Burns-bass

I could afford one (if I didn’t invest in a pension) but it’s an illiquid and very fragile asset class. Guess wine or whisky is worse, but they’re in the same ballpark.

You (like me) have the capital to pay for one but you won’t as you don’t see the value - yet you believe it’ll continue to rise? Not sure how that works.

What’s interesting is that culture moves on so quickly. We revere a period of culture from 1960 - 1976 (approx) as somehow when the worlds of music and musical instrument mass manufacture peaked. Neither is true of course, as there’s no real objective criteria On which to do so. Cultural gatekeepers continue to tell us this is the case and it’ll prop up the market until these people are gone and there’s a critical reappraisal.

I can understand banks wanting to prop up the housing market, but I can’t imagine the price of Fenders is on their list. (I see air fryers are no longer considered an essential commodity either.) My view is that we’re at dangerous bubble territory and you can see the demand is dropping. I’ve never seen so many up for sale in the last 20 years which suggests either they’ve discovered a rare cache of them, if collectors are divesting themselves if these assets when the going is good. The old 59 burst is a fair bellweather as arguably the most desirable guitar in the world. You’d almost never see one for sale but in the last year there have been about 7 in the UK alone. That’s a warning sign. Basses are less desirable than guitars so the money is less - and so is the risk - but at the top end you could see quite significant drops to levels of a few years ago.

It's not a discussion we need to have here and I shouldn't have raised it. Opinions vary, what I like others may not, etc. My original point was that there are reasonably priced older Fenders out there if you're happy to wait and search. I just hope this one goes to someone who wants it not an online dealer.

That is an excellent price. I am a fan of BassBros.

It was on Gumtree. It's not a bad price. If you factor in the cost of a setup, new strings and postage Bass Bros would do then £1500 not a bad price. Possibly bought by a flipper (there's a notorious one in Bristol who spends his life on Gumtree). If it were my money, I'd buy a recent US Precision. These are infinitely better instruments (but I appreciate that's not the context here).

There was a 77 Precision in Bristol for £1500 this weekend with a Marshall amp. I think you can still get reasonably priced stuff if you’re patient.

I just asked a friend at work and he has had the tip break in a MacBook. To retrieve it, he used the ink tube from a Bic pen (with the ink out and cleaned. After sliding it into the slot and applying a tiny bit of pressure it came out. Obviously o can’t be held responsible for damage but it sounds like a good tip to me.

Hopefully the tip isn’t lodged in your MacBook or you could experience some challenges removing it.

I reckon it's going to be about 3 months time until you're looking to buy a real DB.

Excellent point.

It's also worth considering a reverb pedal to try and mimic the acoustic resonance of a DB. It's not foolproof, but used judiciously can add some lovely character to an EUB.

This. You won’t devalue the bass.

My bass teacher always talked about committing yourself to an instrument. It’s like a relationship that you need to spend years investing in it.

I understand the point you’re making. Theres also the adaptation you have to do to every instrument. It takes a long time to get the sound you want from the bass I found.

I’ve played gigs and festivals with Wilco Johnson (nice guys!), Jethro Tull, Carl Palmer, Arthur Brown, Wishbone Ash, the Stranglers, Asia and quite a few more I can’t remember. Went on tour with The Musical Box and recorded two albums with Genesis producer Johnny Burns. This stuff means nothing to most people but was fun. Sold a guitar to Phil Oakey and I’m sort of friends with Sade’s producer.

It’s also common to take classical instruments on approval. I didn’t know this when I bought my Bryant bass and turned up with a bag full of money which he refused to take. He gave me the bass and rang me a few days later with his bank details. You may know this of course, but it removes a lot of tension when buying from a dealer I guess knowing you can bring it back if it doesn’t work for you.

I benefitted from the advice of an expert when I bought my bass. It’s worth bringing someone with you that can play for several reasons… You can both play the bass and hear it being played (projection, sound quality etc). They’re likely to spot things you won’t about the construction and playability. You won’t be lonely on the journey. Perhaps someone here might be able to help you? I would if I could play and had any idea what I’m doing (which I don’t).

My point wasn’t to criticise people with loads of basses. Perhaps you need to have loads of basses to realise what you want in one (you can see I’ve owned and sold *lots*). Perhaps as I get older I’m more interested in understanding why I felt the need to own lots of stuff. It didn’t make me happier, or play better, or play more, for example. It’s interesting to know what everyone thinks in a non-judgemental environment.