KevL

Down To Earth Peter Gabriel 

As I mentioned on the thread from the other week about Squier JV's, everything second-hand is either 'rare' if it's no longer in production, or 'vintage' if it's much more than 10 years old. 

As I also said on that thread, most of this is because the internet gives everyone a view of the whole market but they only look at the highest prices being asked and so expect the same, rather than taking time to assess each item on its merits. Not that unrealistic prices weren't being asked in pre-internet times but most people were a bit more realistic and everything wasn't hyped to within an inch of its life/penny of its price.

The 1970s is generally regarded as not being Fender's finest period of craftsmanship: sloppy neck-fitting, thick poly finishes etc. Now, whilst this won't apply to everything made throughout that decade, I've noticed that any 1970s Fender being sold by a dealer is always 'a good one' (even if they acknowledge that there were lots of 'not good ones' from then) and is, of course, 'vintage' with a price to match. It wasn't that long ago that you had to almost give-away 70's Fenders. Just seen @Cato and @Burns-bass have said this same thing.

As @tegs07 says, there are some gems, it's a case of taking each instrument on its merit. Yes, a lot of the 'beginner/student' stuff from a while ago was fairly rubbish and the standard has really picked up now. The level above this is where some good stuff can be found: I picked up a Maison (Korean brand) LP copy for not much and it's really good quality: all-solid woods, well made. OK, the pickups and tuners could maybe benefit from being replaced but it's not essential. Out of interest, I'll have to look if anyone is asking some outrageous price for these. 

As a few others have said, are people paying these asking prices? 

Walking After Midnight Patsy Cline (amongst others)

1 hour ago, TorVic said:

This could be someone’s number one bass.
Or maybe number two. 

Maybe even their turd instrument...

It wasn't that bad...

@bass_dinger  I just looked at it with fresh eyes and thought the first signal was the main one, the second 'chop/finish' was just instinctive by JB and the band didn't really take much notice of it as they knew what was coming. Just my take on it, the signals could be anything.

I've watched a few of those R2 Breakfast Show covers, Beverley Knight has to be the best - some of the stuff is pretty dire (Liam Gallagher).

Mansion On The Hill Bruce Springsteen 

It looked as if his first 'upward corkscrew' signal was an 'about to finish' signal, followed by a 'finish' signal.

Can this be played whilst sitting down or standing?

Jon

Good to hear it's working out.  I saw your WTB but obviously didn't read it properly as I didn't know you were after guitar parts as well as bass - I noticed 'guitar' in your first post in this thread, though. I will have a dig about and should have some stuff you can have.

Refugee Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. 

Far Far Away Slade

Very nice, I like it. Last year of the 3-bolt necks, still has a lot of the old G&L character before they became, for me, a bit too generic.

Very reasonable price, too; good luck with a sale. 

Shakin' All Over Johnny Kidd and The Pirates

Down To Earth Curiosity Killed The Cat

Edit: Have just looked at this and seen that I've gone in a circle and moved back to the song  @upside downer used in the previous post. Sorry, need read more carefully. 

The Birdie Song The Tweets

Chemistry Semisonic

Missing EBTG

Strange Town The Jam

Fair point.

I'm pretty sure I knew that it wasn't a Beatles' original but my memory failed me. Thanks for keeping me right. 

Heard this on the radio last night, first time for ages, not the worst-ever cover of a song...

Shout To The Top The Style Council 

Glad it's all sorted and thanks for updating us.

You should be able to get a Yamaha F310 for a touch over £100. Whilst nothing can be guaranteed, there's a good chance the Yamaha will be that bit better value-for-money than something that's costs just a few pounds less: it should be well-finished and will probably play quite well straiht out of the box and also sound half-decent. Worth considering if you are buying online.

If your friend decides that guitar is not for him, he'll hopefully get a reasonable amount back for the Yamaha.

Edit: Also budget for a tuner (unless you can len him one?), packet of spare strings, a few picks. Also maýbe a stand so the guitar is out and handy to grab and play (and prevent it falling over).

Look at justinguitar for lessons, get the basics nailed!

Can you send a 'test email' from another address enquiring about, say, purchasing a bass from them and see if they reply?