ZilchWoolham

1 hour ago, stewblack said:

 

Whatever next? The Smiths?

There's some excellent bass playing waiting for you when you get there. 

That's a lustrous finish! I'm quite certain that is a newer replacement scratchplate, though. 

I've made fairly long trips to buy or swap instruments before, but I've never had any major problems with carriers either (apart from long delivery times, which might have more to do with my impatience than any wrongdoing on their part). The biggest reason for making trips as opposed to shipping, for me, is being able to play the instrument, hand over the money, shake hands and know both parties are satisfied. There's always the possibility that you'll trip over yourself as you exit the train and send your new bass flying across the station. 

Nothing about it suggests you payed even nearly too much. Congrats! 

On 2018-02-28 at 16:53, razze06 said:

When I used to live there, this guy had a brick and mortar shop in town - most ultra expensive vintage gear i've ever seen!

http://www.hendrixguitars.com/

Now online only, still has eye-wateringly expensive and rare kit

 

 

I've come across that shop before, actually. While some of the ones I've listed certainly have prices well above market value (and above usual dealer prices), this particular shop has such utterly hideous prices I just can't conceive of anyone wanting to buy anything from them, so I've been hesitant to stick them on the list. 

On 2018-02-28 at 17:35, gs_triumph said:

I believe Live Music in Edinburgh may now be closed permenantly

That's a shame. I noticed it now that I went to the homepage as opposed to the bass listings. Apparently they're open today (for another fifteen minutes) and tomorrow. 

On 2018-03-01 at 22:41, Kevsy71 said:

@ZilchWoolham, the first Continental Europe link in Germany is now dead/shut down; but to make up for it there's also these across La Manche:

http://leguitarium.fr/categorie-produit/guitares-basses/par-type-basses/guitares-basses-vintages/ 

http://vintageguitars.fr/en/product-category/guitars/bass/

http://www.bassclubparis.com/index.php/occasions/fender 

 

You're right about that link. I think that was the man who sold vintage scratchplates. Seemed a rather small establishment (which the name suggests). Perhaps he's still physically around, but I suppose I'll remove the link. 

A note about your third link: I'm getting a warning message from my antivirus (F-Secure) when trying to access it. It might very well be a false alarm, but I'd be interested to know if anyone else is having the same issue. 

EDIT: Actually, the kleine gitarrenladen was online only, so I suppose he's no longer operating. Or he's forgot his website bill. I also realised Le Guitarium is selling a 1973 Jazz for over €4k! 

I agree with previous posters regarding a sold section. I think having old stock listed actually could be useful for estimating the current value of a certain instrument, but that's not possible at the moment since the dates for the sales aren't shown. So that's another recommendation. 

Updated again! Somehow I had missed a Denmark Street shop. I also came across an online/by appointment vintage dealer in Derbyshire. 

20 minutes ago, TrevorR said:

 

• Steve Howe  and Norman Watt Roy on FGtH’s Welcome to the Pleasure Dome

And now Norman's playing with Steve's son, Dylan. 

5 minutes ago, EssentialTension said:

Didn't Gibson do a Les Paul model with an autotuning system, maybe a Jimmy Page Signature? But it never worked properly? Am I imagining this?

Every single standard Les Paul and SG of 2015, and no one wanted them. 

I wouldn't want every bass to be headless, but that's purely for aesthetic reasons. When headless bridges and tuners work as they should (unfortunately my first encounter with them, on a Steinberger Synapse, ended with a 3-string bass) they are incredibly convenient. No worrying about bad windings, slipping or weird angles, and no stretching half a mile past the nut to make fast adjustments. 

I like Wal and Gibson (classic open book, and V) headstocks, and I'm fine with Fenders, too. The Stingray is also very elegant, and distinctive. Oh, and the old Aria Pro II SB headstocks, which unfortunately don't match very well with the body. 

I don't like 2+2 headstocks that are asymmetrical, as most are nowadays. I'm also of the opinion that most headstocks would be immediately improved with cloverleaf tuners. I'm not a fan of whatever you would call the more triangular tuners that have been so predominant over the last 30 years or so. 

My favourite guitar headstock belongs to the Hamer Sunburst. 

On 2018-02-07 at 15:21, Kev said:

I think one of the issues was they pumped out so many of them between 2000 and 2008 Ish.  If you look at classifieds, many are from this era and they really varied in quality, some great and some awful. I think the quantity and quality control effected prices a lot, and the brand as a whole too.  The rockbass range contributed to this too.  They have improved a lot and produce nowhere near as many basses out of German now, so QC I'm sure is better than ever.  Newer models don't tend to end up on the 2nd hand market much, and when they do they are still pretty expensive, or at least more in line with other brand depreciation. 

This makes a lot of sense! Does this mean there are a lot of German lemons floating around? Should one be wary when buying Warwicks from this period? 

Surely Warwick has to be one of the brands with the largest discrepancy between new and second hand prices. Why is that? Are there just too many of them around, or is it because of their admittedly rather confusing model hierarchy, or the inflation on German made basses, or something else entirely?  

43 minutes ago, grandad said:

My 1981 MIJ Aria Pro II CSB380 has the best neck of any bass I've ever owned. The overall build quality and finish is very good. I'm the 2nd owner and it's a keeper.

I recently saw one on ebay for about £400 so the prices have crept upwards, though this one was in very good condition from a seller in Japan.

I would say that must have been very optimistically priced. The CSB380 was one of the cheapest models. 38000 JPY adjusted for inflation is about 50k JPY, which in turn is about £325. I see no reason why anyone should pay more than the original (Japanese) retail price for a budget instrument, even if it happens to be a very good one. 

The Japanese Aria Pro II's ranged from great value to flat out terrific instruments. Anything simply labelled Aria, especially from the later non-Japanese runs, is in general nothing to get too excited about.

If Bassassin stops by this thread I think he could tell you everything you'd ever need to know about Aria! 

2 hours ago, Highfox said:

Update 27.1,  some good news, Joe has now got 3 of them back

The rest are still on-going

Was the JG one of them? It's awful whenever any bass is stolen, but that one in particular would be a loss not just to the owner, but to anyone interested in bass history (especially UK bass history) as well. 

1. If I can buy it in a shop I probably will, unless there's a big price difference. I'm incredibly impatient when waiting for deliveries. 

2. I do prefer it, but more often than not it's not an option. 

3. Vintage gear, lesser-known brands and a nice selection of strings. An awful lot of shops seem to be focused around the big brands, and entry level to mid-range gear, which I can't really fault them for too much since I'm assuming that's what keeps them afloat. It is very boring, though.

4. I've travelled 2½ hours by train for a guitar, and would probably do it again for the right item. I would only do this, though, if I could see the stock online, and make sure it's still there when I arrive.

5. A focus on vintage and unique gear. Ideally, I'd walk in and be greeted with old Wals, Hamers, Martins, Tokais and Acoustic 360/361 stacks! I'd also love to see more folk, historical and "world" instruments, but that might be a bit too niche to be financially sound, if you're not actually the Early Music Shop. Oh, and vintage synths, too!

This guy... this is not my kinda guy. 

They're definitely niche, but I can see them appealing to modern metal players. I must also congratulate them on making the world's first non-Euclidean necks. They look completely and utterly unplayable. My hands are hurting just looking at them. I can't conceive of anything more uncomfortable. Are they forged by Shub-Niggurath herself or retrieved from the depths of the sunken city of R'lyeh? 

20 minutes ago, SnakeEyes said:

Maybe they will move more plants to Asia, as many did before. 

That would be a shame. One thing I actually respect Gibson for is their refusal to stamp their non-US guitars with the (lone) Gibson brand. Makes things less confusing. If you're buying a Gibson, you're getting a US made guitar. You might not be getting a good guitar, mind, but it will be made in the states. 

There are very few instruments I can't enjoy in the proper context, but pedal steel guitar gets awfully close, probably because I haven't really heard them outside of country. If someone were to plug one in to a plexi on full whack and pour out some blues I probably wouldn't mind it. 

Craigslist has never really caught on in the UK, and as a result, it's populated mostly by scammers, as others have stated above. If it looks to good to be true, it absolutely, definitely is. The site is just an older looking, older feeling, less functional Gumtree anyway. 

Discreet, I think you're replying to arguments nobody here has even put forth. At most, some people are considering if a ban on instruments with fake logos (which may or may not be criminal) would be a good idea, for the benefit of buyers everywhere. I think this is a very pertinent discussion, considering we are on Basschat, and the insinuation that those who do object to fake logos are sheltered and fragile people with no experience of "real" issues is downright insulting, which I'm suspecting was your intention, although of course I'd gladly be proven wrong.