Thinking of selling my 1955 Precision - any suggestions or thoughts? (Not an ad)

depends on what your trying to get..

Talkbass isnt going to pay the over inflated vintage prices.. We know what its worth.

Ebay you stand a chance to make a nice profit cause you can inflate prices and people will pay them and your audience is bigger.

Consignment you have to take a loss since the store is going to jack there share on top of the price you request.. Say hypothetically you want a $1000 they will sell it for like $1300-1400 and give you the $1000 PLUS you got a bunch of people beating on your already prized possesion.. Not a good idea.

Local Store there not going to give you nearly what its worth they have to A.) Pony up the cash.. Make sure its a good store and no personal checks, I would ask for a Bank Draft or Certified Check, and B.) They have to resell it so there going to hit you hard on a not so fair price.

So in closing I say Ebay it or sell it here and give someone a bass they would play..

I dont care how old, what its worth, where it came from, who played it, if its the first or the 100th basses are meant to be played.. And I would play the crap out of it.


NOW Pictures or this thread is worthless.

 

Get it appraised from a qualified appraiser. Have them take detailed and clear digital photographs of all the componants. I'm sure they will disasemble it to verifiy it's authenticity, and note what is original and what is not. Again, perfetct time to take clear photos.

Figure out how much you want for the bass, and offer copies of the appraisal to interestd parties who are willing to pony up the cash for it.

You could post it here for sale in the classified section, or you could take it to ebay.
You could also possibly find a broker to sell this for you, for a fee obviously. I'm sure there's people out there that specialize in vintage instruments.

If it's a "player" that's been stripped/refinished or otherwise molested over the years. Just make a nice list of all the changed parts, and throw it up on ebay with a sensible "players" price.

 

You could post an add in Vintage Guitar Magazine. That way people who are serious can contact you. Having an appraisal may help as well. I'd list it everywhere. You should try to get "fair market value". It may be an issue of finding the right buyer, that is a person who knows what they want and aren't into pinching pennies. If this bass is all original with OHSC, you have something that is rare and therefore worth $$$ to someone. Don't give it away.

 

http://www.gruhn.com/
http://www.gruhn.com/appraise.html

The most $$$ will also be the most work. EBay will be the way to go to get to the most expendable $$$. But get a real, knowledgeable appraisal of the instrument. Get good quality photographs of not only the whole instrument, but all the important details for that year. Make sure you include things like neck pocket, neck heel, cavity area tape-dates, pots, bottoms of the pickups, etc.

The more work you do, the easier it will be to convince a buyer that its legit, you're legit and that its worth spending the money on.

 

While I was contemplating restoring my '55 (it had been refinished by the previous 2 owners!), I saw a '56 P-bass for sale on Ebay. I saved the photos and the text of the Ad. These became what I call "how to sell an old P-bass." Apologies to who ever owns this bass.

I did not record any price info or how quickly it sold. All I know is that the photos and text answered more questions than almost any other bass Ad I have seen. Pure naked honesty. Refreshing.

Here are the photos, there all 39 of them: http://www.jamescarr.net/selling/blue-56-innards/

Here is the text:

Good luck!

 

Breath-taking, IMHO! If that is a replacement pickguard, and I think it is, it looks to be from the early '70s. Any info on it?

 

Is that p/g bake0lite or plastic?

While the changed parts might not make it the best collector piece, that bass is still worth a fair amount of coin.

Maybe not $15K, but I'd say don't let that go for cheap.

Do you have the original case and chrome coveres too?

 

If that is indeed the original finish, and you have the case and covers to go with it, even with the replacement guard and pots, I'd say you're still looking at a $10K bass there. IMO.

 

Could be wrong but the pickguard looks like it still has the plastic film on it!

 

If you're near Gruhn, I'd seriously consider selling it through them. They have the audience for that type of instrument, and will be able to get at least fair market value, if not top dollar for it. Minus their commision of course.

 

I have seen black pickguards with that appearance on old telecaster guitars. This was in the mid-seventies. I think the two guitars (belonging to a friend) were old (50's) but the pickguards were newer, 70's or maybe 60s?.

BTW, did Gruhn agree about the pickguard being non-original?

 

Give me your bass. No seriously, how much for it?

 

Interested in a trade for an all original '64 P Bass?

 

Are you sure it is not the original?

 

Unless you NEED the money, Dont do It. I bet you will regret it in the space of Three years. Ive sold off way too many basses Iwish I still had just for money.

 

My suggestion is that you sell it to me for $500