That's a nice looking bass! Thanks for the input. I was watching a Carol Kaye interview where she talks about using p-bass and how they weren't really good instruments and I just about abandoned the pursuit but the dream is alive!
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Over valued 70's P-bass?
- Thread starter Stefan Cartmale
- Start date
I like them but I can't see anyone paying that much for a 70's P bass and the new ones are made much better and they cost half that. I could see paying a lot for a really good vintage Fender if it sounded great and played great but I'm not in the market and probably never will be so there's that.
I like them but I can't see anyone paying that much for a 70's P bass and the new ones are made much better and they cost half that. I could see paying a lot for a really good vintage Fender if it sounded great and played great but I'm not in the market and probably never will be so there's that.
I can't say I agree with that part of the statement, really.
Out of curiosity (and because of this type of comment) I've picked up some of the newer ones from time-to-time.
I'm not really in love with my P-Bass (I guess I'll never truly love a maple fingerboard. I'm starting to get that message), but if you put a gun to my head and made me choose mine or a newer one (and let's limit "newer" to the last 15 - 20 years), I would reach for my (ugly) P-Bass, every time ... so far.
Maybe Fender will change my mind some day, but I am starting to seriously doubt that.
I've owned both, in my opinion the new ones are made much better. I'm talking American Fenders which are comparable to the old ones which were all made here. Newer to me is within the last ten years. I have a '96 Jazz which is good but not as good as my 2013 P/J bass which came almost perfect, in fact every brand new American bass I've bought during the past ten years has been excellent, Fender, Rick and Gibson.
That's why there's eight horses in each race.
Mine is definitely American-made (1979) and I haven't found a better (admittedly subjective) newer bass.
I was rather impressed with a friend's Squier Jazz, but those aren't American-made and while I was impressed, it still wasn't as good (again; in my subjective view) as my P.
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I'm not say all 70's Fenders are bad, I had a 70 that was really nice, also had a 72-73 Tele bass that was nice. I just think the new ones are more consistently good now.
So the left one is an all original 73, the right is a collation - 69 body, 66 pickups and an undated early 70's neck. Both have B necks. Both are lightweight (under 8.4 lbs - the 73 is 8 lbs 3 oz) and both have beautiful profiled necks and are super comfortable to play. The 73 was roughly US$4000, the partsmaster around 2500. I consider these necks vastly superior to a C neck, far more comfortable to get around - OK poly on the back of the necks, but, I'd far rather have these necks than a 1.75" pre-1968 any day. Of course they're more expensive than a modern interpretation, but less than a CS - they sound perfect classic fat P Bass, if you want history and age-dried timber and patina, then they're a great buy, and compared to pre-1970 they're still cheaper.
They are market valued, or in other words; they are worth what people will pay. It has $X value as a musical instrument and $Y value as an antique / collectible. X + Y = $Total Value.
I owned a 70s Jazz and a 70s Tele bass for a while, and I’ve played several 70s Fender basses through the years. My take is that if a 70s P bass is priced at $5000, in most cases the Y value is about 90% of the total ($4500) and the X value is about 10% ($500) of the total.
That’s not necessarily true of all 70s Fender Pbasses. There were some mid 70s ash body Pbasses where the X value might be more like $800-$1000. They were light, played well, and sounded great. On the other hand, some of the late 70s Pbasses weighed a ton and didn’t sound or play above average. Those would have an X value to me of very little as a player bass, but they will still have a decent Y value.
Me not being a collector makes all of them worth around their X value to me, but I would buy one to re-sell if I got one cheap….
It depends on the buyer and the seller really. As others have mentioned, they aren’t making ‘70s fenders anymore, so if you want one (for whatever reason) you have to pay to play. Is it worth it? Depends on what you’re after. Prices for most vintage instruments have really gone through the roof over the last 5 years or so, pricing me out of the market for what I would want to pay for the right pre-cbs instrument. I am glad to see that the reputation of 70s fenders have come back to reality a bit at least… they aren’t all crap boat anchors with 2 inch neck pocket gaps. There are a lot of good ones out there.
Imo, I always say an instrument is worth whatever the buyer is prepared to pay!! Having said some prices are way over the top.
I own a pair of early 70’s Precisions. A 1970 sunburst, basically NOS. And a 1972, “A”neck. Both are fantastic instruments! The ‘70 sleeps in its case, the ‘72 I play everyday! I assume my ‘70 would fetch a very good price because of execellent + condition! I’ve included YouTube link to short video of ‘72
I own a pair of early 70’s Precisions. A 1970 sunburst, basically NOS. And a 1972, “A”neck. Both are fantastic instruments! The ‘70 sleeps in its case, the ‘72 I play everyday! I assume my ‘70 would fetch a very good price because of execellent + condition! I’ve included YouTube link to short video of ‘72
