GuyR

You'd be so disappointed if you opened the wrong case. First world problem.

You’re living the pastel-coloured dream…….

You might well be right. Vintage gear is very much a discretionary buy. Ultimately a Squier will do the same job and if you need the money tied up in a valuable instrument I guess you have to pay the rent/mortgage/ other unglamorous expense.

He put his LP up for with ATB at £995,000, not £100,000. That’s not really for sale. Mike has two more golden era sunburst LPs he can’t shift currently at £300k. All of my vintage kit, and pretty much everything I own is equally for sale if someone wants to pay me over double its value. Having said that, not doubt some people buy stuff to sell on, I’m not one of them🙂

I’m interested to know how long have you owned them, and whether you have sold any similar examples in the past, other than your 62 which I recall you mentioned having sold. (BTW, in the unlikely event you decide to sell your 63, I’d be keen to know about it!!)

I can see for some a lovely old bass could be a store of wealth, or hedge against financial difficulties. Once you have bought one (a good one, not a lemon), you may well find yourself looking for alternative sources to fill the pecuniary hole, should hard times arise.

That might be the case for some, certainly not for me. I’d be interested in the thoughts of other owners of pre cbs Fenders.

That does look an excellent deal, condition looked very good and I would expect retail to be £5k more.

Always good to hear about excellent service.

Bass Gallery are advertising Mo Foster’s fretless Jazz Bass. A very interesting prospect for someone… https://thebassgallery.com/collections/all/products/fender-jazz-bass-fretless

If ever you are not sure, a modest outlay with a decent tech/repairer is a sound investment. Almost always they will be able to sort out the issue. As above, bass Gallery, feline in Croydon, plenty of others. Certainly have it looked at by a professional before selling cheaply.

Just occurred to me that when I bought Pino's back-up fretless Stingray from Martin Petersen, it came equipped with a bright sounding set of roundwounds. That will do for me as a recommendation.

I play a lot with harmonics and harmonic chords and like to be able to slide them as easily and effectively as possible when required. I have found DR Hi-beam stainless rounds to be the most compatible with that requirement, tension is ideal for me with 45-105/125 and they last for ages. I have them on my Godin A5, at least 3 years old and they remain zingy, full and rich. I have them on my fretless Jazzes too. The tone softens very nicely plucked over the fingerboard.

Looks very nice. Not something I would be leaving in the car under any circumstances!

That’s sublime.

Very sad to hear this. A fabulous player. I encountered Mo at the Bass Gallery a few years ago and found him to be exactly as Rich has described in his post above. A modest and charming gentleman far more interested in talking about my bass playing than his own. RIP Mo. It was an honour to meet you.

I’ve bought through GH a couple of times and done very well. I buy regularly from auction houses: cars, furniture, art etc. I’d be less inclined to sell there as although the sellers fee is 15%+vat, there is also a buyers fee of 22%+vat, so by the time you add vat, the difference between the amount the buyer pays and the amount the seller receives is 35% (the total price paid by the buyer is 126.4% of the hammer price. Seller receives 82% of the hammer price. The difference in % is 44.4 divided by 126.4 X 100=35) As a buyer, it’s not my concern what the seller receives - I just calculate my 26.4% of the hammer price and decide what my maximum bid will be. As a seller, knowing I have only received 64.9% of what the buyer has paid doesn’t sound like a brilliant deal, although I acknowledge the auction company has a business model and has to make their profit. I don’t think the charge is fundamentally unreasonable, but when selling, I generally prefer to sell on consignment with a good dealer like Bass Gallery or ATB where the cost is 15% including vat. This has produced excellent results for instruments priced between £300 and £7000. Usually with a minimal wait and always with minimal hassle. just my 2p worth (1.3p after commission)

It says refin in the advert.

The price is nonsense.

I’d hold out for the Flea Jazz. If you are after a Flea sound, it seems a logical starting point and they regularly come up in the classifieds here. Also a strong and reliable resale if you don’t find it suits you. Welcome and good luck.

Provenance is very important in my opinion, not for reasons of a romantic story- If it can be demonstrated that the 61 custom colour fender you are interested in has been in the same ownership for north of about 30 years, then the chance of being caught out with a fake is much reduced. It would have been harder to produce an accurate fake pre internet and the lower values would have made it far less worthwhile to bother. Of course, you still have to be super careful irrespective of the back story. The provenance with Andy Baxter’s Precision is as good as you could reasonably hope for and the price is demonstrably correct.

The “purchase price” column strikes me as a potentially reckless indulgence. There is such a thing as too much information.