GuyR

I have sold a relatively low value bass on commission and bought two high value (to me!) basses through the same shop on commission. The bass I sold was around £300. I was paying 15% and the service I received was excellent. I suggested reducing the price after a month or so but the shop disagreed and told me to hang on and I would get the full price, which I did a few weeks later. The very easy option for them would have been just to agree, cut the price and make an easy sale, but they didn't. That judgement and expertise in the market is what you are paying for, along with the value-added in the confidence of the buyer in purchasing through a reputable and established trading entity, rather than of some random bloke on a forum or auction/classifieds site and all the uncertainty/risk that entails. I don't concern myself with what their process was to achieve the result. On the occasions I bought on commission basses, the first (custom colour 62 jazz) I was phoned to say they had something interesting in stock and they kept the shop open an hour late to let me try it. The second (ex-pino 79 fretless stingray) I was in to buy strings, it was pointed out to me, and I went home with it. In all cases an exemplary service was provided to buyer and seller. Same thing with auctions, buyer & seller know the terms before they trade. The company is a market-maker, attracting a buying public wanting to buy and with the means and confidence to buy. That, along with convenience, is what you are paying for.

It's a more expressive instrument, played well.

If it plays well, any cheaper would have been cheeky

Nice problem to have. Original 66 looks v nice, particularly if you can afford and can get a good deal, there are worse places to park a few quid. The other options all look tempting, though.

I'm a regular customer and work locally to the shop. I can't recommend them highly enough. I have bought, sold, had setups, refrets, more major surgery, and always been very satisfied with the service, quality and price. They are top guys to deal with.

Lovely bass & amp also!!

Nice bench

Handbags ready!!!😀

City of tiny lights with Frank Zappa would be fun.

A few years ago in the course of my work, I went into the loft of Ronnie Lane's former flat in Kentish Town. Amongst the clutter was an old nondescript semi acoustic type bass. I remember it had a dealers sticker from somewhere in east London and no bridge. There was also an old Zemaitis case which I asked the owner - who was his partner up to his death - if I could look inside. Sadly the bass was long gone, taken by a relative, if I remember correctly. An interesting afternoon at work.

Jvs are good, but not worth £900. They were a budget instrument - in the context of their time of manufacture, they were excellent, showing up the poor quality of some contemporary USA fender product. The Jazz basses were also the first reissues with a dot neck. I think a tokai from the same era is as good. I have 2 jv jazzes. One I bought at a year old in 1983 and another I bought new in 1984. I have a mid 80s tokai jazz also. At £5-600 a jv is a good buy imo.

If you're going to do it, I think in the corner is the most considerate place.

There is a young man who really might be better off with a short scale......

Why didn't Fender think of the RS-guitarworks 50s style jazz bass. It's fabulous.

Bass Gallery. You can't go wrong.

Love this. Thanks for posting

You liked how it played as delivered and want to know whether to modify it. I think you may have answered your own question 🙂

Great looking bass. If it plays as well as it looks, you haven't wasted your money. If the seller didn't disclose the neck refin, there might not be any harm in seeing if they might make a gesture to compensate. I always get Martin P to look over any vintage bass purchase. It's a good idea to buy subject to his inspection, with the option to return. Re the screws, I'm no expert, but my 64 jazz has control panel screws matching those on the scratchplate. On my 65 they are slightly different - the control panel ones are a little smaller, but still they don't look like yours. Pm me an email address and I'll send a close up image from my phone if that is useful. even with a few unexpected changes, so long as you have the original pickups £3500 is OK. Any 65 jazz bass purchase can't be a bad thing!!!

I said she no longer lives there, not she no longer lives. Mind you, my geraniums were particularly good last year.

A jv squier bass was £220 in Denmark st in 1984. I've still got the receipt. And the bass. Starter gear is much better value now than ever before. Rightly or wrongly, I doubt many new players worry too much about the ethics of production

If the neighbour finds the bass intrusive, use headphones and a zoom bfx or similar. It's no big deal for you, but it might be a big deal for her. I had a noisy neighbour, playing the ghastly "frozen" soundtrack repeatedly. It was torture. Her dog barked all night while she went clubbing. She ignored my repeated polite requests to moderate her behaviour. I did not retaliate with escalating noise wars, but let''s just say she no longer lives there.... your bass playing might sound fantastic to you, (or me!!) but it might be the equivalent of "frozen" to her. in my opinion, continuing to play amplified when a neighbour has asked you not to is inconsiderate and provocative.

Absolutely this. Dates a recording in the most unfortunate way and renders it unlistenable for me.

Most people who have played a good number of vintage basses seem to have had the experience of playing good ones, fantastic ones, and "dogs". Is it coincidence that it is only the fantastic ones that ever come up for sale? Similarly, considering how many vintage instruments have been modified/refinished/hacked about, it is quite surprising that most of the ones for sale are 100% original. Caveat emptor........