Beedster

You won’t go far wrong if you go with Fender dimensions when building bitsas 👍

You should have bought it like I suggested when it was only £250 😀

Yep, that’s the one 👍

All of the above plus the fact that while you might check the RRP with an online retailer, these days there’s a good chance that they don’t have it in stock. There’s been a huge impact of the economic situation on the used market, in some places invigorating it, in others killing it completely. It’ll no doubt revert in time. Personally I buy used whenever possible because I prefer dealing with people to dealing with businesses/organisations. Ebay protect the buyer very well, while the retail sector doesn’t always do so, despite its legal obligations. This week I bought a very expensive unit (new) only to find it has a fault. The hassle involved in sending it back along with the implicit suggestion from the business that I’m being difficult/unreasonable is frankly at a level that makes me think it would be easier to keep it and fix it.

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Well let’s just get back on topic then shall we 👍 I had a girlfriend 20 years ago who’d spend Saturday shopping with her friends, often buying clothes she couldn’t afford, and Sunday on her taking those clothes back. It seemed a morally bankrupt way of doing things to me, pretending she had money she didn’t, but she was quite content about it saying she just liked the buzz of the buy but not the keep. Doesn’t seem so bad now?

You studied economics where 😀

Gotoh nickel lollipops are my faves by a long way, Hipshot are good however

I can hear the change in tone and sustain, but yes questions where it was recorded are spot on, as the player you can hear and feel things the audience don't 👍

Of course, change any part of the system and there's a chance you'll change one or more tonal aspects of the instrument - i swapped an ebony bridge for a graphite bridge and it sounded like a different bass at first - but those changes are not always improvements (much like a Badass Bridge on a Precision), and they don't always solve inherent characteristics of the instrument.

I put it down the the vagaries of wood, of construction, of strings and of the ear/brain complex (don't underestimate the degree to which the latter plays a role, once we hear a problem we are far more likely to keep hearing it and sometimes even exaggerate it). I've never had a DB that didn't have a few dead spots, hours of experimentation moved them around a little or reduced them a little, but now I simply accept that if B on the G string doesn't sing I use 3rd position on the D. But I'm guessing you already knew most of this so probably not much help really

These! I look at the buying habits of most of my friends - cars, tech, clothes, bikes (and we're talking £5k+ pedal bikes here) - stuff all bought for the pleasure of buying/owning them as opposed to any need and usually associated with 75% hit on value the moment they walk out of the shop, it makes me feel a whole lot better about the fact that I probably break even on the stuff i buy for pleasure, mostly music gear (although this doesn't include the recording tech I use for work on which I take a similar 75% hit on value but that to my mind is different). And I love buying bits and making basses, usually selling them for around what they cost me, but again, deriving some pleasure without incurring any costs. There are far worse ways of using cash 👍

Instrument in question appears decidedly ill looking to my eye, very pale & shiny and a little off centre? Certainly doesn't look like a quality instrument compared to what you can pick up for the same cash on eBay

Yes

Some blasts from the past in this thread 👍

Busking, especially DB, is a joyous and life affirming experience Jack, I suspect you will quickly become hooked mate 👍

Just ordered one also 👍

Yep it's mostly deliberate in my experience. Quite a few collectors/traders/speculators on eBay understand that gear listed Collection Only tends to sell at a lower price than if postage/delivery is offered, and if you're buying to sell, that's an immediate profit. Given this, a lot of sellers who listed collection only simply give up and offer to post rather than go through the grief of a difficult buyer.

That's my approach as well, never fails 👍