Overpriced El Toro?

[gnome01]

Hi all,

I played a G&L El Toro bass the other day - perfect condition. Played great, sounded great, not too heavy. Black with rosewood and matching headstock if that matters. I'm really tempted but the price tag said $1100 which means paying less that a grand would be a stretch. Not much current info on these, but that sounds kind of outrageous to me - any thoughts?

 

[zac10669]

The 2009 Vintage guitar guide shows $825 for the high end of excellent condition....You might leverage this if you decided to have follow up discussions / negotiations. IMO this is understated.

You don't see as many of these come across. I watch Ebay fairly closely and have seen about 4-5 of these sell this year and they all sold in the $825-$925 range (plus shipping) and I don't think any of them had the original case.

The El Toro's were made with either 1.75" nut or 1 5/8" nut. The 1 5/8" are harder to find (neck feel is amazing) and would be a little more valuable. The matching headstock was common on these basses.

Bottom line if this El Toro is in excellent condition, all original/unaltered, with the original hard shell case $1000 "all up" out the door including taxes would not be out of range. (IMO)

If they don't have the original case and/or if something has been repaired/modified I would knock a couple hundred dollars off.

All that said, if you love the bass, El Toro's aren't as easy to find as some of the other models, and G&Ls have not been going down in value over the past few years.

Hope that helps!

 

[gnome01]

Cool, thanks for the reply - I suppose it's not so outrageous for a great bass that's hard to find & definitely comparable to an MM Sabre or something like that. Might have to snatch it

 

[strummin]

Buffalo Brothers had one recently. Looks like they did get it sold. Invalid Link Removed
It was priced at $850.00. I didn't play it but visually it was in good shape.

 

[Chef]

I haven't seen one flip for a while now.
$1000 would be on the high side of right, if it was mint and had the ohsc case and all.

But, there' not many of them that turn over. You'd wait a while to find another, in any condition.

 

[flash99]

I sold one at my store for $1000 but it was almost mint and an odd one - the neck date put it as built a year after the model was discontinued. $800-$900 is a fair price for a clean one in general.

 

[basementdweller]

I actually bought that El Toro at Buffalo Brothers. I'd say that $1100 is a little expensive, especially if the headstock is not the same color as the body. That said, El Toro's sound great, play fantastically, and are quite rare. It will appreciate for sure.