Value of Modified Telecaster bass

[Junkyard Slug]

Greetings everyone. I have a 'second style' tele bass (the one with the Humbucker) that has been pretty extensivly modified and I am fishing for the aprox value of it.

The bass has no serious flaws (cracks, stripped screw holes, bent tuner shafts, ect) but at some point someone removed the pick guard and installed a pair of J bass pickups basicly in the stock J bass locations (meaning they routed the neck hole south of where the humbucker used to live and routed the bridge pickup right in front of the bridge. Speaking of the bridge it has a Badass II. When I got it, it had Ken Smith J passive pickups but I replaced them with active EMG's if that matters. The pick-guard is non-original and the Thumb rest has been re-positioned so there are an extra pair of holes in the top.

the Neck has been de-fretted Jaco style (frets pulled, filled in with what looks like walnut, and finished over with a clear epoxy). There are some cracks in the finish on the neck and one place looks like a cigarette burned a hole in the finish but otherwise the neck is straight and playable. (in fact, I swaped the neck onto my '78 Jazz body and had been using that neck instead of the stock one).

So I am thinking about selling it. I play electric bass about twice a year, and this is the third down electric bass on my list of favorites (when you only play electric twice a year in a musical theater pit you really don't need a fretless, right?).

I have zero idea what this bass is worth. It is no collector piece but it still is a 35+ year old Fender. It is definaly a player bass for the right person but that dosn't help me value-wise. I know it is worth a couple hundred dollars minimum but I don't think it is worth enough to warent paying to have it appraised. Any Ideas guys?

Thanks
JYS

 

[Rota]

By any chance do you have some pictures of it?

 

[GeneralElectric]

You have a 72 Tele bass, which, if it was in good condition might fetch you anywhere from $1200-2000 for an all original Telecaster bass depending on its condition.
As Telecaster basses were never really popular compared to P & J style basses, there isn't much to really go on aside from what people buy them for on ebay when they pop up. I've seen them sell locally (around $1900 for a near mint telecaster bass, same year as yours)

1972 is a special year because of the neck mudbucker, however your bass doesn't have it.

Things non-original (from what I gather)
-Pickups
-Pickguard
-Bridge

Things that also are probably non-original
-Pots, wires, and jacks
-Thumbrest

Major Modifications
-Routed great big chunks out of the top to fit in the J-pups. This wouldn't be nearly as bad if you could've hid it under a replacement pickguard, but you can't.
-Fretless neck. You already killed the resale value of the neck right there, yanking the frets out is bad, epoxying the board makes restoration not even worth it.

Nothing on this bass is worth much anymore. The neck, nope. The routed body, nope. The non original everything else, nope.

The only thing you might sell is the tuners if they're in good shape. Everything else you'd get the regular used price for.

In my opinion you'll be very lucky to get $400 for the thing. I'd say just keep it, but if you decide to part it out, let me know. I want some pics of that neck.

Sorry about your bass

 

[MtManiac]

What a shame....

 

[watspan]

see what the market will bear--put it on ebay w/ high a starting price and if you get no bids, work your starting price backwards until you get some interest. I agree with the other poster that is no longer a fender telecaster, so there is no comparable to go on. In your ebay listing, be honest about the modifications but also emphasize the positive aspects of the bass, whatever they may be--tone? playability? uniqueness etc.

 

[Junkyard Slug]

By any chance do you have some pictures of it?

Nope, I don't want this to be mistaken for a thinly disguised WTS ad. If you just want to see it PM me and I will send you some pics of it.

. . . In my opinion you'll be very lucky to get $400 for the thing. . . .Sorry about your bass

Yea, that's about the price range I was thinking of. Thanks for your condolences, but it was like this when I bought it. It sure seemed cool at the time.

What a shame....

Your right, it's to bad, but like I said, it was like this when I bought it 15 years ago.

see what the market will bear--put it on ebay w/ high a starting price and if you get no bids, work your starting price backwards until you get some interest. I agree with the other poster that is no longer a fender telecaster, so there is no comparable to go on. In your ebay listing, be honest about the modifications but also emphasize the positive aspects of the bass, whatever they may be--tone? playability? uniqueness etc.

When I do sell it it will probably be on Ebay but I alwasy start at $1 and see where it goes. Of couse I will be as honest as I possibly can be, I don't want to check TB and see I am the subject of one of the 'Ebay Scammer' threads!

Thanks for responding guys. I was thinking about picking up a '51 re-issue if I could unload this Tele for somewhere around the cost of the RI. Not that I can't afford $630 or whatever they sell for at Guitar Center but it would be nice to make a seamless swap of basses and not have to worry about where to keep one more bass and have mimimal impact on the wallet.

JYS