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What Did I Just Buy from Goodwill Auction?

W

Williethump

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Sep 10, 2017
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1,770
#1
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I'm usually a loser at auctions and in fact won my 1st Goodwill auction bass only yesterday. And today I just snagged this Ibanez R Bass 4-string P-bass clone, black with black pg, maple fretboard. I love the narrow neck ibbies and p-bass style. But the name is so generic Web searches are duds. So any help etc. Looks cool too, offset body. Of course it's a $75 pig in a poke sack but anything can be mended. And for a good cause. Now I gotta pay for them. Another brainpicker post tomorrow asking about my auction victory bass of yesterday, a Harmony short-scale. Thanks!
Hope you can view the pics. I was encouraged because the Goodwill evaluator said 'Sounds very good!!' So I'm hoping her/his tinnitus is not so bad as mine is and the thing really does sound good. Cheap anyway. Wut's a 'R' bass?
 

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#5
Williethump said:
View attachment 3975471 View attachment 3975473 I'm usually a loser at auctions and in fact won my 1st Goodwill auction bass only yesterday. And today I just snagged this Ibanez R Bass 4-string P-bass clone, black with black pg, maple fretboard. I love the narrow neck ibbies and p-bass style. But the name is so generic Web searches are duds. So any help etc. Looks cool too, offset body. Of course it's a $75 pig in a poke sack but anything can be mended. And for a good cause. Now I gotta pay for them. Another brainpicker post tomorrow asking about my auction victory bass of yesterday, a Harmony short-scale. Thanks!
Hope you can view the pics. I was encouraged because the Goodwill evaluator said 'Sounds very good!!' So I'm hoping her/his tinnitus is not so bad as mine is and the thing really does sound good. Cheap anyway. Wut's a 'R' bass?
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@hypercarrots might have some catalog information on this.
 
#8
Yes, looks pretty salty. I started bass on an Ibanez Sound Gear 3 years back that looked similar to this one except for rosewood fretboard. I love narrow necks and maple boards and I already have a set of real bright newish D'Addario XL nickels to put on it, should ring like a piano.
I need to drive 18 miles to Sacramento tomorrow to pick up a previous Goodwill auction score, a short-scale hockey stick neck Harmony H906, saving myself $19 on shipping. This Ibanez's shipping cost from Silicon Valley was only $11. Of course I
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haven't got it yet either. Each Goodwill is different. The Harmony cost me around $90 with the shipping, about $10 more than the Ibby. And nobody in the post said it could even make a sound so who knows? I want to put flatwounds on it too so that will cost me. Is it not possible to use regular 34 inch strings on a short-scale? Short-scales are their own size string sets, right? Thanks for the comments. I can see now why auctions can be exciting. Boring if you never win though.
 
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#10
@KaraQ
Beauty! Mahogany? Hope it ain't heavy. Single/split pup, smallish headstock/tuner keys like my Godin. Thumbrest! I love all that stuff. But...and it's a small but...should the headstock be dark too? Which doesn't affect the sound or beauty of the ax. My druthers is natural wood body and same for headstock. Paint's nice too though maybe not so ecological. Then I like the headstock painted the same as the body. Which is usually rarer and/or more expensive. I love the look of maple boards but with my aged/damaged hearing I can't hear any brighter/warmer tones from any fretboard wood. And no question of maple wearing out sooner, at my age I'll wear out before my bass arsenal does.
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Now I'm thinking about calling goodwill and paying the shipping just to avoid the awful fire season air, and the bad traffic. And, no, there is no good time to drive to Sacramento.
 
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#12
In general, I DESPISE the Goodwill for their misleading name and their practices. I'm not a political type but they don't do any Good Will for anyone but themselves. Their website generates $60,000 a day and it's 100% profit. They do nothing to help the neighborhood. Sure, they hire mentally-challenged people, but so do grocery stores.

Rant over with, I have scored a couple things... :)

Congrats on your Ibanez !!!!
 
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#13
I do love looking at the things people donate to the Goodwill. The thing I don't like is since it's the Goodwill, people assume they're getting a good price, and they think they're helping a charity (which it's not) so maybe they're willing to pay more.

In general, the final prices are usually HIGHER that if it were sold anywhere else including Ebay, Reverb, and Craigslist. AND, there's no buyer protection whatsoever.

Some things that are donated are SO hard to believe that I can only assume it was someone who died and their relatives just don't want to deal with it. For example, here's a Wilcox Lightwave bass in perfect condition. Donated !!! Not even asking $100 on Craigslist !
Willcox Saber by Lightwave Bass Electric Guitar Ends in 4 hours from now (9/9/2020 at 6:02PM PST)
 
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#15
mb94952 said:
I do love looking at the things people donate to the Goodwill. The thing I don't like is since it's the Goodwill, people assume they're getting a good price, and they think they're helping a charity (which it's not) so maybe they're willing to pay more.

In general, the final prices are usually HIGHER that if it were sold anywhere else including Ebay, Reverb, and Craigslist. AND, there's no buyer protection whatsoever.

Some things that are donated are SO hard to believe that I can only assume it was someone who died and their relatives just don't want to deal with it. For example, here's a Wilcox Lightwave bass in perfect condition. Donated !!! Not even asking $100 on Craigslist !
Willcox Saber by Lightwave Bass Electric Guitar Ends in 4 hours from now (9/9/2020 at 6:02PM PST)
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I enjoy checking out goodwill as well...Took a chance once on goodwill auctions site (really terrible photos on this particular auction) description said somthing like "Squier bass guitar untested, pics were out of focus and bad color could really only make out it was a jazz and probably sunburst. This is it...
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what showed up was a 2013 VM Jazz in perfect condition and still had the pick-guard protective plastic on it. Took a chance on and bid a $100 fiqured I could do somthin with it if it turnout to be a crusty dog, to my surprise it was a great gamble (this time) for a sight unseen great instrument.
 

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#16
C Stone said:
I enjoy checking out goodwill as well...Took a chance once on goodwill auctions site (really terrible photos on this particular auction) description said somthing like "Squier bass guitar untested, pics were out of focus and bad color could really only make out it was a jazz and probably sunburst. This is it...
View attachment 3977460what showed up was a 2013 VM Jazz in perfect condition and still had the pick-guard protective plastic on it. Took a chance on and bid a $100 fiqured I could do somthin with it if it turnout to be a crusty dog to my surprise is was a great gamble this time.
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For a 100 clams?!?!:woot: With a case too?!?!:woot::woot:
Great catch!
 
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#18
I used to borrow the PJ version of this at my friend’s jam room. It was in only slightly better condition than yours....!

Solid bass, though. It sounded decent and we even recorded with it a couple of times.
 
#19
Williethump said:
@KaraQ
Beauty! Mahogany? Hope it ain't heavy. Single/split pup, smallish headstock/tuner keys like my Godin. Thumbrest! I love all that stuff. But...and it's a small but...should the headstock be dark too? Which doesn't affect the sound or beauty of the ax. My druthers is natural wood body and same for headstock. Paint's nice too though maybe not so ecological. Then I like the headstock painted the same as the body. Which is usually rarer and/or more expensive. I love the look of maple boards but with my aged/damaged hearing I can't hear any brighter/warmer tones from any fretboard wood. And no question of maple wearing out sooner, at my age I'll wear out before my bass arsenal does.
View attachment 3977292
Now I'm thinking about calling goodwill and paying the shipping just to avoid the awful fire season air, and the bad traffic. And, no, there is no good time to drive to Sacramento.
Click to expand...

I'm with you about Sacramento, I drive for $$ in this town :banghead:

As for the Cruise, seems like/I've been told the finish is a stain? done by a prior owner. You can see it in the route. Whatever wood it is, it's reasonable weight-wise.

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Bassdirty said:
I that an illusion, or is that headstock extremely thick?
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Probably an illusion! :thumbsup:

You can see the headstock a bit better in this pic:

20200906_180942.jpg
 
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