The value of vintage instruments

[Steve S]

With the prices of vintage gear going up all of the time, I've wondered about this and want to see what people think. If I bought a new MIA Fender bass, not custom shop but a regular production one and also purchased a NYC Sadowsky and an American Lakland today, would the Sadowsky and Lakland be worth more than the Fender in 50 years?

[brianrost]

The real question is whether anyone will even care about bass guitars in 50 years.

[Trevorus]

Originally Posted by brianrost

The real question is whether anyone will even care about bass guitars in 50 years.

Well, they said in the 80's that the bass was going to be replaced by the keyboardists left hand...

[RWP]

Originally Posted by brianrost

The real question is whether anyone will even care about bass guitars in 50 years.

I think so, there have been tons of keyboards that can quite effectively simulate bass introduced yet the bass is still being played.

IMHO the NYC Sadowsky and the Lakland would both be worth more than the Fender.

[Fassa Albrecht]

The truth IS that even the best simulations cannot replicate the feel and the prescence of an actual bass being played by a bassist. The sound might sound the same, but it is mechanical in comparison to an actual bass.
This is one of the reasons I am reluctant to use a drum machine or pre-recorded guitar tracks. Synthesizers cannot react to improvised bass lines or impromptu song changes.

[BillyB_from_LZ]

Originally Posted by Steve S

With the prices of vintage gear going up all of the time...

They've been going up recently anyway... I understand that prices dropped quite a bit in the early '80s causing many American made vintage instruments to head off to Asia.

If you're truly looking for an investment, buy an older Fender Jazz Bass...especially in a less common color. That should do fine, for a bass.

Back in 1980, I bought a 1963 Gibson Byrdland (I was a huge Ted Nugent fan back then). A guy offered to trade me a 1957 Strat for it...I figured that there was no way that a bolt on neck Fender was worth as much as a Byrdland (and I think both instruments were worth about the same at the time). I declined. Today, the Byrdland would be worth $5K to $10K, the Strat probably over $30K. At the same time, a 1959 Les Paul Standard was worth $3500 to $5000...today, a lot more than that!!!

[tkozal]

Fender...lets see if these other co's outlive their Founders....