So I did it... I got the bass. Fun little GAS story to go with it...
A bunch of posts before this one (pages and pages back) I said "I'm back" because I had just picked up a 2015 Tbird from a Guitar Center for the (at the time) ridiculously low price of $1499. Within a few days I had buyers remorse and returned it for a full refund (I then bought a fretless Jaco Jazz with the money and was left with about $200 on top - a steal, really on that Jaco). But, alas, I was once again "birdless."
When I posted the other day about the $999 price I saw at my Guitar Center, it seemed like fate, because the bass I returned was now on the wall for $500 less. Once the pining started in overdrive, I started thinking, "$1000 is a good deal, I should just do it. I'll slap it on the old GC credit card, they have special 0% financing on Gibson stuff now. Another bass never hurt anyone." But then I started thinking about trying to explain that to my wife and myself when the bill came in. So I did some soul searching and decided I wouldn't do it. What I would do, though, is trade in the Jazz bass I'm not playing. I have a US Geddy (which is the best Jazz bass I've ever owned, and I've owned everything from MIMs to Custom Shops) so the 2003 Trans Orange I recently took as part of a trade was last in/first out. Keeping the Geddy for life - I think. (Just to illustrate my disease, I traded the Jaco I bought with the T-bird cash - which came from a sale of a Big Al Bass - for that Orange bass and a Steinberger Synapse - because, Steinberger, 80s kid ad Geddy Lee).
I took the Jazz into Guitar Center today and asked, "Do I get the 10% off if I do a trade?" They said, "no, it's on clearance." I knew they would. But I tried. They looked up my Jazz and they claim they will sell it for $950 (because they are Guitar Center and their used gear is always over by about 15% going rate or more) and they would give me $570. They eventually came up to $600 after some negotiating. This is where the story gets fun...
I agreed (because Thunderbird!) and the way I figured it, with the $200 I made on the Jaco buy and the break even-ish on the Jaco trade, I am walking out of there almost even if not a little light but with a brand new T-bird. Get this, though: The kid behind the counter was great! He was able to give me 10% off the CASE because that's not clearance and GC has unique item numbers on both. So, the walk out the door price (before tax) for a brand new Thunderbird (that I had bought and returned at $1499) was $977. That's LESS THAN HALF of what they sold for when they came out less than 12 months ago at (the not practical) price of $2209. And, if you are not part of the bass playing community, or have access to the web, or live in a cave,
Sweetwater,
Musicians Friend and even Guitar Center Online will still sell it to you at $2209.
BUT!!!
Wait for it...
The kid cleans it up, we look over the paint for inconsistencies (as you must with Gibbies) and it's nearly perfect. They go to the back to the store room to get the case, bring it out open it up to put my bass in. When they open it what do they find? The one I brought back a few weeks ago! So they had TWO clearance thunderbirds in stock and didn't even realize it!
Long and the short: if this story inspired you to get a brand new Gibson 2015 American T-bird, I know where you can get one in NJ for $977.
I will post pix later. When I get home.
Still giddy...
but out of my 30 years of playing. I occasionally use a pick but at rehearsal tonight I found myself using a pick a lot... A LOT. Maybe T-bird + 90s alt hard rock = pick?
