Amber Fireglo 4003, too expensive?

[TheBeat]

Hi, I've been lurking here awhile, but have finally grown a set and decided to lose my virginity.

My name is Al and i'm from Dundee in Scotland. I'm 44 and currently going through a middle age crisis of sorts. I live on my own so have a fair bit of disposable income to hand. I've only been playing bass, pretty badly i might add ( i consider my self better than sid Vicious, but not quite as good as Dee Dee Ramone) for 6 months and already have a Fender Custom Shop P bass with Jazz neck and PUP's by EMG, hipshot tuners, maple neck and fingerboard with black binding and block inlays, bad *** bridge in a lovely garish red.

I've recently bought a 4003 in Monty Brown which i love to bits and am seriously considering adding another 4003 to the stable. The bass in question is a brand new Amber Fireglo and the price being asked is £1649, which is around £500 more than i paid for my 2005 Monty. Is this a stupid price to pay even if it is brand new? It is a grey import.
It's a lovely looking bass and of course has the vintage tone circuit whihc the Monty is missing, i guess that i'm looking for someone to either talk me out of this or alternatively tell me that to pass it up would be stupid...either one will do

[rickaddict]

Welcome Allistair!

I'm afraid I'm not gonna be of much use to your dilemma...I just thought I'd welcome you!

[brycycle]

welcome, Al. a forumite has one for sale for $1650US. i've bought 2 basses from him in the past and both transactions were a pleasure, as were the instruments!

link:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=382698

[whojamfan]

Welcome to the forum Al, my advice is before you get hooked upand don't live alone anymore,get all the goodies you can. Keep playing,and enjoy!

[johneek]

Welcome. I believe there are much better deals to be had if you look around.....you certainly do much better than 1649 British Pounds.

I saw one here http://www.webcorral.com/ivg_home_page.shtml for $1399 USD....someone here might be willing to buy it and ship it to you.....

[jakeox]

welcome, Al. a forumite has one for sale for $1650US. i've bought 2 basses from him in the past and both transactions were a pleasure, as were the instruments!

link:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=382698

Thanks, Bryce. Welcome, Al, and if you are interested in the AFG 4003 I have for sale, drop me a PM here. I'm on a serious buying and selling kick and I've sent two basses to England in the past couple weeks alone. I don't know how much the customs fees would be, but shipping comes in around $100 through USPS.

[bob_atherton]

Hi Alistair, I think that sort of money is way over the top. AFG have turned up in the UK, I've been very tempted myself.

I would have thought that 1200 tops should do it. That's over 400 quid saved and that is a lot of money. Hang on in there especially if you already have a Monty. What part of the UK are you from BTW?

All the best, Bob

[haw]

Awright Alistair?

Unless you have a really bad case of GAS, I'd dinghy it chief. 1649 quid is waaaay too much for a stock 4003 in a different colour.

I mean, Merchant City music were about a year ago selling JG ones for £999. There's always Snakesound on ebay too - picked up my '05 MG off him for £950.

That said, if you took up the offer of having one shipped in from the US, you are taking about a third off the US price then adding the shipping and import duty on top. You still be saving money though.

[ricnbacker]

Hi Al, Wlecome to the board.

As others have said I would pass on this one.

My only advice to you based on your introduction is learn to play bass before you start dropping all sorts of money on equipment.

Good basses do not make you play better, certainly an incentive but the best player is the world can make the worst bass sound good

[TheBeat]

H again guys and thanks for the welcome and advice.

I’ve decided to give this one a miss…thought it was too much myself even though it is a lovely colour.

Jake, thanks for letting me know about the AFG that you have but I really would rather avoid the hassle of importing if at all possible, though if I did go down that route I have friend in Redondo Beach who could send me a bass if I found one that I liked.

Bob, I’m in Dundee, the city that was once known for the 3 J’s: Jute, Jam (not the band, the preserve) and Journalism. But which is now known for the 4 J’s : Jute, Jam, Journalism and Junkies.

Rory, nice to see another Scot here, Im originally from Falkirk so I know your part of the country relatively well. Glad to see that you eventually managed to get your Ric, having read previous posts by you I knew that you had been Gas’ing for one.

As for spending too much on the equipment as a beginner….well I may have been a bit self deprecating in the description of my playing ability…it’s something we Scots are known for…I can actually play marginally better than Dee Dee …in my opinion of course. Dee Dee might say otherwise

Anyway, here’s a pic of my 2 basses, the main reason for the purchase of the Ric, apart from the sound of course, was the fact that it weighs much less than the P-Bass which was not helping the shoulder problem that I have. I actually like the sluttiness of the P-Bass