• 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.

Fender prices back in the day...

#3
Not sure about the 70s but in the mid/late 60s Strats and Jazz Basses were around £180 GBP $360 USD in the UK.
Luckily for me in1966/7 I was stationed in Cyprus with the British Army in which my trade was Musician a; 24/7 job.
I purchased a new 1965 Sunburst Jazz Bass (Noel Redding Model) whilst there for £107 GBP $214 USD, it came back to the UK as "tools of trade" so no import duty.
I sold it around 2004 for £3500 GBP $7000 USD.
The prices I've given were for new not second hand.
 
#4
Waaaaaay back in the day, I was in 9th grade,....my Mom bought me a 1963 jazz and a fender bassman amp, for,...... wait for it,.........wait for it,.................. $300!!!!! That was around 1968, my first bass....what I wouldn't give to still have that bass,...
 
#5
voodoobassist said:
Waaaaaay back in the day, I was in 9th grade,....my Mom bought me a 1963 jazz and a fender bassman amp, for,...... wait for it,.........wait for it,.................. $300!!!!! That was around 1968, my first bass....what I wouldn't give to still have that bass,...
Click to expand...

Adjusted for inflation, that's ~$2000 in 2008 dollars, just FYI.
 
#6
Bassman62 said:
Not sure about the 70s but in the mid/late 60s Strats and Jazz Basses were around £180 GBP $360 USD in the UK.
Luckily for me in1966/7 I was stationed in Cyprus with the British Army in which my trade was Musician a; 24/7 job.
I purchased a new 1965 Sunburst Jazz Bass (Noel Redding Model) whilst there for £107 GBP $214 USD, it came back to the UK as "tools of trade" so no import duty.
I sold it around 2004 for £3500 GBP $7000 USD.
The prices I've given were for new not second hand.
Click to expand...

~$1300 in 2004 dollars = 436% return over 40 years, still not bad but keep this in mind when talking about vintage basses being a great investment vehicle. These numbers mean an annualized return of about 4.5% per year after accounting for inflation.
 
#8
20db pad said:
Here's a question for OG Talkbass members:

Back in 1976 or 1977, what was the average price for a brand new Fender Jazz or Precision at a music store?
Click to expand...

Actually I can remember trying to look at Fender basses with some friends around this time - there was a big store called the Fender Soundhouse in London - it was huge for a music store and very luxuriously appointed!

We went in - but got sent packing before we could even try an instrument! :hmm:

The salesman had taken one look at us and decided that we couldn't afford a Fender !! :p
 
#10
Bruce Lindfield said:
Actually I can remember trying to look at Fender basses with some friends around this time - there was a big store called the Fender Soundhouse in London - it was huge for a music store and very luxuriously appointed!

We went in - but got sent packing before we could even try an instrument! :hmm:

The salesman had taken one look at us and decided that we couldn't afford a Fender !! :p
Click to expand...

 
#15
GeneralElectric said:
I'm confused as to what Scent of a Woman has to do with Bruce Lindfield buying basses
Click to expand...

It would have made more sense if I'd found the scene I was looking for, the one right before that, when they go to the dealer to test-drive the car, and the salesman tries to kick them out , until Al Pacino's character bribes him with $2k in cash.

"Yeah, this is a valid Oregon driver's license, and we let appropriate customers test-drive the Testarossa."
 
#16
These are approximate prices I paid when I bought these items new.
The Fender basses were going for just a little more than the Gibson, somewhere in the $500 range
1974 Gibson Grabber $400 (actually $300 cash and 67-68 Mosrite Celebrity bass in trade)
1973 Fender Bassman 50 w/1x15 cab $500
1975 Fender Strat $500
 
#17
So adjusted for inflation, the "real price" of MIA Fenders has come down 25-50% since the 60s. I can see two things driving this decrease:

-Modern production techniques are more efficient

-Greater market supply - more competition drives the price down since today there are about a million alternatives.

Even given these things, I think in a more competitive market today an MIA fender would go for about $600-650 - that's what a comparable quality Korean bass costs plus slightly higher labor costs and lower transport costs.

But, Fender has many things going for it that make it not "just another bass" so this keeps demand for them high relative to other instruments.
 
#18
Actually the price of Fenders hasn't really changed IMO. Someone was telling me that the old price of such and such Fenders equals the actual price of the Fender instruments. At least for the Am. Standard type stuff.

Figure this is because of the built in 30% discount you get when you actually buy equipment that its actually cheaper. (Am Standard P-Bass is actually $1500)
 
#19
GeneralElectric said:
Actually the price of Fenders hasn't really changed IMO. Someone was telling me that the old price of such and such Fenders equals the actual price of the Fender instruments. At least for the Am. Standard type stuff.

Figure this is because of the built in 30% discount you get when you actually buy equipment that its actually cheaper. (Am Standard P-Bass is actually $1500)
Click to expand...

Are you talking about MSRP? MSRP is a load of donkey-doo; street price & MAP are the only figures that have any real meaning when comparing these types of values.
 
#20
Back in 1970 I purchased a '63 Jaguar guitar and a '63 blackface Deluxe Reverb amp both in lightly used condition for $250.

I also made $2.50 an hour building tennis courts, gas was about 30 cents a galllon, and Thrusday was nickel beer night.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back