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Would this bother you?

Unacceptable?

  • The nastiness would definitely bother me!

    Votes: 66 22.4%

  • The string issue would definitely bother me!

    Votes: 2 0.7%

  • Both issues are unacceptable!

    Votes: 36 12.2%

  • I would be slightly agitated.

    Votes: 149 50.5%

  • Neither issue would bother me at all!

    Votes: 42 14.2%
  • Total voters
    295
#42
birminghambass said:
Hey TB, just took delivery of a bass. 2 things stood out as soon as I pulled it from the case:
1. The bass was filthy. More than just dust and fingerprints. Like years of grime that took serious scrubbing to remove. Bleh.
2. The strings. It's a 4 string. Each string looked to be from a different manufacturer. The E string was dead and rusty. The A had red silk and seemed fairly new. The D and G were older, but not near as old as the E. Needless to say, it was unplayable without a new set.
Now, these issues were disappointing and annoying, but not a huge deal to me. Personally I would NEVER send out a bass in this condition. Would you? Have you? Would this bother you to the point of contacting the seller? Or would you just shake your head and get over it, like I did? VOTE!
Click to expand...
I clean basses to the best of my ability before selling. I’ve sold 20 or so over the years and I’ve only had one complaint about a bass being dirty and it was an oddball because it didn’t have a clear coat and I could only clean it so much without taking sandpaper to it and possibly ruin the figured maple top.

overall this stuff wouldn’t bother me that much. Whenever I buy a used bass the first thing I do is remove the nasty old strings, clean it up, and then install fresh strings and do a good setup. I prefer to change my own strings regularly so I definitely don’t want someone else’s old strings.
 
#43
I picked unacceptable. Selling anything and then shipping it to someone in crap condition is simply treating the buyer badly. Yes, as the buyer you can expect to clean and restring, but as the seller you can make no such assumption. Unless you let someone know they’re going to get a grimy bass with mismatched strings, they have every right to expect a bass that is in condition acceptable for use.
 
#44
birminghambass said:
I have bought and sold over 300 basses since 1998. I would guess only 10-15% were covered in Cheeto crumbs. Cat puke? Only the ones with rosewood fretboards as it helps to condition the wood and bring out it's natural luster.
Click to expand...

I left some power tools at the curb for the pickers. A cat had thrown up in the part of the battery charger where the connections went.
 
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#48
gln1955 said:
As long as the bass can be cleaned up to look good, not corroded, etc, I don't much care about the filth. I'm gonna clean and go over any used bass I get, so no big deal I have to spend a few more minutes on it.
Click to expand...

This.

With that being said, I would never ship an instrument without properly cleaning it prior to boxing it. I am, however, perfectly willing to accept that not everyone is on the same page with me. As long as there aren't any undisclosed structural or major cosmetic faults, all is well.

My $0.02 only...
 
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#53
One of my most-frequent customers is a local Pawn Shop... who brings me basses and guitars every week to clean up, go through, set up and prepare for the sales floor. It's a better use of their time and employees to NOT have them spending an hour scrubbing spiders and gunk out of a garage-find Tiesco.

So, I'm quite used to it, and kinda enjoy performing the transformation from a crud-covered mess to a shiny nice instrument.
 
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Reactions: underwhelmist, birminghambass and Reedt2000
#55
I’m the guy that sold you the bass. Only it was actually a 13” rack tom and I sold it to someone else, who was PO’ed enough to leave negative feedback.

It sounds like your bass was more disgusting than the drum I shipped, but that aside, if it looks like it did in the pictures, I think it’s a non-issue. Wouldn’t anybody want to do a fresh strings-and-setup upon arrival? Sometimes someone asks me what strings are on a bass I’m selling, and I want to respond “You’re in luck, because this bass accepts many, many, many different kinds of strings!”
 
#59
It would be par for the course for me. Of the hundreds of stringed instruments I've purchased, I can count on one hand those that were cleaned up nicely, strung with the exact gauge I would use, and set up to my exact playing preferences. In other words, doing those things myself is the routine over the past 40 years with both new and used instruments and I totally forgive the seller for not reading my mind on set ups or sharing my sense of hygiene. I usually feel damned lucky if it's as-described and functioning at 100% without me having to spend the time/money/effort to rehabilitate or return it.
 
#60
Answer to 1: It would be more of a headscratcher than a deal breaker.

Answer to 2: Strings are the first thing to go on any bass I buy as soon as it comes through the door....even if the instrument is brand new. I change strings very very often - I like them new sounding and Brite..... especially on a newly acquired instrument to setup the bass for myself anyway
 

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