Mokl

I think the law of diminishing returns definitely applies, but can't you apply that to pretty much anything? Having worked in music retail for nearly a decade, I can say that the cheaper basses are better than they've ever been, representing amazing value and choice. Have I ever played a £400 bass that sounded or played as good to me as one of my personal basses - no, not even close, if I'm being honest. Whether that's some internal justification going on I couldn't say, but my main basses despite being in the "high end" category have been in my possession for long enough as not to owe me anything, so I'd like to think not. In fact if I could find a £400 bass that sounded and played as well, and I knew would be reliable and consistent year after year, gig after gig, I'd get it and recoup some of my original investment in current no. 1 for what I suspect would be a small capital gain! Regardless of if it cost £100 or many times more, I'll take any bass that will allow me to indulge in my passion; it's just given my personal set of priorities, the value I place on the pleasure I get from music, and to be frank - without wishing to sound like a tosser - my reasonable competence on the instrument, the ones that work for me best simply happened to cost much more. "Value" is so subjective that it feels completely aimless trying to define it on a bass forum! I guess it's fun to try.

Thanks, yes I'm wondering if this might be an option. Any links/recommendations gratefully received

Really annoyed! The neck pickup on my De Gier Bebop is an Aguilar 70s Jazz. I bought the bass used, and the pickup was actually dead on arrival. Cue disappointment and to and fro with the retailer. I was keen to hold onto the bass as I loved everything about it, had the control cavity off, poked about a bit and for some reason it same to life - happy days! 3 months later, at band rehearsal last night, it suddenly decides to give up again, having been faultless since the 'fix'. I've run a soldering iron over some of the connections, including the pickup terminals in the hope it's a dry joint. I have had the pickup out completely, put the wires into the relevant portions of a Jack plugged into my amp and tapped the poles with a screw driver (not very scientific, but ime you can determine if the pickup is working this way.. ). So it seems the pickup is dead. When I have more time over the next few days I'll try connecting the working bridge unit to the neck pot to double check, but I don't have much hope. I have no recourse as the bass was second hand but am not really in a position to shell out for an AG70s set Anybody have any advice/ experience they can share?!

Sadly for us bass players, Michael Pedulla retired a year or so back. Still regret not jumping on a well-used MVP4 on eBay with a buy it now of £650 some years back 🤦‍♂️

Nice 🤘

Ahhh, I'd actually clocked that on the 'other site' , and liked the playing in the vid there but hadn't realised it was the same bloke!

Stumbled across this dude on Youtube. Cool chops, lovely feel and just love the tone. Is he well known and I've just missed him?!!

Wow, that's a lot of ebony!

Just to add my 70s Jazz is now very close to needing a refret - it's a great example of the type!

I see refretting as a necessary part of maintaining an instrument as it gets older, so if done well it wouldn't bother me. As suggested ime it can be a good sign that the bass is a real "player". From a collector's perspective I can see how it might affect value though.

What's your monitoring like for rehearsing? We've done it at times when we've been drummer-free, and it was OK, but no substitute for the kinda stuff we play. Being able to hear a drum machine well whilst rehearsing was half the battle for us.

No, not a chance!

Beware rose-tinted spectacles! I get wistful for basses I've parted with from time to time, but generally there's been a good reason for moving them on. Some have been truly incredible instruments that just didn't quite work for me. That looks pretty fantastic though, maple board too - exactly what I'd want.

Hmmm, thanks for the input everyone, I'm maybe having 2nd thoughts now. The fact the set up was so bad didn't help. This bass is definitely passive. We had one very similar back when I worked in the music shop all those years ago, and annoyingly I can't remember much about it playability/sound-wise, but I was 5 string averse at the time!

Thanks, I was in music retail about early 00's and never thought much of the US Fenders tbh, but you'd get the odd gem come along. I've a feeling this one might be a player with a good set up, so guess it might be worth a punt at the right price.

I've come across one of these, looks like it's from 2001 judging by the serial number. It's the version where the machine heads are all in line, not 4 + 1 like the current models. It would be an American Standard I guess (passive). Tje set up is shocking, but provided the truss rod is ok, I'm tempted. It's light and seems nicely resonant. Overall condition is pretty good. Anybody got any experience, good or bad of this era Jazz V, before I take the plunge? Any idea on value would be helpful too!

That looks great 👍 very reasonable price too.

Outstanding!

Really like the look of these. If they did a 5 string Jazz I'd be all over it!

A P-bass with a Batman sticker on the pickguard, and oddly mismatched pickup pole pieces?! 😉

.. and the Sadowskys too!

Nice De Gier!!

Thanks for removing the temptation of this from the BD website! Looks awesome - enjoy

This is similar to an experience I had. Not enough to completely put me off, but it has made me cautious. I'll make a trip next time I'm really interested in a bass. I think the underlying issue in my case was that it was probably a commission sale that hadn't been very carefully checked over. Couldn't fault the speed of service.

I've not been in music retail for quite a few years now, but at the time the independents were putting huge pressure on the likes of Fender abd Yamaha to try and even the playing field so they could compete. Often we'd see instruments priced pretty much at what we could get them at trade price for. It's a tricky one as the consumer both wins and loses through lower pricing but reduced options from where to buy (which is ultimately what happens when independents can't compete any longer).