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What's The Best Deal You've Ever Had?


binky_bass

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23 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Now that's a stadium bass rig if ever i saw one. Does the Fork Lift Truck come with it :laugh1:

Dave

Funnily enough it had a British Airways sticker on it (it was apparently built for Cass Lewis) that stated that it weighed 107 kilos.

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My best buys have usually concerned stuff I've bought that has eventually become worth a lot more!

I acquired my 63 P-bass for not a lot of money, but it was in a right state after being left in a loft for a few years. Spent a fair bit getting it into shape, and it will be with me till the end. ( Originally belonged to an ex-bandmate who sadly got killed in a road accident, and his widow approached me a few years later to see if I wanted it.)

Bought a very rare Marshall Bluesbreaker combo in the late 70's/early 80's for (IIRC) £80. It was a really rare 4x10 version which are like hen's teeth. Sold it for a paltry £150 I think - it let me down on a gig and I got fed up of it. Nowadays would be worth maybe 10K !!

Got my 1959 Les Paul Junior for what would now be considered a song - think it was £400. This was at a time when they weren't particularly desirable, but to a Keith Richards fan like me it was priceless. The going rate for them now seems to be around the £3.5 to £4k range i think. Again, won't be going anywhere though.

Probably the best thing I've got is my late 60's Marshall 1974 18 watt guitar combo. Bought for £45 in the late 70's, and now worth a fair bit. A friend who had a music shop was asked by his Marshall sales rep if he knew anyone who had one to sell, so he contacted me to see if I was interested. Told him thanks but no. He rang back and said the Marshall guy wanted it for a famous client of theirs (who had hired the same model for his blues album) and would I accept an offer of £4k? Must admit I did consider it, but again politely refused. Certainly the best guitar amp I've ever had.

 

 

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Not me directly, but my Dad is a jazz drummist & clarinet player. One of his long-time musical associates sadly passed away a while back and his family decided to sell off his gear. My dad was offered (and bought) a Yanagisawa soprano sax for £100. Yanagisawa don't do budget instruments... must be worth at least 20x that amount.

Said sadly departed acquaintance was primarily a bass player, but alas (for me) his family were a bit more clued up about the relative value of his '72 Jazz and DB, so there were no bargains to be had.

Closet I've probably come was a mid-80's MIJ Fender Jazz I paid £100 for when I was at uni - which was a lot of money to find as a skint student. It belonged to a flatmate who a) never played it and b) was very broke. It's since been extensively modified, so is more of a bitsa these days, but I've still got all the original parts. Well, except the sawdust from the extra routing... It's the proverbial 'comfy slippers' bass, so I doubt it'll ever move on.

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40 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

I wouldn't worry too much about rehearsals. When the pubs eventually open again, everyone will be so gypsy's kissed they won't even notice there's a band on. 

Was this intended for this thread, or the 'when will it be ok to start gigging again' thread?

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4 hours ago, Steve Browning said:

Funnily enough it had a British Airways sticker on it (it was apparently built for Cass Lewis) that stated that it weighed 107 kilos.

bloody hell - that's actually 15lb heavier than the short lived Pro series Ampeg 8x10!

 

 

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1 hour ago, binky_bass said:

10 lashes for @Woodinblack. I believe that's the correct number of lashes for commenting on the wrong thread. 🤔

Thats a bit unfair, I didn't, or do you mean the correct number of lashes for pointing out that someone posted in the wrong thread. In which case, what is the required number of lashes for someone pointing out that someone pointed out that someone posted in the wrong thread? Has to go up each level no?

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3 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Thats a bit unfair, I didn't, or do you mean the correct number of lashes for pointing out that someone posted in the wrong thread. In which case, what is the required number of lashes for someone pointing out that someone pointed out that someone posted in the wrong thread? Has to go up each level no?

Crap... that was clearly meant for @Newfoundfreedom...

10 self-lashes for me. 😬

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2 hours ago, fretmeister said:

Nothing much.

Got a set of Lollar Black Face strat pickups brand new for about £70 when they retail at about £250.

Pre-owned on ebay but the box had never been opened. They are brilliant.

That reminds me - bought a late 80’s Strat a while ago for £400. Kept it for a while but didn’t gel with it, so decided to give it a good clean prior to selling it. Found that it contained a full set of Kinman vintage pickups, which the previous seller either didn’t know or forgot to mention. So I priced it up accordingly and got £650 for it, new owner chuffed to bits too.

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1 hour ago, binky_bass said:

Crap... that was clearly meant for @Newfoundfreedom...

10 self-lashes for me. 😬

Well... if you have a look at Volume 2 sub-section 2.12.43 paragraph xxvii of the Forum Rules, I think you'll find that you also receive the 10 lashes that you mistakenly attributed to Mr Wib.
Oh dear. Someone is going to be a sore little binky. :lol: 

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I love a deal and generally buy secondhand stuff.

My favourite deals? Probs the £350 I paid for my ‘76 Ripper about 15 years ago, and the £275 I paid for my Jap Foto flame Precision, which is my absolute favourite bass of all time. 

New stuff a deal is harder to come by and I generally end up moving new stuff on.

Edited by mr4stringz
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11 minutes ago, mr4stringz said:

New stuff that I’ve paid a lot more for I’ve always ended up moving on...

It has to be a world endingly spectacular deal for me to buy new, the Mesa Rig for example was such a deal. Or a custom bass of which I've had 2 made. Other than that I only ever buy/trade second hand gear. 

To be fair Binky himself is worth a mention, I paid for that at the time when it was fractionally over $2 to the pound, all in Binky came to a shade under £3000, which is pennies on what he would cost to have made today. With all the work on the inlay courtesy of Bill Nichols and the truss cover and knobs by Roger at THG Knobs as well as Carey Nordstrand himself winding the pickups, the 'new' cost today for a Binky replica would absolutely be a fair bit north of $10,000, not to mention the increase in shipping and taxes because of it. 

Long live the Bink!

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1 hour ago, casapete said:

That reminds me - bought a late 80’s Strat a while ago for £400. Kept it for a while but didn’t gel with it, so decided to give it a good clean prior to selling it. Found that it contained a full set of Kinman vintage pickups, which the previous seller either didn’t know or forgot to mention. So I priced it up accordingly and got £650 for it, new owner chuffed to bits too.

I had a set a long time ago. Brilliant things. Still by far the best hum cancelling strat pickup I've ever heard.

Shame they are so expensive these days.

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Roger made the Bunny tuners for Binky, the Maple/Buckeye/Abalone knobs and the truss rod cover. All unbelievably good work...

I think the cost was $450 dollars (I think) for 6 knobs, 10 tuners and the truss cover. 

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For inlay work, Bill Nichols is utterly superb. His work is incredibly detailed and flawless. The 1 foot tall Binky inlay is a masterpiece.

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Edited by binky_bass
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