Seller wants his bass back?

[matti777]

Here is a good one. I recently bought a '98 Fender Marcus Miller jazz off of Facebook. The seller was an older guy (older than me and I'm 58). A few weeks after the sale he runs another add on FB saying he sold it impulsively. His son gave it to him and it has sentimental value (like he forgot this fact). I like the bass and just installed new pups and an Audere preamp last night. I'm not sure what I am going to do. I'm not seriously attached I don't want to make any money off of this but it involves many hours to install/remove the electronics so I am reluctant to do that for nothing. I'm sure I can come up with a plan but I'm curious what others would do. ps I paid $1400 Cdn which I thought was a decent price (maybe not?)

 

[NigeJ]

Keep it. It was his decision to sell, impulse or not.

 

[jd56hawk]

I'd sell it back without a second thought.

 

[WillyW]

There is no moral quandary on your end, if you like it keep it.

 

[matti777]

He offered me $100 to put it back to stock.

 

[BadSanta1281]

Seller's remorse isn't your fault any more than buyer's remorse, if you had it, would be his.

Other than that... follow your gut feeling.

 

[Bassinthemudd]

He offered me $100 to put it back to stock.

Since you're not attached to it, and he's offering the $100, I'd sell it back. I doubt that he forgot about the sentimental value, but I think most of us can relate to regretting selling a bass or two. The reason doesn't really matter that much.

 

[sleddogn]

I'd need more than 100, i'd need payment for the extras i just purchased too before i'd consider.

Also, who thinks the seller got a higher offer than what he sold? I'd put real money on this guess for sure....

 

[sleepingEB0]

There’s no ethical obligation on your part but tbh I would sell it back, clean it up and put new strings on it.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

Whatever you do, at least give the guy an answer.

I sold a bass back in 2016. At the time, the bass held no sentimental value to me but over time it started to mean more to me by representing a particular time in my life. I’ve reached out to the guy several times over the years just to say if he ever plans to sell it to let me know, and he has never responded back even to say “no” or “okay.” While I don’t think I’m owed an answer, I definitely took the time to respond to all the questions he had before he bought the bass, so it’s just annoying.

 

[godofthunder59]

Yeah I'd sell it back to him, they made tons of 'em.

 

[lug]

I'd send him a pic of you holding a gun on the bass and where to meet with the large bag of money for the swap.

 

[JRA]

you're not "seriously attached," but you've done some work. do the guy a favor --- you can put your new parts in another ax, now or later. if roles were reversed, you'd appreciate someone else being so thoughtful after you were so stupid.

 

[matti777]

Yeah $100 covers new strings and part of my time and gas to go and get the bass in the first place. I think I paid $1200. I'm not interested in sticking it to this guy....just mulling the decision over. He is telling me now his son is mad which is not my problem. I liked the bass but its not irreplaceable although somewhat collectible...try to find another one right now whiteout having to pay $300 shipping. If I hadn't bought it I would have jumped on a mid 70's jazz that came up for $1500 ( it sold in less than an hour....I wasn't 100% sure of its originality) which is a bit of a piss off. I bolted in the preamp and pups but the rear pup is DOA (bought from a fellow TB'er) so I never did get to give it a good try. I'll probably put the stock pups back in this afternoon and do that. I was going to upgrade my '13 deluxe at first but decided to do the MM at the last minute.

 

[Gustopher]

You don't owe him anything, you don't have to do it, you aren't in the wrong either way you decide to go. If it were me, I would probably keep it if I had done the work to it already... MAYBE if it were the next day after the sale and it was still a "fresh" deal I'd just sell it back to him... but not weeks later, that's just asking too much on his end.

 

[matti777]

I'd send him a pic of you holding a gun on the bass and where to meet with the large bag of money for the swap.

or a soldering iron but he already knows its too late

 

[lug]

or a soldering iron but he already knows its too late

You could threaten send it back 1 piece at a time until he pays your demands.

 

[mongo2]

It's your bass. You own it. Do whatever you feel is right.

 

[LBS-bass]

Yeah, it's not a sentimental thing, his son just found out and wasn't happy so he's trying to appease him.

It isn't your problem. Honestly, I'd be on the fence depending on what I'd sunk into it in terms of time, effort and money.

A solution that he probably wouldn't go for would be to offer to have the restoration done by a third party at the seller's expense, given that by rights you have no compelling reason to put more sweat equity into this thing. $100 is not close to adequate compensation for the double work you're doing to put the new stuff in and then replace it again with the original stuff. It's not just the restoration but the fact that you already have sweat equity into it since you assumed you would be keeping it.

 

[sleddogn]

or hold it above a wood chipper and say... going going gone...lol