• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

What is a "blemish" worth to you?

#24
$150 off of $680 is around 22% off - if the damage is stable so no paint will be cracking and it's smoothed so nothing catches on it, it could be worth buying, but only if the damage won't bother you.

i have a blem fender dimension modern player - they were selling for $550, i believe, and it has damage on the back that was smoothed out by fender so the paint wouldn't crack further. i got it for $200 off, so i paid $350, and i feel great about that. i also have a b-stock ibanez mikro that sells for $179, and i got it for $139. we've never found a scratch, nick, dent or off-center inlay on it, btw.

bassliner50 said:
20%
Click to expand...

i feel like 20% is a little light, but i guess it would also depend on the damage.
 
Last edited:
#26
I just went through this with an AV P Bass. I wanted a mint one since I wasn't going to gig it, and my home instruments are well kept. The chip was in an area that would not likely be damaged by regular use - so I asked for a few bucks off. If the chip was on the outer edge of the body or along a ridge, I would not have been as concerned - a simple chip may have appeared sooner or later anyway.

It's the location (to me) of the chip that's important. That way I can imagine that I'd have done it anyway. I'm starting to prefer used stuff for exactly this reason - the wear is honest and adds character. If it's a mint instrument you're after, I think you've answered your own question. Walk away and find a perfect example or build one.
 
#29
I have no problem with dings or blemishes. I am interested in playability and the voice. I have a used USA made BC Rich Mockingbird, signed on the back of the headstock by B. Rico. It has lots of dings and major dings that appear to have been created by a nutjob that hit it with a hammer or was wearing spiked wrist bands in relation to the location of ding damage. The giant dings are located where it would be caused by spiked wrist bands. I have no way of determining for sure. Just my assessment. Previous owner attempted to reduce the damage by coloring the hammer/wrist dings with a black permanent marker. Two Dimarzio split coil Pbass style pups. The pup poles are rusty and nasty. The appearance is worse than horrible. However, the bass plays like butter and the sound thunders with great mids. The only problem I have with this bass is that it weighs a ton, the neck is extremely long, and has reverse neck dive. No dive towards the headstock, body dive. I relocated strap locks to reduce the body dive. However, the neck is so long that my fretting arm is overextended, making the bass difficult to play. But, it plays and sounds fantastic. Just my two cents.
 
#30
Yes, I would buy an instrument with shop damage, but only for a significant reduction in price. It should be fully functional and still have the full factory warranty, for one, not a "floor model" without warranty or with a shortened warranty. If we were talking an American Vintage Fender, or something in that $2000 +/- retail price range, I'd say a single ding on the back should take off about 10 percent of, at least – more for a ding on the front. More than a few dings on a guitar like that, and I'd say you should be getting the thing for cost + shipping, or not too far above cost + shipping. At that point, the shop should not expect to do much more than to break even on the thing. In order to have deserved a profit on it, they need to have protected it better.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Hillbillypolack
#31
Depend on your intention with the bass. Play or admire. If it's going to be a player, no blemish is too big. If it's a wall hanger to admire and show off, get a mint one with no blemish. That way you can feel good about it.
 
#32
See that big, ugly finish crack? The one that's under my arm when I'm playing. That allowed me to pick up a $1300 bass used for less than $600 counting what I had in one I traded. It still plays like the new $1300 ones...
IMG_1731.JPG
 
#33
JRA said:
i'd consider using the blemishes on an instrument as bargaining/leveraging when negotiating purchases.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with @JRA...

About 17% discount for this, right off the bat...

IMAG2084.jpg


... upon receipt, noticed a scratch on the top side...

IMAG2087.jpg


... and two creases, one more visible than the other, also top side...

IMAG2086.jpg


... when all was said and done, 17% went to 30%... and she's a player, too...

... no regrets.
 
  • Like
Reactions: alesreaper9 and JRA
#34
Jeff Scott said:
I thought Fender players loved battle scarred/dinged/etc, instruments with all up front and center for all to see?
Click to expand...

Well yeah, but theoretically the damage is supposed to be put on there by you.
Of course "reliced" instruments have a certain popularity where the damage is put on at the factory.
But usually you have to pay MORE for those dings rather than getting a discount! :)
 
#36
I once bought a brand new Gibson humming bird from guitar center that had a really bad scratch going across the top. looked like someone took a key to it just for ***** and jiggles. They knocked off $1000 cause of that and I bought it. Not sure if it was worth it but this was many moons ago. I say if its a guitar you REALLY want and the price is good, go for it.
 
#38
Some pay far more for fake battle scars while others want a discount for real battle scars. All I can say for myself about the latter is it depends. If the deal seems good all the way around and the guitar or bass was a "player" a battle scar wouldn't necessarily be a deal killer.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back