bassaussie

[quote name='OldGit' post='676186' date='Dec 6 2009, 09:47 PM']Can't find it .. Got a link pls?[/quote]

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-FENDER-JAZZ-BASS-GUITAR-RARE-1962-L-K_W0QQitemZ220517317665QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item3357db3c21"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-FENDER-JAZZ-...=item3357db3c21[/url]

[quote name='chris_b' post='666056' date='Nov 26 2009, 12:37 PM']When all the original 59's have reached really stupid money .....[/quote]

I thought they already had!!

Wow! What an amazing instrument to see for sale on Basschat.

These questions will get asked sooner or later, so I might as well throw them up now.

What's the situation with all the hardware? Is it all original, or which parts have been replaced?

Are there any routs or repairs on the instrument? Other than the refin, of course.

Do you have any other pictures?

Other than that ..... um, wow!!

[quote name='Gwilym' post='660565' date='Nov 20 2009, 10:37 PM']when I sold this to Aussiephoenix it had the original Sadowsky single coil pups in the bass. As I recall, the pickup covers have the Sadowsky logo on them.

From memory the weight was closer to 10 than 9.[/quote]

I thought 10 was about right. When I was talking to Aussiephoenix about this, I thought the best description was that it wasn't a lightweight like a NYC Sadowsky, but it also wasn't a heavyweight like a 70s Jazz. It's in the middle area between those, and 10lb would be around that area.

[quote name='Flanker' post='649822' date='Nov 9 2009, 05:59 PM'].... - it was one of Adrian Garcia's basses. ......[/quote]

Really? I never knew that. That was very sad when he passed away, he came across as a really nice bloke.

I've played this bass a few times at Aussiephoenix's place, and it's an awesome bass. The thing that really struck me was how comfortable it is to play. I'm more of a 4 string player, but with this bass, I found myself noodleing around fairly easily, and it was easy to forget I was playing a 5. The B string on it is really nice as well, although that's something I've noticed with every Sadowsky 5 string I've played.

I don't know if this info will help, but I'll add it anyway.

The Bantam line was introduced in Australia around 1984 or so. Thing is, I can remember a guy buying a regular one (single neck) either in 1984 or 85, and I can still remember the price, which was AU $800. Reason I remember the price is that I was absolutely mesmerised by the original Steinberger bass around that time, and that was selling for $2400 in Australia. When the Bantam came along, and also the Riverhead version, they were both priced around the same area, $800 or so (the Riverhead was a bit more expensive, say $900) and I was stunned that they could give the same features for 1/3 of the price (I didn't know a lot about basses back then!! ) . I can also remember the price for a Hondo Alien, another attempt at a headless design, and that was around $450.

So, I checked on the Reserve Bank of Australia website, and for 1984/5, the Aussie dollar to GBP fluctated between 70p down to 50p. Which gives a range for the bass of £400-£550. This is probably not a bad guestimate for the UK value, as UK would've reflected similar import duties and taxes as the Aussie price. Since Bassassin's RRP from the US indicates that the double neck was around 50% more, that would suggest a price range of around £600-£800.

Now, how any of that will impact the current value, I don't know (and to be quite honest, I don't really think it has any bearing at all), but I think it might help in guessing what the original value might've been.

I've seen a few of the single neck basses sell in the US over the last few years, and they don't come along all that often. Thing is, even though they're rare and people are always interested in them, they don't command huge "vintage value" prices. Here's a few from Talkbass, they were easy enough to find by doing a search.

[url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=549491&highlight=bantam"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.p...ighlight=bantam[/url]

[url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=348656&highlight=bantam"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.p...ighlight=bantam[/url] An actual double neck. Started at $1250, down to $1000.

[url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=290444&highlight=bantam"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.p...ighlight=bantam[/url]

I hope this helps. If this post in any way contravenes forum rules, I'll happily remove it.

I used to play in a band in Sydney that regularly supported the most popular "bikie" band in Sydney. They'd attract fairly good crowds, 500 or more in a pub, and a few thousand on outdoor gigs, with 90% or more being gang members. Generally the speaking the audiences were actually pretty well behaved, they had a bit of a code where they seemed to set limits on how far the behaviour could go. But when anyone stepped out of line, it was all on. The fights were usually fairly quick - you know, two hits "me hitting you, you hitting the floor", but occasionally you'd get two evenly matched blokes, and they'd go toe to toe for a while. Pretty amazing stuff to watch, as the majority were pretty hard blokes.

It was funny, as I was a bit apprehensive about playing for bikies to start with, but they were usually pretty respectful to bands. They seemed to appreciate the fact that we'd play for them. I did one bikie clubhouse gig, which was interesting. When we got there, one of the main guys just came up and said "look, drink and eat all you want, and there's 'other stuff' if you want it as well. Just don't touch the women, and everything will be fine"!

Saw a few other fights during my time, but nothing really compared to watching bikies fight each other.

[quote name='ezbass' post='618591' date='Oct 6 2009, 01:28 PM']John Illsley is often mocked for his part in Dire Straits which I think is unfair, after all you don't want to stamp all over Mark Knopfler's playing, that'd be like having a dog and barking yourself. Outside of the soloists and obvious exceptions in a band context (RHCP, Level 42, etc) isn't our instrument meant to be supportive?[/quote]

I totally agree. It's always frustrating when a decent musician who has a good understanding of what his role is in a band is labelled as being not very good simple because he's good at his job. I mean, if he's really that crap, why did a guy like Knopfler (who's accepted as being a great) keep him around for so long? Other than Knopfler, Illsley was the only other constant member of Dire Straits.

[quote name='phsycoandy' post='619029' date='Oct 6 2009, 09:13 PM']Yup I realise that, so why is it described as a WL?[/quote]

I guess the seller thought it was one. It's an easy enough error to make - he may've just looked up the Sadowsky site to find a model name, saw the Will Lee and thought "yep, that's it".

Other than that mistake, the bass looks genuine enough, and the price looks to be in the right ballpark.

[quote name='phsycoandy' post='619000' date='Oct 6 2009, 08:47 PM']Been thinking about getting one of these when I go to NYC in a couple of weeks, I didnt realise there were older models.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330365408653&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...e=STRK:MEWAX:IT[/url][/quote]

That's not a Will Lee signature, it's just a standard NYC bass. I suspect you probably already know this, but the Will Lee signature instrument is a fairly recent bass from the last year or so. It's got a slightly different preamp that has mid boost control.

[quote name='LukeFRC' post='594398' date='Sep 9 2009, 11:35 PM']Well today was interesting.
As well as on basschat I stuck it this bass up on gumtree (advertised for a higher price) this guy is very interested, rings up and we chat, lots of 'whats your lowest price you can do' chat, so tell him, option with a case option without a case. he drives from an adjacent town to come have a look at it. apparently as it is so damaged with dents on it (you can see them in the pictures) he doesnt want it. Goes away- then starts trying to talk me down via text, 'aw ill do it for £xxx', oh 'all do it for £xxx and throw in a squier' and that.
The fact is if he had made me towards his last offer to start with I would have taken it happily!
As it is it's just a bit annoying, maybe on gumtree folk barter more but it's just a daft, it has no concept of how much the thing is possibly worth. It seems like some wierd capitalist form of polite bullying.
Thing is I am a stubbon obstonant person, and maybe importantly don't actually need the money at the moment. I was chatting to my wee brother and think I may lend it to him. (I tell the guy 'sorry but no, my brother is going to be taking it', he still then ups his bid... scheesh, he wasnt a very good player either!)

It all makes me realise how nice and respectful of each other we are on here! The worst ive had with folk here is someone giving me a daft low offer to which I said no. It's nice we respect each other. It's been an honour to be offered a trade on some of the basses I've been offered!

Anyway, I bought this bass as warwickhunt had it for sale and i loved the look of it, sold my status shark bass (the one doing the rounds on here), saved up (working on minimum wage at that point) and then pestered him (he had decided to keep it at that point) until he sold it to me.
It is an amazing bass, the only reason I have it up for sale is as I found a natural wood one (sept 1991) which I prefer the sound too. The natural one was cheap enough that I don't need the money at the moment, and as such I'm taking ol' bluey down from sale for now. I'll hang on to it untill the time I need the cash, for a car or engagement ring or food or whatever.
However, this is basschat, and most of you are good people; so as I did to warwickhunt, feel free to pester me if you want to cross my palm with silver and take ol' bluey out for a ride every night.
Cheers
Luke[/quote]

Good for you Luke. This sort of technique has been around since buying and selling began, but it seems to have been stepped up quite a bit lately as buyers test sellers to see if the seller is a victim of the current economy or not. I just had a situation that was sort of related to the same issue. I recently decided to sell a few of my basses, not because I need the money, but because I wanted to clear some space in my house. I'd spoken with one chap a few weeks about one of the basses, and he was very excited about the instrument, but did the old "oh, I'm so poor, no money at present" routine, and all went quiet. A few days back, he offered me 1/2 of my asking price for the bass (note that the original price wasn't some grand adventure in profiteering, I'd researched it quite well, and made sure it was very competitive). To be honest, it could've gone two ways for me, I could've been very offended, or I could've just laughed, and fortunately I felt the second way. I wrote back and asked why I would silly enough to cut my price in half, but thanked him for the offer anyway.

Seriously, I'm glad you stuck to your guns on this, even if he did make a decent offer.

[quote name='RichMcGill' post='590209' date='Sep 4 2009, 09:29 PM']As I said several times in this thread, never touched L2 or XL-2 or similar Steinberger, but I seen some absolutely horrendous pictures of these with corners missing, looking rather like the sort of damage one sees in old concrete-based council houses. I wish I'd saved a link to post it up to illustrate. Never seen anything remotely similar in a wooden bass or guitar, but then they're very different materials. Maybe proving how tough they are by hitting walls and playing cricket is not best practice?[/quote]

Actually, I think I know the pictures you're talking of. I seem to recall one bass I saw had been dropped down a flight of concrete stairs at the back of gig. So I'll just pass on my experience, being that they're very strong and can handle a lot of abuse.

If you want to learn about Steinberger basses, this is probably the best site to visit [url="http://www.steinbergerworld.com/"]http://www.steinbergerworld.com/[/url]

One thing I noticed above was that a couple of people were using the L2 and XL-2 tags incorrectly. The L2 is one of the original Steinberger models (there was an L1, H2 and H1 - L and H designating the impedence of the pickups, the number being the number of pickups. You can read more about it on the site above). The L2 proved to be the most popular, and was "upgraded" to the XL2 around 1984.

I currently own an L2, and I've also owned an XL-2. As stated, they're fairly amazing instruments. I know a few people have commented on this, but I thought the use of the word "fragile" in relation to a Steinberger was quite funny. Seriously, they're practically indestructible. One of the things they used to do when showing the bass to potential customers was to place the bass as a bridge between 2 chairs, then get someone to stand on the neck. Not only was there no damage, but the thing stayed in tune. I rarely ever need to tune my L2, as it's so stable it simply stays in tune all the time.

I wouldn't say they're for everybody, and it could be argued that the sound is slightly dated, but they really are an amazing instrument nonetheless. As for comparing one to a Spirit, I guess it comes down to what you're looking for. If you're happy with the Spirit, maybe a move over to an original Steinberger isn't necessary. I think it's something you really need to try before you buy one.

[quote name='eubassix' post='588453' date='Sep 3 2009, 11:38 AM']SOLD (on ebay @ £410)[/quote]

That's very impressive. I bet the buyer is non-UK based, though, as the weakness of the pound is making it easier for non-UK buyers to throw larger values at UK items. Still, for the Eubassix (and any other UK sellers), it's brilliant.

Yeah, I agree. His videos are great, and I think there's something there to be learnt by players of all different levels.

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='565596' date='Aug 10 2009, 11:43 PM']It's not called Andy's anymore. Andrew John Preston went bankrupt owing lots of people money - including me for an amp he sold and never gave me the money for. He managed to keep his vintage Rolls Royce though [/quote]

Geez! Sorry to hear about that. I've never done any business with them, partly because I always found that his prices made the rest of Denmark St look reasonable, and also because I'd heard some pretty bad stories about them.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='565563' date='Aug 10 2009, 11:46 PM']We're not playing 20 Questions, are we?

There's more to Denmark Street than meets the eye, y'know.

And you've forgotten Rose Morris anyway. [/quote]

Nah, you're right ...... I'm just throwing a few names. I think it's fair to say that this could've happened anywhere around there.

Actually, I forgot there's another store there, upstairs from Musicground, and a few more just around the corner.

Rose Morris ...... !!

Cool story, all the same.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='565101' date='Aug 10 2009, 02:49 PM']Ah ... now I did wonder about whether or not to say this.

If you search back over my many postings over the last few years, you will find the odd disparaging comment about both Vintage & Rare Guitars and The Bass Cellar.

In fairness to those two shops, and for the avoidance of doubt, the conversation at lunchtime was NOT in either of those shops, and no Clarky, that wasn't the bass.[/quote]

You've left 3 options - Andys, Musicground or Wunjos.

I'll go with Musicground. I couldn't see Andys putting that much effort into an instrument.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='565011' date='Aug 10 2009, 01:20 PM']From memory (and I have a very good memory) this is a reasonable transcription of a conversation at lunchtime today with the owner of a reputable guitar shop in Denmark Street:

[color="#0000FF"]HJ: That’s quite nice, it’s a ’67 Jazz, right?

Him: Yes – nice isn’t it?

HJ: Interesting wear pattern on the bottom of the body, it’s gone through to the wood but it’s really shiny there. Is this a re-fin?

Him: No, no, no, that’s what they call the[i] [I think he said “base varnish layer” or something, could be wrong] [/i]and that always buffs up nicely.

HJ: Hmmm. This patch here looks a bit strange too. Are you sure this hasn’t had a re-fin?

Him: Well, we had to do some work.

HJ: Oh? Why was that then?

Him: The previous owner painted it black in 1971 and we had to get it back to the original finish.

HJ: You’ve done a great job, then. How on earth did you manage to get all the black off without ruining the paint underneath?

Him: It was really difficult, and in the end we had to strip it and then re-build the original finish working from contemporary photographs.

HJ: [i][Desperately trying to keep a straight face][/i] So what’s the story with the fingerboard then?

Him: [i][Clearly getting rattled][/i] What do you mean? What story?

HJ: Well it’s in such great condition – it could almost be new.

Him: No, no, no, we removed the frets and then … erm … sanded the board level. And then we replaced the original frets.[/color]

He didn’t actually say “[i]Honest[/i]” at the end of the last sentence, but he might as well have done.[/quote]

Brilliant!

So, did the conversation end with you both agreeing that it was definitely 100% all original other than the modifications they'd made?

[quote name='birdy' post='563534' date='Aug 8 2009, 03:53 PM']Don't be put off by the fact this in Portugal - I have dealt with Mark on several occasions and he is great to deal with and a top guy!

Steve[/quote]

Thanks for the nod, Steve.

You're not too bad a bloke yourself!

[quote name='Skactus' post='563568' date='Aug 8 2009, 04:55 PM']Mark, do you consider to sell it back in Lisbon? (Via Dave, for eg.)[/quote]

PM sent.

SOLD


I've got a Sadowsky NYC that I'm considering selling. Details as follows.

[list]
[*]Bass is from 1996
[*]Maple neck
[*]Ash body with quilt maple top
[*]Gold hardware, Schaller bridge, Hipshot D-Tuner on E string
[*]Sadowsky HB pickups and preamp (does not have the VTC, however, I may have access to one that could be installed - that would not be included in the price)
[*]Original Sadowsky case
[*]Condition is about 8.5/10 - there are a few very little dings near the output jack
[/list]

Picture can be seen here.

[url="http://ebassist.com/forum/album.php?albumid=19&pictureid=102"]http://ebassist.com/forum/album.php?albumi...p;pictureid=102[/url]

[url="http://ebassist.com/forum/album.php?albumid=19&pictureid=103"]http://ebassist.com/forum/album.php?albumi...p;pictureid=103[/url]

Price: I want to get 2000€ clear for this, so I'll price it tentatively at £1750, to allow for exchange rate fluctuation etc.

The bass is located in Lisbon, Portugal, so you would need to consider shipping options (I'm happy to arrange shipping, but the cost is the responsibility of the seller). Note that Portugal is in the EU, so you would not be liable for any additional taxes etc.

[quote name='Musky' post='562636' date='Aug 7 2009, 10:35 AM']Does anyone know how VAT would fit into these scenarios? If a shop sells at a 15% commission, surely VAT at the current rate of 15% would also be added to the sale price in the shop? Or does the shop only have to pay VAT on their commission as there's no outlay to then for the bass?[/quote]

I asked this of one of the stores I dealt with once, and I think their answer was that the VAT was only applied to the commission. But you'd probably want to check that with a retailer, as I'm just telling you what I vaguely recall was the answer.

[quote name='chris_b' post='562598' date='Aug 7 2009, 09:53 AM']I always imagined that the commission would be added. Does it make a huge difference if you add 35% to the price?[/quote]

If you add 35%, that's the same as taking away 25% (more or less).

For example

Say I want £1000. They add 35%, so the final price is £1350, so the commission ends up at £350.

However, say the agreed selling price is the same, £1350. If you calculate commission at 35% (which is the scenario I was talking about above), then the commission works out at £472.50.