Anybody like this one?

[FrankieTbird]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gibson-2007-Blue-Flame-Les-Paul-Money-Bass-Body-Neck_W0QQitemZ200431076714QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item2eaa9f856a


Seems like an odd business model - pulling apart perfectly good instruments and parting them out??  Am I missing something here?
 

[Dave W]

They're not the only ones doing it. Must be profitable.

In this case, their asking price is what these basses sold for new two years ago when Gibson was blowing them out.

[FrankieTbird]

I just went back and took a look at this seller's completed auctions and he actually seems to be doing very well.  Now I'm wondering to myself - who's crazier, the seller or the bidders?!?  A lot of his neck/body auctions closed at just a bit less than what the complete guitar would sell for. 

[Dave W]

There's another one, look up reliablefender. Different location but I've wondered if there's a connection.

[the mojo hobo]

I like the blue one, and already have one that I think I paid $30 or $50 more than that BIN, but I got pickups, strings and a case, set-up and ready to play

[Denis]

That guy sells lots of parts but I'm fundamentally against parting out perfectly good, working instruments. That happens a lot in the motorcycle world too, and it just irritates me. Those guys go so far as to try and sell the used rod shells from what was a running bike a few days before. 

[OldManC]

I've kept an eye out and haven't seen any of those blown out LPs selling for similar prices lately. I guess if you had all the parts to throw it together it might be worth it but it does seem a little sad to see that shell like that...

[Dave W]

Too bad he didn't ditch that atrocious truss rod cover.

I can't remember, who named this Monkey Bass? eb2 Jim? A monkey on the TRC would be an improvement.

[eb2]

Sounds like me.  That whole changeover to the Money Bass was pretty sad.  I felt embarrassed for Gibson.  But the dollar sign truss rod cover on another Gibson, say an old ES-335, would look, dare I say it, money.

I had come across those Merc guitars a while back, and I suspect that these guys may be tapping into that.  There seems to be a ghost market for guitars that get damaged or returned from retailers, and they get resold to wholesalers that deal in them.  Some stuff gets stripped down and parted out, and others - like the ones from Merc - get repaired and have the factory serial number altered to void warranty. 

[drbassman]

I don't have a problem with folks parting out new basses (or even old basses that have been trashed or in need of major repair).  I'm not that much of a purist I guess.  I do have a problem with people being dumb enough to buy the pieces at exorbitant prices!  How lame is that?

I do, rarely, buy stripped parts for my own projects, but I'm pretty cheap and most of the guys using this business model will never see a dime from me.

[uwe]

Why not get the complete thing at a reasonable price? 

http://cgi.ebay.com/GIBSON-LES-PAUL-MONEY-BASS-ONE-OF-ONLY-400-MADE_W0QQitemZ330401039351QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item4ced6fc3f7

[drbassman]

Why not get the complete thing at a reasonable price?  

http://cgi.ebay.com/GIBSON-LES-PAUL-MONEY-BASS-ONE-OF-ONLY-400-MADE_W0QQitemZ330401039351QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item4ced6fc3f7

I agree with you 100% Uwe, but there most be some really ignorant buyers hanging out on eBay these days if this model is productive for the sellers at the prices they're asking.

[uwe]

I wonder if that is my first one whose fretjob was so atrocious they had to send it back.