself and call it "education"?
 
#19
J-Building said:
This is a trust issue more than anything. If your mother says she didn't touch your bass while you were away at college, and you come home to find it in three pieces, are you going to say, "Well, it could have been worse!"? To me, I certainly would not tolerate a smashed-in jack, and I would be taking it in for repairs the next day, bringing a receipt back to the person who damaged it. I really do not see your point, and I'm pretty sure you're not going to like it if one of your friends borrowed it and returned it with a large crack down the length of the neck, even it it "doesn't affect playability". Are you going to shell out the money to fix it, or are you going to fix it yourself and call it "education"?
Click to expand...

Can you trust your own mother? Hey, trashing stuff while you are away at college is what moms do. Get over it. What are you gonna do? Send mom some huge repair bill or make her fork over 20 grand because she threw out your comic book collection (now suddenly valuable)?

Look the bass is cheap. As someone already pointed out, you don't throw good money after bad. Throwing a huge repair bill in your buddy's face doesn't make sense on some $100 bass. You are all pretending that this was some boutique wonder that was misrepresented. Hey, is the guy that had it really a friend? If he is they why would you stick him with a repair bill a fraction the cost of the bass? If he's a pal then the two of you ought to work it out. It's already been pointed out a jack plate should not be a big deal.

Personally I treat the loan of instruments like loaning your wife...there may be some exceptions, but usually not a good practice! Anyway the bass was SOLD to the dude not loaned. So then there is just one question: Is the bass still worth $100 with the bad jack plate. For most of us here that's a no-brainer. But if Tom once Dead doesn't think so, then return the bass and ask for your money back. If there is any action over any of this then I presume the "friend" wasn't much of a friend.
 

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