Anyone have experience with Waterstone basses?

[Pilgrim]

There are a number at sale prices on Ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300585619937&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

This LuLu tempts me the most...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300585619738&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

[Lightyear]

I think Ron, Leftybass, has one.  Certainly the price seems right.

EDIT:  DAMN!  Price looks good!  $649 direct!

http://waterstoneguitars.com/bass_new_lulu.shtml

[Dave W]

IIRC Psycho Bass Guy has an early Waterstone 12 string.

EBay seller is from Nashville, so is the company. At those prices on eBay, I wonder if something has happened.

[Pilgrim]

I think Ron, Leftybass, has one.  Certainly the price seems right.

EDIT:  DAMN!  Price looks good!  $649 direct!

http://waterstoneguitars.com/bass_new_lulu.shtml

Yeah, I know---it appears these have a history of selling at $450 even on sale.  There are at least three of the LuLu basses on Ebay right now.

[Lightyear]

Could be a cash flow thing?  Maybe blowing out the stuff that's getting stale to free up cash?  God knows that things are tough nowadys.  Regardless, this is a killer price if you're in the market.

[Dave W]

Yeah, I know---it appears these have a history of selling at $450 even on sale.  There are at least three of the LuLu basses on Ebay right now.

Way more than three. Look to the right of the Quantity box, as of right now there are 5 of the yellow, 6 of the cream, 7 of the black and more than 10 of the tobaccoburst available. And three of the seller's Skelly bass listings show multiple available.

Could be a cash flow thing?  Maybe blowing out the stuff that's getting stale to free up cash?  God knows that things are tough nowadys.  Regardless, this is a killer price if you're in the market.

Could be. This has got to be below normal dealer cost. Waterstone's website shows four stocking dealers in Nashville (including Gruhn), plus Bass NW. My guess is that the eBay seller is one of those four and is getting an overstock deal. Looking in the feedback, he's been selling Waterstone for a long time but the prices took a dive a few months ago. Maybe things have taken a turn for the worse.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

I noticed in one of the ads that there is a comment about finish blemishes to varying degrees on each bass. They're probably B-stock from a bad run being sold off for charity as a double write-off.

I do have an early TP12, the discontinued 34" scale version. As a 12'er, it is by far the nicest octave-string bass I have ever had in my mitts, and the basic 4-string sound without the octave strings is a big part of that. It has some of the most neutral and balanced sounding soapbars I have ever heard. They manage to pull off neutrality in a way that doesn't instantly sound neutered or over-bassy like most import soapbars. They respond to playing dynamics without overloading and going nasal or hollow sounding and have a good amount of output without being too hot: imagine the TB+, but more polite in the upper mids with slightly less output. They look like the same pickups in the "Skelly" line; I can't comment as to the tone of their Fender-type copies.

The construction on mine is flawless, but according to Gruhn's, where I purchased it, it was an evaluation model made for Tom himself that he felt had too much neck tension and weight, so it is possible that mine is better than a "stock" model. They didn't tell me it had belonged to him until after I bought it, and when A/B'ed against an identical model, but new bass in a different color, my greenie was definitely the superior in sound. I liked the look of mine better than the other as well, so I didn't pay much attention to construction in general, but both seemed comparable in that area.  

[dadagoboi]

It's very possible Waterstone's different models are made in different factories, even the same model.  That's how it is with a lot of imported product of any kind, not just musical instruments.  Run to run the same item will be shifted to another factory for various reasons, the main ones being price and quality.

$199 seems a reasonable price and Waterstone (who I believe is the actual seller) won't be losing any money.  Consider what the solid alder Fender clones from Rondo cost, they wouldn't continue to sell them if they were losing money.  These might just be discontinued colors that shouldn't have cost them much more than $100 landed.

[Pilgrim]

I like the style of the LuLu, but I can't convince myself that it will do anything my '63 P doesn't already do.

[Dave W]

I like the style of the LuLu, but I can't convince myself that it will do anything my '63 P doesn't already do.

It won't. But that's no reason not to buy it. 

[Pilgrim]

It won't. But that's no reason not to buy it. 

Ohhhhhhh, you're a BIG d**n help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   

[Nocturnal]

Dave is correct. You should listen to him 

[Pekka]

I do have an early TP12, the discontinued 34" scale version. As a 12'er, it is by far the nicest octave-string bass I have ever had in my mitts, and the basic 4-string sound without the octave strings is a big part of that. It has some of the most neutral and balanced sounding soapbars I have ever heard. They manage to pull off neutrality in a way that doesn't instantly sound neutered or over-bassy like most import soapbars. They respond to playing dynamics without overloading and going nasal or hollow sounding and have a good amount of output without being too hot: imagine the TB+, but more polite in the upper mids with slightly less output. They look like the same pickups in the "Skelly" line; I can't comment as to the tone of their Fender-type copies.

The construction on mine is flawless, but according to Gruhn's, where I purchased it, it was an evaluation model made for Tom himself that he felt had too much neck tension and weight, so it is possible that mine is better than a "stock" model. They didn't tell me it had belonged to him until after I bought it, and when A/B'ed against an identical model, but new bass in a different color, my greenie was definitely the superior in sound. I liked the look of mine better than the other as well, so I didn't pay much attention to construction in general, but both seemed comparable in that area.  

I have an early one too, with the Petersson signature decal and a serial number and the 52mm saddle width. I believe they called it TP2 at the time (TP1 was the one pickup version). My friend bought a second edition which has a slightly smaller body, bridge pickup a bit closer to the bridge and a 48mm saddle with. Comparing the two I have to say my bass was better built.

I changed the bridge pickup for a Charlie Christian -type PU my friend made and wired the bass stereo. The neck pickup is the stock one and works very well for the clean & bassy channel I use it for.

[Pilgrim]

Dave is correct. You should listen to him 

YOU!...get over in the corner with dat other guy....   

[mc2NY]

I owned a medium scale TP12 VERY briefly. The only bass that I ever returned to a seller because I really disliked it....felt cheesy. Looked great. The hardware and PUPs just felt very "Asian." It was one of the mother of toilet seat finishes (blue-ish.) Maybe that's why Petersson had a number of upgrades done to the ones he was using.

I've owned a LOT of 8- and 12-string basses (maybe 50 or so,) some even from other Asian makers. This one just really turned me off.....and it even came from the guitar tech of a name player who was unloading it, so was one of the better ones of the bunch one would assume.

But I see a load of the Waterstone's out there and there ARE fans of them. Just wasn't my cop o' tea.