Where do the builds go... (selling or splitting?)

[LukeFRC]

So question time...

if I were really talented, like a Yorkshire based Jens Ritter, and had built a bass I would have a queue of people wanting to buy it... 

If had bolted together an P neck, a P body and made a bitsa P bass or other fender bass- I’ve seen them advertised, and people will buy them...

What if you’ve made something a bit less generic, but not to a pro level? Will people want them, or is it better to split the bass and part it out? 

[SpondonBassed]

That's a good question.

[SpondonBassed]

I'll follow up with:

Have you got any tasty hardware installed?  That would certainly make it possible to recoup some of your money to invest in a different project.

[Pea Turgh]

The first one I ever did 20yrs ago I parted out.
2nd was a bitsa P so doesn’t count.  I’m hoping I’ll do an alright job of number 3...

Edited November 16, 2019 by Pea Turgh

[LukeFRC]

31 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

I'll follow up with:

Have you got any tasty hardware installed?  That would certainly make it possible to recoup some of your money to invest in a different project.

Yes, it’s all pretty good stuff on it, and the neck is USA music man 

[Rexel Matador]

I've been thinking about this lately too. I'm on build number three now and, while I'm gradually improving and they play pretty well, they're probably not of a standard to actually be sold - I am wondering what to do with them as the collection grows - I can't keep them all.

[Andyjr1515]

I've done both.  In some cases I've played them and then split them up to use bits in other projects.  In other cases, I've sold them complete.  In other cases I've resold the sellable components and scrapped my bits

So it depends, really.  Worth bearing in mind that 'homebuilts' don't command good prices, however good the components that are in them.  

A good neck is a good thing to have.  If it was me, and I was ready to move on from the build I'd already done, I build something even better with it.

[SpondonBassed]

5 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

In other cases I've resold the sellable components and scrapped my bits

I thought you'd typed "scraped" for a minute and wondered whether you'd contracted summat nasty.

5 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

A good neck is a good thing to have.  If it was me, and I was ready to move on from the build I'd already done, I build something even better with it.

The neck is definitely the core of a good instrument, I agree.  I researched them in part for the first BC podcast.

@Chownybass nicknamed me "the neck bloke" for that.  Hahahaha!  Like I demonstrated anything other than a tendency to state the obvious.  I was barely scratching the surface in an attempt to educate myself and the listeners.

I think musicians tend to see the neck of an instrument as being crucial whereas wannabes see the body...

Edited November 17, 2019 by SpondonBassed

[LukeFRC]

10 hours ago, SpondonBassed said:

I thought you'd typed "scraped" for a minute and wondered whether you'd contracted summat nasty.

The neck is definitely the core of a good instrument, I agree.  I researched them in part for the first BC podcast.

@Chownybass nicknamed me "the neck bloke" for that.  Hahahaha!  Like I demonstrated anything other than a tendency to state the obvious.  I was barely scratching the surface in an attempt to educate myself and the listeners.

I think musicians tend to see the neck of an instrument as being crucial whereas wannabes see the body...

I'll need to go find that - I think I missed the first one. 

It's a good neck, but by the time you keep that you may as well keep the tuners.... and the bridge - and you end up, what selling the pickups and the body I made myself so it's not got any real value and then I've got parts for my next build... sometime in the future?

[SpondonBassed]

8 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

I'll need to go find that - I think I missed the first one. 

Pilot Episode July 2018

8 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

It's a good neck, but by the time you keep that you may as well keep the tuners.... and the bridge - and you end up, what selling the pickups and the body I made myself so it's not got any real value and then I've got parts for my next build... sometime in the future?

Have you considered making a couple of necks to see what happens, y'know, just for a laff?

[LukeFRC]

1 hour ago, SpondonBassed said:

Pilot Episode July 2018

Have you considered making a couple of necks to see what happens, y'know, just for a laff?

cheers for the link - I couldn't find it on the pod cast app last night. 

The problem I have is that I made a really lovely bass with a decent neck that I had bought.... but Yoshi Kikuchi at Sadowsky Japan, Some West German guy at Warwick and Leo Fender* all managed to make lovelier basses than me... so mine doesn't get a look in... and that's with me using a Musicman USA neck - I doubt it would be any better if I decided to have a go at building the hardest part myself! (though I am tempted) 
 

 

*It's a 1981 G&L, so yes actually from the same factory that Leo was at least sitting in! 

Edited November 18, 2019 by LukeFRC

[SpondonBassed]

1 hour ago, LukeFRC said:

I doubt it would be any better if I decided to have a go at building the hardest part myself! (though I am tempted) 

If tempted, then go for it.  Isn't that one of the things about self-builds?  See how much of yourself you can put into a working instrument?

[honza992]

Ha ha this is a timely topic.  My car is full as we type, awaiting a trip to the tip......Here's a litany of my first half dozen builds or so, each utterly utterly awful.  I've been carting them round for several years in the hope that I would think of something to do with them, but I've finally admitted that they simply need to be burnt.  The world will be a happier place without them. Adios.....

 

[SpondonBassed]

12 hours ago, honza992 said:

 

Crikey.

Shouldn't you be offering them on the Recycle section for collection?

Edited November 30, 2019 by SpondonBassed

[Jimothey]

12 hours ago, honza992 said:

Ha ha this is a timely topic.  My car is full as we type, awaiting a trip to the tip......Here's a litany of my first half dozen builds or so, each utterly utterly awful.  I've been carting them round for several years in the hope that I would think of something to do with them, but I've finally admitted that they simply need to be burnt.  The world will be a happier place without them. Adios.....

 

If you haven’t dumped them yet I’m in the market for a tele body??

[honza992]

2 minutes ago, Jimothey said:

If you haven’t dumped them yet I’m in the market for a tele body??

All gone I'm afraid.  None were useable by anone else - nothing I make ever has standard size neck pockets, routs or scale lengths!  But they had already been recycled by me in one way or another.  Mostly for experimentation either for fixtures or finishes. Bit hard to see but that Tele on the top has been planed down several times to apply different experiment grain fill & finishes.  Control cavity has about half a mm at the back😮

[Jimothey]

49 minutes ago, honza992 said:

All gone I'm afraid.  None were useable by anone else - nothing I make ever has standard size neck pockets, routs or scale lengths!  But they had already been recycled by me in one way or another.  Mostly for experimentation either for fixtures or finishes. Bit hard to see but that Tele on the top has been planed down several times to apply different experiment grain fill & finishes.  Control cavity has about half a mm at the back😮

No worries mate thought it was worth a shout anyway 👍