New Fender American Vintage Series - Waiting Room

[mattj1stc]

Originally Posted by Zoomie

I went through the same thing. I did end up getting a 63 P in Sonic blue cheap, which took the sting out. I had to have a 63 for the shallowest of reasons, I love the sonic blue and it's my birth year. To me it was worth the gamble to let the 62 AVRI go. Short of the 63 being pure firewood (highly unlikely), I'll be giddy to have it.

I could not get right with Jazz pricing. I blew them off, threw another few hundred on the fire and bought a Dingwall Super J5. Whole nother world and a very different animal, but custom built standards and quality.

I would love to be a fly on the wall during pricing meetings. Fender is in a very unique position in that they have a rabid fan base. They have also shown that they will happily push fan loyalty to the breaking point. It's a crazy game of chicken and thus far, Fender has been the winner.

Funny, I have a Dingwall AB-5 that is, as you point out, a very different animal, but quite wonderful in its own way. Glad to see Dingwall getting some continued recognition.

I also would love to be a fly on the wall at those pricing meetings. Must be nice to have a fan base with inelastic demand. That said, I do think that a lot of the resistance in trying the smaller builders comes down to waiting and to not being able to flip the bass for a good price if you change your mind. After going small and liking it, I would head back to Fender when there's a good price and immediate availability. Waiting is pretty tough.

[Mastermold]

Originally Posted by Zoomie

I went through the same thing. I did end up getting a 63 P in Sonic blue cheap, which took the sting out. I had to have a 63 for the shallowest of reasons, I love the sonic blue and it's my birth year. To me it was worth the gamble to let the 62 AVRI go. Short of the 63 being pure firewood (highly unlikely), I'll be giddy to have it.

I could not get right with Jazz pricing. I blew them off, threw another few hundred on the fire and bought a Dingwall Super J5. Whole nother world and a very different animal, but custom built standards and quality.

I would love to be a fly on the wall during pricing meetings. Fender is in a very unique position in that they have a rabid fan base. They have also shown that they will happily push fan loyalty to the breaking point. It's a crazy game of chicken and thus far, Fender has been the winner.

Well, Fender has (as recently as two years ago) implemented and then retracted price increases, so they're looking to see what the market does and how it reacts.

[landau roof]

Originally Posted by MingusBass

Did anyone else see Jamareo Artis rock'n a Seminole Red '63 P bass with Bruno Mars on the Grammys last night? It looked sweet!

[sneha1965]

Originally Posted by One Drop

You can't compare new to used prices!

Vintage ones go for big bucks, even dogs. Used prices reflect desirability and not necessarily quality.

I'm not sure I understand your statement about comparing prices considering people compare prices and values of different items all the time. If someone is limited to a $1700 budget and there's a CS available used that they like why shouldn't they purchase it? What if they don't have $2000 and there isn't a 15% off sale running?

I try to get the most out of my dollar and if I have $1700 to spend on either a CS or a new AVS at 15% off, I will most likely pick the CS if for no other reason it will hold it's value at $1700. I don't mean to spoil the fun here, I like the AVS basses. I'm just a little taken back by the price. Is that wrong?

[Britbonic]

Originally Posted by backup

sweetwater has these models in stock:

'58 9lbs 2oz
'63 8lbs 10oz
'63 9lbs 2oz

Wow, those seem bit on the heavy side. Was hoping that wasn't the case. FWIW, my 57AVRI PBass - 8lbs 2oz. Like to be at less than 9 lbs for 4 stringers these days, just a tad over for 5s.

[Mojo-Man]

Originally Posted by landau roof

Ya, I caught that. Looked nice.

[Mastermold]

Originally Posted by Britbonic

Wow, those seem bit on the heavy side. Was hoping that wasn't the case. FWIW, my 57AVRI PBass - 8lbs 2oz. Like to be at less than 9 lbs for 4 stringers these days, just a tad over for 5s.

I suspect Sweetwater isn't taking the covers off before weighing them, so if you removed the covers you'd shed about a half pound.

[sneha1965]

[Britbonic]

Originally Posted by Mastermold

I suspect Sweetwater isn't taking the covers off before weighing them, so if you removed the covers you'd shed about a half pound.

Actually just weighed the covers from my 57 AVRI PBass (which I've debated forever whether or not to put on) - 4oz so 1/4lb.

[king_biscuit]

Originally Posted by Mastermold

I suspect Sweetwater isn't taking the covers off before weighing them, so if you removed the covers you'd shed about a half pound.

I just weighed my 82 Fullerton 57, 8.2 without covers, 8.4 with covers. The covers only weigh two tenths of a pound.

[king_biscuit]

Originally Posted by Britbonic

Wow, those seem bit on the heavy side. Was hoping that wasn't the case. FWIW, my 57AVRI PBass - 8lbs 2oz. Like to be at less than 9 lbs for 4 stringers these days, just a tad over for 5s.

Roger Sadowsky says it's getting harder and harder to find light ash and alder and that is why he started chambering bodies several years ago.

[Mastermold]

Originally Posted by Britbonic

Actually just weighed the covers from my 57 AVRI PBass (which I've debated forever whether or not to put on) - 4oz so 1/4lb.

Originally Posted by king_biscuit

I just weighed my 82 Fullerton 57, 8.2 without covers, 8.4 with covers. The covers only weigh two tenths of a pound.

That's interesting, less than I guessed. Thanks gents.

[petrus61]

Originally Posted by king_biscuit

Roger Sadowsky says it's getting harder and harder to find light ash and alder and that is why he started chambering bodies several years ago.

Roger Sadowsky is a very talented guy with oodles of experience, but he also is very calculating in his marketing. It's getting harder for HIM to find lightweight alder and ash because Samick buys all of it and distributes it as they see fit, which is usually arbitrarily throughout the market. No favorites.

[One Drop]

Originally Posted by sneha1965

I haven't played the new series. I own and have played the 62 RI jazz since 2005. The point I'm making and, you don't have to agree with me, is that we are now in used CS prices. I'm not sure what the last CS P bass sold for here on TB but I have seen many that sit here for weeks at $1700-$1800. Is the new AVS at the caliber of a CS bass now? I don't know but judging from my AVS 62 in comparison to my 64 jazz or my 59 P, I would say they have a ways to go.

I can understand comparing them to make a personal decision, but here you seem to be comparing them as absolutes by expecting them to be CS quality because the new price is the same as a used CS one.

[P Bass Legend]

Mine 62' P (february 2011) weights exactly 8lbs without the covers

[king_biscuit]

Originally Posted by petrus61

Roger Sadowsky is a very talented guy with oodles of experience, but he also is very calculating in his marketing. It's getting harder for HIM to find lightweight alder and ash because Samick buys all of it and distributes it as they see fit, which is usually arbitrarily throughout the market. No favorites.

What?

btw, he is not out shopping for wood, all of his stuff is outsourced from major manufacturers to his specs.

[Will Kelly]

So... I played these at NAMM

They are nice looking, yes. I think Fender did a good job. 33% price increase over the older models....

Not worth it. No sonic improvements over the older models at all. You are paying for lipstick, which is fine.

I would advise people to hold off on buying and see if Fender lowers the price. Or, wait until there are a few used ones floating about.

[Lowbrow]

Originally Posted by sneha1965

Do you think the new AVS basses are worth $500 more than the previous series? I don't. It's fine with me if you do but you're not changing my opinion.

New options after many years' stagnation commanding a high asking price upon introduction, which will serve to snag $ from impatient early adopters

[Will Kelly]

I should add... at this price range, you are into Ernie Ball Classic territory or seriously pimped out G&L USA territory as well as used or NOS Fender Custom shop, all of which will likely show more hands on build detail.

Also, as we all know, the new American Standard Series since 2012 is also killing, and at a steep discount to these models for essentially the same thing.

I play for a living, and the 2012 American Standard P I use at work compares equally IMO to my real 1960 P.

[sigmafloyd]

Originally Posted by Will Kelly

Not worth it. No sonic improvements over the older models at all. You are paying for lipstick, which is fine.

Let's be honest, anything over a Classic Vibe P Bass is pretty much lipstick. If you're going for passive P, there isn't a single gig in the world that would require anything more than a Squier CV P bass.

That being said, there is a huge market for lipstick on a Fender. People are obviously paying into the 4-5k range for boutique Fender clones.

I have to assume that everyone who thinks these are overpriced and that Fender is evil must agree that Sadowsky, Lakland, and Allevo Coppola are the devil incarnate. At least Fender designed these instruments in the first place.