Would you buy/bid on this????

[40Hz]

So based on pictures alone and your lust for this bass, would you buy it/bid on it, potentially getting it below market value????

If you know enough about what you’re bidding on, why not? If you don’t know a fair amount you shouldn’t be bothering with auctions to begin with. Auctions are basically for two types of buyers: clueless people with money, and professionals who actually know how the game is played. The general public can occasionally get lucky. But most times they just get fleeced to a greater or lesser degree.

So…(a) if you know what it is (b) along with the going market price for what you’re looking at; and (c) if you know what your tolerance for risk is; and (d) if you have the money to spend and (e) you want it, then there’s no reason not to bid on it if you want to.

But I suggest you keep lust out of the equation and bid with your head. Put a stake in the ground and stick to it.

Luck!

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Without knowing the bass and the bids, and I get it, you don't want us sniping you but I really can't give much of an opinion. It would have to go for an amount that I would be willing to throw away. It has vintage, proprietary electronics that will be impossible to replace or likely fix. Now if it's your white whale that you never see come up for sale, buy it. You'll regret not doing something more than you'll regret doing it and it not working out.

 

[JW56789]

Without knowing what it is or the price range involved, we're all peeing in the wind.

I'd only say this:

Don't let 'I FINALLY FOUND ONE' reflex overturn your good sense. If you've been looking for this Mr. X bass for three years, I hope you've done your homework and kept a very good track of what others are selling for to see where you're at. That is, is the price I'm considering a good price or not, and just how 'correct' vintage does the market expect it to be? What are the typical issues this axe may have ?

And . . .

Any steel-stringed instrument that's been un-strung for 20 years would have me heading for the door all by itself. And it's far cheaper to repair electronics on a Fender than an Alembic. It doesn't make much sense to marvel at the great deal you got, if you have to double (or worse) the spend to restore to being a playable instrument, or worse, spend all that money to end up with a door stop. It happens.

Unstrung for 20 years, bespoke electronics which may be impossible to find parts for, and no actual hands-on access and evaluation, any and all of these three conditions would be an automatic NO for me.

 

[ashtray]

Auctions are designed to get people all emotional. You bid your "highest price". You get outbid by "only a few dollars" (relatively speaking), so you figure "Why not? It's only fifty bucks. I'll bid one more time."

Then you do that a few more times, each time justifying it with "What's a couple hidden bucks?".

I can't tell you whether or not to buy it. I CAM tell you that rarely are auction prices a bargain.

So here's what I would do. Knowing what you know, pick a price you're willing to pay (factoring in the risk of having to get repaired done).

Then DO NOT GO ONE RED CENT above that price. Don't be emotional. Stick to your original rationale amd you'll be fine. Get emotional and there's no telling what you'll do.

Good luck with it.

This is why I set my max bid for $50 higher than I want. I have lost by $5, and was unhappy afterwards. When I lose by $55 over what I wanted to pay, no worry.

 

[Bill Whitehurst]

Just to CYA, add up all the possible repairs it might need, then divide by half, because statistically some of it will likely be good.
At that point you a number.
Not price, but a starting point.
Is that more or less than you would give for that bass?
If the possible repairs run way more than you would give for a working one, don't even bid.

 

[wysiwyg248]

Real life problem for the experts:
Vintage bass comes up for auction. Been eyeing this model and color for nearly 3 years. Being sold by an auction house that has no ability to test a musical instrument. Reportedly found in a closet of a well kept home and acquired as part of an estate sale. Many high quality pictures posted allowing for high resolution inspection. Everything looks good for a bass over 40 years old. Few nicks and scratches but nothing seems mortal. Few screws on the treble side of the pickguard are rusted. HOWEVER, cannot check the electronics and not anywhere near where one could go there and try it. Seller, a very large auction house, has no interest beyond what is posted, in determining if it works. Therefore no reserve and on a six day auction to the highest bidder. Sale is final and will NOT accept returns for any reason.

So based on pictures alone and your lust for this bass, would you buy it/bid on it, potentially getting it below market value????

Do you want it for sentimental value, as part of a collection, to flip it, play it professionally? Personally, I have to play it to buy it, but different strokes for different folks.

 

[LBS-bass]

Real life problem for the experts:
Vintage bass comes up for auction. Been eyeing this model and color for nearly 3 years. Being sold by an auction house that has no ability to test a musical instrument. Reportedly found in a closet of a well kept home and acquired as part of an estate sale. Many high quality pictures posted allowing for high resolution inspection. Everything looks good for a bass over 40 years old. Few nicks and scratches but nothing seems mortal. Few screws on the treble side of the pickguard are rusted. HOWEVER, cannot check the electronics and not anywhere near where one could go there and try it. Seller, a very large auction house, has no interest beyond what is posted, in determining if it works. Therefore no reserve and on a six day auction to the highest bidder. Sale is final and will NOT accept returns for any reason.

So based on pictures alone and your lust for this bass, would you buy it/bid on it, potentially getting it below market value????

Realistically, ask yourself how much it would cost to repair electronics and, maybe, shim the neck or something. If the pictures look good, problems would be likely limited to things like this. To what degree is that possible extra cost a deterrent? Depends on how badly you want it, I guess. If I wanted it badly enough I'd probably bid but with the understanding that I might have additional costs and someone else might want it more than I do.

 

[Wesley R]

Set a limit, bid on it, hope for the best.

Ever play the ponies or the stock market? Ever drop some coin into a slot machine?

 

[elgranluis]

Well , that’s how auctions work. No returns should be the norm for any auction ( including eBay), Otherwise people can buy the item and then return it when the remorse kicks in.

bid on the item whatever amount it is worth to you , and enjoy the auction.

 

[mongo2]

In which case you’ll never buy from an auction.

Absolutely correct, I never buy from auctions.

 

[40Hz]

Absolutely correct, I never buy from auctions.

Well, you gotta go with what you’re comfortable working with. Nothing wrong with not doing auctions if it’s not your thing.

 

[Mrtoodamnsabre]

I don't really understand the dilemma I guess. Anything can be repaired with enough time and money. A non-working pot or sketchy electronics is mostly a non-issue, unless we are talking an Alembic or Wal or something where the electronics are not an easy or inexpensive replacement, but even then there are workarounds that would permit the retention of significant value. I think I'd probably just go for it.

I bought a bass on reverb for 1300, an 84 Sabre, I discovered that the electronics were completely gutted too late to return, miraculously I tracked down a musicman preamp and found the bridge pickup, I never found an 84 neck pickup so I ended up putting in a 79 Sabre neck pickup instead. Musicman are really tough on parting with replacement parts but other companies aren’t, it’s not impossible to track down these parts if you’re smart and patient.

I found my preamp by searching sold listings on reverb and asking everyone who sold that preamp at one point if they by chance had a second one in stock, one guy at a mom and pop guitar shop in texas had one!

 

[Camarillo]

If your purpose is to own and play that bass -not acquiring a collectible vintage instrument to be sold- and you feel expert enough to judge its a real vintage and worth the money you’re about to put in the auction, yes.
I wouldn’t care for electronics, it’s easy fixable. If something should be wrong with the neck it could be worst imho.

 

[pepj]

I'd assume it isn't totally original and also a lot work/money needed to get to player grade.
That means you need to price it on the basis of how much less it would be worth having done that work.

I'd suspect the neck is shot and basically you are buying the wood.
I'd bid low low bu

 

[glocke1]

Real life problem for the experts:
Vintage bass comes up for auction. Been eyeing this model and color for nearly 3 years. Being sold by an auction house that has no ability to test a musical instrument. Reportedly found in a closet of a well kept home and acquired as part of an estate sale. Many high quality pictures posted allowing for high resolution inspection. Everything looks good for a bass over 40 years old. Few nicks and scratches but nothing seems mortal. Few screws on the treble side of the pickguard are rusted. HOWEVER, cannot check the electronics and not anywhere near where one could go there and try it. Seller, a very large auction house, has no interest beyond what is posted, in determining if it works. Therefore no reserve and on a six day auction to the highest bidder. Sale is final and will NOT accept returns for any reason.

So based on pictures alone and your lust for this bass, would you buy it/bid on it, potentially getting it below market value????

Im not an expert, but if I really wanted it and I had the disposable income I'd come up with a dollar figure I don't mind losing and make that my top bid. It's basically gambling.

That said, if the auction house isn't interested in determining if it works I wouldn't bid.

Curious as to what the bass is? You can PM me if you don't want it public, and I am not interested in buying any more basses this year so I wouldn't be your competition.

 

[smart51]

If it has been tested by a pro and comes with a warrantee then it is worth the top price. If someone plugged it in and said sound came out, it would be worth a bit less. If it has never been tested, it is worth less still. You can't see it before the auction? Again, worth a bit less. The amount you bid should reflect it's final value, less the risk of things needing to be put right.

You can also look at it another way. What it the electronics are beyond repair? What could you do with it? Fit new pickups / preamp? You'd have a good looking and usable bass. It would be worth less than an all original instrument. Pay accordingly. If it is no good, could you part it out?

If you're able to work on things like that, then an appropriately low bid might come good.

 

[el murdoque]

I'd look around what a bass from that year in that state costs if pickup and electronics have been (partially) replaced. This will be Number A.


Then I'd assume everything I cannot check is broken and needs to be replaced, and calculate the cost for that,
which will be Number B.


My highest bid would be the result of Number A minus Number B.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

We wanna bid as well

 

[pcake]

Well , that’s how auctions work. No returns should be the norm for any auction ( including eBay), Otherwise people can buy the item and then return it when the remorse kicks in.

bid on the item whatever amount it is worth to you , and enjoy the auction.

i do bid on items on ebay, and often i win the auctions, but i will absolutely return items when they are broken or not as described. if that isn't there as a safety net, why bother? eventually another of whatever it is will show up to buy. this obviously doesn't apply to as-is auctions, but there has to be enough knowledge from the seller to know if there are issues or not. i once messaged a seller to ask whether the truss rod worked, and he literally didn't know what a truss rod was.

 

[Sub-hoo-fer]

@Alan Scharrer - I am hooked on this story after 4 pages. There is a ton of good advice in this thread so you are as prepared as you can be given the circumstances. Please update us with the outcome and identify this unicorn once the bidding is done. Best of luck!