Why isn't this '75 M85 II selling on eBay?

mavuser

mavuser

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gilded said:
I saw a refin sell for $2200.
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on ebay? if so, don't belive everything you see. maybe, but probably not. (like the 46 bids on drc's Starfire..."auction by commitee").

as to the 70's M-85s with humbuckers, I don't understand why they are worth so much more than a JS bass with the same hardware. maybe someone who owns, or has owned, one of each, can speak to that.

but the one on ebay has a significant repair in the headstock. If you follow that crack, it runs up near the bottom of the lower tuners in the area of the maple stripe. Don't really know the extent of the damage/repair, but it definately falls into the category of "repaired headstock." Which for a 1975 Guild bass w/ humbuckers, might not fetch $900.

but, there are 2 days left in the auction, and it could see some late/last minute action. headstock is a game changer though. It's what makes the non-damaged ones so valueable. That one on ebay looks pretty nice other than that though. im sure it sounds fantastic, at least for my taste.

my opinion is if you are looking for a player to gig with and make money playing bass in the typical gig setting, and this bass suits your needs, it could be worth trying to get it for as cheap as possible.
 
gilded

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mav',

I don't see why they are worth so much, either, but since I have one with a headstock crack, I was kind of hoping it was worth more than $900! ;) By the way, the headstock of my M85 fits tightly in the 'correct Guild case' I bought a few months after I bought the bass. At first I thought I had the wrong case, but I looked at pics of M85s in cases on the Web and they were all very tight. I don't think Guild ever changed the case dimensions from the original, one-inch-shorter hollowbody M85 models!

As to why they would be worth more than a JS, it's sort of a Les Paul shape vs. an SG shape argument, in that more people probably identify with the LP shape.

There are less M85 IIs than JSs, a lot less. Oh, Cheryl Crow plays one. That means something to some people. monkeygod plays one, too, albeit with Dark Stars. That means something to me! I love my bass, but it's pretty heavy for an old man at 9.5lbs.

Finally, M85 IIs listed at $450 when JS II basses were $375. List price is not always indicative of a higher value a few decades down the road, but it is something to consider.

By the way, it looks like someone finally took the plunge and bid on the M85 II! Hurray! Huzzah!
 
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