Is it worth it?

[wolvie56]

Hey. everybody. Need your advice about this Washburn Bass. Would it be worth it to get this? Or is this a lost cause? The pictures probubly don't tell the full story, and the one at the top looks like more than one crack, or a crack and the others are finnish cracks. Don't know how it happened yet. He's asking $195.00 for it. What would be the cost to fix it if it can be fixed do you think? Thanks.

[guitardan777]

Have you seen this in person?
Is it cracked all the way through?
At a minimum you could buy some Tight Bond wood glue and some clamps.
Not sure what a luither would charge for that repair....
I'd be asking myself what the bass is worth new, used (in good shape).
Also, if it doesn't work out for you what can you get back is you sell it.

[wolvie56]

Have you seen this in person?
Is it cracked all the way through?
At a minimum you could buy some Tight Bond wood glue and some clamps.
Not sure what a luither would charge for that repair....
I'd be asking myself what the bass is worth new, used (in good shape).
Also, if it doesn't work out for you what can you get back is you sell it.


Thanks for the reply. I havn't seen it in person. Don't know if it is cracked thru, good question didn't think to ask that so I just asked. Havn't gotton a reply back. This bass retails at $600.00 new, Its a Force 4. No clue as to what I can get for it if I had to sell it again.

[guitardan777]

$600 new - is that street or MSRP?
Even for a 'like new' piece of gear you should take 30 - 40 % off the Street price, unless its a Fender, Gibson, PRS, or another brand that holds a better value.

Maybe ask him how is setting the price????

Try this.....

You can do a 'completed listings' search on ebay to see if anyone has bought or sold one, and get a guage on the price.

Also, if you use google's advanced search, you type the item into the search bar, and then enter 'craigslist.org' for the domain, and it will search all of craigslits for the item.....

[wolvie56]

$600 new - is that street or MSRP?
Even for a 'like new' piece of gear you should take 30 - 40 % off the Street price, unless its a Fender, Gibson, PRS, or another brand that holds a better value.

Maybe ask him how is setting the price????

Try this.....

You can do a 'completed listings' search on ebay to see if anyone has bought or sold one, and get a guage on the price.

Also, if you use google's advanced search, you type the item into the search bar, and then enter 'craigslist.org' for the domain, and it will search all of craigslits for the item.....


$550.00 new Sam Ash. MSRP $850.00. $549.00 new on E-Bay. Saw a 5 string on E-Bay all knicked up go for $280.00. Its a Washburn Force 4, near the top of the line. Craigs list sucks in my area.

[guitardan777]

If ya use the 60-70% rule then a good used one would be around $350.
So, the nicked up one sounds about right @ $280.00
I guess what remains to be seen is how it got cracked....
Was it run over by a truck?
Did it fall off the stage?
Was the guy doing the Pete Townsend thing?
Was is poorly taken care of and left in a dry closet that made it crack?
I'd have to wonder about over all condition, neck, body, electonics.
It's really a crap shoot without seeing it and playing it.

If you do the craigslist search (from google), it will come up w/ hits all over the nation....

[M29]

It is my opinion that the crack would eventually go the length of the body. You may get away after it has broken to reglue and refinished it but you don't want to give much for it if you are going to go through all that. If it is repaired the joint more then likely would have to be planed on both pieces and clamped and re glued. I don't think you could get a way with just re gluing the break. You could but it depends on how the crack breaks the rest of the way. If it has to be planed you are going to end up with a narrower body which might cause problems elsewhere as far as cavity covers and what not. I would pass on this one my self. IMHO of course :o

[wolvie56]

It is my opinion that the crack would eventually go the length of the body. You may get away after it has broken to reglue and refinished it but you don't want to give much for it if you are going to go through all that. If it is repaired the joint more then likely would have to be planed on both pieces and clamped and re glued. I don't think you could get a way with just re gluing the break. You could but it depends on how the crack breaks the rest of the way. If it has to be planed you are going to end up with a narrower body which might cause problems elsewhere as far as cavity covers and what not. I would pass on this one my self. IMHO of course :o


Thanks a lot for the reply. It makes perfect sense. I needed someone with experience to tell me what I suspected. I don't know much about guitars as I am a drummer. But my son plays bass, and this looked attractive for the price. But it looks like the damage is terminal. Thanks again.

[M29]

I am no expert but I have dabbled. It really does appear pretty serious. It looks like this piece of wood is very very dry too. When a piece of wood drys it tends to shrink and this can cause cracking. This is what I think has happened. I don't think it was an accident of some sort but I could be wrong. It just looks real dry. It is a beautiful guitar though, I love neck troughs and I do have one in my mind for a future project. This one is nice but kind of scary.

Edited: After looking at these pictures again. I can't really tell where the grain is but it looks like it may have been damaged as I can't see the crack following any grain pattern. If it was from dryness it would usually follow the grain. In the second picture there almost looks like a secondary crack about 3/4 of an inch to the right of the obvious crack. Either seem to follow the grain pattern. This leads me to think it may have been an accident of some sort. My comments on dry wood may be off base but something like this can happen from wood shrinking but would usually follow the grain. Again IMHO of course.

[guitardan777]

Sounds like an expert opinion to me.....

[M29]

Awe shucks gd 777