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Should I buy it back - My first bass

TheSuzie

TheSuzie

Jan 27, 2006
1,476
13
Boston & Arizona, USA
#1
Sorry for the ramble. I have been up all night.

A few of you may know that I lost everything a few years ago in a personal disaster that also ruined my health. When I say everything on the material level, I mean lots of rare records, rare books, clothes, furnishings, a fantastic stereo, a load of instruments, vintage amps, rare stompboxes, studio gear, my car, lots of personal stuff, shop tools, buttload of parts plus a lot lot more. Oh yeah, eventually I lost the house too.

So that is the story of woe. Cut to today. I have a roof over my head after three years of homelessness. Just a couple of rented rooms and I could easily be homeless again. But I am sitting here googling and I come across my old bass in a store about an hours drive from my old house. Of course it no longer has my nice fender case (no case at all), a knob is missing and it is more beat up but I am 99.9% sure it is my bass.

Should I try to get it??? The question is complicated by the fact that I have just discovered that I am still not physically able to play. The doctor says it will be a month or two before I should try again so I already have an SX I just picked up that is collecting dust. It is possible that I will not be able to ever play much if at all. This old bass of mine is nothing fantastic by TB standards but I had been looking to get something higher quality with a similar layout some time in the future if I found I was able to play.

A quick phone call will confirm if it is mine because it has a modification that no other such bass will have plus a couple of other identifying characteristics. Also since I bought it back in the 1980s I have never seen another like it. Would I be crazy to buy it back at a small $ loss, without being able to look at it in person to see if has been beat. Of course it is another physical object to deal with and I already have too much stuff to deal with if I go homeless again.

Again sorry for the ramble.

Confused,
S
 
#2
I would put all your resources into keeping a roof over you're head. Years ago, I was pretty much wiped out after a divorce. I spent about 5 years with very few personal belongings so I know how tough it can be. If you are close to being without a home, I would focus on that. Create the best financial base as you can. As much as it would be nice to have your old bass back, a place to call home and a savings/emergency account is much more important.
 
#3
Thanks,

I should clarify. While I have been really messed up financially, I can make the rent. The reason I would end up homeless again would be related to my health. Of course, If I were rich it would change the game a lot. I could have the sort of housing I really need built for me and not worry about the costs of medication either.

S
 
#4
I agree with FL_Knifemaker.

However, dont make a phone call. If the seller sees how much the bass means to you, he could tack on an extra hundred bucks or so if he thinks you want it bad enough. I would go look at it instead of calling.
 
#5
The way the economy is these days, for anyone starting out or getting back on their feet, I put creating a financial base as the #1 priority. I tell everyone that asks, create one, be proud of it even when it's small and keep it growing!! Work towards the home you need.

As far as the bass..........check it out in person and see if you're still moved to buy it back. Then make the decision. Walking out without it might feel better than bringing it home.
 
#6
I can't argue with the wisdom of getting your finances in order. It's hard to heal if you are worried about the roof over your head.

But let me ask you this: would having your old bass back make you work harder on rehab? It sounds like the old bass needs a bit of work its self before it will be play ready, so the two of you could rehab together. If you go that route, let the SX go to someone who will play it rather than have both basses.
 
#7
FL Knifemaker said:
As far as the bass..........check it out in person and see if you're still moved to buy it back. Then make the decision. Walking out without it might feel better than bringing it home.
Click to expand...

^
This, I have bought back old gear that I remembered as being the best thing I ever had, only to find it was so great because it was the best thing I had had up to that point.
Quite often it is as disappointing as hooking up with the best looking girl from school 20 years later, when she had become hideous and depressing.
 
#8
TheSuzie said:
Sorry for the ramble. I have been up all night.

A few of you may know that I lost everything a few years ago in a personal disaster that also ruined my health. When I say everything on the material level, I mean lots of rare records, rare books, clothes, furnishings, a fantastic stereo, a load of instruments, vintage amps, rare stompboxes, studio gear, my car, lots of personal stuff, shop tools, buttload of parts plus a lot lot more. Oh yeah, eventually I lost the house too.

So that is the story of woe. Cut to today. I have a roof over my head after three years of homelessness. Just a couple of rented rooms and I could easily be homeless again. But I am sitting here googling and I come across my old bass in a store about an hours drive from my old house. Of course it no longer has my nice fender case (no case at all), a knob is missing and it is more beat up but I am 99.9% sure it is my bass.

Should I try to get it??? The question is complicated by the fact that I have just discovered that I am still not physically able to play. The doctor says it will be a month or two before I should try again so I already have an SX I just picked up that is collecting dust. It is possible that I will not be able to ever play much if at all. This old bass of mine is nothing fantastic by TB standards but I had been looking to get something higher quality with a similar layout some time in the future if I found I was able to play.

A quick phone call will confirm if it is mine because it has a modification that no other such bass will have plus a couple of other identifying characteristics. Also since I bought it back in the 1980s I have never seen another like it. Would I be crazy to buy it back at a small $ loss, without being able to look at it in person to see if has been beat. Of course it is another physical object to deal with and I already have too much stuff to deal with if I go homeless again.

Again sorry for the ramble.

Confused,
S
Click to expand...

I sold my first bass and while I know I'll never see that one again, I'm still on a quest to find a replacement for it. I just want it for sentimental reasons, not because I need another bass.

Oh, and as far as your road to recovery, I'm in your neck of the desert. If I can be of any help to you, please PM me. I'd be glad to do what I can.
 
#9
Thanks for all your responses.

WayneS said:
I agree with FL_Knifemaker.

However, dont make a phone call. If the seller sees how much the bass means to you, he could tack on an extra hundred bucks or so if he thinks you want it bad enough. I would go look at it instead of calling.
Click to expand...


The bass is almost 3000 miles away from me so no in person visits. It was never a great bass, but I never considered getting rid of it. A handful of others came and went but it was one that stayed. It needed a new bridge, better pickups and a rewire though everything did work last time I saw it. It is also fugly 1980s style.....
 
#12
millsbass5 said:
Please,do tell.What model/brand is this bass??Just curious.
Click to expand...

It is a cheap 1980s clone of a Tune Bass Maniac. Something that only a mother or a nutcase could love. Since I am childless you get to draw your own conclusions.

Well it seems the universe is giving me at the least a chance to mull this one over. I broke down and called the store. They show the bass in stock and workers there have seen it but nobody seems to be able to find it today. It may be just plain gone or it may turn up. Either way I get a chance to meditate on this one.

Peace,
S
 
#15
Engine207 said:
Hopefully, you'll be meditating in a refrigerator. I wish I was...our outside thermometer reads 112〫!!
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's hotter than heck here too. I have a fan, so that is a luxury compared to living in the car. You are probably a few degrees hotter up near Phoenix. Running low on water but I will wait till the sun is lower or down before I go out today. Probably a good 20 miles each way to fill the jugs up.

The nice nights are the ones when we get a small monsoon that only cools things down a little but shoots the humidity up to 85%...
 
#16
I'm taking my wife and my basses and moving away from this blast furnace when I retire in 4 years!!
 

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#18
Some things to think about -
How much do you really want it back?
Did it mean that much to you or does it just remind you of what you used to have? You need to move forward now, you can't go back.
It doesn't come across in your posts whether you really care that much about it, at least to me.
An alternative - when your health and financial stability are better, investing in something new and different might be even more exciting Something that will represent your new beginning rather than what you had and lost...

Sorry to be so philosophical - just my nature.
Good luck,
Steve
 
#19
Hi TheSuzie.

You write well. Thank you. :)

--------

The bass is merely the body. We are its soul.

While there is comfort in familiarity, those who remain in the past have no future.

Battles are won by advancing, not retreating.

ATTACK!!!
 

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