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Question: Why is this bass worth $24,000?

#121
Killing Floor said:
Nah, nobody’s bad mouthing Leo. It’s his invention. But at the same time, nobody will ever convince me to call it a tug bar, it’s a thumb rest in the wrong location. Pro tip, it was in the wrong location and LEO figured it out, that is why LEO relocated it to the correct location. I’m no doctor but nobody has a thumb down there.
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Where did the term 'tug bar' come from anyway? I've never heard that until fairly recently.
 
#122
bobyoung53 said:
Where did the term 'tug bar' come from anyway? I've never heard that until fairly recently.
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From Jonestown, TX best I can tell. It’s not too far from here.
upload_2022-4-7_14-29-31.jpeg
 
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#124
lowfreqgeek said:
Who are you to determine how much profit one "needs"?
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Who am I? One with an opinion, as you are welcome to yours.

Oh, I'm sure it's fine for anyone to sell anything at any price as long as someone can be sold into believing it's worth it, it happens all the time.

The advertising industry was built on selling people stuff they don't need. People buy things so much that's not practical, sinking themselves further and further into debt just to have something to show, something they believe gives them status, distinction, a feeling of belonging.

I don't care what "profit" anyone makes. The point is value of these things is an abstact concept. It only "valuable" in one's mind. If you believe it has value for you, then it does, for you...

These are trinkets and toys, not life saving commodities such as insulin or an epipen, which many cannot afford...
 
#128
SixtyCycleHum said:
The whole premise of playing the electric bass like that just makes my back cringe thinking about it. C'MON, Leo. It's the same with the thumb rest/tug bar idea nobody uses but still comes on reissues. You're right. The man had ideas. He just had the wrong ideas in the wrong places.
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I have seen the thumb rest in on the top and also on the bottom more like a pinky rest?
 
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#129
PunkNbass said:
I have seen the thumb rest in on the top and also on the bottom more like a pinky rest?
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It was called a "tug bar" because it was originally intended to give your fingers an anchor to pull on while you plucked down with your thumb. When players started using their fingers instead of their thumbs to pluck the strings, it was moved to the top to rest the thumb on.

I'm guessing that the move was originally inspired by players who did the mod themselves and Fender took note, rather than Fender changing things up on a whim. I'm sure some moved the bar, some took it off. I don't know that for sure, but I'd bet it was first moved by some industrious players who wanted to play it their way.
 
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#133
jdh3000 said:
The point is value of these things is an abstact concept. It only "valuable" in one's mind. If you believe it has value for you, then it does, for you....
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I think that overstates the case somewhat. A single person's opinion about value is an opinion, but multiple people comparing their opinions and acting on them in real world transactions is a kind of consensus. It changes over time, but it certainly has concrete consequences to the sellers and buyers; it doesn't exactly dictate what they will receive/pay, but it definitely relates to it. You could say that asking prices are abstract and selling prices are concrete.

Quality vintage instrument prices are pretty stable over time, compared to many other things, despite all kinds of individual opinions about their value that exist. They drop in a recession, and rise with covid stay at home obsessive thinking, but they've never bottomed out to anywhere near 70s or 80s prices since I've been looking, and it would be hard to argue that they will until they are about ready to turn into dust.

The person who doesn't think an all original old P bass is worth $8K or whatever they are really worth today, is having little if any effect on the market. Their impact is that they are not personally contributing to the demand, but then the demand was always shaped by those in that particular market.
 

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