I'm looking at a bass on reverb. It is a Fender American Standard Jazz bass. I was about to pull the trigger on it and suddenly the seller ends the listing. So I sent him a message, and it turns out he had decided he was going to remove the neck and save it for a later project and sell the body only. He had already removed the neck, but he offered to reinstall the neck, or another neck if I desired, and to relist the bass so I could buy it.
I am looking for an all original bass, and he said the neck is original to this bass. When he offered other necks and told me he had removed the neck, I mentioned I was a little dismayed, and he replied:
"Ok, no problem. To be honest not sure why that would bug you, they're made to be taken apart and assembled, hence the bolt-on design. I can't imagine you'd find any Fender bass that hasn't been taken apart. In fact, any good luthier will do that for a setup. At any rate, keep me posted!"
Now I feel uncomfortable with this whole situation. First, that comes across a little bit condescending. Second, I think that most fender basses won't have had the neck removed unless it was damaged or needed major repair. Third, there is no reason to take the neck off for a setup and a luthier will agree.
I really wanted it originally, but this seems dodgy. I understand customizing your gear and I've taken guitars apart, but I don't know anything about this guy or his luthier skill. He just decided to remove a perfectly good neck off a perfectly good bass and sell it separately? Something about this rubs me the wrong way. Am I crazy? If I really like the bass, should I just blow off his BS and buy it? Should all this neck-removing business not bother me?
I am looking for an all original bass, and he said the neck is original to this bass. When he offered other necks and told me he had removed the neck, I mentioned I was a little dismayed, and he replied:
"Ok, no problem. To be honest not sure why that would bug you, they're made to be taken apart and assembled, hence the bolt-on design. I can't imagine you'd find any Fender bass that hasn't been taken apart. In fact, any good luthier will do that for a setup. At any rate, keep me posted!"
Now I feel uncomfortable with this whole situation. First, that comes across a little bit condescending. Second, I think that most fender basses won't have had the neck removed unless it was damaged or needed major repair. Third, there is no reason to take the neck off for a setup and a luthier will agree.
I really wanted it originally, but this seems dodgy. I understand customizing your gear and I've taken guitars apart, but I don't know anything about this guy or his luthier skill. He just decided to remove a perfectly good neck off a perfectly good bass and sell it separately? Something about this rubs me the wrong way. Am I crazy? If I really like the bass, should I just blow off his BS and buy it? Should all this neck-removing business not bother me?