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Ken SMITH


griffonite
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Why has no one been interested in buying this? Any explanations from anyone who has had a look? I would have thought something this rare and high quality would have sold easily. Obviously it's been damaged but a look on the internet will tell you these kinds of repairs are very common and easy to rectify often producing results superior to the original.

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At a guess, the market for high price (not a value judgement on this bass, simply 'a lot of money') basses is very slow at the moment, and the damage didn't help. Personally it's of no interest to me, and boutique stuff like this has a much smaller fanbase/market than the common-or-garden stuff, so I guess it's of even more restricted interest.

If you're up for an equation, I'm guessing:

(Specialist forum members) - (people who don't like damage, repaired or not) - (non-Ken Smith fans) - (those who haven't got £1500 in this financial climate) = nobody :)

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I've been watching the For Sale seciton with interest for ages and there have been some fantastic instruments for sale over the last few months (and a fair few still for sale/unsold), two lovely looking Adamovich's come straight to my mind ! :)

I think (as has been mentioned) when someone's looking for more than £1k (probably more than £500 even in the current economic climate) then you've got a lot less people prepared to pay out that sort of money. Then you can reduce the number of people by those who are not interested in Ken Smith;s and so on.

Point being at a £1.5k price point (whether it's a good price or not) there's just less people likely to be interested.

EDIT: MythSte has put it more succinctly and correctly (imo).

Edited by purpleblob
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Personally I won't consider any damage to the neck and this includes dings, chips and even discolouration. The body can look like it's been dragged around a gravel car park...

THe market is slow and I've been looking for a while for a bass and I'm not committing. I need a bass for a short term project and I'm not going to buy one if the prices tank further when I come to sell it.

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[quote name='CS2' post='1176106' date='Mar 25 2011, 04:15 PM']Personally I won't consider any damage to the neck and this includes dings, chips and even discolouration. The body can look like it's been dragged around a gravel car park...

THe market is slow and I've been looking for a while for a bass and I'm not committing. I need a bass for a short term project and I'm not going to buy one if the prices tank further when I come to sell it.[/quote]



I think you are right, most people would consider buying a bass with damage to the body but would be put off by any damage / markings or chips to a neck. This includes me.

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[quote name='griffonite' post='1176003' date='Mar 25 2011, 03:00 PM']Why has no one been interested in buying this? Any explanations from anyone who has had a look? I would have thought something this rare and high quality would have sold easily. Obviously it's been damaged but a look on the internet will tell you these kinds of repairs are very common and easy to rectify often producing results superior to the original.[/quote]

Just out of interest - why aren't you interested in purchasing this ?

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[quote name='griffonite' post='1177325' date='Mar 26 2011, 03:24 PM']So it looks like it boils down to people simply not having much money to spend at the moment. Fair enough.[/quote]

Not entirely, plenty of more expensive basses have sold, most however don't need a repair, and perhaps many of those that sold were likely more desirable at the price than is the bass in question

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[quote name='adledman' post='1177385' date='Mar 26 2011, 04:25 PM']where is the bass in question? i.e pictures not location?[/quote]

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=107215&hl=ken+smith"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...mp;hl=ken+smith[/url]

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My guess is that the damage to the neck of the bass looks quite serious, especially considering it's been 'repaired'. I'm not sure of the quality of the 'repair', however, imo, it shouldn't be left which such apparent scars.

That and the price tag will put most people off. Those who're prepared to pay good money for a Ken Smith will want a pristine example. I would.

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[quote name='zero9' post='1177423' date='Mar 26 2011, 05:17 PM']My guess is that the damage to the neck of the bass looks quite serious, especially considering it's been 'repaired'. I'm not sure of the quality of the 'repair', however, imo, it shouldn't be left which such apparent scars.

That and the price tag will put most people off. Those who're prepared to pay good money for a Ken Smith will want a pristine example. I would.[/quote]


+ 1

You have to remember that potential buyers are likely to view this bass online via the photos provided, initially.

As a buyer, if you see a photo of damage/repair to a bass that looks that bad you expect a price that reflects the damage (or further repairs - even if that's just cosmetic - it may need). If you then see a high asking price, it is going to put a lot of people off and as stated, there won't be many of the niche buyers around for this type of bass to start with.

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[quote name='zero9' post='1177423' date='Mar 26 2011, 05:17 PM']My guess is that the damage to the neck of the bass looks quite serious, especially considering it's been 'repaired'. I'm not sure of the quality of the 'repair', however, imo, it shouldn't be left which such apparent scars.[/quote]
+1, that would be my impression IF I was looking for a KS. I'd be disappointed in any luthier leaving it looking so bad. There's ways & means to hide such things & they haven't been used there.

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I've just seen the pictures of this, and that is some [i]serious[/i] damage! I was a bit shocked. I'm dubious that a repair to damage like that could result in the instrument being superior to the original. Also, as previously posted, it may have been repaired to make it structurally sound, but it seems to me that not much effort has gone into making it [i]look[/i] as good as possible, and it's the looks that are going to get interest from buyers online.

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That's not a bass that would interest me anyway but even if it was I would be put off by:

1 Lack of clarity in the original sale post e.g. '2 threads, wrong section, no price... oh dear'
2 Price
3 Neck damage
4 Bad picture of neck damage
5 And, no offence to newbie sellers but, newbie seller

Add all those together and that would be a no go for me.

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I know nothing about the basses or whether the price is good or bad but I don't need to - it hasn't sold because the price is too high.

Just the same with cars, houses and any other second had item. If they don't sell for the listed price then only the seller thinks it is worth that price.

If you really want to know what it is worth put it on eBay with a 99p starting price. No, I wouldn't do that either!

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