Mint 1996 650 Dakota "Buy it Now" $650

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Sun Aug 31, 2003 4:34 pm

Looks like a nice deal at $650 "BIN".
Hurry!!!

Grab it.

profjeff · Post by **profjeff** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 8:53 am

I bought a '99 650D for $600 on eBay a a year ago. $650 is a good deal too, but...if you have don't mind the prospect of losing out at the last minute, you might post a bid max of six bills and see what happens.

Don't hold me responsible for this potentially bad advice:-)

Here's my beauty:

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 9:05 am

Jeffrey:

Do you do leads on that beauty, if so, is it comparable to other lead type guitars? (I got my eye on the ebay baby)

profjeff · Post by **profjeff** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 9:30 am

Jerry:

Yes...I have played leads on this guitar. It really sounds great through a loud clean amp, but it will rock the house through a Marshall valve amp too. The neck is nice and wide with a shallow D profile (I hope I have that right). My 650 likes .010-.046's, and I recently strung it with stainless steels to brighten it up a tad. I found that different string guages have a tremendous impact on the sound on this guitar...moreso than my Strats and Les Pauls.

I mostly play sort of hybrid lead/rhythm (think Andy Summers, Alex Lifeson, the Edge...) in our band, and this guitar works especially well for me in that sort of vein. There is plenty of space between the strings, so when I am playing bass lines over chords I don't have as many "miss-hits."

I had to do some cleanup work on the fret ends because I live in Colorado and unlacquered wood shrinks like mad in this dry climate. It took me an evening with some wet sanding paper to get it right. I started with 320 grit and worked my way up to 600. It feels great now. Again, I hope this isn't bad advice...in other words, check with one of the techs in this forum if you need to perform this operation.

wormdiet · Post by **wormdiet** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 12:59 pm

Question for ya Dr. Jeff:

Do you find it easier to fingerboard that bad boy then, say, a 360? I do have the soundclip of you fingerpicking your 360 - its sounds nice, so I know it can be done!

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 1:12 pm

cool, thanks

wormdiet · Post by **wormdiet** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 5:02 pm

Edit to above message: Is the 650D a good *fingerstyle* guitar?

I've been averaging 12 1/2 hour workddays this week and my brain was a bit fried when I typed that. . .

longhouse · Post by **longhouse** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 6:25 pm

I have a 650 and a 360. The 650 is a superb 'lead' guitar, but unlike my Dot and other humbucker-equipped guitars, it cleans up wonderfully! Great clean tone.
Overall, I prefer the sound and the neck on my 360 and 1997 (for all manner of playing: lead, rhythm, fingerstyle, etc.).

The 650 is great though. Go for it Jerry!
Cheers, Noel

wormdiet · Post by **wormdiet** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 1:16 am

Thanks!

profjeff · Post by **profjeff** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 7:10 pm

John:

I call it fingerpicking too. Never heard of "fingerstyle" till the 80's! Sounds kind of elitist to me. Anyway, yes, I agree with Noel, the 650 works great for fingerstyle. Feels like a '30s Martin with a big 'ol neck.

BTW: as I stated in another thread, I put a Hi Gain in the neck position on my 650. Very cool, indeed. I'm gonna keep it on permanently.

wormdiet · Post by **wormdiet** » Sat Sep 06, 2003 1:03 pm

Looking forward to the clip ( I have a folder on my dekstop that I'm going to rename "Bauer's Greatest Hits")

mortivan · Post by **mortivan** » Sat Sep 06, 2003 2:56 pm

Yeah, I've got one (a folder) for Kenny's clips!

jimbunch · Post by **jimbunch** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 3:28 pm

The 650D on Ebay that started this thread sold for $680 yet you can buy a new 650D from Musician's Friend for $699.99. I guess I was expecting it to go for a lower price since it is about 7 years old. Are the 650Ds appreciating in price or just holding their value? Would a 2003 model be just as good as the 1996 model?

profjeff · Post by **profjeff** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 7:49 am

$680 is too much for a used Dakota IMHO. I bought my 2001 Dakota on eBay for $600. It was brand new. Musician's Friend offers free shipping and no tax on order over $299, and I do not think that these guitars have changed in terms of materials or quality since they were first released.

profjeff · Post by **profjeff** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 8:08 am

One more thought:

I have found that good--even FAIR--deals are becoming harder and harder to come by on eBay. I had my eye on a Fender Princeton Reverb from the late '70s that should have sold for no more than $350. The high bid was $405 and the reserve price was not met! This is but one of many examples of the trend of greedy sellers and ignorant buyers populating eBay these days.

IM (not so) HO, I have decided that eBay is great if you are looking for a hard to find item to fill in your collection if you don't mind paying a few dollars over Blue Book. I have also found that Musicians Friend and American Musical do not always have the best prices on guitars and amps, even though they will beat advertised prices of competitors. Two independent local retailers here in Colorado (Wildwood Guitars--http://www.wildwoodguitars.com/ and Woodsongs--http://www.hbwoodsongs.com/ ) consistently beat all of the big chains and have a much better selection of high end gear like Ricks and Gibson Historics than Guitar Center and the online superstores.