Look at this P bass....

[tilt724]

Too much

 

[Shortie]

"Is that real road wear - or is it just some Sears road wear?"

Sears Roadware with a Sears Poncho.


Steely Dan - Gaucho


Who is that gaucho amigo, and why is he standing in your spangled leather poncho and your elevator shoes?

 

[JimmyM]

Don't know if anyone asked since I just read the first couple posts, but do 58 Fenders come with DiMarzio Model P's, Badass bridges, and smaller tuners installed cockeyed?

 

[bassie12]

"Much, much less expensive" and "Not for sale"

I know what you meant, but if you think about what you said, it doesn't really make sense, it's only $10 but I'm not selling it! So, if you're not selling it, it doesn't have a price, which makes it, by default, priceless.

When no-one is selling the good ones, then the rest become higher and higher priced... or apparently, if they have a story.

My point is that they can be found and had. I bought this 10 years ago when the market was stronger and prices were higher. I looked hard for this and paid dearly for it as I am not by any means well to do. Still, it was considerably less than 1/3 the cost of the bass originally mentioned in this thread. I live in a small market compared to most of TB's members, yet vintage instruments turn up here regularly. If you want one, you can find one. The only reason I stated mine wasn't for sale is because it's not, socioeconomic interpretations be damned.

 

[Korladis]

For some reason I really only like the RW look on Fender stuff. I owned a RW briefly and it was a great bass, they did a good job on it. But if I see that look on pretty much any other bass it makes me cringe a little to be quite honest.

For me it's mainly Fenders, and beyond that, for road wear to look cool, the bass has to be solid colored originally.

I know. But here's the thing…

My Ripper is a '74. I bought it new and I'm its sole owner. It's been played daily for virtually every day of the 15,000+ days I've had it - and steadily gigged (at least up until two years ago) as well - nor has it been babied very much. I bought it as a 'player,' and that's the life it's lived. But it still doesn't show 1/50th the amount of wear the average RW Fender I've seen has.

So with a few relatively rare exceptions, who are all the barbarians who would have supposedly put a Fender bass in the condition the RW look implies they have? It just strikes me a something cooked up for the kiddies and the non-musicians out there. (Y'know, just like the one about how all metal bands are heavily into the occult?)

It just seems so…civilian…or la tourista to me. As in: "Is that real road wear - or is it just some Sears road wear?" to paraphrase Frank Zappa.

Those of us who actually do own and play (and many times slaved and/or saved up to buy) a decent bass don't tend to beat the tar out of our instruments. For obvious and good reasons.

Were Fender finishes really that fragile back in the day? I don't know.

It just occurred to me why it's priced so high. $17K is the "we don't really wanna sell it" price.

They're a brick 'n mortar store. Having vintage guitars on display in your music store brings in a lot of foot traffic. Good for business all around.

Even so, they don't know what they're talking about concerning this particular bass.

Good point.

 

[Korladis]

Also, clearly this is why one should never replace bass tuners after dropping acid.

 

[reddesert]

I wonder if the tuners were put in cockeyed because installing them straight would have put some of the screws too close to the old screw holes. Obviously the "right" thing to do would have been to get the tuners that matched the pattern, but I'm guessing the owner was too busy to sweat it. (Plus, IMO it was way harder to find out that kind of detail before the internet, except for wizard techs probably.)

Once you get into the realm of mojo and objects where provenance contributes to the collectible "value," I don't know if non-original parts are really as critical. I mean, if someone is interested in a 50s P-bass just because it is a 50s P-bass, then the original pickup matters. But if someone is interested in a particular 50s P-bass because it was played by one person for decades and on stage with famous people, then maybe it matters more to have the pickup that was on stage with the famous people. (I'm not in the market for it and can't really assess value here.)

 

[Shortie]

that's a Fender P bass.

Maybe half of one.

 

[Shortie]

This bass screams MOJO:

 

[gsquare]

My point is that they can be found and had. I bought this 10 years ago when the market was stronger and prices were higher. I looked hard for this and paid dearly for it as I am not by any means well to do. Still, it was considerably less than 1/3 the cost of the bass originally mentioned in this thread. I live in a small market compared to most of TB's members, yet vintage instruments turn up here regularly. If you want one, you can find one. The only reason I stated mine wasn't for sale is because it's not, socioeconomic interpretations be damned.

I know, and you're right, I just enjoy a good irony.

Nice bass you've got, at any price

 

[Dynacord]

Basically original body, neck and some screws...

I prefer my '59

 

[Kirk Bryant]

Here's my ex that was played hard and put away wet for 40 years, and I do mean hard. It saved my house to the tune of 8K.

 

[Zermelo]

E string looks far more into the neck than the G, almost as if the neck had been tilted somehow or the bridge or nut poorly placed. couldn't they put the G string UNDER its retainer in the headstock? and the worst part by all means: the broken handle...

I bet it's unplayable and the truss rod doesn't work at all...

I've had and played bad instruments, this is one!

 

[jamro217]

It seems overpriced due to the fact that half of the parts are aftermarket and not even the same style as the original. Mojo? Yes. Bargain? No.

 

[jamro217]

Yup, that's a Fender P bass.

Except for the Schaller tuners, DiMarzio pickup, Badass II bridge, brass nut...

 

[Fat Freddy]

If that's what Mojo is then I don't want any......Should be put out of it's misery.....

 

[Salicete]

In response to the OP.

If that was a closet classic (by that I mean bought in 58' and put away, not the "Closet Classic" series) with 100% original parts, and in minty condition, maybe, as-is with many awful mods, nope.

 

[BobKos]

The letter of authenticity ruined it for me totally. The guy was GIVEN the bass by Linda Kahn and now it is for sale for $17K. Yuk. I'm guessing that was not the intended outcome.

 

[Matthew Barrack]

Looks awesome!

 

[gjohnson441496]

I think Jerry Garcia stuffed some tabs of acid under the pickguard at some point also. They might still be there. How did these guys put cigarette burns in the headstock?? Were they THAT wasted?

They used the tuners as cigarette holders. The cigarette would burn down to create the burn mark.