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Would you throw out an old bass?

#123
Mark Desmo said:
How many? You make it sound like it's the most normal thing in the world and it happens every week.How did he do that?
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Then you’re reading too much into it. I’ve been playing for a long time and have gone through a lot of gear, with a lot being crap early on. Some experimentation with the rattle can and some electronics that died where replacement exceeds the value of the bass means it has zero value. I’ve given some away and some just go in the trash. I’ll try to give it away first.

The band director story is long.
 
#125
Mark Desmo said:
That's a nice, positive thing to do.
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I’m a a recycling freak, so I try to go good first, but there’s a time when items have outlived their life. For cheap instruments, it’s an earlier death. Wish I wouldn’t have given away the vintage Mustang bass. It was short scale, I thought it was worthless. Gah!

The downside of basses is that they’re expensive to ship. I wouldn’t pay $80 to ship a worthless bass.
 
#126
micguy said:
I've donated perfectly good basses to the Intonation Music Workshop in Chicago - they find kids starting out that can use them. There may or may not be some organization like that near you - I'd try a search and see if you can find someone that can use it. Some of those organizations will take instruments in any condition and fix them up.
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I got started 44 years ago on the bass because my mother bought me a POS from a garage sale for $10. I ended up loving it, and replaced it perhaps a year later. She sold it in another garage sale. Please don't throw it away - someone might become a life-long bass player because of it.
 
#127
In the DB section, there is a thread where an OP is considering using a 1/4 size DB, The conversation there is very similar to this thread.
My thinking, if you are giving the bass to a kid or a school, then make sure it works, has decent strings (even if they are used). To me, its important to one's creditably, that what you give works.
It's been awhile since I started reading this post, but, also consider the boys and girls club as a recipient.
Consider volunteering at the B&G club, for three months. Challenge the forum to send basses, amps and yes, guitars to the club, and teach a class on bass and possibly guitar. IMHO, you might end up a BL, for a noisy, and happy group of kids. I gave 9 years in a year around program, and it was one of the most rewarding ventures I have undertaken. (By the way, charge $5 or $10 a month per kid, if a kid can't afford the class, then allow the club to scholarship the kid in, where the does the money go? equipment for activity, tickets to a concert, out of town, with chaperones, For me, because of my locality, it would be the Santa Fe opera, {dress rehearsal} and a visit to local museum. (The activity is designed to get the kids out of town. The second activity is culture exposure.)) Any more on this subject, and I think we need a new thread.
 
#133
I'm just piling on here... spend a few bucks to get it functional, and donate it to a school. There are kids out there who are dying to learn but haven't got an instrument to pick up and play. They won't care that it's a beater, they just want SOMETHING to lay their hands on. Never, ever throw a musical instrument in the trash!
 
#134
sowilson said:
Get it playable and then donate it to Goodwill (keep the receipt). Then at tax time deduct it as a charitable deduction.
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By all means donate it, but NOT to Goodwill. Goodwill rips off it's workers (pays them less than minimum wage), pays it's CEO an obscene salary, and diverts huge amounts of the donation money to "management expenses". Precious little actually goes to helping their clients. If you donate the instrument to Goodwill, they'll just list it on their website, squeeze as much money out of it as possible, take the money, and run.
As so many other posters said, get it playable first. That could be fun if you have any interest at all in learning to work on instruments. It's a "safe" first project. If the problems are electronic, you'd be amazed what a thorough cleaning of all the pots and switches will accomplish (especially if it's a passive bass). After that, check for broken or cold solder joints and broken wires (unlikely but possible). Reheat any that even look suspicious. Odds are high that those simple steps will solve the electronic problems.
In these days and times, school music programs are chronically underfunded. One in your area would likely love to have it. Also, there are many after school programs for at-risk youth that include music in their curricula. They always need donations. Finally, there are churches. Now I'm not religious (agnostic, dont'cha know) and am deeply opposed to some organizations that call themselves Christian. But I do recognize that some churches do good work helping the less fortunate. If you found some churches that represented your beliefs and values, those would be other possibilities as recipients. Please don't throw it away. It would be valuable to somebody.
Greg
P.S. I just noticed that you are near Philadelphia. In a major city like that, there are definitely programs that would appreciate the gift. Boys and Girls Clubs was a good suggestion. Even the Boy and Girl Scouts might be worth contacting. By all means, donate it to someone, just not Goodwill.
 
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#135
RichardW said:
I have an old bass--the first one I bought as part of a Hartke starter kit. It's an entry level instrument for sure. I haven't played it in in more than 10 years, having moved on to higher quality basses. Never gigged with it. It's not particularly beautiful. The last time I touched it, the electronics were kinda shot; I'm sure they've just decayed. I have no intention of playing it again, so it's been sitting around gathering dust.

I don't think it has any re-sale value and I'm not that much of a gear-head that I would rebuild or modify it.

I feel sort of bad thinking about putting it out in the trash.

What would you do with it?
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Don't throw it away,give it away.
 

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