The most expensive bass part ever...?

[99ster]

As some of you guys may know I'm currently restoring an original 1960 Fender Jazz bass - the Holy Grail of Fender Jazz basses...

One of the original parts missing from the bass when I found it on evilBay was the stack/concentric knobs. Everything else but the pickguard was original (the body & neck needed a complete re-finish/restoration after enduring a horrible re-finish sometime in the 70s).
Original Jazz bass stack knobs parts are incredibly super RARE - I have never seen any come on to the market before & had assumed I would never get any - so I sorted out a nice Fender reissue set, that I added the correct 250k pots to, with a hand-made set of caps to exactly match the original spec...

Then, unbelievably, a complete original set of the knobs, pots, plate & wiring surfaced on eBay this week. So I naturally prepared myself to bid pretty high to make sure I got them.
Well......that was until the price started to go higher & higher & higher!
There is less than 24 hrs to go - and the price has now reached an unbelievable [b]$1,525.01[/b].
That is not a typo. And I bet it goes well over $2K by the end.
For a set of old guitar knobs on a chrome plate.
Just a bit over my budget for parts!!!!

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=180153237365&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=008"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...A:IT&ih=008[/url]

Update:
Still got 9 hrs to go - & now we're at [b]$1,852.50[/b]!!!


The final price?
[b]$2,577.01[/b]

Edited September 3, 2007 by 99ster

[Hamster]

I'll have to keep me eyes peeled at the car boot sales for a set of these!

Hamster

[bass_ferret]

Just think how much of bargain your bass was. There is no quarantee these will actually work either.

[99ster]

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='54126' date='Sep 2 2007, 11:33 AM']Just think how much of bargain your bass was. There is no quarantee these will actually work either.[/quote]

Yes - this really has brought it home!
I knew an all original 1960 Jazz bass could fetch as much as £15K - but I didn't expect individual parts to generate such a 'feeding frenzy' on eBay. And you're absolutely right - the electrics could be unusable on that set...

I recently got a really nice original 60's t-shell pickguard for the bass (& that was far from from cheap!) - so it will be very close to being all original. The restoration still has a bit to go - we're waiting for exactly the right vintage formulation nitro-cellulose varnish to arrive from the US. Then it will take a month (minimum) to dry properly. That will be torture!

[99ster]

[quote name='Hamster' post='54070' date='Sep 2 2007, 01:19 AM']I'll have to keep me eyes peeled at the car boot sales for a set of these!

Hamster[/quote]



And I bet a fair few 'originals' start appearing on eBay over the next few weeks - once the scammers see how much punters will pay for them...

[paul, the]

You could prevent 4259 children from going blind with that much money.

I'd much rather have a cigar box and a stick.

[url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=T8ZGQVv9TBA"]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=T8ZGQVv9TBA[/url]

[99ster]

[quote name='paul, the' post='54530' date='Sep 3 2007, 02:20 AM']I'd much rather have a cigar box and a stick.

[url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=T8ZGQVv9TBA"]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=T8ZGQVv9TBA[/url][/quote]


Awesome!

[99ster]

The final price?
[b]$2,577.01[/b]

Edited September 3, 2007 by 99ster

[Marcus]

That's insane..... !

you could pick up a used custom shop 64 for that !

[99ster]

[quote name='Marcus' post='54597' date='Sep 3 2007, 10:05 AM']That's insane..... !

you could pick up a used custom shop 64 for that ![/quote]

Oh yes - very insane!

But it looks very much like it was bought by another dealer - so either he's thinking he can re-sell it for even more money(!) - or he's close to putting together an all original early 60's Jazz bass that needed this part to make it complete - or he could use it to convert a transition 3 pot version (with mutes), to a stack knob version - which would make that bass worth much more to a collector...