Show us the Oldest Bass in Your Inventory

[Helix]

I'm hoping this thread will bring out some very cool older basses that probably are not seen to often

I'll start off with my oldest bass, a '94 Fortress One modified with a '18 Masterbuilt neck, new finish and hardware

Let's see what you got......

 

[SteveCS]

1982 Eko BX-7...

Keyboard player has a nice '77 Jazz that I play from time to time...

 

[pappabass]

1998 MIM Fender P. EMG's, badassII bridge, rewired, big pots.

 

[CallMeAl]

2000 Squier P bass special. Mods: hi mass bridge, strap locks, pickguard, wiring and knobs.

 

[Baa]

First is a -79 Vantage VP710B.
The others are 1980 to 82.

 

[MD]

A thread with pictures of basses in it...

My Fender is a 67. My DB is WWII era - I think.

 

[lug]

67 EBO

 

[RyanOh]

'74 Jazz...a recent TB Classified deal. I think it's the only 70's bass I have, making it the oldest. My others are 80's or newer.

 

[bucephylus]

I suppose I have a pair of them; sort of.

First, I recently have undertaken restoring my first bass, ca. 1970. Here is the thread and a pic of the original body:
First Bass, Last bass

Second up, when I graduated from grad school in 1987 and had an actual income, I found this ‘62 J Bass in the local classified; listed at $425, bargained down to $275. The body was stripped, fretboard defretted, non-functional truss rod and non-functional bridge pickup. Bryan Gallup at The Guitar Hospital helped out with the refin; and I’ve gigged it on and off for the subsequent 33 years.

And, a previous gig with the latter:


Pink T for Breast Cancer Awareness month; I believe the gig was a partial benefit.

 

[Thegrandwazoo]

The neck on the Fender is an '88, the Thunderchief is a '98.

 

[KohanMike]

I started playing bass six years ago with the seniors ukulele group I joined a year before. This is the first bass uke I bought, a Gold Tone 23" MicroBass GT that came with Aquila Thundergut beige strings, which I immediately changed to Road Toad Pahoehoe black, and also changed the preamp to a Joyo that faced me when tuning.

 

[garp]

A 1985 Ibanez Roadstar II RB850 in Royal Violet. Bought it new, and it has been a faithful companion ever since.

 

[godofthunder59]

'58-'59 Multivox Marvel.

 

[Abner]

Mid-'60s Baldwin/Burns Vibraslim.

 

[Volker Kirstein]

2008(?) Badtz Maru Bronco.

I have parts basses with older parts, but not complete basses that are old.

 

[Steve88]

My Franken-J. At this point the only thing identifiable on the neck is a handwritten date in Dec 1984. Everything else is sanded off almost down to bare wood. The body is stamped "Chandler Industries San Fransisco CA". All other parts are a mystery. This picture makes it look pretty nice, but the body is actually covered in little nicks and dings.

For a bunch of parts, this bass is really great. I sold a Fender CS '64 Jazz cause it didnt come close to this one in terms of feel and tone, and I don't feel disappointed when I wind up playing it instead of my US Lakland.

Edit: fixed some typos

 

[GretschWretch]

In my avatar. 1937.

 

[Ellery]

Stripper silhouette fret inlays

• Ellery
• Dec 8, 2016
• schecter

These inlays depict a strip bar dancer in various positions. Very good detail for a fret inlay...

Schecter C-4XXX, bought new at Guitar Center in 2004. Only bass I've ever bought new.

 

[ad9000]

P-bass with a neck stamp of Oct. 1962. I have owned it for about three years. It was refretted very nicely by ace repairman Jim Crawford before I bought it. The original pickguard has some typical cracks from shrinkage, so I chose to stow it away - the one you see here is a replacement from Spitfire. Otherwise the bass is all original. It is a monster, one of the best P-basses I've ever played, very resonant and responsive to touch, it records amazingly well and can roar or purr as needed.

 

[ThinCrappyTone]

My oldest is this “Basses Loaded” 6, made around 1980. Unusual bass with a kind-of interesting story.

Purchased it in the 90s as a backup to my Ibanez 6, from Drome Sound in Schenectady, NY.

Had no idea of its origin. Years later, after doing some research, learned that it was a prototype built by a db luthier who was trying to get a line of mass-produced extended-range electric basses off the ground. Line never took off, but I guess a few of these instruments entered the marketplace.

Anyway, I have had it for around 30 years, and still pull it out occasionally. The passive Bart singles have a cool interesting tone. But the neck is like a softball bat.