4001v63? yeah, right!

jeff_ulmer · Post by **jeff_ulmer** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 5:40 am

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2543308886&category=4713

Is it just my imagination, or is this Instrument Exchange place always listing bogus guitars at vastly inflated prices? This is not a v63, and from the body shape, this looks like a 1980s 4003 MG to me. Note the lack of a headstock shot. However, it does have Lightwave pickups... whatever!

dano · Post by **dano** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 5:51 am

Right you are Jeff,

1" spacing at the neck pickup, lack of horseshoe and toaster PUs and no body contour is a dead giveaway. Stay away from this seller as his feedback indicates.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 6:07 am

That is a late 70's 4001 ... it has binding and triangular inlays and the walnut stripe ... a v63 would have none of these ... it looks like a nice bass ... but it is mislabeled

dano · Post by **dano** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 6:34 am

Yes it is a nice bass. Just WAY overpriced!

jeff_ulmer · Post by **jeff_ulmer** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 6:54 am

Don't forget the Lightwave pickups. I hear they rock. Surely worth an extra $500. Too bad it didn't have Microwave pickups, then we'd be cooking.

I missed the skunk stripe..duh...

I'm not quite sure what the reasoning behind these sellers is, since it looks like all they are is a brokerage who can't even guarantee that the item up for bid is even available, and from their feedback, that seems like a common problem, even on completed auctions. This looks more like a fishing auction than anyhing - get a high enough price, sell the gear, if not, it's already been sold...

dano · Post by **dano** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 7:04 am

Yeah, they'll relist this item a few times as they have done in the past. Always at the same price. So what happens to all the gear they don't sell? I imagine they would need a pretty big warehouse to store all their items!

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sun Jul 06, 2003 6:21 pm

they re-listed it as a Rickenbacher ... it is still a late 70's 4001 and NOT a 4001v63 ...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2543308886&category=4713

dano · Post by **dano** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 1:01 am

Notice the price difference? Me either!

mortivan · Post by **mortivan** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 1:23 pm

OK. So now it's a 4001S!? What'd they do; strip off the binding and tape over the inlays?

rickengrowl · Post by **rickengrowl** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 4:01 pm

Such auctions are quite useful. They help us identify who is honest and who is not, IMHO.

All the best,
JL

rhinobass · Post by **rhinobass** » Tue Jul 08, 2003 5:05 am

My understanding is that Instrument Exchange is the liquidation arm of Musician's Friend. For what it's worth, reach your own conclusions, etc., but I am yet to see a Buy It Now price that has a basis in reality.

jeff_ulmer · Post by **jeff_ulmer** » Tue Jul 08, 2003 5:41 am

I routinely browse through Ebay's instrument listings, and IE is without exception way overpriced, and in many cases the listings are wrong.
I was a bit twigged yesterday with another online vendor who I have purchased from in the past. The item I bought (a Gibson steel guitar) was missing all the paint from one side, which they neglected to mention. Now, they are listing a 1960s ES335 for $16,000CAN, claiming only minor mods to the instrument. There are 2 plugged holes in the top and the tailpiece has been changed to a modern stop bar from a trapeze or Bigsby... hmmm

dano · Post by **dano** » Tue Jul 08, 2003 11:01 am

John, I have yet to see a starting price that has a basis in reality. Really, I look at some of the prices and you could buy a brand new 4003 for less! It seems that more dishonest vendors are using Ebay all the time. It's a shame that the people at Ebay continuously let these vendors rob people of their hard earned cash.

mortivan · Post by **mortivan** » Tue Jul 08, 2003 3:10 pm

I hate to jump to conclusions, but doesn't the headstock part of the (needlessly small) photo look purposely obscured?

Smeared Headstock Photo?

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Mon Jul 14, 2003 2:43 pm

I right-clicked and saved the picture as a jpg file; it's only 13kb in size, so I think the smearing is due to image degradation due to its low resolution.