rhysyjob Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 (edited) Hi folks, I wonder if any one on this forum can help me to approximately value this Bass? During the pandemic and my thesis, I acquired a Squier 54 Paranomal body and pickguard as a project to keep myself sane. What followed turned into a bit of an obsession to upgrade as much as I could. After much fine tuning and head scratching I came up with this. All the hardware is now nickel, knobs, screws, neckplate, control plate everything. The pickups are Lindy Fralin Jazz. The tuners and bridge are Hipshot, and the electrics CTS pots and orange caps. The neck is a Fender roasted maple Jazz. The problem is much as I love it, I’m an Active Humbucker Guy, so the jazz subtlety is a bit lost on me. Hence, I’m thinking of selling it. Has anyone got the foggiest idea what it’s worth? I know that upgrades don’t always add up to the total cost but some idea would be great. Edited July 11, 2021 by rhysyjob 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 Cool bass Rhys, that neck looks so nice 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 You should count up how much you could get for the parts, if you sold them separately, then put it up for sale at that price. If nobody buys it, you can disassemble it and sell the parts. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 (edited) In one of the hundreds of Andertons youtube clips Lee Anderton basically said that from his shop's point of view it doesn't matter how expensive or well done the mods are, they add no value to the px or resale price of the instrument. In a private sale a buyer might agree to pay more for a well modded instrument that particularly appeals to them but the general consensus seems to be that you'll get more of your investment back by returning the instrument to stock (if possible) and selling the upgrades separately. Edited July 9, 2021 by Cato 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftyJ Posted July 8, 2021 Share Posted July 8, 2021 10 hours ago, rhysyjob said: The problem is much as I love it, I’m an Active Humbucker Guy, so the jazz subtlety is a bit lost on me. Out with the subtlety then, and in with some hot J-sized buckers! Ignore the broken English, and take a look at the Roswell hot rails. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Munurmunuh Posted July 8, 2021 Share Posted July 8, 2021 I've nothing helpful to say, in fact quite the opposite: I'm imagining what it would look like with a pearloid or tort pg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trueno Posted July 8, 2021 Share Posted July 8, 2021 I would say... convert to active humbuckers and sell the bits you take out. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted July 8, 2021 Share Posted July 8, 2021 In my experience, you'll never recoup your investment on a bitsa. Lack of provenance as a package kills the value proposition and you just end up looking like you're over-justifying the value when you list all the great components it's made of. Further compounding things - the weakest/cheapest component appears to me becomes the benchmark which drags the whole thing down. You'll lose less by breaking it up again and selling the parts individually. Also, pretty sure you can get humbuckers in a J pickup shape. Or get the router/chisels out. Unless you're thinking of ending this project because you think you've taken it as far as you can/want to. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloke_zero Posted July 8, 2021 Share Posted July 8, 2021 I have to agree. It's a really beautiful build, but like when I obsessively put together a bass and my mate said, "wow it's like a £3000 bass" (I'm sure he was being nice about it!), even if that was true it would be like buying a ferrarri replica from someone with an unknown track record - it might be as good as the real thing, but part of the value comes from the marque it'self and a bitsa will never command the prices of a Fender and will remain the value of it's parts. Which doesn't detract from the fact that it is a great looking bass - nice work! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted July 8, 2021 Share Posted July 8, 2021 Echoing what has been said, my direct experience of bitsa's is that, if you ever sell it, you'll get back way less than you spent on it. Parting it out will reduce that deficit usually, assuming you bought the parts second-hand. Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jezzaboy Posted July 8, 2021 Share Posted July 8, 2021 (edited) That neck is nice and I imagine you will be able to shift it no problem for a good price. It might be worth sticking it on here as it is when you can get a price and if it doesn`t work out, offer to part it out. It may be of no use but I sold a standard one of these last year for £250 on here. I recently saw it for sale again on the local Gumtree and it went for the same price. Just to add that the 54 was a cracking bass the way it came from the shop. Edited July 8, 2021 by jezzaboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jd56hawk Posted July 8, 2021 Share Posted July 8, 2021 You haven't considered parting it out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhysyjob Posted July 8, 2021 Author Share Posted July 8, 2021 2 hours ago, jd56hawk said: You haven't considered parting it out? I am now! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhysyjob Posted July 8, 2021 Author Share Posted July 8, 2021 Thanks all for your comments. I think it will be parted ASAP. 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhysyjob Posted July 8, 2021 Author Share Posted July 8, 2021 3 hours ago, jezzaboy said: That neck is nice and I imagine you will be able to shift it no problem for a good price. It might be worth sticking it on here as it is when you can get a price and if it doesn`t work out, offer to part it out. It may be of no use but I sold a standard one of these last year for £250 on here. I recently saw it for sale again on the local Gumtree and it went for the same price. Just to add that the 54 was a cracking bass the way it came from the shop. I thought differently and hated the standard hardware but each to their own. Thanks for the heads up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Crazy that with all those nice bits it wouldn’t be worth more than the standard. Really, only the body is original! How much did it all cost, then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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