Rick's Fine '52

Agree with comments above. nearly £1500 is top money i think, but it's certainly an £1100++ guitar. Certainly worth punting it at this price though, as they so rarely show up. Regards quality of build, components, playability, and sound, as Luke above hints at, there isn't much around thats better than these early ones. My two are fabulous, and I'd be very sorry to part with them, although i would at that price!!

Greetings Jon, I lived in Melbourne for 5 years a while ago now though, very nice (Not as nice as Blighty, but nice!! ) Welcome to basschat, have fun.

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1328828676' post='1533549'] I'll take you up on that last bit if you want [/quote]

[quote name='Hutton' timestamp='1328825192' post='1533456'] The current retail price is in the region of £1700. So if I understand the market correctly and used AV resissues go for £700 then a seller is expected to take a 60% hit give or take a couple of percentage points. Now I know after having done the maths. Thankyou. [/quote] Its about the same for a custom shop instrument. My '58 Precision Relic, when released in 2005, had a RRP of $3999, which at the time was about £3300, I'm sure no-one ever paid that much for one, even brand new though. I'm now struggling to sell it for £1400!!! Most things depreciate massively in the first 12-24 months, then stay the same. AVRI's have been around the same price for a few years now, and CS Relics have also been around the £1500 mark for a few years. Likewise Made In Japan Jazz basses or P's have been the same price for 10 years now.

They have to be the most blinged-up pickups ever though!

[quote name='Hutton' timestamp='1328818156' post='1533270'] Sorry to still disagree and be the lone voice here. If a basschatter, or anyone for that matter, has a mint example of an AV reissue, how much of a percentage hit are they expected to take if they wish to sell? The answer to this will perhaps help me to come in line with current thinking. [/quote] I don't know what the current retail price is for one (Someone suggested £1500 earlier in the thread), but a used one, sold privately, normally go's for around £700 for a late 80's or newer issue, you do the Math! (An '82 V00 serial version will be much more of course, as people will always pay more for a very early Fullerton reissue with a couple, or even three 0's in the number!)

[quote name='JMT3781' timestamp='1328816844' post='1533233'] Yeh for sure... to be honest, it was refreshing to see someone who understood why a shop had to be more pricey than ebay etc on secondhand... [/quote] I'm probably a bit slow, but just realised you have a shop!! In this age of multi-media methods of purchasing stuff, and having the whole worlds stores just a click away, it must be incredibly hard to compete price wise. Ultimately though, you can't beat actually sitting down and playing something before purchasing, but i would be worried people use guitar shops to test drive gear, only to then go elsewhere to actually buy it. Must be frustrating at times!? I hope business is good with you though. If I'm over that way, which i am every now and then, I'll be sure to pop over. See if you can sell my Custom Shop Relic '58 for me, can't give it away!!!

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1328817046' post='1533238'] I agree with some of the above.. £1200 is silly money for an AVRI. Hang on, and buy used. [/quote] £1200 was for a used one!!

[quote name='JMT3781' timestamp='1328814714' post='1533190'] Good point... shops can't compete with private sales, simple as that. Remember, if they do get 1200 for it, the government are having 240 of that in VAT [/quote] Exactly, then there's the rent, and the bills, and the staff wages.......oh, and don't forget the profit!! I'm certainly not knocking the shops, at all, just saying you can get things (Certainly new, more common items) alot cheaper elsewhere.

[quote name='Hutton' timestamp='1328779205' post='1532413'] Sorry to disagree here. I know values of guitars and basses is a subjective thing but £1200 is £500 less than the brand new price. If the bass is in excellent nick then I don't think £1200 is unreasonable. I would always pay £1200 for a good used AV reissue than the crazy prices that vintage basses go for. I know there is no right and definite argument to be made here as it depends on whether you are playing or collecting but surely £500 off the new price is not unreasonable. [/quote] The collecting argument doesnt even come into it, we're talking about a used AVRI here? They regularly show up on eBay and other sales media, and sell for between £650 & £850, as another poster has also said above. I'm not knocking the guitars, I'm just saying that £1200 is way above current going rates. But, it's a shop, and they have overheads and wages, so you'd expect the price to be higher. I was just offering my advice to the original thread, to suggest they can be bought considerably cheaper than £1200. Nothing more. £500 below Retail may be good, but if you can get one £1000 off retail, then all the better. If you wanna spend £1200+a bit, go Custom Shop, as was also stated by someone else above. As stated above, I'd make my own. I think the Stack knobs look better worn than new. I made my own a few years ago, based on a slab board reissue, changed some components, lightly relic'd and lacquer crazing added, looked, and played great, for a very small price. Sold it to a fellow BC'er on here last year, here it is, the headstock looks a bit elongated, but its just the camera angle; [attachment=99561:New bass pics 010.jpg] [attachment=99562:New bass pics 012.jpg]

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HOME-MADE-BASE-GUITAR-CIRCA-1970-STAR-SHAPED-CREAM-BLACK-/270910911679?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3f138c74bf#ht_500wt_1202"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HOME-MADE-BASE-GUITAR-CIRCA-1970-STAR-SHAPED-CREAM-BLACK-/270910911679?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3f138c74bf#ht_500wt_1202[/url]

Horrific.....

Here's another one that you'd probably get for the same price. Personally I would pay another couple of hundred and get a Custom Shop version, they turn up quite often, and they would retain their value much better, if you ever needed to move it on, £1200 for an AVRI, to me is silly money. If i really wanted a stack knob, I'd buy a good mexican Jazz, and put a Fender stack knob control set and harness (About £50), all in for less than £450 to £500, and even if the pickups werent the best (My experience is they are pretty good though), you could get a set of Fender '62 pups for another £50. Less than half the price. Decals and other components are pretty much the same. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Vintage-62-Reissue-Sunburst-Jazz-Bass-Hard-Case-and-Candy-RRP-2314-/120854788872?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item1c2381bb08#ht_765wt_1185"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Vintage-62-Reissue-Sunburst-Jazz-Bass-Hard-Case-and-Candy-RRP-2314-/120854788872?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item1c2381bb08#ht_765wt_1185[/url]

Anyone want one then?, my mate's still selling his starter pack, although to be fair, the amp deserves a better description than starter! [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/165285-starter-bass-package-squier-jazz-trace-elliott-combo-stand/page__fromsearch__1"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/165285-starter-bass-package-squier-jazz-trace-elliott-combo-stand/page__fromsearch__1[/url] I think he'll take a good offer, his wife is putting him under pressure to clear it out!!

[quote name='The Bass Doc' timestamp='1328644140' post='1530641'] BTW if you say 'horses for courses' quite quickly it can be followed up with 'Sure they do. That's how foals are conceived' [/quote] Sorry....i was a bit slow there...it was late!!

[quote name='The Bass Doc' timestamp='1328644140' post='1530641'] I really doubt this bass will be gigged whereas a 1965 Ferrari 250GT 'made to be driven' I think would be, though not as we agree for trips to Lidl. [/quote] I have a similar condition '52 Precision, as you can see in my avatar, and i'll bet any money you like it gets played more than someone drives their £5m Ferrari!!!

[quote name='The Bass Doc' timestamp='1328644140' post='1530641'] BTW if you say 'horses for courses' quite quickly it can be followed up with 'Sure they do. That's how foals are conceived' [/quote] Sure they do..what?

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1328643152' post='1530621'] you wait, give it a few years and new warwicks will be around that! I think when it comes to something like this it's a collectable rather than an instrument. [/quote] Not with you?, are you saying a near mint 1962 Fender Jazz is not an instrument? Surely, if anything, it's a 'collectible instrument'?

[quote name='warwickhunt' timestamp='1328642546' post='1530609'] I think you may have missed my point Rick. You've stated that you've recently spent this kind of money on a bass... from The States (you don't mention flying out to get it)... based on a description, photos and questions asked! How is that different from buying this bass, off this guy and through ebay? With what I've read of this seller, and with my own research and intuition, I'd still not buy this regardless of whether I had asked your questions because I'd have the fear that I hadn't phrased the questions in the correct way! [/quote] I use a 3rd person, who, for a living, locates basses for you (From a provided wants list), then, at a fee, flies out, inspects them, dismantles them, makes sure their what they should be, then, following agreement of everything, and ultimately my acceptance of his report, agree the price, he then buys it, flies back, and hands it over. I've done it 3 times. Not cheap, although cheaper than you'd think, with the peace of mind of knowing exactly what you're buying. Plus, theres no customs, tax, import fee's etc, which, if you took that off his fee, it all works out very nice. Obviously not cost effective on a $1000 buy, but on a £8K+ purchase, definitely worth it.

[quote name='The Bass Doc' timestamp='1328642335' post='1530606'] One thing slightly saddens me. This bass will almost certainly never see a gig, at least not at the weekly jam down at the Ferret and Scrotum. Not sure Leo would have approved. He did after all design and build things to be played rather than spend their life in some temperature controlled vault only to be gawped at few times a year. But I suppose once an owner pays the price he can do what he wants with it. Still makes me a bit sad though. [/quote] Don't lose too much sleep, items this good should absolutely be preserved, I'm sure the lucky buyer will have several pre-CBS players basses to take to the Dog n' Duck. I've said this before, if you had a mint 1965 Ferrari 250GT Daytona, you wouldnt use it for the school run, or leave it parked in the Lidl car park, but it was made to be driven!! Horses for courses.

[quote name='apa' timestamp='1328641964' post='1530596'] So its a bit like the old addage - "If you have to ask the price, you cant afford it" only in this case its "If you need me to describe it, you shouldnt be buying it" A [/quote] There's certainly some truth in that I think, but you'd still need to see it before splashing that dough!

[quote name='warwickhunt' timestamp='1328640523' post='1530571'] The item is available for sale on eBay isn't it? The fact that is in The States means that there may well be folks on the other side of the World who might be stupid enough to buy this on the strength and faith of the pics and a description! Patently I won't be as I've formed my own opinion of the guy (that and £12k on a bass is chuffin stupid), though I do think the recent case of an ebay counterfeit violin being smashed up might make for an interesting test case on one of his basses! [/quote] Well, I'm on the other side of the planet, and regularly buy guitars from the states, and I wouldnt buy on the strength of an ad alone, and other serious collectors i know would be the same. I recently spent this amount on a purchase in the USA on something that was originally advertised with one pic and a description, needless to say it took a significant amount of following work before i would secure the deal. Yes it is on eBay, as its the most global way of generating interest in an item you have for sale, most people don't have crystal balls to foresee who may have what available, if you're selling something, you need to advertise it, simple £12k on a bass may be stupid to you, the same as £65m for a painting might be considered stupid to many others. Personally I can see the case for both being value for money, particularly if its your passion, especially as both will probably be worth over double in 10 years time, based on the past 10 years anyway. Its all relative to your desires, interests, and of course, finances. I wouldnt knock someone for buying a Maserati, despite the fact that a Skoda serves exactly the same function, fair play to them I'd say!