Dr. Aquafresh, you've given me a lot to think about. Thanks, I have no idea how I'll proceed now. But an entire board replacement does sorta make sense. I hadn't thought of that at all.
Patman, it plays fine but the frets wouldn't take another dressing. I feel this particular bass deserves to be made whole. It's taken a lot of hits but is still close to how it came out of the factory.
God of Thunder, I didn't try to renegotiate the price, it just made an auction that looked like a great deal into one that was just OK. If the rod didn't work I would have definitely done something about it. But it did teach me a lesson. Really look at pix and ask every question you can think of. If not answered, walk. I missed seeing what was visible and I didn't ask any questions. That WAS a lot smaller pic in the auction though.