Prices of 70s basses

[Grinderman]

I used to be into the 70’s basses and still think some are cool, but I refuse to buy into this false narrative of them doubling or tripling in price in the past 5 years. In fact, I’ve pretty much soured to the whole vintage thing…mainly because of the ridiculous asking prices but also I think I’ve just moved on.

Yeah, liking them for personal reasons is one thing but paying wildly exorbitant prices for '70s Fenders makes no sense, IMO.

I'm confident there are very savvy vintage guitar buyer-sellers and collectors who would agree. $7,300 for a '70s Fender, even an early '70s Fender would be rather silly. I estimate a seller asking that much isn't motivated, leaving miles of room to negotiate, and taking a shot at selling to someone who doesn't know or care.

For that kind of money, I'd sooner buy a solid/well-sorted '65 or '66 P or Jazz all day long, even with a decent refin.

 

[denton57]

I’ll take a refin 66 or earlier over any original Fender made afterwards. Maybe because I’ve owned a few of the 68-78 era and none of them became a bass I didn’t sell within a year IIRC.

 

[MCF]

I have a 73 jazz that I bought about 20 years ago for 2500 euro. I just seen a 72 going for 7300 dollars. Have the prices gone up that much in 10 years?

I guess. But those of us playing in the seventies hated the Fenders of that era. Heavy. Inconsistent QC. I couldn’t afford a new one then. And I can’t afford a used one now with the crazy prices for them. I’ll stick to my Thunderbirds.

 

[Grinderman]

Here's a very nice '62 P bass with Fiesta Red refin for sale at ABT in the U.K.; they're asking for $8,882 euros. The only thing that substantially dings this one IMO is this disclosure "One of the pickups may be from 2 or 3 years later" (in the '70s)

It took less than a few minutes to find that one online.

 

[Iridescentone]

Prices of 70's instruments are ironic considering they were universally despised at the time; and were responsible for the onset of vintage instrument worship.

That's a fact. Back in the day I walked away from any Fender with an "F" on its neck plate. I can recall when before that, L-series Fenders were considered "utility" instruments and not even worth what a brand new 1971 Fender cost. At one time, the only highly sought-after Fender basses were the 57-59' ano's, and the ever-elusive stacked 60-61 Jazzes. Gibson T-birds and 4001 horshoes were the hotter items.

It didn't matter that Fender P basses were left unscathed by CBS for several years after they took over Fender, and that 65-68 were some of the best P basses ever built. Nope, that big ol' "F" made all the difference in value. Which of course led to all sorts of shenanigans with CBS-era Fenders undergoing "conversions" into pre-CBS guitars.

 

[Grinderman]

Here's an original finish '66 Fender P for $9,999 ($9,400 euros) in Texas.

 

[Iridescentone]

I remember watching two simultaneously running 7-day ebay auctions in 2002, each for a sunburst '66 Pbass, both in all orig, nice condition. Final bid on one of them was $1550, the other went for $1800-ish. I thought...why would anyone pay that much for a run-of-the-mill sunburst CBS P bass?

 

[fhm555]

I keep hearing about which years Fenders were best. IMLE, Fender has always pretty much been hit or miss, no matter the year or country of manufacture. Also IMLE, the CIJ Fenders seem to have the highest good to clinker ratio. I got to play an early 70s ash body jazz bass from Japan and it had an incredible neck on it, but was heavy enough to be a boat anchor. When Fender was being made by Toki, the Fender studs pronounced them universal crap, not worth their weight in kindling, but they said the same about the Peavey basses ( and amps) made over in Mississippi. It was kinda like Harley, it was an American company and brand loyalty pretty much dictated it was “the best”, even when it wasn’t.

 

[Pet Sounds]

This topic can never be discussed often enough.

 

[Iridescentone]

This topic can never be discussed often enough.

True dat, and...

Infinitely less interesting than "which color pickguard should I get?"

 

[micguy]

I remember a new Rickenbacker 4001 was selling for around $600.00 U.S. dollars in 1977.

Where I live, new 4001's were $400 in 1977. I remember it well, I bought one - my first bass.

 

[Matt O]

I have a 73 jazz that I bought about 20 years ago for 2500 euro. I just seen a 72 going for 7300 dollars. Have the prices gone up that much in 10 years?

$7300 for a ‘72 Jazz is bananas. No. Way too high. Check eBay and Reverb for recently sold prices. 3-5k depending on condition/ color.

 

[T McClure]

My 72 is the worst playing bass I own (out of 12). The QC is as bad as any bass I've ever played. I'll sell it in a few years. For probably 5k. Ridiculous.

You should describe it just like this in the description and see what kind of offers you get.

 

[jeff62]

$7300? Only for a chump that doesn’t know any better. There’s always someone out there that might bite. Heck, look at our TB classifieds… you’ll see mid 70s Jazz and P’s in the low to mid $3k range and they’ve just been sitting. Someone might come along at those prices (not me) but I wouldn’t be tempted until they were in the $2.5k-$3k range

 

[Grinderman]

'64 Fender Bass VI with very nice burst refin for $8,999 ($8,500 euros)

You should describe it just like this in the description and see what kind of offers you get.

So to tout it as an authentic '70s Fender?

Let's punch up that ad copy just a bit more, shall we?

How about this?

This '72 Fender Jazz Bass is the worst playing bass I own out of a dozen. The sheer mojo of the '70s Fender quality control on this bass alone is as bad as any bass I've ever played over my entire playing career of (50?) years. Sure, the asking price is $5K but you can buy this one knowing it's the real deal; it even includes the '70s Fender heft of 10.8 pounds with the original Fender decal.

Think of the future. In about 5 years you too can resell it but for $9K! ​

 

[prndltech]

Just based on inflation and to keep things in perspective, $400 in 1970 is $3,200 +/- today.

 

[Chadwick Salls]

Early '70s B neck on a P and early '70s on a jazz are phenomenal feeling necks. I got my '72 Jazz for $3200 a few years ago but no way I would pay $5500 even though it's the best jazz I have owned (I also had a '65). I'm all about early '70s B neck > '60s C neck on a P. With that being said my '57 V-neck on my P can never be beat!

 

[Pdaddy1978]

I remember a new Rickenbacker 4001 was selling for around $600.00 U.S. dollars in 1977. And if I remember correctly, a new Fender Precision Bass was selling for around $450.00 U.S. dollars.

Yup....but with a HSC that Pbass was closer to 600$
And I could get a good used VW beetle for that same 600$
And I needed the Beetle worse than I needed the P.

 

[rylie]

bought a like new, used 76 fender jazz bass, in 78, for $280
still own it, my main player

 

[Thegreatzambini]

I was always under the impression that during the 70s is when the Asian brands started gaining reputation because at the time some of the American brands QC was going in the toilet.