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Pawn shop Jazz!

#41
Well, if it's not even a Fender/Squier, but it's marked as such, pawnshop did a real dirty and should give a total refund. That's borderline sales fraud.

If it's a Squier, you should get a few clams back.

If you can't get anything back for it, keep your mouth shut and don't tell the wife. It might be your last trip to the pawnshop. Plus, it's a gift, right? Don't ruin the allure. Enjoy your anniversary.

Live and learn. I think most of us have tripped here and there along the way. When I think of the gear I overpaid for or ruined through my own negligence, $100.00 seems paltry.
 
#42
Another issue is that it doesn't have a bullet truss rod nut. If they clearly listed it as an American Fender then it is a case of false advertising. If it was intentional or not, as a business they are open to legal action. My guess is that if you brought up several of the points that have been brought up in this forum; the pawn shop will probably reconsider refunding either part or all of the purchase price.
 
#44
Headstock adjusted truss rod with a black plastic insert sleeve = Squier VM. I have never seen a headstock adjusted custom shop bass with a 4 bolt neck. And The 3 bolt necks generally had the bullet truss rod. But then what do I know, I am no "expert".

I wonder if someone scammed the Pawn Shop or the Pawn Shop scammed you?

Either way most Pawn Shops are very much up on what is what and what something is worth. it is very rare for them to get taken and even less rare these days to let a 2,000 - 3,000 dollar bass slip out the door for 400 and some change.....

And, if they in fact advertised it as a Fender, they may have some splaining to do.....
 
#49
you can get a FULL REFUND!!! most pawn shops have a 2 or 3 day return policy if i remember. you should always ask them about RETURNS before you pay just to be sure. i would get my money back or at least except store credit if they play hardball. gl.
 
#50
poorbassist15 said:
I saw a bass just like this on eBay a while back. It looked just like this. It could be the same bass. The seller said it was a Squier Vm Jazz with a Fender logo put on it. I can't remember if it was a standard style logo or not.
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in the DC metro area? the pawn shop was in NoVA.

but anyway...

thanks again to all for the educational info. You guys are quite sharp and know your Fenders. They wouldn't have fooled me with a Rick...

Looks like I got taken. From my read of the pawn shop guy, he didn't know either. Heck, I had to tell them how I was decoding the serial number.

I'll take it up with them after the holiday. My going-in assumption is both he and I got "taken". He even made a comment about not seeing made in US Fenders very often. And, worst case (other than overpaying $100+ bucks for it)... I used a credit card so I'm not sweating a refund if I need to. VISA claims disputes can be your friend. Heck, even if I got nothing back I'm still better off than the investment made for my not yet delivered DRB cabs (but that's another thread...:D). But considering I already have a GL Jazz, I frankly was more interesting in flipping this "steal" for some cash. That's not happening, of course. I'm not out to scam someone.

As for the "gift" aspect, my wife really enjoyed the story of me going back to the pawn shop and buying it after she suggested it a year or so ago. We just got back from dinner out for NYE and we've been discussing it a bit. So, she knows the whole story. No big secret or anything. Now, if I'd just bought another bass from a TBer, not as fun a story, she probably wouldn't have tolerated it as much...or offered to pay for it as my anniversary gift! If she'd given it to me as the gift, then I wouldn't have flipped it of course)

Bottom line: I'll use the very helpful info from you all in this thread and take it up with them on Saturday, when they are most likely open again. and my wife may still need to find me a gift!

I still may gig with it Fri night...it did sound and feel good when I tried it out.

I'll post the outcome in a couple days....meanwhile, Happy New Years to all the TB folks out there! and thanks again.
 
#51
rob4001va said:
I used a credit card so I'm not sweating a refund if I need to. VISA claims disputes can be your friend.
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Absolutely. My CC provider dogged some poor Chinese business man in Shanghai to death until I got my full purchase price back on a Gibson "clone."

As for the "gift" aspect, my wife really enjoyed the story of me going back to the pawn shop and buying it after she suggested it a year or so ago.
Click to expand...

Yeah I was just joking and figured as much. She sounds like the rare cool sig. other.
 
#53
Pawn shops do get scammed too. In the early seventies, a guitar player I knew got a job at Sears. At the time, Sears sold an import, semi-copy of a Les Paul Custom, except it had no name on the headstock and a bolt-on neck! Well, he bought one and with his employee discount, paid like $69 for it. He then ordered a GIBSON decal and applied it to the headstock, only he forgot that Gibson's logos were placed at an angle. He applied it going straight across!

Now this same guy had been haunting all the pawn shops in town, specifically for a Les Paul Custom. Week after week he would check in looking for one. The shops even had his phone number in case one came in. So when he had a friend take this horrible copy around to the pawn shops, it got the attention of the shopkeepers who all made good offers on the guitar knowing he would be in that week. As you can guess, the guitar was sold to the highest bidder who paid something like $400 for it. Of course when they called to tell Lyle that they had the guitar he had been looking for, he told them that he had just bought one!

These days, these merchants are more savvy and have internet access, so that particular scenario is much less likely to happen. One will slip through the cracks every now and then though.
 
#54
I once spotted bogus FCS decals available somewhere (maybe even here in the classifieds?) :eyebrow:

NickInMesa said:
Bottom line is: is it a good bass to play?
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Not a bad point. (Do we buy these things *just* to hustle/invest/brag or does actual performance factor in, somewhere?)

Still, fraud is fraud, so it's probably best to use available remedies and set things right.

... unless it REALLY has the magic. :D
 
#58
this makes me remember how much i LOVE my iphone. idk how many times i have been looking at a bass that was great player but the price i knew nothing about. a quick on the spot pricecheck and description to the great guys at TB and i knew to walk .

seriously TB is a double edged sword. the GAS has cost me crazy money but this joint has saved me a ton too.

im really sickened by the fact you took a hit on this and i really hope the shop owner makes it right for you, but i would have checked with these fellas before making the purchase.
 

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