Ontopic String's and Adi's gear & pedal thread

I try to stay away from "vintage" gear if I don't know the seller really well.
I like to think I could spot a phony but some people put a lot of effort into ripping you off. :lol:
Alibaba manufacturers don't make "relics". They make it so shiny you just know the Geiger counter is going to tictictic until your hair falls out and your eyes are bleeding.
 
The thing is, about 7 out of 10 basses are made in China these days. Another one out of the ten are made in Indonesia. That leaves the rest of the world's countries to build the rest of them.
The only difference between a Chinese bass that you buy off Alibaba and one that you buy in Guitar Center is the lack of quality control through some sort of American agent.
 
The thing is, about 7 out of 10 basses are made in China these days. Another one out of the ten are made in Indonesia. That leaves the rest of the world's countries to build the rest of them.
The only difference between a Chinese bass that you buy off Alibaba and one that you buy in Guitar Center is the lack of quality control through some sort of American agent.
Agreed. I have a Retrovibe Rickenfaker from Retrovibe in the UK - they had those ran off as a special batch for them, slightly different features than the stock ones available on Alibab through seller "chowny". $293 USD for a Rickalike ;) But strange pickup arrangement - a huge MM clone below, split P bass above. The MM clone pickup is solidly good. My main complain was the cheap pots - had to redo all the pots and switches.

https://retrovibe.co.uk/product-category/basses/
 
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But scroll up to the one that I linked which is the Lee sklar Signature fruitless semi-hollow bass. Warwick some ungodly amount of money like $5,000 for that and they don't offer it in a 5 string format. To pay $400 off Ali Baba and then maybe another 300 to get it playable is almost nothing.

The RockBass Star Bass is $999 last I checked.
 
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