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Gigging vintage basses; Sinner or Saint?

#42
Vintage Basses? Play em!

In my own case 3 of my basses qualify for vintage status, an '86 Ibby RB885, a '78 Ric 4001 and a '59 Fender PBass. All get played out on a regular basis. The Pbass gets played out the most. In fact it's been on every gig I've ever done since I got it in 1973.

That fender is something evey special to me. It was the first "real" bass I ever bought and was my only bass for 7 years. It's not the age, tho that may have something to do with it. It's not the look of it. It's beatup and had a horrible paint job done to it before I got it. It's the way it feels and sounds. It's comfortable. I think that's the only word to describe it.

It's seen me in and out of love, with the blues, with joy, with anger, in the good times, helped me thru some bad times. It's seen women come and go, friends come and go, bands come and go.

It's played Yes and Miles Davis, Cream and Weezer, Merle Haggard and Return To Forever.

To not take it on a gig woiuld be almost unthinkable.
 
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#43
Jools4001 said:
Because there comes a point in some basses 'life' when it means more to the owner than just being a musical instrument.

My '73 Rickenbacker may not be what you would neccesarily call 'vintage' but out of the 50 or so years that bass guitars have been around it has seen 35 of them - so it's getting there. I got it in 1976 after saving hard out of saturday job wages and my parents putting up half the money for my 21st birthday. Since then it's seen me through many different bands of hugely diverse genres. It was my first 'top end' bass (back then there were Fenders, Gibsons, Ricks and not much else that would pass for 'pro' grade instruments) and it helped shape me as a bassist. It helped me earn enough gig money to make the difference between my family eating and not eating and survived being sold itself any number of times to pay a mortgage instalment or a couple of weeks groceries (Money was actually changing hands one time when my wife said "don't sell it - we'll get through somehow"). For 20 odd years it was my only bass and even when I had reached an age when solvency was no longer an issue it was still helping pay college fees.

In the last 10 years I have been able to indulge myself with a couple of extra 'top end' basses and a couple of cheapy spare basses, but it's only in the last 4 years that my 5 string fretless has been my main bass and taken over from the Rick.

Of course the Rick is meant to be played and it still does a fair number of gigs (just not every gig like it used to). It's also used for recording and sounds great.

But, one of the reasons that it is in semi retirement is that it has been such a large part in the fabric of my life that I really couldn't bear to see it damaged or stolen. I will never sell it, but what I am going to do is search out for a young bassist (I already have one in mund) who is struggling for a decent bass and when I have assured myself that they have the talent and lifelong passion, and will cherish my Rick as much as I do, I'm going to give it to them.
Click to expand...

Man, I almost cried when I read this. Great post. Thank You.
 
#45
Jools4001 said:
You have a good point, but Yo Yo Ma doesn't normally gig in Irish bars with people dancing, tripping over the mike stands or spilling Guiness into his cello
Click to expand...

Yo Yo Ma takes his cello to a wider range of venues than most of us see, and this means lots of travel. Lots. That is where the hazards to a fragile instrument really multiply.

Besides, a little Guinness being spilt usually means I am playing better--probably true for many of us. :p :p :p

http://www.reuters.com/article/gc08/idUSN1718406020070419?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0
 
#48
I have a 78 P-Bass that is now worth considerably more than what I paid for it, and
I gig with it a lot; even at the biker club gigs that come to my band time to time!!!
I myself am not one to hide any instrument in a closet or a bank vault. I say play 'em
if you got 'em.
 
#49
I have vintage basses, older but not vintage basses, more recent basses, and new basses.

I gig the one that sounds best and that happens to be one I assembled a few months ago from parts both new and not-so-new.

Jools4001 said:
You have a good point, but Yo-Yo Ma doesn't normally gig in Irish bars with people dancing, tripping over the mike stands or spilling Guiness into his cello
Click to expand...

I'll have to try the Guinness treatment on my bass. We're playing a "Irish" gin-mill tomorrow night so maybe I'll try it then.
 
#51
i've been playing my friend's '78 p-bass for a year now in a blues band. it is heavy as heck, but sounds perfect. and my friend (who mite just be crazy) has no issues with me keeping it at my place and using it wherever....

... i wouldn't wanna have to replace it though...

but this brings up a slight tangent:
my friend bought it for $250 in a pawn shop a while ago. so to him its worth what he paid, not necessarily its replacement value. i notice a lot of posters are playing vintage gear that they bought long ago at reasonable prices. when i was a gtr player, my only axe was my '78 335, worth a lot now, but it was "just my gtr" to me. i played at all sorts of places i probly shouldn't have, and spilled my share of things on it in the process.

so, if you buy a vintage fender for multiple thousands of dollars, are you "investing?" would you go gigging with it? but if it's just your old bass that you have owned forever, then sure you bought it to play...
 
#52
Jools4001 said:
Because there comes a point in some basses 'life' when it means more to the owner than just being a musical instrument.

It helped me earn enough gig money to make the difference between my family eating and not eating and survived being sold itself any number of times to pay a mortgage instalment or a couple of weeks groceries (Money was actually changing hands one time when my wife said "don't sell it - we'll get through somehow").
Click to expand...

Man, you're lucky having a wonderful and supportive wife:)
 
#55
It would have to be a very special gig to get me to risk my '61 jazz, but I played out my '78 Guild a few weeks ago. I must admit emotional attachment to my Jazz, it was the first good bass I ever purchased, and it did get played out many times. But I have played reissues and Joe Osbournes, and they are not equal replacements. I would have no problem taking my jazz to a jam session or a recording gig, but I cannot justify taking it to a bar where I have to worry about leaving it alone when I need to use the restroom.
 
#56
I don't have any vintage basses now but when I had my '72 Jazz I played it as my #1 for more than 10 years (mostly biker bars and dives). I also played a '69 EB-0 for a couple of years after that but, unfortunately, nobody ever tried to steal it. Instruments are meant to be played and the good ones are played. If you see a mint condition vintage guitar or bass, it is probably a dog or it would show some wear.
 
#58
Jools4001 said:
Because there comes a point in some basses 'life' when it means more to the owner than just being a musical instrument.

My '73 Rickenbacker may not be what you would neccesarily call 'vintage' but out of the 50 or so years that bass guitars have been around it has seen 35 of them - so it's getting there. I got it in 1976 after saving hard out of saturday job wages and my parents putting up half the money for my 21st birthday. Since then it's seen me through many different bands of hugely diverse genres. It was my first 'top end' bass (back then there were Fenders, Gibsons, Ricks and not much else that would pass for 'pro' grade instruments) and it helped shape me as a bassist. It helped me earn enough gig money to make the difference between my family eating and not eating and survived being sold itself any number of times to pay a mortgage instalment or a couple of weeks groceries (Money was actually changing hands one time when my wife said "don't sell it - we'll get through somehow"). For 20 odd years it was my only bass and even when I had reached an age when solvency was no longer an issue it was still helping pay college fees.

In the last 10 years I have been able to indulge myself with a couple of extra 'top end' basses and a couple of cheapy spare basses, but it's only in the last 4 years that my 5 string fretless has been my main bass and taken over from the Rick.

Of course the Rick is meant to be played and it still does a fair number of gigs (just not every gig like it used to). It's also used for recording and sounds great.

But, one of the reasons that it is in semi retirement is that it has been such a large part in the fabric of my life that I really couldn't bear to see it damaged or stolen. I will never sell it, but what I am going to do is search out for a young bassist (I already have one in mund) who is struggling for a decent bass and when I have assured myself that they have the talent and lifelong passion, and will cherish my Rick as much as I do, I'm going to give it to them.
Click to expand...
That's a great story. I also have a little story if anyone cares to read. Back in 90' I was DJing at a club. This guy comes in the booth and tells me he has a bass he wants to sell because he needs some money. I told him I didn't play bass but i'll take a look at it. The bass didn't have any knobs on it and I knew nothing about it. I told the guy to leave it and I would get it checked out at Sam Ash the next day. They said it worked offered me $200 ( he wanted $500 ). I went to work that night and planned on giving it back to him, since I didn't play anyway, or giving him $200 because I knew I could atleast get that much back. He never showed up that night, or the next; or at all. And I worked at that club for the next 10 years. I also ran into hard times a few times; was almost homeless a few times, but for some reason I would not sell that bass. I even sold a 68' Camaro that I had full restored. Recently I pulled it out one day and took it down to a local music shop to see what it was worth and to try to order the knobs for it. After having a few employees drooling over it I was again offered $200 ( believe it or not ) and told it was a mid 60's Gibson. After doing some research myself I found it to be either a 66' or 69' EB-3. I went to a more reputable guitar repairman who made me promise to keep it and start learning how to play it. So now at the age of 47, I am now taking lessons. I didn't want to play it so I bought a used Ibanez SR800 to learn with. My instructor scolded me and makes me use my Gibson as he says it NEEDS to be played. Hope I didn't bore anyone too much with my story.
 
#60
EBodious said:
...this brings up a slight tangent:
my friend bought it for $250 in a pawn shop a while ago. so to him its worth what he paid, not necessarily its replacement value. i notice a lot of posters are playing vintage gear that they bought long ago at reasonable prices. when i was a gtr player, my only axe was my '78 335, worth a lot now, but it was "just my gtr" to me. i played at all sorts of places i probly shouldn't have, and spilled my share of things on it in the process.

so, if you buy a vintage fender for multiple thousands of dollars, are you "investing?" would you go gigging with it? but if it's just your old bass that you have owned forever, then sure you bought it to play...
Click to expand...

What something is "worth" is only relevant if it's going to be sold, and then its value is only what someone is willing to pay for it. IMO paying through the nose for a vintage instrument today as an investment is a bad idea, since most of the run up in value has already happened. A Strat bought for a couple hundred bucks in the early 60's may be worth tens of thousands of dollars today, but it would have to be worth millions in another 40 years to retain the same rate of relative increase in value.

Play 'em!
 

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