Instruments that you to this day regret parting with!

[Maude]

This thread has brought home the realisation that I'm a hoarder. I tried to remember if I regretted selling any of my basses, then I tried to remember if I've ever sold any basses. 

In thirty years I've sold two. The first was my first 'real' bass, a green Yamaha Attitude Special which I traded in for a new Yamaha BBG5s, the second was a silver Yamaha RBX374. A neighbours son wanted to learn bass and asked me if I knew of anything half decent for about £50 as that is what his son had saved up. I let him have the RBX for £50 as it wasn't really my thing, great bass though. 

I do wish I still had the Attitude Special for sentimental reasons as it was the bass I started gigging with, but have realised that if you don't sell anything you can't regret it.

I really could do with some space back though. 😁

[chris_b]

38 minutes ago, ebenezer said:

I regret parting with my wal mk2 5 string, not because it was particularly good ! .....it was heavy as hell, and never did quite bond with it.....sold it for £800.....now look at the price DOH

I sold my mk3 5 string Wal for what I thought was a top of the market price. . . . . . but the prices just kept climbing!!!! 

[Frank Blank]

A black Jaydee Supernatural Classic Series 1, sold in 1993, gutted.

[robertg43]

Greco Rick 4001 copy and a Aria ZZB why I got rid of either I dont know  and I kick my self when I see what they are worth now compared to what I  got for them

[Rich]

Sei Flamboyant 5 string. It was a stunning instrument -- I mean, just look at it -- but I couldn't get the setup right, so in a fit of pique I sold it. What a stupid, stupid move. Piezo bridge, Schack eq, Bart pickups (wasn't super-keen on them, but that's an easy fix), blue edge LEDs and a whole forest of stunning walnut. I should have given it to a luthier and got them to do it properly, hell I should have taken it home to Camden -- a decent setup and a set of Delanos and it would have been simply perfect. It was beautifully made, felt great to play (apart from my crap set-up job) and the sound was to die for. I often kick myself, very hard, for letting that one go. Arrrgh.

[three]

I sort of regret selling all the Wals I've had.  Not because they were good - I didn't actually like them and don't get on with them very well (at least the more recent ones).  I simply wish I'd kept them for longer to realise the prices that they sell for now (something I really don't fully understand).

[4000]

There are none I regret dreadfully, and almost all will have been sold for a valid reason (not working for me, to fund something else or because I needed the money), but there are some I wish I still had, in a perfect world: 

My black ‘73 Ric 4000, which I sold to help pay off some debt, and because at the time it had fallen out of favour. It was the most aggressive sounding bass Ive ever played; I briefly had my final Status at the same time and it made the Status sound like a banjo. It was also great for slap. 

My Wal Pro II, swapped for 2 other instruments, partly due to weight issues and partly to tray and raise cash (by selling the others) for my cat’s vet backup fund (she had long term health conditions). Now belongs to another BC-er who had it defretted.

My Sei Flamboyant 4, sold to help fund my 2nd Ric 4001CS. There were things wrong with it; I specified too-wide string spacing when it was built because at the time I was playing a Warwick Dolphin Pro 1 that I liked the neck on but it felt nothing like the Warwick when finished, and it had a Barts, which I eventually realised I don’t like (they were the pickups du jour at the time). Now belongs to a BC-er who sensibly won’t sell. 

My Alembic Triple Omega; incredible bass which I sold because it became a tad too heavy to play standing (I have back problems) and I couldn’t play it seated because of the shape. 

My Rick 4004 Cheyenne, sold because I had some issues with the body shape - which would likely still remain - but it was a fabulous bass. I’d have that back tomorrow. Also belongs to another BC-er. 

A rare but rough ‘72 neck through Ric 4000 which needed quite a bit of work that I bought for peanuts, then my anxiety kicked in and I started to fret about the cost of the work and took it back to the shop. Should have kept that and fixed it up over time; stupid.

My Pedulla MVP, which I don’t have a digital photo of, px’d against a Wal Custom that didn’t really work for me.

 

 

Edited June 10, 2020 by 4000

[4000]

The one I regret most is the ‘64 Ric 4001 RM1999 I could’ve bought the other year and didn’t. It was a very large amount of money, but it was worth more and how many come up for sale? Stupid, stupid, stupid. Actually found out about that one when ringing to see if the ‘72 4000 I’d returned was still in the shop (it wasn’t). 

[madshadows]

My Dan Armstrong bass guitar with the sliding pickup, broke and out of work and had to sell it, still wish I had it !!  

John 😎 

[leschirons]

A Mk1 Hamer Steve Stevens signature,  an Ibanez Steve Lukather signature, a 1970 SG Junior, a 1975 Les Paul gold top, a 1976 Ltd edition Korina Gibson Explorer, an ex Jimmy Page Yamaha SG2000 and a Parker Fly and finally, a Fender Esprit Elite (Robben Ford shape) 

But no basses. Spookey😳

 

[Baloney Balderdash]

3 hours ago, madshadows said:

My Dan Armstrong bass guitar with the sliding pickup, broke and out of work and had to sell it, still wish I had it !!  

John 😎 

As I commented in my OP I owned the plexi version of that bass for a short while, and personally I really hated how it felt in my hand and played, despite me being a big short scale bass fan, and that I know it is a fairly rare and sought after bass,.

The one I bought even came with 2 different slide in pickups , but I didn't like the tone of that bass with neither of those 2 pickups either.

 One of the few basses that I don't feel the slightest remorse about letting go of, even if I sold it way to cheap.

 Seriously didn't like it, even if I wanted to and think it looked super cool, which is why I bought it in the first place.

 Just couldn't get along with it, and it just felt and sounded all wrong to me.

Similar to how I hated the Rickenbacker 4001 bass that I once owned, even if I thought it looked amazing, which is also why I bought it originally, and even though I actually did like the tone of that one, just couldn't get along with how it felt in my hands and played at all.

That one got stolen, but the only thing I really regret about that is the money I lost on a resale, I didn't miss it one tiny bit whatsoever. 

But hey, we all have different preferences, and the Dan Armstrong Bass no doubt is a seriously unique bass, and I do love the concept of easily interchangeable pickups, and as I said, I did really want to like it, because I think it is an amazing looking instrument, especially the transparent plexi version that I owned.

Just to name one fairly famous bass player who uses the Dan Armstrong Bass as his main bass and loves it, and the same plexi version as the one I once owned, there's Jesse F. Keeler from the Death from Above 1979, bass and drums rock duo.

I guess my lesson to learn with both the Dan Armstrong and Rickenbacker that I bought, mainly because I was in love with how they looked, is to not spend load of money on an instrument, just because it is generally highly regarded to be a great instrument, and because you think it looks amazingly awesome. 

If you hate to play it, because it feels all wrong in your hands, no matter how much in love you are with how amazing it looks, and no matter how much you really wish you would have liked it, then what's the point really. 

To me at least how an instrument feels in your hand and plays to you is almost a more important factor than how it sounds, cause it will be considerably harder to improve the feel of an instrument than it's tone, which often can be fixed, at least if we are talking electric guitars and basses and giving that they actually do sound good played acoustically, by changing some of the electronics, mainly the pickups, or even hardware and/or strings, as well as with how you process the signal coming from them, with different EQ'ing, preamps/amps, cabs e.t.c . 

Edited June 10, 2020 by Baloney Balderdash

[Lfalex v1.1]

I had a Stingray 5 fretless. Might've been a 1990 (?) B/W/B pickguard, Black on Poplar body. Nice light figuring with a smattering of Birdseye on the neck (maple, of course). Pau Ferro board.

Best of all, it had the AlNiCo pickup. And the electrics are one of the best. Why do so few other manufacturers buffer their (switched) pickup output down to the level of the single coil setting? Then there's no appreciable volume change between Series, Parallel and Single coil. Just the tonal variation.

I miss that bass. Even just to look at.

[Machines]

1996 Musicman Stingray. Traded it for an Lakland 55-02 which was just a bit boring and didn't last long.

With my band in 2007 (13 years ago suddenly makes me feel queasy).

Edited June 11, 2020 by Machines

[Paulhauser]

This is the only one I think that I miss. 

It's called Jade Dragon, a pre-LX Spector Euro 5 with full maple wings with an emerald green finish (of which not many Specors were produced)

I was giving up bass playing at the time and sold most of my related possessions including this one. 

Fortunately I'm still in contact with the buyer and if he ever wants to sell I'm the first in line. 

[WarPig]

The only one I kind of miss and it's for senitmentality is the SX jazz bass I sold to @silverfoxnik years ago. It was a bass a mainly used in my old band and I'd played a lot of music on it. Nic, if it's still about let me know eh? 😉

[silverfoxnik]

Hi @WarPig

Ah, I remember that bass - it was an absolute cracker! 

Although I came and got the bass from you, it was actually for the young son of a work colleague of mine at the time who a really good young bass player. 

I'll try to see if he's still around and whether he still has it...

It's at least 10 years ago if not more, so I've really no idea where he is. 

 

[julfam]

29 minutes ago, Paulhauser said:

This is the only one I think that I miss. 

It's called Jade Dragon, a pre-LX Spector Euro 5 with full maple wings with an emerald green finish (of which not many Specors were produced)

I was giving up bass playing at the time and sold most of my related possessions including this one. 

Fortunately I'm still in contact with the buyer and if he ever wants to sell I'm the first in line. 

I’ve heard that before... I ended up buying another Spector after at least 5 years waiting 😉

Edited June 11, 2020 by julfam

[Paulhauser]

15 minutes ago, julfam said:

I’ve heard that before... I ended up buying another Spector after at least 5 years waiting 😉

Have 7 Spectors at the moment, still I would buy this back in a heartbeat.

[WarPig]

3 hours ago, silverfoxnik said:

Hi @WarPig

Ah, I remember that bass - it was an absolute cracker! 

Although I came and got the bass from you, it was actually for the young son of a work colleague of mine at the time who a really good young bass player. 

I'll try to see if he's still around and whether he still has it...

It's at least 10 years ago if not more, so I've really no idea where he is. 

 

Hi Nick, if it's not too much hassel that would be great, cheers.

[casapete]

On 09/06/2020 at 20:34, Baloney Balderdash said:

As the tittle says, list the instruments you at some point were stupid enough to part with, but later regret selling, and still to this day blames yourself for letting go of, preferably including pictures, and eventual including a short story about the instrument and how it happened.

The first instrument that I was stupid enough to let go of was actually not a bass, but a guitar, a Westbury Standard guitar, that was only produced between '79 and '81, and from stock had a DiMarzio PAF humbucker installed in the neck position and a DiMarzio Super Distortion humbucker installed in the bridge.

Served me well for about 10 years, and I loved it dearly, best damn guitar I have, not only ever owned, but ever have had the pleasure to lay my hands on.

Loved the tone of it, and absolutely loved the way it felt and played.

I don't have any pictures of my particular one, but here's one looking exactly alike (Edit! : well except the fact that mine had all it's 4 original pot knobs, didn't notice that😞

 

Next stupid thing I did was selling my now discontinued 24 fret short scale Jerry Jones Longhorn bass, which was sort of a high quality, higher end, one might even call it boutique, version of the original Danelectro one, from a now retired fairly legendary guitar maker/company.

Best bass I ever have had the pleasure to play, loved how it felt in my hands and played, and with the stock option the pickup selector offered of having it's 2 lipstick tube pickups wired in series it was capable of some pretty solid rock tones as well, especially paired with another of my big regrets, though that is kind of another topic, the 60W Ampeg B15-S tube amp from 1969, that I also was stupid enough to part with at some point.

Again I don't have any pictures of the exact one I owned, but looked just like this one:

 

Well, except mine was the version with only 2 knobs, a master volume control, and then a 4 position rotary pickup selector switch, with the options: -/- bridge -/- neck -/- bridge + neck parallel -/- bridge + neck series -/-, like this one:

 

Finally there was the 28 5/8" scale bass I had made out of Warmoth baritone parts, with a headstock of my own design (though it is arguable that I might have went over the top with that part  ), equipped with a bass Seymour Duncan Rickenbacker Neck replacement pickup in the neck position and a guitar Seymour Duncan Hot Rails humbucker Strat pickup in the bridge position, mahogany body and bolt on maple neck with a 24 fret rosewood fretboard.

That one I do actually got a picture of, and it sounded absolutely amazing, with this astonishing clarity and quite piano like quality to it's tone :

 

One fairly rare instrument that I don't regret letting go of the slightest was the short scale Ampeg Dan Armstrong Plexi Bass, that I was the owner of for a fairly short while before I passed in onwards, I hated how it felt in my hands and played, and didn't like the tone of it either regardless of which of the 2 slide in interchangeable pickups it came with I used.

 That one became a fairly short and not particular memorable acquaintance.

 

The plexiglass DA basses were not the same as the wooden bodied jobs, despite a similar outline. These were known as DA London model, and had a sliding pickup mounted on rails along with a chunky mahogany body and set in neck and also a different bridge/tailpiece arrangement. I always fancied one of these for some reason, getting quite rare nowadays though.

Also wanted a JJ Longhorn like you had! Missed buying one in the 90’s, just after I got hooked on Longhorns. Have had a few Danos and liked them all. There was a Dynelectron for sale recently, think they were around in the 70s after the Danos finished production and before the Korean reissues. Never tried one but they look okay.

[Grassie]

I used to have a US deluxe Fender Jazz 5er, 1996 (anniversary) model. Crimson burst, rosewood board, had the Suhr pickups. Needed a new amp at the time so I had to let it go. Went to a chap in West Sussex, possibly Littlehampton (his name eludes me).

I shoulda kept that one. And the ATK 310.... 😒

[julfam]

On 10/06/2020 at 14:10, Rich said:

Sei Flamboyant 5 string. It was a stunning instrument -- I mean, just look at it -- but I couldn't get the setup right, so in a fit of pique I sold it. What a stupid, stupid move. Piezo bridge, Schack eq, Bart pickups (wasn't super-keen on them, but that's an easy fix), blue edge LEDs and a whole forest of stunning walnut. I should have given it to a luthier and got them to do it properly, hell I should have taken it home to Camden -- a decent setup and a set of Delanos and it would have been simply perfect. It was beautifully made, felt great to play (apart from my crap set-up job) and the sound was to die for. I often kick myself, very hard, for letting that one go. Arrrgh.

Sorry to say but... she is a 10

[4000]

On 10/06/2020 at 13:10, Rich said:

Sei Flamboyant 5 string. It was a stunning instrument -- I mean, just look at it -- but I couldn't get the setup right, so in a fit of pique I sold it. What a stupid, stupid move. Piezo bridge, Schack eq, Bart pickups (wasn't super-keen on them, but that's an easy fix), blue edge LEDs and a whole forest of stunning walnut. I should have given it to a luthier and got them to do it properly, hell I should have taken it home to Camden -- a decent setup and a set of Delanos and it would have been simply perfect. It was beautifully made, felt great to play (apart from my crap set-up job) and the sound was to die for. I often kick myself, very hard, for letting that one go. Arrrgh.

Have never tried the Delano’s. What are they like? The best-sounding Seis I’ve tried have had Kent/Aaron Armstrong pickups in them. 

[julfam]

Did you mean Barto?

[4000]

3 minutes ago, julfam said:

Did you mean Barto?

No, he said he would’ve replaced the Barts with Delano’s as he didn’t like the Barts. I don’t either.