Sparky Mark

Imagine what these would cost if they were from the USA.

I bought a Wal Custom for £275 back in the 90s and sold it a few years later for £500.. doh!! But to be honest it was a very heavy lump of mahogany with a wenge top, rosewood board and chunky neck profile compared to my Stingray. I also found myself never settling on a particular tone; with two pups and the wide ranging active EQ there was simply too much choice for me. Of course I regret selling it, mainly because I could've sold it now for silly money (in my opinion of course).

I was wondering how much difference there could be between the USA and Indonesian Lakland Vintage Jazz 44 60 basses. Trawling through the specs, the bridge, pups, tuners, neck profile, plus most other stuff appear identical. The differences seem to be a bone nut, quarter sawn neck, graphite truss rods and nicer cosmetics/woods on the USA. I couldn't find firm prices but I estimate there could be £1500 difference between the Skyline and USA. I think it would be extremely difficult to tell these apart in a true blind test. As a gear snob I'd want a USA but the Indonesian makes perfect sense if you're wanting a 44 60.

Always check the seller's feedback in the Marketplace Feedback forum. If there's no feedback proceed with sensible precautions. I think payment on collection in person is always best for both parties.

Oooh! Which bass? Someone might help you out by buying it.

And a very different body shape. Maybe the IV was supposed to be lighter weight than the 1 and 2 shape?

I owned one for a few years in the 90s, bought cheaply from a second-hand shop on the Newmarket Road, Cambridge. It weighed a ton and sounded rather dull to me, certainly not as good as my pre EB Ray.

We should be thankful that £10k would probably buy us the best featured, most luxurious, most beautiful electric bass guitar on the planet. If we were into supercars, luxury Swiss watches or superbikes etc, £10k wouldn't get us entry to the showrooms. We only pass this way once so if you're passion is playing bass and all things bass, £1k seems rather limiting, but if it gets you exactly what you want then that's perfect too.

Agreed. This newbie joined BC, posted the question, logged out and hasn't been on here since.

This thread has reminded me how many machine heads are mounted incorrectly. Loads of self builds or even machine head substitutions have this error:- WRONG CORRECT

I'd send the old pickup to someone like Aaron Armstrong or Bare Knuckle Pickups so that the faulty winding can be rewound to the correct specification. I'm not sure a 76 would be hand scatterwound as that was an era when Fender production was fully mechanised. A skilled modern winder should be able to replicate the original method.

I think for the sake of peace we need to drop the car analogies.

No, absolutely not a problem at all. I have called my basses a collection myself, but reading through the thread this subtle difference has occurred to me. I think a lot of us have become "collectors" by accident.

I have a slight issue with the thread title as I have never "collected" basses, however over the past 40 years I have "accumulated" around 25 of them. I have intentionally set out to collect other things such as watches, stamps, books for example, but for me there is a (psychological) difference. Brilliant (confessional) thread BTW.

Which notable bassist played one of these?

Erm... no, that would be this one...

Yes, the point I have already made a few times in this very thread.

PP 61P

Roland and Simon Tracey Brint performed as Raw Sex on the French and Saunders show back then.

That's brilliant; I've never seen it before. The stars of my teenage all in one court. Much like the TV and radio stars of my teenage many years later but in a good way.

That's nearer the proper price for an amp of that specification. We just got used to a silly price that was probably a result of G4M selling at close to cost to raise revenue in this incredibly difficult time for business.