Bob, my sincere apologies.
I attempted to dash off a response right away (a declinantion, I'm afraid), but hotmail must have eaten it. You get what you pay for, I suppose.
I hope I didn't put you out.
And now for the rest of you, so hungry for eye-candy...
OK, you want my list? My little black book of beautiful secondhand basses no one else knows about? I'm afraid I know of no jaw-dropping Series II fivers, sorry PN, but there are a few gems I've been keeping track of, some of which have been referenced in this group.
First place to call is Joey G's Music in NYC (joeygmusic.com). Last I heard, they had an '80s short-scale S2 in maple that a lucky buyer could land for just north of $2K US, and several equally attractive Spoilers marked at about a grand each. Their primary business is importing exotic handbuilt basses from overseas, so secondhand Alembics don't seem to draw their clientele's eye.
Their loss, I'd say.
Second call is to Lancaster Music Corporation in Bryn Mawr, PA, who have a very pretty '77 S1 tagged at $2500; this ten-pound longscale bass has been seen in the Alembic Club before.
There is a '79 short-scale S1 with bookmatched bubinga top on consignment on thelowend.net; it has only four strings, but the $3K price tag is negotiable.
I also know of several Series basses that have been in Guitar Center's possession for some years, primarily due to their insanely high price tags, but this is polite conversation and I don't like to sully it with talk of folk like that.
The very courteous folks at Galaxy Music in Atlanta have had an ('89?) Elan 4 for what seems like forever; its lovely koa top is a sight to behold but the all-maple body and PJ pickups scared me off. But they're having a liquidation sale, so who knows.
Now watch--none of this is a secret, but mayhap someong will be helped. Have at 'em, my wife will thank you.
