Double Neck Fretted / Fretless

[xilddx]

[quote name='Spoombung' post='625125' date='Oct 13 2009, 03:51 PM']Fab instrument. Should sell, I reckon.[/quote]

It will only sell if there's a price.

I think this would have turned into one of those famous vitriolic BassChat bidding debates, but there's obviously not enough of a market for what is a very niche instrument.

I reckon the offer I made was a good one, but I am not going to say what it was

[4000]

I remember playing one of these doublenecks when they came out. It was pretty good, and I nearly bought it. It wasn't anything like £1000 though, I think it was about £500 or thereabouts....

[xilddx]

[quote name='4000' post='625722' date='Oct 14 2009, 08:45 AM']I remember playing one of these doublenecks when they came out. It was pretty good, and I nearly bought it. It wasn't anything like £1000 though, I think it was about £500 or thereabouts....[/quote]
That sort of tallies with what I have heard too.

[Mr Bassman]

[quote name='4000' post='625722' date='Oct 14 2009, 08:45 AM']I remember playing one of these doublenecks when they came out. It was pretty good, and I nearly bought it. It wasn't anything like £1000 though, I think it was about £500 or thereabouts....[/quote]

When I was searching for a double neck back in the mid 80's I visited the B.M.F. (British Music Fair) at Olympia.

On the front cover of the brochure was a picture of some guy with a double neck.

After asking around I found out it was a Washburn.

I went to the Washburn stand and asked if they had one I could try, and was told that only six were brought into U.K. and they had all gone, and the retail price was a little over £1100.

I'm not making this up, why should I?
I wouldn't have paid that much for any bass back then.

A friend spotted this one in a shop in Blackpool and borrowed it for me to try.
I got a good deal on it over the phone.

[xilddx]

So what do you want for it then? Stop playing games and give it a value you think is fair.

There are two of these on here for sale and as far as I can see there has been little interest in either, probably because the owners are vastly overvaluing them bacause of rarity.

TBH, you haven't really given much information out and most of my questions to you went unanswered. Are you expecting the people on BassChat to do all this for you?

Be a gentlemen and chuck a number on the table.

[Bassassin]

I thought I'd already posted these but clearly I was hallucinating again:

[url="http://www.matsumoku.org/models/washburn/catalogs/bantam.html"]Washburn Bantam dealer slick[/url]

No double-neck but hardware & spec will be identical.

[url="http://www.matsumoku.org/models/washburn/catalogs/84_pl/84_pl_pg3_web.jpg.html"]US 1984 price list, including double neck[/url]

This might clarify the 1984 rrp controversy if anyone knows the exchange rate from 25 years ago, can guess the Ripoff Britain markup, and thinks a new price from a quarter of a century ago has any bearing whatsoever on current secondhand value.

Personally I think there's every likelihood that if Washburn's UK importer had sold 6 of these at a £1100 rrp, there's a very strong possibility that they'd have ordered in a few more.

Jon.

[xilddx]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='626043' date='Oct 14 2009, 02:31 PM']I thought I'd already posted these but clearly I was hallucinating again:

[url="http://www.matsumoku.org/models/washburn/catalogs/bantam.html"]Washburn Bantam dealer slick[/url]

No double-neck but hardware & spec will be identical.

[url="http://www.matsumoku.org/models/washburn/catalogs/84_pl/84_pl_pg3_web.jpg.html"]US 1984 price list, including double neck[/url]

This might clarify the 1984 rrp controversy if anyone knows the exchange rate from 25 years ago, can guess the Ripoff Britain markup, and thinks a new price from a quarter of a century ago has any bearing whatsoever on current secondhand value.

Personally I think there's every likelihood that if Washburn's UK importer had sold 6 of these at a £1100 rrp, there's a very strong possibility that they'd have ordered in a few more.

Jon.[/quote]
Great info, and excellent points, thanks Jon.

[bassaussie]

I don't know if this info will help, but I'll add it anyway.

The Bantam line was introduced in Australia around 1984 or so. Thing is, I can remember a guy buying a regular one (single neck) either in 1984 or 85, and I can still remember the price, which was AU $800. Reason I remember the price is that I was absolutely mesmerised by the original Steinberger bass around that time, and that was selling for $2400 in Australia. When the Bantam came along, and also the Riverhead version, they were both priced around the same area, $800 or so (the Riverhead was a bit more expensive, say $900) and I was stunned that they could give the same features for 1/3 of the price (I didn't know a lot about basses back then!! ) . I can also remember the price for a Hondo Alien, another attempt at a headless design, and that was around $450.

So, I checked on the Reserve Bank of Australia website, and for 1984/5, the Aussie dollar to GBP fluctated between 70p down to 50p. Which gives a range for the bass of £400-£550. This is probably not a bad guestimate for the UK value, as UK would've reflected similar import duties and taxes as the Aussie price. Since Bassassin's RRP from the US indicates that the double neck was around 50% more, that would suggest a price range of around £600-£800.

Now, how any of that will impact the current value, I don't know (and to be quite honest, I don't really think it has any bearing at all), but I think it might help in guessing what the original value might've been.

I've seen a few of the single neck basses sell in the US over the last few years, and they don't come along all that often. Thing is, even though they're rare and people are always interested in them, they don't command huge "vintage value" prices. Here's a few from Talkbass, they were easy enough to find by doing a search.

[url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=549491&highlight=bantam"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.p...ighlight=bantam[/url]

[url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=348656&highlight=bantam"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.p...ighlight=bantam[/url] An actual double neck. Started at $1250, down to $1000.

[url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=290444&highlight=bantam"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.p...ighlight=bantam[/url]

I hope this helps. If this post in any way contravenes forum rules, I'll happily remove it.

Edited October 14, 2009 by bassaussie

[xilddx]

[quote name='bassaussie' post='626076' date='Oct 14 2009, 03:07 PM']I don't know if this info will help, but I'll add it anyway.

The Bantam line was introduced in Australia around 1984 or so. Thing is, I can remember a guy buying a regular one (single neck) either in 1984 or 85, and I can still remember the price, which was AU $800. Reason I remember the price is that I was absolutely mesmerised by the original Steinberger bass around that time, and that was selling for $2400 in Australia. When the Bantam came along, and also the Riverhead version, they were both priced around the same area, $800 or so (the Riverhead was a bit more expensive, say $900) and I was stunned that they could give the same features for 1/3 of the price (I didn't know a lot about basses back then!! ) . I can also remember the price for a Hondo Alien, another attempt at a headless design, and that was around $450.

So, I checked on the Reserve Bank of Australia website, and for 1984/5, the Aussie dollar to GBP fluctated between 70p down to 50p. Which gives a range for the bass of £400-£550. This is probably not a bad guestimate for the UK value, as UK would've reflected similar import duties and taxes as the Aussie price. Since Bassassin's RRP from the US indicates that the double neck was around 50% more, that would suggest a price range of around £600-£800.

Now, how any of that will impact the current value, I don't know (and to be quite honest, I don't really think it has any bearing at all), but I think it might help in guessing what the original value might've been.

I've seen a few of the single neck basses sell in the US over the last few years, and they don't come along all that often. Thing is, even though they're rare and people are always interested in them, they don't command huge "vintage value" prices. Here's a few from Talkbass, they were easy enough to find by doing a search.

[url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=549491&highlight=bantam"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.p...ighlight=bantam[/url]

[url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=348656&highlight=bantam"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.p...ighlight=bantam[/url] An actual double neck. Started at $1250, down to $1000.

[url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=290444&highlight=bantam"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.p...ighlight=bantam[/url]

I hope this helps. If this post in any way contravenes forum rules, I'kk happily remove it.[/quote]
That is fantastically helpful, mate!

I think if I were to start the bidding () on this I'd kick off at about £300 as a fair offer.

[Mr Bassman]

Some interesting posts while I've been busy gigging and living.

However it went back in the cupboard last week as I haven't the time to check in every couple of hours.

So as a value cannot be put on this bass I might as well keep it for the novelty value, unless anyone has anything interesting to swap?

cheers all

[xilddx]

Shame it's not being played, as it deserves to be. Seems it's destined to be a "found in my late uncle's attic" and sold on ebay as a 1959 Fender experiment in good condition with the usual dings for an instrument of its age.

Edited October 19, 2009 by silddx

[Mr Bassman]

[quote name='silddx' post='631001' date='Oct 20 2009, 12:47 AM']Shame it's not being played, as it deserves to be. Seems it's destined to be a "found in my late uncle's attic" and sold on ebay as a 1959 Fender experiment in good condition with the usual dings for an instrument of its age. [/quote]

I've a few desirable basses that don't get played, and probably will be found in the cupboard (attic) when I'm dead and gone, but while I'm still alive & kickin' there's always that chance that they might come in useful again, so I never get round to selling them!

[xilddx]

[quote name='Mr Bassman' post='631024' date='Oct 20 2009, 01:20 AM']I've a few desirable basses that don't get played, and probably will be found in the cupboard (attic) when I'm dead and gone, but while I'm still alive & kickin' there's always that chance that they might come in useful again, so I never get round to selling them![/quote]
So why did you stick it on here hoping you'd get a magic price for it?

Sorry to sound harsh but I was genuinely interested and offered you a good sum of money for it. You didn't really respond with much meaningful information or what sort of money you were expecting.

[Kev]

Just my opinion, but I think reffering to the rrp of an eighties
bass for value now is nonsense. However, if someone wants to sell me a 60s p based on the rrp back then, Im in

an instrument like thIs is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. With that in mind, perhaps might be worth reconsidering the offer you have had?

Edited October 20, 2009 by Kev

[Beedster]

I've sold a bass or two on here and they generally sell very quickly if they're priced right. IMO most basses that are bumped time and time again over weeks and even months are either extremely unfashionable or substantially over-priced (or for some reason members don't trust the seller). This is often the case with old basses that people have owned for years and which they've come to believe are worth a whole lot more than they actually are (as is also true of some of the 'vintage' gear on ebay). I think failing to post a price in the thread discourages most potential buyers at word go as it smacks of opportunism (and potentially worse in that it opens the door to tactics such as "well I've been offered this much so if you match that...."). At the end of the day however, I'm sure a seller will do better by simply naming a price because, unlike ebay, most people on here know enough to see a trick.
Nothing above is is directed specifically at Mr Bassman.
Chris