I have a King Bass serial #204. Also have a German made student bass Stradivarius circa 1950. Trying to determine the sale value of both.
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Double Bass Trying to determine the value.
- Thread starter Mark Gunderson
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Hi Mark - you will need a Supporting Membership to ask this type of question.
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Hi Mark, welcome to TalkBass.
You may want to post your question over on the Double Bass side.
General Forums [DB] | TalkBass.com
You may want to post your question over on the Double Bass side.
General Forums [DB] | TalkBass.com
You need to post pictures (head on, no angle shots) and more info. "Stradivarius" likely means it's a workshop/factory bass but with many levels of quality within that range.
Here's a pretty good example For Sale - King Mortone Upright Bass, Cleveland,Ohio,1960 With Case (Professional Setup)
Here's a pretty good example For Sale - King Mortone Upright Bass, Cleveland,Ohio,1960 With Case (Professional Setup)
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The best thing you can do, in my opinion, is find a reputable luthier that specializes in double basses in your area and get their opinion on value and whether the instruments need any work done to make them more saleable.
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"... in your area ..."
Because of the difficulty and expense of shipping a double bass, it matters quite a bit where you are. There are basses in the classifieds languishing for years, probably due to the paucity of bassists where they languish.
not only do such basses exist, but often they are top-grade instruments at below-reasonable-prices. and yet, they languish because they're too far from a big city.
Trying to determine the value of these two basses. Circa 1950 German made student bass and Serial #204 King Bass Cleveland OH 1935-36. Both have neck repairs but are solid and both set up professionally.
Welcome to Talk Bass. I am way out of the league compared to these other heavy weights here with valuable advice.
But those look like two sweet instruments to me!
But those look like two sweet instruments to me!
The value of basses is really "directional". The King is worth more to someone looking for a King Bass than it is for someone looking for a ply entry level bass. You can get higher prices if you are willing to wait, lower if you want to move them quickly. As others have said location is a huge factor. Unless you found a real King collector, neither are going to be worth shipping anywhere. I'd say you are looking $1500-2500 each depending the factors above.
You will get a range of opinions on this. I know this will seem a little theoretical, but from my perspective there is no objective value to a given bass, in large part because of the factors mentioned above but due to others as well, including that the number of prospective buyers at a given time is always small. The best approach is to establish for yourself what it's worth to you, meaning that price below which you'd rather keep it. Once you're clear on that you can decide whether to add a bargaining-room percentage for an online sale, then list it and find out whether there's a buyer in your range who feels the same way about it.
Bear in mind that with some patience you may net more value with less hassle by placing them with a full-service bass shop.
Bear in mind that with some patience you may net more value with less hassle by placing them with a full-service bass shop.
Offered as constructive advice: If you wish anyone to give you meaningful info, you really might want to be a tad more generous with the info you provide. You've provided 2 pretty darkly lit shots of the basses taken from some distance away. Other than that, you give the serial # of one and the approximate age of the other, and say they have solid neck repairs and have been professionally setup (but you don't say by whom.). You don't say whether the German is ply/hybrid/carved, and you don't even say where you are located.
Again, my intention is constructive rather than critical, but with such limited info, I can't imagine anyone giving any opinion that is more meaningful than what you could readily google up yourself by checking asking prices of similar instruments.
Good luck with whatever you intend to do with them.
So far, it looks like @damonsmith is the only one giving actual numbers. I agree with him and with the factors he points out.
If I were you I’d ask a grand for the German and $2,000 for the King. If the King hadn’t been refinished it would be worth close to $4,000 if it’s healthy and the repairs are good.
