Your most expensive gear mistakes?

[mcnach]

1 hour ago, Cuzzie said:

No worries young man, and what a purchase it was too, fits like a glove, hopefully between me and @krispn we can get you on the tonestyler wagon too 🤟🏾

 

Well, I bought one... I just need to install it!

In fact I have that one, and a tonestyler-type one made by someone in his workshop that I got on eBay a while ago (complete loom, for Jazz style wiring, including series/parallel switch, so it'll take all of 5 minutes to fit)... I just need to stop being distracted in BC

 

[Cuzzie]

11 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

Well, I bought one... I just need to install it!

In fact I have that one, and a tonestyler-type one made by someone in his workshop that I got on eBay a while ago (complete loom, for Jazz style wiring, including series/parallel switch, so it'll take all of 5 minutes to fit)... I just need to stop being distracted in BC

 

Good work - I have used the Bass Ten and also installed the Tele Jazz plate v4 into a bass - it really is very good, and the clicks are great to know where you like a setting

[Kiwi]

A matching pair of Modulus Quantum Sweetspot basses back in the noughties - imported from the US before shipping charges and the exchange rate went insane.  The fretted had a treble attack like glass and the fretless had a warped neck because the phenolic fingerboard wasn't stiff enough I lost 500 quid on each bass.  Also that Musicman Stingray parts bass with a status neck.  Sold it for quite a bit under the asking price of a used Stingray and had my arm bitten off (justifiably, too).

Finally - my first 'custom bass', made from parts I specified (hence no name or shame) but it was a disaster.  The graphite neck was floppy.  The bridge didn't hold the strings against the body.  It sounded weedy even with EMG Jv pickups in.  I sold it for about 15% less than I paid for it a few months after receiving it.

[radiophonic]

On 30/09/2019 at 01:42, chris_b said:

I bought a Gibson EB0 for £95 in 1968. That's £1700 (at today's money) spent on a bass that sounded awful. Not a great move for a kid still at school!!

If you're counting money not gained in a sale, I could have got another £6000 if I'd waited and sold both Wals today, instead of when I did!!

 

Edit ~ making more sense. . . . !!

I wince every time I remember what I sold my Wal Mk1 for... It was difficult to sell it, even then. Probably appreciated tenfold in the interim. 

[machinehead]

16 minutes ago, radiophonic said:

I wince every time I remember what I sold my Wal Mk1 for... It was difficult to sell it, even then. Probably appreciated tenfold in the interim. 

Would you have given me £200 for a perfect Wal Mk1 in 1990?

I forgot about that and now the pain is back.

Frank.

[Drax]

Waited 9 months for a custom build, then really didn't get on with it. Got it refinished thinking I'd love it more, but didn't. 

Moved it on 3 months later, losing a huge amount in the process. Not my first mistake and I'm sure won't be my last. 

 

 

 

[paul_5]

My most expensive gear mistake? Not buying a fretless Wal when I was offered it for £700.

[CamdenRob]

I’ve lost money on pretty much every bass I’ve bought and sold but I don’t regard any of them as a mistake.

OK so I may have lost a bit of money, no one likes doing that, but I’d happily have paid what I’ve lost in total upfront, for the knowledge I now have as to what gear works for me and what doesn’t 😊 I just regard the money lost as the price of the journey.

[Al Krow]

8 hours ago, Drax said:

Waited 9 months for a custom build, then really didn't get on with it. Got it refinished thinking I'd love it more, but didn't. 

Moved it on 3 months later, losing a huge amount in the process. Not my first mistake and I'm sure won't be my last. 

Custom builds clearly crop up as one of a bass player's bigger lotteries, without the ability to "try before you buy". Our collective experience seems to range from expensive disappointment to massive delight. No idea what proportions fall into which camp though!

[lowregisterhead]

1 hour ago, CamdenRob said:

I’ve lost money on pretty much every bass I’ve bought and sold but I don’t regard any of them as a mistake.

OK so I may have lost a bit of money, no one likes doing that, but I’d happily have paid what I’ve lost in total upfront, for the knowledge I now have as to what gear works for me and what doesn’t 😊 I just regard the money lost as the price of the journey.

Likewise. I keep a list of all the basses I've owned over the 40+ years I've been playing (and there's been a good few - well over 100 at the last count) which I'm still adding to. I tend to have a pool of 5-6 basses at any one time, a couple of which I've had for a while, and probably wouldn't sell. Occasionally I make a modest profit, but I usually lose a little bit when I move them on. I just view it as the cost of having the pleasure of owning and experiencing some wonderful (and sometimes not so wonderful) instruments for a while. Like CamdenRob, I know what I like, but that doesn't stop me trying new things. Some people drink, some gamble, some chase women, so where's the harm?? :-)

[PatrickJ]

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

Custom builds clearly crop up as one of a bass player's bigger lotteries, without the ability to "try before you buy". Our collective experience seems to range from expensive disappointment to massive delight. No idea what proportions fall into which camp though!

These comments make me extremely nervous about my inbound custom bass which will hopefully be ready fairly soon

I've tried to play safe working with woods and dimensions from basses I've loved playing and also went to visit to luthier and try a few of the basses he'd just finished working on, so hopefully I'll fall in the delighted camp but I guess you'll never know until it arrives.

Edited October 6, 2019 by PJ-Bassist

[Burns-bass]

7 hours ago, PJ-Bassist said:

These comments make me extremely nervous about my inbound custom bass which will hopefully be ready fairly soon

I've tried to play safe working with woods and dimensions from basses I've loved playing and also went to visit to luthier and try a few of the basses he'd just finished working on, so hopefully I'll fall in the delighted camp but I guess you'll never know until it arrives.

If you’re getting a bass built for you it’s understandable that others may not find the same sizes and specs to their liking. I’ve got a couple of custom instruments and they were always bought with the belief I’d keep them forever. While one is a well known DB builder (and an appreciating asset) the other probably lost 50% of its value as soon as I’d plucked a string.

[PatrickJ]

6 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

If you’re getting a bass built for you it’s understandable that others may not find the same sizes and specs to their liking. I’ve got a couple of custom instruments and they were always bought with the belief I’d keep them forever. While one is a well known DB builder (and an appreciating asset) the other probably lost 50% of its value as soon as I’d plucked a string.

Yeah, I'm not so worried about the resale value  - if I get to a point where I want to sell it it's already a massive failure.  I just hope that I enjoy playing it and find it comfortable. My Sanberg PJ is such a joy to play I hope my custom build can equal it.

[Burns-bass]

29 minutes ago, PJ-Bassist said:

Yeah, I'm not so worried about the resale value  - if I get to a point where I want to sell it it's already a massive failure.  I just hope that I enjoy playing it and find it comfortable. My Sanberg PJ is such a joy to play I hope my custom build can equal it.

Amen to that! Hope it all works out for you. It’s so exciting to unwrap it and start playing. Took me weeks to get over the initial delight and into the set up and tweaking.

[Drax]

7 hours ago, PJ-Bassist said:

These comments make me extremely nervous about my inbound custom bass which will hopefully be ready fairly soon

I've tried to play safe working with woods and dimensions from basses I've loved playing and also went to visit to luthier and try a few of the basses he'd just finished working on, so hopefully I'll fall in the delighted camp but I guess you'll never know until it arrives.

In my experience the disappointment has come from things not quite turning out as imagined, often an element that in hindsight maybe the builder could have saved me from myself. That and woods / colours looking markedly different on a laptop vs reality. 

If you've met with the luthier in person you'll have worked all these out. Good luck and enjoy the wait  

 

 

[uk_lefty]

22 minutes ago, Drax said:

In my experience the disappointment has come from things not quite turning out as imagined, often an element that in hindsight maybe the builder could have saved me from myself. That and woods / colours looking markedly different on a laptop vs reality. 

If you've met with the luthier in person you'll have worked all these out. Good luck and enjoy the wait  

 

 

The only time I enquired about a custom build I offered to send the builder mp3s of my playing and go over there with my basses to tell him what I liked and didn't like to see if together we could come up with the right spec. I chickened out in the end but I don't think i could spec out the perfect bass from scratch and I wouldn't trust someone else to do it for me completely. 

[HazBeen]

I am not even going to start.....

[4000]

2 hours ago, Drax said:

In my experience the disappointment has come from things not quite turning out as imagined, often an element that in hindsight maybe the builder could have saved me from myself. That and woods / colours looking markedly different on a laptop vs reality. 

If you've met with the luthier in person you'll have worked all these out. Good luck and enjoy the wait  

 

 

I’ve met the luthiers in person and had everything worked out to a tee - or so I thought -and still sometimes haven’t got on with them! 

[Owen]

Regrets........I have a few.........but then again.....too many to mention............

By now I am much more canny with purchases and just do not buy new. EVERYTHING comes along it you wait for it.

[Ed_S]

15 hours ago, PJ-Bassist said:

Yeah, I'm not so worried about the resale value  - if I get to a point where I want to sell it it's already a massive failure.  I just hope that I enjoy playing it and find it comfortable. My Sanberg PJ is such a joy to play I hope my custom build can equal it.

Fingers crossed!

My custom build had to go back three or four times to get issues ironed out, and for all that other owners of the brand say theirs are flawless and perfect, even now mine still isn’t; it’s just at a point where it plays fine, the remaining issues are purely cosmetic and I really can’t be bothered with any more back-and-forth! I’d never have another custom build. I would, however, have another Sandberg in a heartbeat!

[mcnach]

12 minutes ago, Ed_S said:

Fingers crossed!

My custom build had to go back three or four times to get issues ironed out, and for all that other owners of the brand say theirs are flawless and perfect, even now mine still isn’t; it’s just at a point where it plays fine, the remaining issues are purely cosmetic and I really can’t be bothered with any more back-and-forth! I’d never have another custom build. I would, however, have another Sandberg in a heartbeat!

 

What builder was that? Good results we hear from every company, but it's important to know how companies behave when there's problems, that's the true measure of their customer service, I guess.

[radiophonic]

On 05/10/2019 at 19:21, machinehead said:

Would you have given me £200 for a perfect Wal Mk1 in 1990?

I forgot about that and now the pain is back.

Frank.

I let mine go for 400 in '92, which is roughly what I paid for it a year earlier.  I had a guy drive from Leicester to Norwich to buy it and then decided 400 was too steep. He's probably regretting it now too. It was simply too heavy and big necked for me, but when I look at the condition I've managed to keep my 92 stingray in, I try not to think what the Wal would be worth now.  I think there's a lot of us out there!

[NikNik]

1 Ebay 

2 Warqick Dolphin in Ovangkol 

3 Rickenbacker 4003S/8

[Deedee]

I've lost money on things but I wouldn't class those instances as mistakes as I've gone into buying them (usually new) with my eyes open knowing what will happen as a result of my gas.

99% of my purchases are used items off BC. That's the joy of buying used, you can try lots of different kit and not lose on it.

However just to add to the Wal hall of shame, I bought a used Mk1 for £575 from Carlsboro in Nottingham in 1993 and sold it for I think £650ish a year later. At the time I was quite chuffed with the deal. The next used Wal I bought cost me £3000 🙄

[lowregisterhead]

I've had three custom builds over the last 15 years or so, and I've moved them all on for various reasons. They rarely turn out quite as you might expect. That's not to say they've been disasters, far from it, but I'm not sure the dream bass is really attainable, perhaps only a good compromise at best.

To compound the problem, a few bass makers I've had dealings with have had rather rigid ideas of what a bass should be like, right down to the type of strings you should use. Some appear to only be willing to entertain making an instrument the way they think it should be, as opposed to the way you might happen to want it!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a luthier, so I'm very much up for taking advice on what may or may not work, but I've found it can be a bit of a tussle to get what you want sometimes. The fact I no longer have any of the customs I had made may indicate that some of my ideas were flawed, or my expectations were unrealistic, of course.

My fourth custom bass arrives later this week! If anyone's interested, I'll let you know how it turns out...