Bass made with StraTosphere parts ... look at the nice stripes on the J neck ... I bought it for this reason amongst several USA J necks they had available in that period ...
EDIT
No dead spots whatsoever ... just a good in-house setup
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STRATosphere Bass Components
- Thread starter PianoOfDoom
- Start date
Bass made with StraTosphere parts ... look at the nice stripes on the J neck ... I bought it for this reason amongst several USA J necks they had available in that period ...
EDIT
No dead spots whatsoever ... just a good in-house setup
Just for balance, my experience has been generally ok except that when I emailed them for some information (several times) regarding their description of a bass body 'in perfect condition, but less so on the reverse' they totally ignored me. Eventually someone else bought that body I really wanted.
The last item I bought from them had slight finish defects that should have been declared in my view and certainly were not shown in the 4 photos they put on their eBay listing. As I live in Europe I chose to just accept it because returning it back to the US wasn't going to be much fun in the middle of some other life issues I was having at the time.
So let's just say I would be wary of using them again because just 4 photos and zero response to customers' requesting additional information make buying from abroad (and paying an additional 25% import tax on arrival) even more of a crap shoot.
The last item I bought from them had slight finish defects that should have been declared in my view and certainly were not shown in the 4 photos they put on their eBay listing. As I live in Europe I chose to just accept it because returning it back to the US wasn't going to be much fun in the middle of some other life issues I was having at the time.
So let's just say I would be wary of using them again because just 4 photos and zero response to customers' requesting additional information make buying from abroad (and paying an additional 25% import tax on arrival) even more of a crap shoot.
I've used them on several occasions with no problems at all.
I guess if you buy a instrument from Fender and want to disassemble it and sell it as parts there's not a lot Fender or anyone can do about it. It's bought and paid for.
I guess if you buy a instrument from Fender and want to disassemble it and sell it as parts there's not a lot Fender or anyone can do about it. It's bought and paid for.
I have bought a number of things from them including bodies and necks and I've been very happy. A wise man once told me there's no such thing as a free lunch.
I consider these USED parts from a Parts Dealer, not NEW instruments. I also have never considered these "brand new" instrument parts. I don't expect perfection. If anyone does they are fooling themselves and should buy a new instrument with a warrantee, from a dealer.
I consider these USED parts from a Parts Dealer, not NEW instruments. I also have never considered these "brand new" instrument parts. I don't expect perfection. If anyone does they are fooling themselves and should buy a new instrument with a warrantee, from a dealer.
I bought a couple necks and a body and returned one of the necks. They were good to deal with and I like the parts.
I've have good experience dealing with them in the past. Some things can be pricey, but the do have occasional sales. I like that they list the weight for bodies. When you find yourself in need of a neck or certain parts, they can really come in handy.
They are a guitar chop-shop, which bothers me for reasons I can't define well. I haven't seen anything priced as parts that wouldn't add up to more than the total value of the guitar whole, but if you simply must have a loaded Jazz body in sea foam green, for example, sooner or later they will have it. I did buy a Ric Hi-Gain pup from them for $75, the going price elsewhere, but everybody else was out of stock. Trouble free transaction, so a good source for parts, but don't expect any real deals.
I've made 7 or 8 purchases from Stratosphere and have been satisfied with every one of them and the shipping is fast. There's not a whole lot of communication from their end, but I continue to let them know what I'm looking for. Just picked up a new Fender Player series P-Bass body (lefty) from them. Being left-handed, I find the easiest way to get what I want is to buy the parts and put them together myself.
I purchased a neck from them. It turned out to be the wrong neck for my project. The accepted the return and issued a refund quickly and courteously. Would buy from again.
FWIW - I have built a lot of frankenFenders with parts from them (and I have resold here on TB). On the whole, I would give them 8/10 to deal with. Communication is not the best and maybe 1 out of every 20 transactions is not quite what I expected (good vs. very good vs. mint - subjective) but for straightforward transactions via eBay, Reverb, or their website, it is usually very smooth. As another TBer pointed out, if there is something specific you are looking for, they eventually have it. I am a fan of the CIJ/MIJ Fender necks and I have had very good luck finding them there at reasonable prices. As a buying resource, I would put them at #2 behind TB. 
I've had mostly good dealing with them, but with a single exception. They sent me a neck that had the truss rod cranked down to it's limit and out of adjustments. We went back and forth a little on the solution, but I decided to keep it. I eventually got it settled in. But they banned me from their eBay store over it - Go figure. But I can still buy from their website. One thing I've decided is to stay away from their bodies. I've found them to be on the heavy side. Maybe, set aside by Fender due to weight? I don't know.
I've had very good experiences with them. Have ordered several items and all arrived well packed and as described.
I even returned a bass body once because it had a semi-transparent finish but it looked like a solid color in their listing. They were great on all levels!
I even returned a bass body once because it had a semi-transparent finish but it looked like a solid color in their listing. They were great on all levels!
As has been mentioned above, the whole "guitar chop-shop" thing has an odd feel to it, but the product and service I have received from them has been stellar. I wouldn't hesitate to order from them again, if the need should ever arise.
Haven't shopped em in a while but back when i was looking regularly they offered as much lightly used stuff as they did new. I recall a brace of three black Highway 1 Jazz basses all with varying degrees of wear and all priced accordingly.
As for their service, i've bought a few loaded pickguards from them and they were exactly as advertised and worked as they should once installed. I used buy it now on ebay so i got the usual autospam emails and all my packages were tracked so i had more than enough communication with the seller.
Their pricing keeps it from being a go to source but if i need something right now and they are the only place that has it, they get my business.
As for their service, i've bought a few loaded pickguards from them and they were exactly as advertised and worked as they should once installed. I used buy it now on ebay so i got the usual autospam emails and all my packages were tracked so i had more than enough communication with the seller.
Their pricing keeps it from being a go to source but if i need something right now and they are the only place that has it, they get my business.
They're good. My only complaint is that I've ordered a Jazz bass pickguard and they've sent me a P bass pickguard TWICE lol
probably me!!
i buy those fender Reissue cables (8 foot grey ones) because they are excellent and have a very low pF capacitance (meaning more high end). these guys are great, i've bought a bunch from them and never had an issue.
I'm under the impression that they break down instruments that had some problem (not with the parts they are selling). So, I would imagine that they are buying these "defects" at a substantial discount and then breaking them down into the sellable parts. Every time I have looked at their stuff, it has been more expensive than buying a whole bass, but not unreasonable compared to the usual secondary parts market.
