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Marlin Basses


d-basser
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Looking into maybe buying this bass off a bloke locally

[attachment=24454:marlin_bass.JPG]

It is a Marlin Sidewinder. Was wondering if it is worth a punt and how much they are realistically worth? Anyone got any info or experience?
I am looking for something as a bass for punk rather than my Sei or Dingwall. If I went for this I would upgrade the pickups at some point and maybe the electronics but the overall quality is my concern.
One of my other options is the PJ Fenderalike in the for sale section, looks nicer but will cost me a bit more and to be honest I really shouldnt be spending at all.

help appreciated

Dan

Edited by d-basser
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As I recall Marlins had ply bodies, very cheap construction. Not really worth spending money on upgrading them. You'd be better spending your money on a Squier or even a Westfield.

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Every Marlin I've seen has been cheap & nasty crap.

Not even comparable to the cheapest squier let alone the makes mentioned.

If you're going to upgrade the pickup & electronics you'll need to upgrade the bridge, tuners, body & neck while you're at it to make a decent bass.

If the strap buttons are in good shape & he wants a quid for it...

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Ha Ha, glad to see some others have shared some Marlin misery.

I too had a Sidewinder, it was a Jazz one though. Huge body, huge neck fat neck, Terrible high action. Bloody awful bass it was (is?) - I gave it to a mate of mine. I still feel guilty about giving it away.

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  • 10 years later...

Still got a my 1985 Slammer P Bass, originally made in East Germany and has a solid  basswood body .. Marlin were Sold in the UK by Welsh distributors British Music String Ltd (BMS) ..  in 1986 Marlin Contracted the manufacture of the guitars to Samick (Korea) where they renamed them Sidewinder  ..  the Marlin brand was sold to Hohner in 1989 .. hope this  bit of brief history helps   Diolch yn Fawr  Antz 

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11 hours ago, musicmutt said:

Still got a my 1985 Slammer P Bass, originally made in East Germany and has a solid  basswood body .. Marlin were Sold in the UK by Welsh distributors British Music String Ltd (BMS) ..  in 1986 Marlin Contracted the manufacture of the guitars to Samick (Korea) where they renamed them Sidewinder  ..  the Marlin brand was sold to Hohner in 1989 .. hope this  bit of brief history helps   Diolch yn Fawr  Antz 

My recollection was that the Slammer was the straight P bass copy and the sidewinder was a PJ and that they were available at the same time. I think that there was a later Sidewinder with a sort of double J pickup at the bridge.

My Slammer was bought in 1987 and binned in 1990 thanks in part to the peeling chrome, the dodgy defret I did after seeing John Deacon with a maple fretless on the gatefold sleeve of "Live Killers", trying to change the headstock to the '51-57 shape and chipping the paint off the body. Bad as it was, it got me started

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I was given a Marlin Slammer a few years ago. The aim was to clean it up, fix the electronics and donate to somewhere. But the neck was totally screwed; twisted and had frets so lifted they'd folded back over the board. 

So I turned it into this:

20006822056_fd085172fd_c.jpg

Slammer body and sprayed pickguard, left handed Harley Benton neck (nut flipped), shitty Chinese MM p/ups. It actually plays quite nicely. But the £12 electronics let it down, unsurprisingly...

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