Unusual Spoiler on ebay (Japan)

[edwardofhuncote]

Beautiful quilted maple Spoiler, but with purpleheart neck laminate upgrades, and the body looks slightly different too... something about the horns and proprtions. Custom order? There isn't a lot of info in the description.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F173865358234

[adriaan]

It's the small-body Spoiler, it should have an R in the serial number.

[edwardofhuncote]

Thanks for confirmation Adriaan...    so is the 'R' another Rokkomann designation? (like the Strat-shaped guitar from Friday's lesson) I can't quite zoom in far enough with the mobile app but in one of the pictures there is the original build sheet. If I squint one eye it looks like an 87-something. Indeed it does look like an R stamped in the fingerboard. Looky-there!

[hammer]

Is it my eyes, my monitor, or is there a hole in the back plate.  Regardless, at $3,500 plus for a Spolier it's a bit of a pricing exaggeration

[keith_h]

I imagine that is a good price for a Spoiler in Japan where it is located.

[pauldo]

Is it my eyes, my monitor, or is there a hole in the back plate.  Regardless, at $3,500 plus for a Spolier it's a bit of a pricing exaggeration

Brian,
I’m the wrong guy to speak when it comes to vision... but to these old eyes it almost looks like a patch of some type of corrosion?  Seem odd if it were a ‘blown out’ hole, plus the screw is there...

Paul (who is way over due for a trip to an optometrist) (and tipping his hat to Peter!  )

[edwardofhuncote]

I see it too... the whole backplate looks odd; it may be a reflection or it may be broken out around the screw. There's also another bb-sized spot that could be a hole... or just another spot. If that bass were mine, a brass replacement would be in order. 

I didn't really give much thought to the price because it was in Japan, where the asking price of Alembics seems to be a bit more inflated. Just thought it was a cool, kinda' unusual bass. 

[keith_h]

I'm with Paul in thinking it is corrosion. If it were a hole I would expect to see part of the control cavity rabbet and the silver paint coating the interior. In any event I would ask for a photo of the plate by itself and of the control cavity were I interested in the bass.

[mica]

The backplate looks like plastic with the original protective paper in place. By now it will be hard to remove, hence the aborted attempt.