Cheap Japanese Basses

[gweimer]

Some people still don't understand that you can change parts! So much the better for those who do.

My very first bass was the godawful Vox Mark IV teardrop bass.  Even at the age of 17, I decided that the pickups had to go.  My first bass mod was to replace the bridge pickup with a mini humbucker from Gibson.  Not being the craftsman, I figured that chiseling out the cavity would work.  It did, but it was ugly.  I ended up trying to cover up my mistake with chrome tape.   

[PhilT]

Teisco had some "interesting" design ideas ...

[Rocker949]

If someone such as Eastwood did a reissue of one of the Teisco solid body basses, such as the Spectrum, I might even be interested.  The problem is that they were cheaply made and fell apart.  Even today I personally think some of them did look cool, though. 

[lowend1]

I am very puzzled about how some cheap Japanese basses such as Teiscos are sometimes being sold for so much now.  Unless this is some kind of nostalgia craze, I don't understand how something like a Teisco is sometimes being sold for as much as $2,500.  There is one on gbase for that right now.  At GuitarCenter in the vintage section there is a Teisco being sold for $2.000. 

I just picked this up today. You mean I'm sitting on a gold mine?
Will the Metallica, Slayer and swastika engravings on the pickguard add or subtract value?

[Rocker949]

That's amusing.  But I probably have the cheapest basses of anyone here.  Sometimes I wonder if I should even be posting at all to spare myself the possible embarrassment. 

[Bert]

Will the Metallica, Slayer and swastika engravings on the pickguard add or subtract value?

Yes.

[rahock]

Yes.

  
Rick