Ed_S

Doesn't always work perfectly, but the quick calculation in my head is that I expect the offer when I sell current gear back to a shop to be about half the value of a new one, and that then represents two thirds of what they'll aim to sell it for. So if I'd bought a bass that retailed for £570 and wanted to move it on, I'd expect to be offered about £285 and then see it up for sale at £425-450 in the shop. Buying from a private seller, I'd be looking to split the difference between the shop buy-in and sale prices with them, probably two thirds in their favour, so if we take a mid-point of £435 that works out nicely to a difference of £150; an extra £100 for them, and £50 off for me. £385 would be my offer.

I ordered a bass from them on the 4th, it left their warehouse the same day, it was picked up over here on the 6th, and it was delivered on the 7th; actually several days sooner than I've become used to. As it arrived on a Friday I had the weekend to iron out its b-stock issues, which was a bonus. Not saying that they don't sometimes get it wrong, but they certainly can still get it right and even exceed expectations.

They're my local - I've been happily doing business with them since they opened the current shop and I've known some of the guys who work/ed there for years longer than that. I'd be willing to have a crack at answering any specific questions or concerns if I have relevant personal experience, but otherwise feel free to assume a general vote of confidence from somebody who doesn't even want to think about how much money he's put their way... 🙂

I had an Ibanez SR1305 the same as is featured in this video - which describes it as a workhorse bass. I only saw the video after I'd already bought it, but found that I agreed with pretty much all they said about the sound of it. I say 'had' rather than 'have' as unfortunately I found out that I just don't seem to like the feel of particularly open-grain hardwoods on the backs of necks. I'm sure most people wouldn't give that a single thought, and I wish I could have been one of them as it really was an exceptional sounding instrument, and in a markedly different way to my other Premium SRs (1105s with smooth maple necks) which are much more aggressive sounding.

The majority of my basses have been bought sight unseen as I wouldn't have been buying most of them had they not been bargains, and they wouldn't have been bargains had I spent the money to travel and check them out in person. I've never had a problem sending anything back that's needed to go, be that within the UK or further afield; I just pay with a credit card so there's some protection from that side, accept that going through the returns process was always a possibility and I might have to make a few calls or send a few emails to push it along, photograph everything for evidence and resign myself to the fact that money rarely comes back as fast as it went out. No experience with the specific basses you're looking at, though.. sorry!

Yeah, sure - we're nowt massive, but feel free to have a listen. https://open.spotify.com/artist/1v8GrV7HeGZn8UgQFrmnbj

Last night was our first round heat in the M2TM competition to play at Bloodstock this year, which always tends to be a fun evening of small gear stores, tight stage turnaround times, punchy set lengths and unceremonious disco load-outs. We're serial semi-finalists so we know the format, but this heat was in a slightly more spacious venue than usual which made everything a bit easier logistically. The only problem was that for a 'heat' it was like a walk-in fridge and my fingers didn't warm up all night, so I made a good few minor mistakes.. but also made a conscious decision to just think sod it and move on, which I'm getting much better at doing. I have one of those Zippo power bank / hand warmer thingies but a] I left it in my other gigging bag, and b] it's not that great at the best of times, so I need to have a look round and see what else is available that isn't gloves. Quite a mixed show within the genre anyway (we're operatic power metal, and the other bands were metalcore, alt-rock and technical death metal) so the voting was probably all over the place, but maybe we were everyone's second choice vote after the band they'd gone to see, because we got through to the semis again and kept the dream alive that maybe this year will be our time. Decided to go back to where it all started and play the same bass I used on our very first gig back in 2009 (sadly not the actual bass, but the same model I re-bought a year or so ago for reasons of nostalgia) along with my newly put-together pedalboard, and it all behaved very well together which is always welcome. So, for the gear-afflicted: Warwick RB Vampyre 5 -> [G30 wireless -> TU3 tuner -> Thumpinator -> Boss BC-1X compressor -> Tech 21 VT Bass v2 -> SansAmp BDDI v2] -> Markbass Nano 2 -> Blackstar Unity Elite house cab (115C?) Tuner once again operated using a pair of Skechers Industrial Workshire boots, and jeans held up (just..) by a Skopes belt that really needs taking in a notch now we're post-xmas.

Oh aye, I'll never forget the first time I tried to drag the provided 2x15 BW with 400 series head on it across our rehearsal room.. it wasn't going anywhere without a fight, so I can only imagine what the 3620 must have been like to shift!

They look absolutely excellent. The cab wouldn't be practical for me, but I'd have the amp head right now.

Pretty sure it was Def Leppard - Animal. It's also the first and only song that I've ever 'learned' using tab instead of just figuring out my own line by ear. The only reason it was that song is that the title starts with 'A', so it was the first one in the list that I knew and there was a bass tab available for. It's not a particular favourite or even a song that I've ever played live in the years since, but it got me started.

I only sell or trade to shops because I work on the basis that dealing with somebody who is absolutely upfront about their sole intent being to profit from my loss, and will even tell me the minimum margin that they're willing to make, is actually a lot less annoying than any of the possible negative private sale experiences that people report on here. That's just what works best for me, and I know that many will think differently - it's absolutely fine. Anyway, my list says I've moved on about 80 items (basses, amps, pedals, parts etc.) that way since I started to clear house in 2022, and I work on a reasonable offer from a shop being two-thirds of the average eBay or Reverb price for the same thing in the same condition. I'm usually able to get that, though recently I've noticed one or two shops that I could previously rely on for reasonable (sometimes even good) offers have started to offer much less - about half of the lowest price they can find, irrespective of condition. I'm fairly lucky that Rich Tone is my local and still makes reasonable offers for most things, taking the condition into account. If I were a betting man, I reckon they'd go to the Reverb price guide, take the £1900 recommendation and offer you £1250... so that local £1600 cash offer might be quite generous, and the PMT offer maybe isn't that scandalous.

Completely agree with that - I've got/had a fair selection, both rack and pedal, and the BDDI v2 is the one I'd currently recommend to anyone.

I've got both and, as far as I can tell, If you take the VTDI, put the blend on full and engage the 'bite' (and engage the 'speaker sim' if you're aiming for the original VT Bass where you couldn't turn it off) then the rest of the knobs are essentially the VT Bass. Personally I prefer the sound of the BDDI v2 set quite clean for an always-on tone, so use the VT Bass v2 in front of that for just a bit more drive when appropriate. I can't make the VT work as my basic tone, so I think the VTDI will probably end up leaving.

That's really the aim. And to be able to deliver that sound to the desk, direct from the board, so that I can do whatever I need to with the rig on stage. The last few gigs in decent size venues, I've found that the sound tech has asked me to play, got the level, given it the "that's alright, actually" face and moved on to the next victim. Other bassists on the same multi-band nights have been stood there plonking away for a while to get something useable, so I think I'm about where I want to be.

As much as the big boards on here are great fun to look at, I don't really need 'proper' effects and the only pedal I want to be operating mid-gig is a tuner. My main board (top one) has been doing very well for the last couple of years, so I just put the bottom one together this morning out of some languishing bits. It's intended to be a backup/spare/alternative, and is just another variation on the theme I know works for me, but has a bit more drive available. I'll have to wait a couple of weeks until I can get it all dialled-in at a rehearsal, but it should be very similar to the main one, and I think I can safely get rid of the few other remaining pedals that are still lying around now.