Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
birth year basses
- Thread starter squiershredder
- Start date
-
- Tags
- year
Is that original? It looks like someone added a pickup? I could be wrong, of course. Maybe the EB-1 had a second pickup by 1958?
An original P bass! Or a rickenbacker 4000, I believe '56 was the first year of production.
I have no idea I have never seen 1958 in person but I did have my greedy little paws on a 1969 once had the same 1 humbucker as the EB-O at the neck and sounded the same
They sure did, all of the EB-1 basses - be it from the 50s or the 60s - were single PU units.
As for the thread subject, I've never even contemplated a "birth year bass" until I've joined this forum, the thought had simply never crossed my mind. I still feel no attraction towards instruments that are as old as myself by default.
Having said that, last year I did buy a guitar from my birth year without knowing it - I did realize it was old - and only found out by running the serial number against the database.
I ran out of space in my recording studio! At least two instruments have to go first.
Born March, 1951, so I could in theory buy a birth year P-bass, but they were first sold in the Fall I think so not a birth-year/birth-month bass-if I were a rich man. Seems like most other electric basses from 1951 are already in museums.
But I wouldn't buy;
too heavy, unsculpted, wide neck, have to insure it. Heh, I didn't get to be an imaginary rich man by throwing away my imaginary money.
But I wouldn't buy;
Absolutely. I would love an 83 fender elite, either P or J. I'm about to have a kid soon too (1st) and Im thinking of getting them a birth year instrument... so they better want to play bass or daddy just has another bass!
I have a 1983 Pre-EB StingRay that is my birth year bass. Love it but did what I thought I would never do...put it up for sale. I did so because I bought a 1963 Fender P Bass that is THE TRUTH!
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
1960? I suppose a 1960 EB-2 might be nice to have, but I already have a '68. Precision? I would rather have an older one with the V neck instead of the neck that was current in 1960. Thunderbirds weren't being built yet. I suppose an Explorer would be interesting, if they were in production in 1960. The first were built in about 1957, if I remember right. But, really, I don't care that much.
i dont have a birth year bass, but if i could have one it would be 1995 Status Empathy. However i own a 1988 Status S3000 so i guess i m good
Birth year imstruments aren't something I crave, but it just so happens that I would almost sell my sister for a '68 Tele bass, in Pink Paisley, or Blue Flower- and, coincidentally, that is my year!
Regards
Regards
The birth-year-bass thing never meant much to me, but I do think it's cool to have a bass that's almost as old or even older than you are.
I was born in 1970 and have owned three basses older than me - a '68 EB-2 that I still own, a '68 Starfire I that I sold, and a '68 Gibson Melody Maker Bass in Pelham Blue that I also sold. The closest to BYB for me is my early-'70s Gibson Les Paul Triumph - they started coming out in 1971 so it's a little bit younger than me:
I picked this thing up around 2008 for $1000 from a guy who worked at the Golden Gate Bridge - it was foggy and we pulled off and over to these temp buildings where he worked - it's in such good condition for its age - probably in better condition than me!
I was born in 1970 and have owned three basses older than me - a '68 EB-2 that I still own, a '68 Starfire I that I sold, and a '68 Gibson Melody Maker Bass in Pelham Blue that I also sold. The closest to BYB for me is my early-'70s Gibson Les Paul Triumph - they started coming out in 1971 so it's a little bit younger than me:
I picked this thing up around 2008 for $1000 from a guy who worked at the Golden Gate Bridge - it was foggy and we pulled off and over to these temp buildings where he worked - it's in such good condition for its age - probably in better condition than me!
I personally don't see the appeal of a birth-year bass. I was born in 1971, but if choosing between an otherwise identical 1971 and '72 bass and the '72 was a better deal, I'd buy the '72. I have basses I'm emotionally attached to, but year of manufacture doesn't figure into it for me.
