What are the best added 'extras' you've received with a bass purchase?

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Somethimes when buying secondhand, you get an accessory or two thrown in as a freebie. This week I bought a Fender starcaster bass which was listed as coming with a case. I expected a ratty gigbag, but it actually came with a (very slightly tatty but fully intact) epiphone Jack Casady hard case.

 

Also included was a very nice worn-in Gibson 'modern vintage' black leather strap and a set of schaller strap locks (not copies). The strap goes for £58 new from gibson and might be . I'm not a fan of schaller strap locks and have ordered a set of gotoh fender-style buttons to go on the bass to be used with grolsch-style rubbery strap blocks, but the schallers should be worth the price of a few pints if I sell them.

 

A nice bargain came from Cash converters where my black epiphone vintage pro thunderbird eventually only set me back about £100 once I had sold the humongous heavy duty aluminium flight case that came with it.

[Shambo]

I bought a jap jazz from France that had been fitted with some glorious Hepcat 62 pickups. Best I've ever heard.

Foolishly returned the Jazz to stock and moved it on because we didn't quite bond.

Eventually sold the Hepcats as they were languishing in a parts drawer (i'm a P player these days).

 

I'd love another set but they'd set me back €240 plus import fees... the pups that got away.

[Elfrasho]

18 minutes ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

Somethimes when buying secondhand, you get an accessory or two thrown in as a freebie. This week I bought a Fender starcaster bass which was listed as coming with a case. I expected a ratty gigbag, but it actually came with a (very slightly tatty but fully intact) epiphone Jack Casady hard case.

 

Also included was a very nice worn-in Gibson 'modern vintage' black leather strap and a set of schaller strap locks (not copies). The strap goes for £58 new from gibson and might be . I'm not a fan of schaller strap locks and have ordered a set of gotoh fender-style buttons to go on the bass to be used with grolsch-style rubbery strap blocks, but the schallers should be worth the price of a few pints if I sell them.

 

A nice bargain came from Cash converters where my black epiphone vintage pro thunderbird eventually only set me back about £100 once I had sold the humongous heavy duty aluminium flight case that came with it.

 

Not the most exciting but I once bought a 6 string fretless bass on gumtree. When i got it home I realised there was quite a heavy duty strap in the case. I used that strap for years! The bass... think i had it for about 3 weeks!

[lozkerr]

Bought a new Mono M80 from the Gallery a few years ago. When I got it home, I found a padded Mono strap and a 10-metre cable inside. Bonus!

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

When I purchased my Washburn status from macaris in Charing Cross Road/ Denmark street back in the day, I paid full price.

However I did get a nice padded gig bag ( which lasted many years) and a load of picks emptied from their jar! Paying in cash helped I guess.🙂

It’s a shame that I never purchased another gig bag as it was the perfect fit . Made by Levnson ..

[stewblack]

Bruce Thomas autobiography, signed and still there with my Profile when purchased on this very site.

Reading it again at the moment. Wonderful.

[Steve Browning]

I got a wonderful and varied career with my first bass. Whether it was free is open to debate!

[Mediocre Polymath]

Many years ago I bought a secondhand Warwick corvette from the bass gallery that came with a simple, lightweight Levy's gig bag. That freebie remains the only gig bag I've ever owned with its straps at the right height to not smash your bass into every doorframe, lintel and overhanging branch. Was a sad day when it started to disintegrate.

[Paul S]

I bought an early 70s MIJ Encore P bass on eBay.  When trying to date it, I (with some help from people who know things) found that the pickups were actually Fender ones of the same vintage - worth more than the bass cost me.  Sold in its entirety to someone on here.  Damned fine bass, that one.

[Cornwall Steve]

Oh boy, this is a great topic to respond to!😍

Since retiring a few years ago, I've treated myself to quite a few secondhand (and also a few new) basses (plus a couple of guitars too !). The unexpected goodies that these bad boys have turned up with over the years never ceased to surprise me. I can remember: two hard cases, several gig bags (of various quality and condition), numerous straps, leads, and picks, two decent electronic tuners, spare strings, a microphone, a pedal, and even an e-bow (okay, it wasn't working!).

Sadly no hidden cash though 😂😂

[stu_g]

i bought an ibanez sr1000 japan soundgear years back that came in an early 70s fender hardcase which i still have.

[ossyrocks]

I bought a vintage 70's P bass a few months ago and in the case was a 70's Melos Mini Fazer (Univox). It even had a decades old battery in it. I swapped the battery and it works fine!

[Reggaebass]

I bought a US jazz off a guy in clacton on sea one Saturday about 7 years ago, and he gave me an old HH VS bassamp and an Ashdown 15 cab he no longer wanted, I think he was moving out of his flat, I’ve still got the amp, a few of the knob’s have a slight crackle but it’s still going and sounds quite good .

a few years later an elderly gentleman came round to see my Ashdown mag amp I had advertised, he hadn’t played for years and wanted to get back into it, he bought the amp and I gave him the cab for free 

[binky_bass]

I once found a few dozen very intimate personal photographs in the front pocket of a gig bag that came with a Stagg Strat I'd bought locally for £20... Definitely saw more than I'd bargained for! Promptly returned the photos to the person without thumbing through the entire stash! 

[Steve Browning]

1 hour ago, binky_bass said:

I once found a few dozen very intimate personal photographs in the front pocket of a gig bag that came with a Stagg Strat I'd bought locally for £20... Definitely saw more than I'd bargained for! Promptly returned the photos to the person without thumbing through the entire stash! 

Reminds me of the time I went to pack up my leads bag (after a gig) and found that someone had placed a video in there - called 'Wild about horses'.

Edited 3 hours ago by Steve Browning

[Huge Hands]

Its not bass related but in the 90's, when at University, my Dad was an avid car boot sale visiter. 

 

I was doing a project on why VHS prevailed and Betamax failed, so I asked him to see if he could find me an old Betamax machine that I could use to demonstrate the differences in design.   He duly came back with a machine with a box full of free tapes, all with well known movie labels on them.

 

I was pleased to find the machine worked, so set about testing it with the box of tapes.   They were all p**n films....  I had to re-record over them before I could use them for my Uni demo.

 

One of the tapes was marked "Jimi Hendrix Live".   After I told that story at a job I later worked at, it became a running joke that if anyone was sharing mucky videos around. the question would be "Is Jimi Hendrix on tour at the moment?"

[Thor]

I bought a Marcus Miller Jazz Bass from another basschatter (who's ID I cannot remember for love nor money), I went to collect it from Birmingham area I think.  When I arrived I gave it a go and when I was ready to leave, I removed the strap and passed it back to the guy - he returned it and said I could keep it - it was a really nice Fender branded Levy's strap with Dunlop straplocks - I was well chuffed he'd offered me the strap as I really wasn't expecting it.

 

Still have the strap to this day and have since bought a couple more.

[neepheid]

When I bought my Epiphone Les Paul bass for the first time, it came with a Neotech Mega strap.  Accidentally found my favourite type of strap.  That was handy!