opinions on buying blemished?

[mcblahflooper94]

I bought a bass that usually costs 379$ and got it for 300 for a barely noticeable blemish.

 

[Lee H]

bought an ebay bass once... had it at home for 2 days before noticing the "B". (Work was really piled up, and I did not have time to play)
The guy never responded to me when I emailed him about it.

I was able to fix the cosmetic blem, but it still irritated me

 

[seedokebass]

occasionally, Lakand offers "B stock" basses (IF - BIG "IF" they get in something from Indonesia with a blem)......

usually, the blems are very minor....and the price drop? well worth it!

I've seen some of what Lakland calls blems, as far as the Skyline's go. I purchased my 44-60 at My Music in Golden Valley MN, and checked out some other Skylines while I was there. Mainly minor imperfections in the paint, and the most noticeable one I saw was a kind of swirl mark (maybe 1/4" at most) on a fretboard. They were all at least $150-200 off.

 

[Marko 1]

I’ve had a lot of good luck with blems. Some I never did find anything wrong, but maybe I didn’t search hard enough.

One problem from MF was a used MB500 head, got it for $375, but it wouldn’t power up. BUT I talked them into replacing it with a new one for the same price, so…

 

[StuartV]

Why would you buy a less-than-perfect bass for an almost-new price when you can buy a less-than-perfect bass (used, which might even actually still be perfect) for roughly 50% off the new price?

Almost every brand except Fender sells used for roughly 50 - 60% of the price of new. US-made Fenders do seem to stay closer to 70 - 75% of new price in the used market.

 

[chris4355]

Why would you buy a less-than-perfect bass for an almost-new price when you can buy a less-than-perfect bass (used, which might even actually still be perfect) for roughly 50% off the new price?

Almost every brand except Fender sells used for roughly 50 - 60% of the price of new. US-made Fenders do seem to stay closer to 70 - 75% of new price in the used market.

i see what you are saying... i was thinking the same thing.

i spoke to a representative as zzounds, he said...

• all minor cosmetic flaws
• no problems with functionality
• i can return

the price of one new is 1050, blemished is 829... more than 200 bucks off for whats most likely to be a couple of dings? why not.

I'm am very careful with my gear, but i still always manage to get a couple of dings on my instruments no matter what. 1 little knock on a non-blemished one and there goes my 200 bucks I could have saved...

 

[finfrocka]

Didn't read the thread.

But one time I bought a blem warwick from music123 years ago. I called and asked about the product in question and the reason they had to sell it as a blem was merely because they had to open the box and check that one of the basses from that particular shipment was okay/correct. Got the bass for 100-200 off regular price for a brand new instrument.

So I would call zz sounds and ask them.

(sorry if this has been done/previously stated)

 

[chris4355]

Why would you buy a less-than-perfect bass for an almost-new price when you can buy a less-than-perfect bass (used, which might even actually still be perfect) for roughly 50% off the new price?

Almost every brand except Fender sells used for roughly 50 - 60% of the price of new. US-made Fenders do seem to stay closer to 70 - 75% of new price in the used market.

oops, i read your post wrong. i bought new because i couldnt find one used.

 

[chris4355]

To anyone wondering, I just got the bass. It took me about 10 minutes to find why it was blemished. The culprit was a small faint of gray about 1/4 inch long, about half an inch over the SDGR logo...

200 bucks off for that? im not complaining.