Misdee

I totally agree. If a seller was willing to sell it at a price under the market value that doesn't make someone who sells the same bass at the market value dishonest or dishonourable. The original vendor might have needed a quick sale for whatever reason. If he was happy to accept an offer, that's that.

It was inevitable. I wish them well, but suffice to say I won't be going. Living in a world where Rush exist but without Neil Peart still feels pretty weird to me. Nevertheless, I hope everyone who goes has a great time. One thing you can be sure of is that the musicianship will be on-point.

My point is that, never mind ten years from now, it's already not worth twenty grand to a sensible person of any generation. It probably never was. Who is so emotionally invested in the summer of 1981 that that are willing to fork out that much money for what wasn't even Horace Panter's main bass? Does anyone actually believe that this refinished P Bass was in fact Excalibur in the war against Thatcher? Is anyone that daft?

I agree entirely, but when material things have emotional value, the value lies in the emotions rather than the thing, and emotions are deeply personal and subject to change. If other people don't share those memories and sentiments it could be very hard to get your £20,000 back out of this bass.

I'm sure your right Trevor. The only thing that elevates the value of this bass is the idea that because it's been played on an important hit records that makes it worth more money. That "specialness" is a bit of an unstable commodity, as you quite rightly point out. All I can say is that, despite loving that song and my respect for Horace Panter as a musician, to me all that adds absolutely zero to the amount I would pay for this bass, if in fact I liked it, which I don't. I have never subscribed to the idea that an instrument is more worth owning because a famous pro player has owned it previously. Exactly the opposite, in fact. I'd rather have a nice new bass that only I have played.

Well, it's not the bass I thought it was, ie the sunburst/rosewood early '70's Precision he used in the early days of The Specials. Obviously a refinish ect. What would this bass be worth in a private sale? I would say about five grand, maybe six to a fan of the band. What would it be worth without the provenance? About four grand, may a bit less. If this bass sells for the estimate or anything near it I really don't see it as a good investment. Ghost Town was a great record, but that isn't enough to turn this bass into a holy relic worth twenty grand. As a general rule of thumb, whenever the phrase "Your chance to own a piece of history" gets bandied about, that is your cue to put your wallet away and let the rational bit of your brain take control for a while. In reality sales like these are actually your chance to subside someone else's retirement by indulging in spurious nostalgia about things that are no longer important and definitely not worth paying for.

I can really relate to this. I've been shafted by similarly mundane but essential expenses this week and it's a bit soul-destroying in so much as you feel like you're running to stand still. You have to spend a lot of money to to renew what you had paid for previously, so your money is gone and you've got nothing to show for it except what you already had. Even at my age I've never fully reconciled myself to spending money on boring crap like buying tables and paying electricity bills but unless you want to sit in cold darkness eating off the floor with a load of dossers for company (although to be fair, that's what being a student was like in my day and I quite enjoyed it) that's what you have to do. What happened to the days when money was for going out to discos (yes,discos, I'm that old) with my friends and buying things I actually wanted? Being an adult is rubbish.

He seems like a nice bloke, I hope he is selling because he wants to, not because he needs to.

Getting these basses refurbished looks like money very well-spent to me. These are unique-sounding vintage basses that are irreplaceable. Wal can't make them anymore because of the proprietary parts needed and nothing on the market sounds like them. The nearest you'll get is another Wal.

I've had nothing but positive experiences buying from Bass Direct over the years. I've had a couple of very nice new basses and various pedals and accessories from them. I've never been to the shop but the staff have always been pleasant and helpful by phone and email. I'm just glad that there are still a specialist bass gear vendors with retail premises in the U.K. We all take it for granted but they would certainly be missed if they were gone.

Something I have noticed over the years about peizo-equipped EBMM basses is that they usually tend to be pretty heavy. Somehow the peizo gubbins seems to add a bit of weight. Unless it's just a coincidence.

I've got a 44-02 fretless and the truss rod has never been a problem, but the 5 string versions have got graphite reinforcement that the Skyline 4 strings don't. It might be that the extra stiffness from the graphite makes the truss rod seem a bit unresponsive, but it probably just needs leaving a bit longer after adjustment to make it's full effect apparent.

You can adjust the relative volume between active and passive on the Lakland LH3 preamp with an internal trimpot.

It could be anyone who makes those kind of choices who doesn't remember Howard Jones the first time. Howard had a DIY element to him too, by the way. I think his first synthesiser was built from kit bought mail order from Maplin. I don't think it's important to win Eurovision, because it's not really much of an accolade. Far more fun to take part and fail spectacularly due to the gauche taste and frustrated prejudices of countries who couldn't produce a decent pop song if their continued existence depended on it. If there's one thing the UK doesn't have to prove to anyone it's how to do pop music. We're really rather good at it without even trying. It just comes naturally. I still enjoy Eurovision, but it's threatening to become too self-conscious. It was more fun when British people enjoyed it for being rubbish because all the other countries in it didn't have a clue most of the time when it came to pop music. That was it's charm. Now it's still rubbish but with delusions of grandeur.

I've just been trying to find the song on YouTube. Looks like there isn't one yet. From what I can see he's essentially a Howard Jones for the smashed avocado and oat milk latte generation. I suppose with the right song he's got as good a chance as anybody.