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Fender: Vintage or Custom Shop?

Which would you buy, if there can be only one (Fender)?

  • Custom Shop

    Votes: 143 60.6%

  • Pre-CBS

    Votes: 93 39.4%
  • Total voters
    236
Craig Orndorff

Craig Orndorff

Apr 26, 2021
381
516
40
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
#1
I’ve been thinking about long term gear goals, since I’ve basically reached a point where I have all the different kinds of basses I’m into (crazy, right?). I have a checking account that I use solely for music stuff. I figure I can start saving and in my 10-20 years pick up something super cool. I’m pretty much a Fender guy, so that’s the direction I’m thinking of going.

So if you guys could have one high end Fender, what would you choose: a Custom Shop or something pre-CBS?
I realize that if I go the vintage route we are probably talking much longer to save, but this would be the Bass my daughter would eventually inherit. So I want it to be something super special that holds some value, whether she plays or not (and luckily for me she’s shown a lot of interest in music and lights up whenever I show her the Daisy Rock line).
 
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#6
I grabbed a well cared for Fender Custom Shop 64 Jazz Bass and couldn’t be happier. The fret work and rolled edges are a huge plus for me after decades of playing P-necks with fret sprout.

I don’t know if I’d go through the bother to order one from Fender. There are so many available out there without the wait.

As an aside I also have a 69 Telecaster Bass. If I didn’t already own it I’d look for a CS version in a heartbeat.
 
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#7
For me - Custom Shop. In fact, I used to own a Custom Shop Jazz (62 light relic in Oly White). Sublime specimen. Long story but I traded it.

I bought it used for a very reasonable price. I had been looking for a while. When I saw it just sitting there in the shop, I bought it immediately. Took it home on my motorcycle in fact.

While I would not turn my nose up at an vintage instrument in the right situation, it’s not a goal of mine. I would likely buy another CS (or CS caliber bass from another manufacture) if it suited my needs.

I beleive you get a better bang for the buck with a CS instrument vs vintage. But if you take that to logical conclusion, you get just as much bang for your buck with a Squier CV too!

(When I owned the CS Jazz, I also owned a couple of MIMs, an MIJ and a CV). I was just missing an MIA and a vintage for the straight flush…..)

But buy it for yourself, not to impress anyone else. 99.9% of those in your musical circles will not notice or care for more than a nanosecond. Maybe whomever you eventually sell it to will care the most….
 
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#9
Vintage, assuming it hasn't been messed about, but even 70's are getting good money now, so in a few years??

I swapped out everything bar the pickups on a CS - I can swap back easy enough. So, apart from 'name' or perceived kudos, I don't think CS is any sort of revered quality. Of course, you can say the same for vintage. My 70's jazz was a dog.
 
#11
I would try to find a vintage FIRST. With vintage, I would always play before buying. The best playing/sounding bass I have ever touched (and I have literally played hundreds) was a refin, banged all to pieces, '63 P bass. That same day I played a '59 P bass that was nothing special at all.

If I couldn't find a vintage, I would buy a new one.
 
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#13
I recall reading years ago about the Fender Custom Shop duplicating, then replicating for public sale, Clapton’s famed Blackie Stratocaster. Clapton went to say he didn’t want to subject his vintage piece to the rigors of touring.

That's what got my attention about Fender Custom Shop.
 
#15
I can only speak about the real-deal vintage side. Unless you want an original-as-possible vintage Fender bass, you can likely find a fair deal on a good playing but modified vintage bass.

My 1967 Precision (not pre-CBS; neck date 1/5/1967), while heavily modified, is a top-notch bass and was affordable ($1,800) by today's prices. I wrote about it here NBD 1967 Fender Precision Bass.

My 1965 Jazz Bass (also not pre-CBS; neck date 10/15/1965) is another good instrument, but my ears and hands prefer a Precision Bass. I purchased the Jazz Bass in 1977 for $350, when it was just a 12 year old bass with a fancy paint job. While I'm glad its now valuable, I would never purchase one today for what they are going for. I wrote about that bass here: Does a Bass’s Sound Change as it Ages?

You can likely always find a recent bass made to the specification of a pre-CBS bass, but there will never be more authentic pre-1965 basses made.
 
Last edited:
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#16
Why only pre CBS?

Recently I bought a Yamaha BB3000 from a gentleman who was selling off his spare instruments and keeping only one bass, so after we'd done the deal I asked to see the one he'd decided to keep, all the while thinking "wow...if it's better than this BB3000, it must be !@#$% fantastic".

He opened the case to reveal a mint condition 1975 alder-bodied sunburst precision with rosewood board. I picked it up and played it for five minutes. Verdict? Without doubt the best playing, best sounding Fender Precision I've come across during my 40 year bass-playing career. I hate to say it, but it was quite a bit better than my Custom Shop '59 Precision { and my CS is spectacular }, and if he'd offered to sell it to me there and then, I would've ponied up 5K for it on the spot without batting an eyelid.

The very best of the best, from 1975. Who'd have thought? Certainly not I, yet there it was.

Better still, I got to play it. :)
 
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#17
PJ Muzikmansky said:
Why only pre CBS?

Recently I bought a Yamaha BB3000 from a gentleman who was selling off his spare instruments and keeping only one bass, so after we'd done the deal I asked to see the one he'd decided to keep, all the while thinking "wow...if it's better than this BB3000, it must be !@#$% fantastic".

He opened the case to reveal a mint condition 1975 alder-bodied sunburst precision with rosewood board. I picked it up and played it for five minutes. Verdict? Without doubt the best playing, best sounding Fender Precision I've come across during my 40 year bass-playing career. I hate to say it, but it was quite a bit better than my Custom Shop '59 Precision { and my CS is spectacular }, and if he'd offered to sell it to me there and then, I would've ponied up 5K for it on the spot without batting an eyelid.

The very best of the best, from 1975. Who'd have thought? Certainly not I, yet there it was.

Better still, I got to play it. :)
Click to expand...

It’s always been my understanding that there was a steep decline in quality during the CBS years, but I’m open to arguments.
 
#19
Custom shop for me. Whether it would be a new/custom order vs. a used FCS would be open. I get the allure of vintage instruments, and wouldn't mind owning a birth-year Jazz bass ('65), but... I buy basses to play them, and I'd be afraid to play a vintage instrument and even more afraid to gig with one.
 
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#20
Craig Orndorff said:
I’ve been thinking about long term gear goals, since I’ve basically reached a point where I have all the different kinds of basses I’m into (crazy, right?). I have a checking account that I use solely for music stuff. I figure I can start saving and in my 10-20 years pick up something super cool. I’m pretty much a Fender guy, so that’s the direction I’m thinking of going.

So if you guys could have one high end Fender, what would you choose: a Custom Shop or something pre-CBS?
I realize that if I go the vintage route we are probably talking much longer to save, but this would be the Bass my daughter would eventually inherit. So I want it to be something super special that holds some value, whether she plays or not (and luckily for me she’s shown a lot of interest in music and lights up whenever I show her the Daisy Rock line).
Click to expand...

If those were the only two choices, custom shop hands down, full stop, end of story.

Strange but true: vintage Fenders weren't as well-built as modern Fenders, and nowhere near the quality level you'd get from a CS instrument hand-made by a dedicated luthier. Even pre-CBS Fenders were made by hand on band-saws, pin-routers, belt sanders, hand drills and other 1950's technology. The materials, especially the wood, was also significantly inferior in quality, and at the time, the workforce at the Fender factory was still semi-skilled at making basses and there were lots of mistakes made, etc.

The idea here is to not be starry-eyed about vintage Fender instruments, especially pre-CBS basses. Their value is in their collectibility and nostalgia, absolutely not in their quality as actual musical instruments. Even many of the existing pre-CBS basses have QC issues that would make you pull your hair out if you were trying to gig them.

I always hate to burst that bubble, but it really is true. If you're after a "working player's" Fender, just get a modern one. It'll be better in every conceivable way than a vintage Fender as a player. As a collector, of course, entirely different story. But for playing and gigging, just buy a new one.

I actually now own two of the higher-end Fenders I'd ever consider (Tony Franklin P bass, Jaco Artist J bass), and I can't see any reason why I'd need to spend exponentially more money on a CS version that would really only be somewhat better. And there's no comparison between these basses and vintage ones...

L
 
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