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Refin? Or original?
- Thread starter Marc61
- Start date
I'm like you and think of the 90's as being a few years ago....
This puts things into a bit of perspective.... in 2022 we are the same number of years away from 1970 as that year was from the 1918 pandemic.
I guess it would depend on the instrument for me... I'd be happy to consider an 80's Status, Steinburger or Kubicki vintage. I'm not sure a Marlin (the classic 80's budget guitar/bass in the UK) really counts.
A '62 reissue (very nice bass though it very definitely is) feels a little uncomfortable to consider truly vintage, as by its very existence its screaming out that there's something older/better/more collectable out there. It was built to be played by people who wanted something vintage but couldn't afford it. Seems wrong to be grouping it with the thing it was supposed to be an affordable copy of.
It looks great - play it, and love it because that's why it exists!
I wasn't interested in "vintage" instruments because I'd seen a lot of them during my stint working at the then largest music store around here in the late '70s and wasn't really impressed with any I tried. They were priced as just used instruments then. I bought my AVRI J because it was an excellent bass, better for me than anything else Fender made in the early '80s. After years of service I wound up trading it but it's one of the couple of basses I wish I had back. The other is an early G&L L1K.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
While it's largely just a marketing term, to me, "vintage" means the instrument has a value as a collectible, beyond its value as a musical instrument. I don't think people uy 80s Fenders with that in mind, maybe I'm wrong.
Let's put it this way. I would have no problem refinishing an '82 Fender, because a professional looking job would not affect the value. Even a professional nitro refinish on a '62 Fender would make a big price drop, unlessthe original fi is was wrecked.
Let's put it this way. I would have no problem refinishing an '82 Fender, because a professional looking job would not affect the value. Even a professional nitro refinish on a '62 Fender would make a big price drop, unlessthe original fi is was wrecked.
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It’s vintage yes, antique, no. Hope that helps with your drift to the curmudgeon side.
I was brought up to think that Antiques stopped at the Reform Act of 1832. After things were just Victorian or Edwardian etc
I'm sure by some definitions you could correctly call it a vintage bass, but collectable?? No.... not yet and maybe never.
Who cares if it's refinished. As long as it plays well, sounds good and you like the look of it,, then you've got a good bass.
Who cares if it's refinished. As long as it plays well, sounds good and you like the look of it,, then you've got a good bass.
You could pull the pickups to see if that's where they disconnected it to refinish it. ... And is that an aluminum sheet under the pickguard? ... They never put those on reissues or original 62's either, wasn't that started in 63? ... How about pulling the neck to look for a paint stick? ... But, I wouldn't refinish it, unless you hate the colour.
That's about as good a definition as I've heard lately. It also implies it varies with instrument. A forty year old 1982 "re-issue" of a " '62 Precision" would qualify in my estimation, especially when in a "custom color", which Fender is now diluting the "special-ness" of by issuing so many in "custom colors" they're no longer "custom".
Anyhoo... The converse of the above also tempers the term "Vintage" (and is what I think I heard as a George Gruhn quote): "If Uncle Henry's old guitar was a piece of crap when he bought it, now it's just an OLD piece of crap".
You bass is vintage, not a refinish job, and a damn fine instrument!
I think you just invented time travel.
...add the color listed in catalog page in post#28 by @bassfiddlesteve it's actually a vintage/vintage/vintage.
Get the new 2022 reissue of an 80s reissue of a 60s bass. In 25 years it will be a vintage, vintage, vintage,
'59/'60 - about the same time Fender introduced rosewood fingerboards and Tort instead of aluminum pickguards. (no "hard" cut-off dates with Fender)
Maybe it was a common "mod"?
SOLD - Fender Precision Bass '62 Reissue PB62 AVRI American Vintage series 1987
Thanks to @bassfiddlesteve, I think we have our answers...
Looks all original to me.
And vintage.
Not just because if its age, but this was beginning of the last ones ever made in the original Fullerton factory, which closed in '85.
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Sad but true. I have concert tees that are that old. Not saying I can still get into them...
Edit: By the way, great looking bass. And from the neck pocket photo it looks like the original finish. Enjoy it.
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I take back some of my statement. That bass may well become a sought after vintage in the next 10-20 years being a late year Fullerton build.
It's funny though, I have mid-80s MIJ P bass (just the body bolted to a warmoth neck) and I've never thought of it as old because the 80s weren't that long ago...... we're they?
