PSA - 12-string bass on eB - a 4-digit?

[marcnorth]

He posted some pics over there, it's a nice looking bass. Looks to be in excellent condition and he says no problems with the bass.

[mrjamiam]

He posted some pics over there, it's a nice looking bass. Looks to be in excellent condition and he says no problems with the bass.

Thanks again for the updates. I guess anything can happen, you can even get pearls from swine sometimes, but I feel more comfortable playing the percentages and dealing with reasonable, reasonably knowledgeable people. This community is a great aid in assessing the opportunities.

[chromium]

Hello all! First post here, but I've been lurking and truly appreciate all the info that was shared regarding this bass and history with the owner (found a couple other threads about it going back some time...)

In retrospect I'm not sure why this guy came across as so dicey and evasive, as it turns out he really didn't have a reason to be. I felt like an internet stalker with this dude- I'm on his FB page, looking up every business he's associated with... even listened to a podcast of him talking about his online shoe business I've been involved in some iffy deals before, but this takes the cake.

I probably would not have bid at all had he not referred me to the shop that recently set the bass up - BoneRattle Music in Vancouver. The owner and tech remembered it immediately, and said favorable things about it... and said that he was fine as a customer. So I took a chance on it.

It arrived really quick via DHL, and man was I relieved - it's beautiful!! Setup was decent, electronics worked fine, and it looks like it came right out of a time capsule. I've been dialing it in a bit over the past couple days, and the truss rod works, neck seems fine, bridge still had enough travel to get the action nice and low... and it places nice! This is my first 12ver experience, and I'm impressed. Starting to worry that my 8s might languish now

I did manage to get a bit more info out of the seller about the history of the bass. I doubt that Basheer was the original owner (he's in his 20s), but I got this message from his Ebay account a few hours ago:

I'm the individual who purchased the guitar you now have in your possession.
The guitar was made if I recall correctly in summer 1980.
A phone call to Hamer in about roughly June 1980, I ordered the guitar on a whim, and it was finished and delivered round about October 1980.
I never really played the instrument and never used for band or recording purposes, it was just something I got out of curiosity. It just stayed under my bed gathering dust
I imagine if you want more information, its best to Google it, since the paperwork is looonng goone.
Congratulations you got something you appreciate.
If you're interested I have a Odyssey Hawk six electric solid body Flame burst made about roughly the same time here in Vancouver.
It's quite rare and highly to collectors such as yourself!

Not much, but hey- I tried!

I snapped some shots of it today - figured you folks might enjoy 'em!

[chromium]

Here are some gut shots:

Looks like the 3v battery pack powers the (flashing) LED, and the 9v powers the preamp - which is potted (grrr). Nice sounding setup, though.

[chromium]

Con amigos!

[cmatthes]

Great shots, and thanks for sharing! Welcome to the HFC, and I think we're all glad the deal worked out well for you. 12'vers are great!

[chromium]

Great shots, and thanks for sharing! Welcome to the HFC, and I think we're all glad the deal worked out well for you. 12'vers are great!

Thanks! And THATS a stunning bass- looks great with the binding.

I've been drooling over Hamer basses since seeing CT, Nick Lowe/Rockpile, Rick Savage, etc.. using them as a kid. I got my first coursed string bass in 2009 - an '80 Ibanez ST-980 - and was hooked from that point on. I semi-reluctantly sold that bass last month (really great player), in hopes of pursuing a B12S... and then this '80 surfaced. Never would have been able to swing it otherwise...

[mrjamiam]

Congratulations on a nice bass!

[marcnorth]

Welcome and congrats on the cool bass. I saw it today at the Outpost after Shark posted here saying someone there got it. Cool bass for sure, enjoy it.

[mc2]

Glad it worked out.

After two years of dealing with that scumbag Basheer and his multiple (uncompleted) sales on this bass that he had stated was NOT in his possession....have to assume that he was somehow brokering it as a third party and trying to maximize his cut.

That would explain the note from the original owner.

The last two years his price was higher and firm. So, maybe the real owner finally was threatening to use someone else to sell the bass and Basheer talked the owner into getting it strung up/repaired/worked on and lower his cut?

Curious if that note from the actual owner is dated...probably written after the sale? Since, logically, a seller would have included that info in any of the several "for sale" listings.

Or maybe something Basheer spotted in a pawn shop originally and eventually worked a three-way deal on it?

Deal just made no sense over the last two years. He clearly stated he did not own or have the bass in his possession...and was unable to take or get new photos. Then a one-line description in the latest ad. Refusing PayPay debit payment to his company for full price....and also refusing a direct sale to a local buyer in his own town?

Probably did not have the bass in his possession to show to the local buyer....and could only pick it up from the real owner if he handed him an agreed upon amount of cash? Since seller was not a guitar guy, he didn't want to gamble on buying it himself to flip, so he had to do the suspicious third-party broker flip to get the cash to pay owner and his own cut?

Sure would be interesting to know the real story.

REAL lucky it turned out OK.

[RichRS6]

Welcome to the HFC you lucky, lucky bastard !!

Nice Trio of Basses there.

[chromium]

Welcome to the HFC you lucky, lucky bastard !!

Nice Trio of Basses there.

Hey thanks!

That '95 4003s/8 was a real basket case, but the Ric sound really fits well with an 8-stringer IMO. I'd still like to make a new nut for it and reverse the string pairs (it has the roots on top). I have a repair thread about that bass here: http://www.hillscloud.com/2013/02/1995-rickenbacker-4003s8-structural-repair/

The Bich is from around '83 and was restored by Neal Moser. The previous owner managed to get hold of a bridge from Hamer, and Moser employed that instead of the 4-saddle Badass. VAST improvement.

This thing is an amazing player, and the dual preamp setup is a lot of fun (good onboard overdrive). Just have to occasionally endure a certain amount of ridicule, hair metal/Aquanet jokes and such (mostly coming from my wife) when I play it...

[chromium]

Curious if that note from the actual owner is dated...probably written after the sale? Since, logically, a seller would have included that info in any of the several "for sale" listings.

...

Sure would be interesting to know the real story.

I wasn't very clear about it in my earlier post, but that response came after the sale - just yesterday... After it was all done I had sent Basheer a note saying something to the effect of "word on the street is that this belonged to a friend of yours... if you or he is willing/able to provide any details as to its history (who ordered it, band(s) they may have played with) I'd really appreciate it".

I can tell that the note I got back was not Basheer typing. His responses were always very short - much like the auction text. It almost seems like he signed in and handed the keyboard to the real owner to type that up.

I still don't know what the whole deal was there. It's obvious that the original owner would have to be in their 40-50s now, and with Basheer being a 25ish paintball and retail shoe mogul I can't really see them being best buds.

I'm speculating that the real owner was someone who works at the family business - maybe friends or business associates with Basheer's old man. Since Basheer is good with the "online stuff" (the podcast I listened to was about the Millennials like him bridging the bricks-and-mortar and online divide... or something to that effect), maybe he was just enlisted to help the guy out. It really didn't seem like he wanted to be bothered with any of it. If it were a broker-type relationship, I'd expect the opposite. It'd be in his own best interest to be as communicative and flexible as possible in that setting. Instead, he really curtailed his potential market by appearing shiesty (shill bidding and such).

I assumed he might try to shill this auction up- that's why I sniped it. And given the risk, I couldn't justify going any higher than I did. Like you, I was also afraid that this thing would be warped into a permanent backbow from being stored incorrectly without full string tension to counter the action of the truss.

For all I know, that other bid could have been a shill... but that bidders max was only $16 away from me. If it was Basheer, I'd have expected him to shill it up to his BIN. Seemed like a really bad time to list it again (auction ending the day after Christmas), and so maybe the seller just finally needed the funds.

At any rate, I'm thankful it worked out okay too. I'd much rather buy from someone trusted in the forums than from guys like this, but given the type of bass involved I just had to take a chance on it!

[andrew m]

So glad it worked out for you. Like Mc2, I was very leary and sceptical , as well as heavily intersted (maybe even more so than him as I was local). Actually offered my assistance to middle man the deal for him.

Funny thing that Basheer mentioned bone rattle rattle music store, as I am only a 3 minute drive and frequent that store every couple weeks and they have me on record to cal if any Hamers come their way ( on a side note, Picked up that Hamer GT from them.)

No idea the whole true story or reasoning on this bass,,,,,But Bravo to you. Congrats on a great bass.

[chromium]

Cheers Dave- I had a feeling I was in good company there!

So glad it worked out for you. Like Mc2, I was very leary and sceptical , as well as heavily intersted (maybe even more so than him as I was local). Actually offered my assistance to middle man the deal for him.

Funny thing that Basheer mentioned bone rattle rattle music store, as I am only a 3 minute drive and frequent that store every couple weeks and they have me on record to cal if any Hamers come their way ( on a side note, Picked up that Hamer GT from them.)

No idea the whole true story or reasoning on this bass,,,,,But Bravo to you. Congrats on a great bass.

Thanks Andrew! Yeah I even looked up the location of BoneRattle compared to the three businesses that Basheer is associated with in that area of Vancouver, and it was within ten minutes and kind of central to all of them - so probably a convenient place for him or the owner (not actually sure who took it in to them).

Phil over there was really cool to respond to me, and he went and talked to his tech (Graeme) who had worked on it. I don't know them from Adam, and so it still didn't give me full confidence - but every little bit of info helped... and turns out they did do a nice job with it. Just been dialing it in to my own taste.