[traded] 2002 Warwick Thumb BO5

[ThomBassmonkey]

The old thread was starting to get confusing even after a tidy up, so I thought I'd start a nice clean new one. Old thread is here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=116278&st=0"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=116278&st=0[/url]

These are the details as a search on the serial number shows:
Serial No.: D-092013-02
Article Code: 1225080000BZOVAOWW
produced: 15/05/2002
Info: Thumb BO, 5-string
Natural Oil finish
Ovangkol body
Ovangkol neck
Black hardware

It has had some minor (but costly) repairs to the neck (more details in the other thread). It's now in fully working order though and plays beautifully. Very low action and sounds exactly like a Warwick should.





I'm looking for £700 or 5 string trades.

Trades I'm especially interested in:
Red/Black/Natural basses.
Maple fretboards.
G&L 2500 + £300.
Musicman SUB 5 + £300.
SBMM Ray 35 + £300.
EBMM Stingray 5 (especially HH).
EBMM Bongo 5 (again, especially HH).
Sandberg PM5.
An EUB + cash, depending on what EUB is on offer.

Things I'm not interested in:
Another Warwick.
Adding cash from my side.
4 string basses.

The price for this is £700 firm. No offers below that. If you want a p/ex against it with your bass, look up how much basses the same model as yours have sold for recently and that's how much I'll accept it for in a trade (if it's a range of prices, I'll lean towards the higher end so it's a better deal for you.) I'll expect you to make up the rest (up to £700) with cash.

There is a wooden case with this which won't be included in the sale, but if someone has a generous trade offer for me, I could include it.

If you have any questions, feel free to get in contact with me.

Edited March 20, 2011 by ThomBassmonkey

[ThomBassmonkey]

Too many people mucking me about either stopping replying to messages or expecting to drag out negotiations over price until they're getting it for waaaaay less than it's value (sorry, I don't buy the "it's only worth what someone will pay for it" rubbish).

Consider it withdrawn.

If someone is serious about taking it off my hands, send me an offer, but I'll only either accept or decline it. No more negotiations and I'm not gonna follow up messages that haven't been replied to.

Sorry if I sound arsey, I've had a few good trades on here but I've been messed about by far more people and after STILL not recieving the agreed amount towards the repairs on this bass (roughly 1/3rd of the costs, at best I'd still be several hundred out of pocket), I'm starting to feel I'd be better off and safer dealing through ebay or the like.

[risingson]

I know how frustrating this can be from personal experience but you've got to keep your head about it. If people are messing you about I think it's just a case of firmly telling them that they're taking the p$ss, in the politest way possible of course. As for people that don't end up replying to messages it's really maddening but then I suppose the lack of communication is telling of the sort of buyer that they are, and I wouldn't want to be selling to them anyway.

It's a really lovely bass at a spectacularly reasonable price, and it's a real shame you've had problems, especially considering the deal you'd be getting if you bought it.

[waynepunkdude]

Give you a fiver for it.

[ThomBassmonkey]

I'm keeping level about it, but there's only so many offers that amount add up to £600 (if I'm being massively generous with my valuation of the trading objects) that I can take. I've spent £1,000 on this, if it sells for £750, I'm losing £250. I can deal with that, it's only money. It's taking the piss though when people expect serious amounts knocked off that. People trying to justify it with "well here's a 4 string version that sold on ebay recently for £650, so I want it cheaper than that" (yes, I've actually had messages like that) is rubbish and as much as I want to uphold the community spirit, there's limits.

Not replying to peoples' messages is just rude. That's the biggest issue I've had with the guy who sold this to me in the state that has cost me so much in the first place. If I haven't had to fork out for repairs or if he'd reimbursed me the money we'd agreed on, I wouldn't mind lowering the price a bit more. The whole fiasco's been a joke though and the stress it's caused me is one of the reasons I'm not at all hesitant to sell this bass. I wasn't expecting so much hassle again when I was trying to see the back of it though.

[Beedster]

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1149858' date='Mar 4 2011, 08:02 PM']Not replying to peoples' messages is just rude.[/quote]

Not a good time to be selling is it. I had a guy say he was going to buy a PUP from me the other day. After three or four PMs requesting payment, and a final PM saying I was going to relist it (as he had been on the site several times but not replied), he sent me a pretty rude PM saying that I was being unreasonable given that I hadn't stated a required payment period in my listing.

Sold it to another guy 5 mins later

[deej]

Ive done exactly the same thing just last week. Same bass, pretty similar experiences.

Had a sale agreed early on and was ready to actually travel to London to drop the bass off, but that got cancelled just before I was gonna buy the tickets. Had a few silly offers followed by weeks of nothing, then more offers again with no replies. I withdrew mine last week as I felt it wasnt worth it. Im gonna give it a setup and maybe give it another chance, but the main reason I wanted to sell it was that I wanted the money to sort my rig out.

If I do decide to sell it again, im probably going straight to ebay with a reserve so I know what i'll get. Hopefully less hassle.

[josh3184]

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1149858' date='Mar 4 2011, 08:02 PM']I'm keeping level about it, but there's only so many offers that amount add up to £600 (if I'm being massively generous with my valuation of the trading objects) that I can take. I've spent £1,000 on this, if it sells for £750, I'm losing £250. I can deal with that, it's only money. It's taking the piss though when people expect serious amounts knocked off that. People trying to justify it with "well here's a 4 string version that sold on ebay recently for £650, so I want it cheaper than that" (yes, I've actually had messages like that) is rubbish and as much as I want to uphold the community spirit, there's limits.

Not replying to peoples' messages is just rude. That's the biggest issue I've had with the guy who sold this to me in the state that has cost me so much in the first place. If I haven't had to fork out for repairs or if he'd reimbursed me the money we'd agreed on, I wouldn't mind lowering the price a bit more. The whole fiasco's been a joke though and the stress it's caused me is one of the reasons I'm not at all hesitant to sell this bass. I wasn't expecting so much hassle again when I was trying to see the back of it though.[/quote]

To be honest you'd have a much better chance of getting decent money from it somewhere other than basschat. Whilst Warwicks are famed for their bad re-sale value, for some reason it seems to be much exaggerated here. I'd imagine you'd get a lot closer to what you are asking if you flogged it elsewhere. Just my personal experience of selling Warwicks of course, YMMV

Good luck with selling it!

Edited March 4, 2011 by josh3184

[thumperbob 2002]

[quote name='josh3184' post='1149905' date='Mar 4 2011, 08:37 PM']To be honest you'd have a much better chance of getting decent money from it somewhere other than basschat. Whilst Warwicks are famed for their bad re-sale value, for some reason it seems to be much exaggerated here. I'd imagine you'd get a lot closer to what you are asking if you flogged it elsewhere. Just my personal experience of selling Warwicks of course, YMMV

Good luck with selling it![/quote]
I have sold quite a few bits and pieces ,basses,amps-one went to Milan! I have never had a problem with anyone on bass chat. I would rather sell stuff on here than eBay. Thats where I pick up all my bargains.

[lemmywinks]

It's actual value [b]IS[/b] what people are prepared to pay though, if you think it's worth more then don't sell. Keep an eye on eBay to get an idea of what they're selling for and keep in mind that you'll get hefty fees from eBay and Paypal. I always sell cheaper on here anyway, i've had so many other good deals from really great people and that's how i like it.

It's such a crap time to be selling a Warwick that i don't blame you for being so annoyed at the prices are willing to pay and their attidudes to parting with money. It's a bad time to sell any bass and people are more reluctant than ever to part with a serious wedge of cash, particularly if they have seen a similar item go substantially cheaper elswehere.

The situation is that you have a relatively common bass which has had repairs (even though this has no bearing on the stability of the instrument) and are trying to sell it at a time when everybody is cutting back on their spending and that particular brand is fetching all time low prices on the used market.

If i were you i'd keep it, unless you're desperate to sell. Warwick prices can't stay this low forever, now is the time to buy IMO - i just wish everybody else thought that!


Absolutely stunning bass btw.

[lemmywinks]

Btw have you tried it on the Warwick forum?

Very friendly place and, rather surprisingly, they like buying Warwicks!

[ThomBassmonkey]

Josh, I've noticed that trends seem to be exaggerated here too. I think it's because it's so easy to see past threads. Stingrays is a classic example (and I pointed it out when it was happening). A few months ago they were going for £850ish for a 5. Then one person sold his for £600 and now they're selling for around that mark. It'll take a long time for values to work their way up because a quick search will reveal threads where they've sold for that much and people won't want to pay more.

Thumper, you've been lucky. I'd trust this place more than a lot of places, but that's definitely not to say it doesn't have any scammers or rip-off merchants. There's a fair share of time wasters too. Somewhere like eBay would be a lot simpler where people either buy or they don't. There's no messing about offering hundreds below the list price or trying to justify why your bass isn't worth what you've put it up for. I hate using it, but this bass has caused me a right headache. And for no good reason either, it's a great instrument!

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1149994' date='Mar 4 2011, 09:46 PM']It's actual value [b]IS[/b] what people are prepared to pay though[/quote]

Not if they get withdrawn if they get to a certain point. Value can be set by the seller and the buyer, not just the buyer. I can't recall any Thumb 5 BOs being sold for under £750 here (I asked one person that was expecting me to give away my bass for pennies to send me a link to one that's been sold for under £750, best he could come up with was a 4 string on ebay for £650 but then he wanted me to over-value his bass as well...). There's been several that have been withdrawn at that price, so that's a fair way of valuing them.

Good idea on the bass forum, but I think I'm done with the hassle of selling on forums for a while.

Edited March 4, 2011 by ThomBassmonkey

[waynepunkdude]

Sorry to go way off but how is the tone with 2 PUPs that close to the bridge?

[lemmywinks]

Aye, FWIW i think this bass should be "worth" more but people really aren't putting proper values on Warwicks at the moment. A value put on something by the seller is pretty useless if people aren't prepared to pay it.

The blue Fortress that was listed here recently went on eBay and didn't sell even though the start bid was £350. That's pretty scary stuff - a mint, genuine 90s wenge-necked Warwick in a rare colour (quite a rare model too) failing to make new Squier CV prices.
Take his fees off that and he'd have got just over £300 for it - if it had sold that is.

It's such a shame that so little value is placed upon such great instruments but there's not a lot that can be done about it at the moment.

[ThomBassmonkey]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1150042' date='Mar 4 2011, 10:24 PM']Sorry to go way off but how is the tone with 2 PUPs that close to the bridge?[/quote]

The tone's very...warwicky? hehe. If you look on my original for sale thread, there's youtube vid of my band playing. My chain's simply bass > GK DI > desk. IIRC I have it on active mode with the pups 50/50 and the EQ flat.

[waynepunkdude]

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1150058' date='Mar 4 2011, 10:30 PM']The tone's very...warwicky? hehe. If you look on my original for sale thread, there's youtube vid of my band playing. My chain's simply bass > GK DI > desk. IIRC I have it on active mode with the pups 50/50 and the EQ flat.[/quote]


I'll have a listen when my good lady isn't sleeping, interesting.

[ThomBassmonkey]

I'm sticking this back up. I'm about to order another rig from GK and this isn't getting any use, so I could do with moving it on. If someone has a nice MM style pup bass they want to trade or a cheap EUB with cash, I'm happy to take PXes.

I've dropped the price to £700, but that's not including the case. Because I've been messed about so much previously with this, that's a solid price, I won't budge a penny on that and any postage/petrol is at the buyer's expense. If you do want to put a bass towards it, look up how much your bass has sold for recently on here (I'm not trawling the whole web to find one freak example where it sold for £200 over value, likewise I'm not going to lower the price of mine because a 4 string version sold for £100 less elsewhere) and I'll be willing to give you the upper end of the values they've sold for (not specifically the top, depending on what is on offer).

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask, but please make any offers sensible ones.

[ThomBassmonkey]

Bump up. Still on the look out for any basses for trade (part or total).

The exceptions to the rule on value would only be EBMMs atm, I know they're selling for around the £600 mark at the moment, but that seems cheap to me so I'd be happy to take one in a direct trade. The trades I posted above still stand at those values (I edited them to reflect the £50 knocked off).

There must be someone out there that has something nice they'll trade.

[CS2]

Consider this a bump...

I am guilty of keeping my money in the bank at the moment and I'm not really sure why as my sole bass is an Ashbory and I really need something more substantial. Maybe it' s all the spending cuts...

Anyhoo, IMHO there's always been an element that seem to think that a trade is valuing there bass more than new retail and yours lower than a dealer cash price. Stick out for a good trade or keep it.

That is all...

[ThomBassmonkey]

[quote name='CS2' post='1163239' date='Mar 15 2011, 03:54 PM']Anyhoo, IMHO there's always been an element that seem to think that a trade is valuing there bass more than new retail and yours lower than a dealer cash price. Stick out for a good trade or keep it.[/quote]

Yep, it's annoying. I'd rather be open to bartering and a broader range of offers, but I spent several days trying to barter with a guy before I withdrew this and he was just not willing to be at all reasonable. I ended up offering him the maximum I've ever seen his bass go for second hand and knocking an extra £50 off the price of mine and he still wasn't interested unless I knocked £100+ off to match the price of a 4 string version he saw on eBay. I'm prepared to work out a deal but he wanted me to give it away and instead of making a proper offer so I could accept/reject, he dragged it out as long as possible while I was trying to be accomodating.

This is still here. I'l look at any 5ers, any trade offers will get extra marks for any of the following though:

Maple board.
MM (or similar) pup(s).
2 pups.
Red/Black/Natural body.

I'll take a serious look at any reasonable offers though.

[CS2]

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1164096' date='Mar 16 2011, 09:27 AM']Yep, it's annoying. I'd rather be open to bartering and a broader range of offers, but I spent several days trying to barter with a guy before I withdrew this and he was just not willing to be at all reasonable. I ended up offering him the maximum I've ever seen his bass go for second hand and knocking an extra £50 off the price of mine and he still wasn't interested unless I knocked £100+ off to match the price of a 4 string version he saw on eBay. I'm prepared to work out a deal but he wanted me to give it away and instead of making a proper offer so I could accept/reject, he dragged it out as long as possible while I was trying to be accomodating.

This is still here. I'l look at any 5ers, any trade offers will get extra marks for any of the following though:

Maple board.
MM (or similar) pup(s).
2 pups.
Red/Black/Natural body.

I'll take a serious look at any reasonable offers though.[/quote]


I have sold cheaply and taken partial trades of stuff I sold later because for various reasons I had to sell quickly. If you don't need to shift the bass right now, you should get a reasonable deal. Patience, now if I knew what that was...

[rjb]

Asking someone to do a price match on a private sale against some random ebay item is just plain rude. I won't respond to such requests.

Part of me thinks that Warwick should stop making thumbs for a few years to drive up perceived value. These are great instruments (I own two) , but in the UK fashion for Fenders is utterly dominant at the moment.

Anyway good luck with the sale, it's a very fair price. Have a bump.

[ThomBassmonkey]

Bump!

I'm in no urgent need to rid myself of it so I'm not about to rush into a deal where I'm going to lose out. It's a brilliant bass and it's cost me way more than I'm offering it for. It is doing nothing here though, so there's no point me having it.

Had some more people sniffing about but no firm offers yet. These sell for over £1,500 new. If it had that F word on the headstock, it'd have sold for £1,200 in the first 10 minutes it was up.

[Kev]

Persevere mate, don't drop that price! Lovely example of a BO 5, surely worth another 50% on what your asking in an ideal world!

[ThomBassmonkey]

Price won't be dropping any more, no worries there. If these sold for a fair price for the craftsmanship and compared to the new price they'd be going for over the £1k mark. That's just the way fashion works though I guess.

A note about EUB trades: I've just had an offer on a really nice one, but I really need another bass guitar, so if anyone is thinking about offering me an EUB, I need it to be a p/x so that I can use the dosh to pick up a cheaper 5er bass guitar as a backup. smile.gif I don't really play EUBs at the mo anyway, it's for something a little different at acoustic gigs so I couldn't justify an expensive one anyway.

I would be interested in an EUB and a bass guitar as a trade though if anyone happened to have them laying around to the right value (or less with cash to bump it up).

Edited March 18, 2011 by ThomBassmonkey