I love classifieds. I’m sort of addicted to them. My wife will tell you that I look at the Pennysaver religiously every Thursday. I scan the DC/Baltimore Craigslist every day for…stuff, stuff I can’t afford but sure would like. I had a brief dream of buying my bride a used Miata for an anniversary present (you laugh, but they’re pretty cheap) until I remembered that the Ireland trip is still being paid off and a new bed is much more important.

Yesterday, I found an ad for a $700 used 3/4 upright bass. I played upright bass for about ten years and put it down when I went to college, always hoping I’d be able to pick another one up someday. This morning, I went out and took a look at it, hoping for some reason not to want to buy it. I picked it up, felt the familiar balance and weight, and years of practice came back to me. It looked pretty good; it had a nice deep tone. The action was good; the strings felt like they had life, and the fingerboard was pretty smooth. Closer inspection revealed a cracked neck at the top of the body (it looked like it had split clean through, and the owner told me it had been repaired with a steel rod by a luthier in Annapolis) and a bunch of chips around the edges. There were two bows, both German (a good sign) and they felt pretty good, if not bent a little too much.

I’m really having a hard time knowing what to do here; I’d offer $550 for the whole thing, knowing the neck is split, but I’m having a hard time justifying the cost when we have so much other stuff going on. Plus, I have an electric bass that I don’t get to play at all, given my current schedule.

I hate classifieds.