Pathetic local selection

[neepheid]

Just having a random moan about living in the sticks, relatively speaking.

 

For excrement and amusement I had a look at bass guitars within a 100km radius of Aberdeen on FB Marketplace.  This yielded a choice of... 20.  And which one would I buy?  I'd rather just keep the one I'm trying to sell right now.  How pathetic is that?

 

Just a random Monday grumble for you.  How abundant (or pathetic) is your local bass marketplace?

[casapete]

Not much better really. East Yorkshire is a little bit out on a limb from the rest of the county, so we tend to be a bit forgotten regarding stuff. North Lincs is only a trip over the Humber Bridge but unfortunately not much better there either. 

[Len_derby]

Come to lovely, sunny Derby. It’s……..erm……..in the middle. 🤪

[kodiakblair]

56 minutes ago, neepheid said:

For excrement and amusement I had a look at bass guitars within a 100km radius of Aberdeen on FB Marketplace. 

Same search for Falkirk returns about 40 odd basses. Mostly off-brands with a smattering on Dingwall, Fender, Ric and Sandberg; none I'd consider buying.

[Woodinblack]

Well, here in yeovil it is mostly fenders, but there is a Jabba telecaster bass and a 1960s Vox Symphonic. There is also a Kay bass at a comedy price and a Peavey milestone 3 with a 'custom handmade walnut body." - that sounds a lot better than it looks.

 

 

[Dad3353]

A thousand results from a LeBonCoin search (100km radius from here, in France...). More than half are not basses (either amps, guitars, hard cases, ceramic vases and more...). Of the several hundred left, most are 'beginner' or 'budget' basses; there are few that would attract attention, still less warrant going to see. The one or two that might (I say 'might'; depends on one's taste..?) interest some here, the prices seem to be... err... 'optimistic'..? A 19c Jaquet contre-bass at 15000€..? S'gonna be hard to shift, I'd have thought. Fender Telecaster bass, 1968..? 5600€. '71 Ricki 4001, at 4000€ and a '67 Guild Starfire XII, with original US case, for 2750€ seem almost reasonable nestled amongst the dozens of accordions offered for several thousand euros each. If it's squeeze-boxes you're after, here's the place. 

[thodrik]

I’m in Orkney, nearest music shops are Inverness or Aberdeen i.e the locality where the OP is. 
 

If I am looking for a bass, I browse BC, the Gallery, Bass Bros or Bass Direct, all of whom deliver here unless I’m ordering something silly like an Ampeg 8x10. 
 

Some local folk here have seriously good kit, but it rarely gets sold, though if it does a bargain can be had because folk don’t want to post. We have our own local FB for sales which works okay though selection is limited. It is what it is.

 

Outside of that local group I don’t look at FB marketplace owing to potential scams. 

[NancyJohnson]

Reckon it's more a case that all the elder statesmen on this site have probably reached a point where they've amassed what they really like and feel there's simply nothing of any merit for sale through Gumtree/Marketplace etc.

 

Personally I've little interest in Sire/Squire/Ibanez/G4M kit, which seems to be the mainstay of these sites; this isn't to say I got lucky a few years back with my Aria Primary bass.  I did see a gorgeous Mike Lull T4 on Marketplace one time, but couldn't scrape together the £££ at such short notice.

 

 

 

 

[jonno1981]

Some people are really bad at listing on those sites making them not return in the search results. 
I’ve seen plenty of “base guitars”, “squire guitar”, “fender twine”, “less pal” etc. 

Dealers are very hot on this and have all kinds of weird search strings to find the true bargains. 

[basexperience]

I live about an hour outside London, so there's stuff there, but even so, when I found out a local guitar place in swindon was closing, I was sad about it: In terms of bass-centric places, when the bass cellar closed in Tin Pan Alley, I was really sad about that: magical little place, I've bought 2 Warwicks there over the decades. I've been toying with popping up to bass direct, I've been to the bass gallery. Relating back to the OP, central London wouldn't be local from here: it's a very similar kind of trip to the 100km you're describing, so I tend to visit if I'm in London for some other reason, although... I do have some holiday days to take... 😄 

[NancyJohnson]

4 minutes ago, jonno1981 said:

Some people are really bad at listing on those sites making them not return in the search results. 
I’ve seen plenty of “base guitars”, “squire guitar”, “fender twine”, “less pal” etc. 

Dealers are very hot on this and have all kinds of weird search strings to find the true bargains. 

 

There used to be a website called 'phat fingers' (or something) where you could punch in (for instance) 'Squier' and it would search eBay for near misses, like Squire, Squeer etc.

 

Right, I'm off to search for a Febner Jizz Base.

[thodrik]

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

There used to be a website called 'phat fingers' (or something) where you could punch in (for instance) 'Squier' and it would search eBay for near misses, like Squire, Squeer etc.

 

Right, I'm off to search for a Febner Jizz Base.

That is handy. I got a great deal on a Trace Eliot Base Kab once.

[neepheid]

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

There used to be a website called 'phat fingers' (or something) where you could punch in (for instance) 'Squier' and it would search eBay for near misses, like Squire, Squeer etc.

 

Right, I'm off to search for a Febner Jizz Base.

 

Be careful what you wish for...

 

[Steve Browning]

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

Right, I'm off to search for a Febner Jizz Base.

 

Let us know if you come across one. 🙂

[tauzero]

81 within 100km of Tamworth, plus the entire contents of Bass Direct and Bass Bros. Damn, shouldn't have looked.

[chris_b]

I live in London so. . . . thousands, but for the last 15 years I've only bought and sold on Basschat.

[Geek99]

18 hours ago, Len_derby said:

Come to lovely, sunny Derby. It’s……..erm……..in the middle. 🤪

That is three words I never thought I’d see adjoining each other 😛

like 

scenic, safe, Ilkeston 

[itu]

Just like: Scenic, safe, Renault? 

[jonno1981]

I often end up searching for very basic terms like “bass” and just seeing what turns up. You have to scroll through pages of fishing gear and car audio but you get some gems. That’s how I found my Yamaha bass! 

[Cliff Edge]

The dog days of the Covid Lockdown was the best time for Facebook Marketplace guitar and bass bargains down south. Most of the sellers were either broke or thought the time off work was an opportunity to learn to play, and couldn’t. I got my Ibanez and Aria for good prices plus a SansAmp BDDI. It’s mostly rubbish these days. 

[NancyJohnson]

3 hours ago, itu said:

Just like: Scenic, safe, Renault? 

 

The EV thread is elsewhere in the off topic section.