When buying a used bass......

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

I was always under the impression, that if the back of the neck had bumps and thumps etc. ,
then you should avoid. How right/ wrong am I ?

[Golchen]

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' post='783863' date='Mar 23 2010, 07:42 PM']I was always under the impression, that if the back of the neck had bumps and thumps etc. ,
then you should avoid. How right/ wrong am I ?[/quote]

That wouldn't bother me if the neck was straight. I wouldn't particularly like it like that, but if it played great I'd get it.

[Mog]

First thing I do is check the around neck pocket. Then the strap buttons get a good ol yank. Then I check the body for signs of a cover up job. More or less it.

[Cat Burrito]

Presumably you mean when trying & not online listings? Any work that needs carrying out post sale usually suggests to me it hasn't been looked after if they can't be bothered to fix it prior to sale

[tom1946]

When I look at anything online I'm put off instantly by a grubby, covered in fingerprints and marks type bass. If it's not clean then it's a sign that no-one loves or cares for it IMO.

Also grainy pics taken with a phone from about 5 yards away, you can't even tell what colour it is half the time. Ebay annoys me as well, half a line of text to sell a bass for £600 with a bad pic of it.

Yes I'm picky but my gear is immaculate. I had a poor upbringing so I suppose I value what I've worked hard to buy.

[neepheid]

Neck must be good. Everything else I can fix.

[JTUK]

It has to have the sound I hear in my head.. if you have to really go looking for that, it probably isn't there.
After that, general condition. I don't mind a working bass condition as long as it is reflected in the price.

Cosmetically appealing to my eye and i am in a trad mood at this time, so no fancy shapes or wacky woods ...

[Delberthot]

I hate dirt, or mojo as people who cannot be bothered to keep their gear clean call it.

I also cannot handle relicing which is a word that always looks wrong. If you've been unfortunate to ding your bass and can't/won't get it repaired then fair enough but doing it intentionally gives me the dry boak.

the other annoyance particular to Egay is people trying to sell a bass with a string or a knob missing - anyone looking at it is going to thing that its fecked but by spending a couple of pounds it can transform the way an instrument looks from sh!te to alright

[chris_b]

When buying a bass you should be put off by: a bent neck, cracks in the wood, pickups and electrics that don't sound good, rust on the hardware, any "home made" remodelling of the bass and a seller who can't or won't answer your questions.

Edited March 24, 2010 by chris_b

[Bassassin]

I won't touch anything with a neck twist - unless it's cheap enough to just have it for parts. Most neck profile issues are just badly-adjusted truss rods and I've so far only encountered one that wouldn't correct out of probably a hundred or more guitars & basses I've worked on. Frets that are too worn to be levelled are a no-no as well. Pretty much anything else can be sorted out, and it's surprising how restoreable dirty & corroded hardware can be.

I don't mind honest wear & tear, in fact I quite like it on the 30+ year-old JapCrap I tend to play. Neglect , abuse and "relicing" aren't the same though. Don't really mind a bit of grime - when I get a new-to-me bass or guitar, the first thing I do is strip it, thoroughly clean it, spray pots & switches, level frets if necessary & set it up anyway.

Sorry about the guitar content - but it can't be said I don't like a challenge:

[attachment=45519:l6sorigcond.jpg]

Beautiful! Several gallons of acetone & 1000 cubic meters of toxic fumes later:

[attachment=45520:l6sstripped.jpg]

Of course I could've left it as it was & Ebayed it as Noel Gallagher's first guitar.

Jon.

[Wil]

As long as it plays well or can be set up to play well, sounds good and isn't a total trackwreck I'd consider anything. If it's been neglected then that's haggling ammo, I can always do it up.

[OutToPlayJazz]

Like some of the others here, I like to concentrate on items that seem as if they have been cherished instruments, as opposed to those that have been simply abused.

Obviously we all buy a clunker from time to time, but with a reasonably careful eye you can spot the good stuff from the trashed and thrashed.