What is the right offer?

[bearhart74]

In Philadelphia, it's worth $50.

Seriously, though, $350. It's a parts bass.

Gotta love Bo...

 

[fhm555]

...Go play it and see what it's worth to you.

Really really good advice +1

 

[BAG]

It's a fretless. That's not my opinion. And that narrows the potential buyer pool tremendously. Don't believe it? Try selling one.

And the fact that it is obviously an amateur defret of a fretted Warmoth devalues it even more.
In saying that, in my experience of a grand total of 1 Warmoth fretless necks i'd be wary of an original one as well. The one I bought second hand was very worn. The luthier I got to level it said "that's one of the softest pieces of rosewood i've ever come across... it should never have been made into a fretless fingerboard". He proceeded to level it, epoxy it and completely refinish it. It's one of the nicest necks i've ever played now..... but it cost a fair bit to get it there.

I'll take a used Warmoth build over a stock Fender, new or used, any day of the week because of the value.

Me too, as long as I got it at the right price and i'd budget for some possible work to be done after purchase too. But I'd be pretty confident of finishing up with a good instrument.

 

[Mike Whitfield]

Correction (sorry).............that question is to be asked by us to us. "Hummm, if I buy this thing and decide to sell it in a few months, what am I gonna get for it?"

I actually think that's exactly the first question to ask, because that's the market. Even if this is my life long Holy Grail and I'm sure I'll keep it forever, why would I consider paying $800 or even $600 for this particular bass if the market is generally $500? What someone other than me would be willing to pay is extremely relevant to my decision. Even if I decide to pay more than market value (and I have, even though I always hear Bruce Williams advising "Never fall in love with anything that can't love you back") I at least want to think about how much of a premium I'm paying. Often I'll decide to pass at that point without even making an offer. If I do make a lower offer, I just politely say this is a nice instrument and here is what I can offer for it - no reason given. I really don't want to hear how wonderous and great and amazing and life-changing is this one particular piece of kit from the one person in the world trying to shed it, which is often what happens, and I'm sure the seller doesn't want to know that I just spent a few grand having my field lines reworked. A thing is worth what a seller is willing to take and a buyer willing (and able) to pay, but if you don't intersect, an equally shiny object surely will happen by shortly. They always have for me anyway.

 

[Mike Whitfield]

Hmmm. A hand full of bolts and screws and some entry level electronics. This describes any modern guitar manufacturer. There is very little to a guitar with a bolt on neck that requires a professional. Experience and common sense help of course. Now a well put together bass that looks great and has a vibe, lets say is just plain cool. That's an art form that requires talent. "Warmoths typically aren't worth the sum of the parts and labor..." That's a matter of opinion. I'll take a used Warmoth build over a stock Fender, new or used, any day of the week because of the value.

Another way to look at Brad's point might be to say there's a whole heck of a lot more people who I wouldn't trust to build me a bass, even a parts bass, than there are people I would trust. And usually, the only opinion on the builder's skill and judgement to which I have access is the seller - the one person in the world actively trying to get rid of this particular instrument and who often is the builder. Not odds on which I'd wager even $400, but YMMV.

Beyond that, seems to me that anyone who is a really good builder would simply buy a fretless Warmouth neck rather than convert a fretted neck. It's not like this is some irreplaceable heirloom with decades of history together, it's a parts bass, so you're automatically looking at a builder whose substantial time and effort to de-fret this neck is by his own standards worth less than the cost of a fretless Warmouth neck less the original neck's resale.

 

[BAG]

Yep. I can't understand why anyone would defret a Warmoth neck. While a Warmoth bass (assuming both body and neck) loses a LOT at the time of resale I would guess that a neck by itself would possibly lose less (as a percentage) of its' value. Simply buying a new Warmoth fretless neck and selling the fretted one would produce a far better final product, and probably not cost that much after the sale of the fretted neck. And it wouldn't cost half as much in time and grief as doing that butcher-job defret.