Del Palmer estate

[GuyR]

Afternoon all,

 

if of interest, a number of Del Palmer’s basses, guitars and other items are going to auction on 30th June. Some quite appealing lots.

 

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/thimbleby-and-shorland/catalogue-id-ibts10328

[asingardenof]

Erm...

 

 

[Cosmo Valdemar]

I thought they'd named a housing development after him...

[Misdee]

It's very sad when you see someone's life reduced to lots in an auction. I think Del was a bit of an afficionado when it came to gear.

 

I'm not being at all critical of Del's family doing whatever is necessary, by the way. It's just that it's so hard when you have to sort through the possessions of someone close to you after they are gone. It's hard to part with things, and it's hard to keep things and be reminded by them. No easy way to deal with it all.

[casapete]

Interesting Ernie Ball Stingray with a ‘Made in China’ marking on the back of the headstock. 🤔

[jezzaboy]

35 minutes ago, casapete said:

Interesting Ernie Ball Stingray with a ‘Made in China’ marking on the back of the headstock. 🤔

So some poor sod has currently bid £480 on a second hand Sterling SUB worth about £240? 

[GuyR]

3 hours ago, Misdee said:

It's very sad when you see someone's life reduced to lots in an auction. I think Del was a bit of an afficionado when it came to gear.

 

I'm not being at all critical of Del's family doing whatever is necessary, by the way. It's just that it's so hard when you have to sort through the possessions of someone close to you after they are gone. It's hard to part with things, and it's hard to keep things and be reminded by them. No easy way to deal with it all.

Agreed, it is an unavoidably poignant process.

 

I don’t see any particularly desirable bits of kit listed - perhaps the better instruments are retained by the family and the remainder sold. Auction is a good way of dealing with it. Some relatively affordable and useable keepsakes for interested parties.

 

 

 

[Gunsfreddy2003]

As I play in a Kate Bush tribute band I was naturally very interested in this auction. I went to the viewing last week and was very surprised at the state of some of this equipment to be honest and I do think that as someone else has stated anything of real value has been kept to one side.

 

I did express concern to one of the auctioneer directors that the lot descriptions were misleading. It was not obvious in the listing that the Stingray was a Sub, you had to look very closely in the pics to see that. Also the cream Fender jazz was a 2012 body with a 70’s neck badly put on to it. Again that was not clear and someone bid over £1k for it!

 

Lastly there was a Wilcox Lightwave Sabre fretless that had a few issues and that went for £1,740 plus fees which seemed a huge amount for a fairly nasty instrument but I guess it has some heritage!

 

It’s amazing what some folk will spend on.

[oakforest5961]

I remember him selling certainly one, possibly two, of his basses via Bass Direct. If I could remember exactly when it was I might be able to find the material on the WayBackMachine; it doesn't feel like too long ago, but it could have been about 4 years; time seems to fly by... There was a photo of him holding the bass, and a signed declaration of his ownership. The one bass that I defintiely remember was a Gibson used on many Kate Bush recordings. I can't remember the exact asking price, but I'm sure that it was a pretty tidy amount.

[Gunsfreddy2003]

2 hours ago, oakforest5961 said:

I remember him selling certainly one, possibly two, of his basses via Bass Direct. If I could remember exactly when it was I might be able to find the material on the WayBackMachine; it doesn't feel like too long ago, but it could have been about 4 years; time seems to fly by... There was a photo of him holding the bass, and a signed declaration of his ownership. The one bass that I defintiely remember was a Gibson used on many Kate Bush recordings. I can't remember the exact asking price, but I'm sure that it was a pretty tidy amount.

That would make a lot of sense, I’ll ask Mark and see if he remembers. The Bass Gallery has quite a few John Giblin basses for sale at the moment. Some nice basses from an amazing player but they aren’t cheap!

[YouMa]

A man who was in a very enviable position. It was a real shame when he passed. I wonder if they sold that bass that Kate was holding in the famous photo.

[fleabag]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ-9TWI-UAk

 

Del with lightwave bass

[Gunsfreddy2003]

22 hours ago, YouMa said:

A man who was in a very enviable position. It was a real shame when he passed. I wonder if they sold that bass that Kate was holding in the famous photo.

I expect so.

 

It's always hard to tell from these things whether at the end he had bugger all left - you can also never tell what money he personally made from the Kate Bush stuff - if she had all the song writing credits then I suspect not much at all.

[YouMa]

I used to be on his facebook page and chatted a couple of times. He played in a kb tribute band a bit wearing a mask. I suspect aswell he didnt make that much money. Kate Bush is a very shrewd business woman as much as she is talented. I know Wendy Smith from Prefab Sprout she lives near my parents and has a fairly average victorian house. Its the song writers who make the money i think.

[WalMan]

I watched this auction when it popped up on my auction watch on iBidder. A few things looked interesting and I considered the PJB but it all rushed off to more than I wanted to pay, particularly bearing in mind the additions for buyers fees.

Edited July 18 by WalMan
Spelling

[Gunsfreddy2003]

20 minutes ago, WalMan said:

I watched this auction when it popped up on my auction watch on iBidder. A few things looked interesting and I considered the PJB but it Al rushed off to more than I wanted to pay, particularly bearing in mind the additions for buyers fees.

I was amazed what price some the things went for!

[HoorayForAnonyms]

I’ve just come across this thread now. Always sad to learn about any passing. 
 

Whilst some of the listings were over valued, some were significantly undervalued. 
 

Del had a long relationship with the luthier Chris Larkin and five of Chris’ instruments were included in that auction, including some truly one off custom pieces made just for Del by Chris Larkin. 
 

I would have valued those Chris Larkin instruments at £1k-£2k per item with the lower valuation being very very conservative.
 

The auction value was an average of £300-£500.
 

I think that’s a bit worrying for the family if the auction house was putting those kind of valuations on instruments of that quality. 

 

Does anyone have access to the final selling price for the Chris Larkins? I may subscribe to the Price Guide just to find out but thought I’d ask here beforehand. 
 

I really hope for the family that any of the Larkins went for at least £1k

Edited July 18 by HoorayForAnonyms

[HoorayForAnonyms]

On 05/07/2024 at 04:55, Gunsfreddy2003 said:

As I play in a Kate Bush tribute band I was naturally very interested in this auction. I went to the viewing last week and was very surprised at the state of some of this equipment to be honest and I do think that as someone else has stated anything of real value has been kept to one side.

 

I did express concern to one of the auctioneer directors that the lot descriptions were misleading. It was not obvious in the listing that the Stingray was a Sub, you had to look very closely in the pics to see that. Also the cream Fender jazz was a 2012 body with a 70’s neck badly put on to it. Again that was not clear and someone bid over £1k for it!

 

Lastly there was a Wilcox Lightwave Sabre fretless that had a few issues and that went for £1,740 plus fees which seemed a huge amount for a fairly nasty instrument but I guess it has some heritage!

 

It’s amazing what some folk will spend on.

I know the time has passed but do you recall seeing some of the Chris Larkin instruments and what the condition was? These would have been the most valuable instruments of the whole auction. 

[Gunsfreddy2003]

14 hours ago, HoorayForAnonyms said:

I know the time has passed but do you recall seeing some of the Chris Larkin instruments and what the condition was? These would have been the most valuable instruments of the whole auction. 

They were not in great condition - one of the basses only had 1 string on it!

 

Do you know what any of the lot numbers were for the Larkin stuff? As I bid on some items I can see what the final price was for them but need the relevant lot number to find out the sale price.

[Gunsfreddy2003]

14 hours ago, HoorayForAnonyms said:

I’ve just come across this thread now. Always sad to learn about any passing. 
 

Whilst some of the listings were over valued, some were significantly undervalued. 
 

Del had a long relationship with the luthier Chris Larkin and five of Chris’ instruments were included in that auction, including some truly one off custom pieces made just for Del by Chris Larkin. 
 

I would have valued those Chris Larkin instruments at £1k-£2k per item with the lower valuation being very very conservative.
 

The auction value was an average of £300-£500.
 

I think that’s a bit worrying for the family if the auction house was putting those kind of valuations on instruments of that quality. 

 

Does anyone have access to the final selling price for the Chris Larkins? I may subscribe to the Price Guide just to find out but thought I’d ask here beforehand. 
 

I really hope for the family that any of the Larkins went for at least £1k

I managed to find one of the Larkin basses as I must have been watching it. See image for hammer price.

[HoorayForAnonyms]

49 minutes ago, Gunsfreddy2003 said:

I managed to find one of the Larkin basses as I must have been watching it. See image for hammer price.

 

Thanks for sharing what you noticed about the condition. I’ll be keeping an eye out for when some of these instruments come back up for sale and having a general sense about the condition will be helpful. 
 

Thanks also for sharing the final auction price. The curiosity got the better of me so I subscribed to the Price Guide. It’s seems that the final sale price for all seven of the Larkins were between £600-£750.

 

In my twenty years of searching for used instruments, those are some the biggest bargains I’ve ever seen. Whoever did manage to get one got an incredibly special instrument for a fraction of its actual value. 
 

I notice that someone who bought the Larkin EUB at the auction for £700 is now listing it on eBay for £3500. I think that is a little optimistic but shows how undervalued these instruments were at auction! 

Edited July 19 by HoorayForAnonyms

[Gunsfreddy2003]

2 hours ago, HoorayForAnonyms said:

 

Thanks for sharing what you noticed about the condition. I’ll be keeping an eye out for when some of these instruments come back up for sale and having a general sense about the condition will be helpful. 
 

Thanks also for sharing the final auction price. The curiosity got the better of me so I subscribed to the Price Guide. It’s seems that the final sale price for all seven of the Larkins were between £600-£750.

 

In my twenty years of searching for used instruments, those are some the biggest bargains I’ve ever seen. Whoever did manage to get one got an incredibly special instrument for a fraction of its actual value. 
 

I notice that someone who bought the Larkin EUB at the auction for £700 is now listing it on eBay for £3500. I think that is a little optimistic but shows how undervalued these instruments were at auction! 

No problem at all. I have to say I was blissfully ignorant about these basses otherwise I may well have tried to buy one of them.

 

I was amazed what that jazz bass went to which had a 70’s neck badly put on to it and also the Stingray - madness!

Edited July 19 by Gunsfreddy2003

[HoorayForAnonyms]

10 minutes ago, Gunsfreddy2003 said:

No problem at all. I have to say I was blissfully ignorant about these basses otherwise I may well have tried to buy one of them.

 

I was amazed what that jazz bass went to which had a 70’s neck badly put on to it and also the Stingray - madness!

Chris’ work is not widely known about in the UK compared to Ireland and the rest of Europe. I never understood why.

 

So it’s not surprising that those instruments didn’t gather as much attention at the auction compared to - by your account - a bitsa Fender and sub Stingray! 
 

Someone has posted on the Chris Larkin Owner's Facebook. It seems they bought the single cut you were bidding on as well as the 6-string fretless! They are very pleased with both. 

 

I dread think what I might have done if I had been at the auction….possibly have walked away with all seven!! Haha! 
 

If any of those instruments come up for sale again, I’d definitely say have another look….although you might have to fend off me!!