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So 70's Fender are desirable now?!

#42
mikeswals said:
Im not quite sure what you're conveying. So far you put a blanket statement on all 70's, but if you spent time with a few then you'd see a clear difference in lightweight
alder early 70's and heavy ash later 70's you find plenty of 8.0-ish lbs alder body 70-73 's...lots of them! Some even less than 8.

Also $250 bucks was an awesome giveaway price you stole yours at...250 was not typical at all! Thats unusual. Here on the west coast "several years ago" mid 70's P were easily selling for 1500 range all day long. The have only crept up a few hundred over these few years. That increase is nothing compared to the 60's rate of stuff creeping up. Your price gap was the execption, and not the norm.
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Nope. You missed the point, and I've said several times already in this thread that I'm not making a blanket statement on all 70's Fenders. My point is, I don't see the point in shelling out what people are asking and getting for 70's Fenders when there are plenty of later Fenders that are as good or better for much, much less. Yes, there are exceptions, but it is fact that even though there were gems, the 70s'a weren't a shining moment for Fender. Ive basically said this like three times in this thread, but still I'm sure you'll come back and say I'm making a blanket statement. My point wasn't that they're all crap, just that there's really nothing different between them and something from the 90's & 2000's where the quality was much more consistent and can be had for way less.

Ive had the same Fender pickup in a multitude of Fender Precisions; the '76, an MIJ PB70, MIM Classic 50's and '08 American Standard, and with the exception of the Classic 50's the just sounded fat and massive, all the others pretty much sounded the same, all played great and felt great. Not saying the 70's are bad, but they've made stuff since then thats as good or better for less. Want me to repay myself yet again?!
 
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#43
its going to be 2018. People have been posting this same thread for almost 20 years since I started posting at the fender discussion page.

70s fenders have always been great if you are looking for what they do. They're not 60s fenders and don't sound like them. I'm a jazz bass guy and 10 years ago you could get a late 70s Marcus style jazz for mid to high 1k. You still can today. Sounds pretty good to me.
 
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#44
Vinnie Boombatz said:
but it is fact that even though there were gems, the 70s'a weren't a shining moment for Fender.
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Nobody is saying it was a shining moment! For decades people have been saying it wasnt the best time.

However YOU may not see the point, but hundreds more people other than you sure dont seem to mind buying them. They do have a market after all and they're selling. But their prices for late 70's stuff isnt high at all...its barely just above a current new Am pro. Their prices have not compounded at the same rate as the 60's stuff when it was the same age.

I dont have any 70's Fenders and no plans on aquiring any...there's a bunch of way different things Id rather spend 1800-2000 bucks on. But like narud said in the post above, if the player is looking for that sound, thats the basses that do it.
But I will say, the mij and mim reissues feel and sound nothing like em.
 
#45
mikeswals said:
Nobody is saying it was a shining moment! For decades people have been saying it wasnt the best time.

However YOU may not see the point, but hundreds more people other than you sure dont seem to mind buying them. They do have a market after all and they're selling. But their prices for late 70's stuff isnt high at all...its barely just above a current new Am pro. Their prices have not compounded at the same rate as the 60's stuff when it was the same age.

I dont have any 70's Fenders and no plans on aquiring any...there's a bunch of way different things Id rather spend 1800-2000 bucks on. But like narud said in the post above, if the player is looking for that sound, thats the basses that do it.
But I will say, the mij and mim reissues feel and sound nothing like em.
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Well, you say that you've never owned a 70's Fender, but then you later say that the MIJ and reissues sound nothing like them. Funny, since I've owned a real '76 P and a CIJ PB70 and they were pretty darn close to feeling and sounding identical and both had a Fender Original '62 pickup in them. The CIJ was just a little lighter, otherwise they sounded the same.
 
#48
fghtffyrdmns said:
From my (very limited) understanding, I thought the issues Fender had in the 70s were primarily with inconsistent build quality, rather than everything being consistently lower-quality. I'm guessing it's only the gems from that era that are still around and being played, which is why the overall perception of 70s Fenders has gone up in recent years. While they made a lot of duds in the 70s, I'd wager not many of them have survived this long. Also probably why the 70s models that are still out there are fetching a pretty good price on the used market.
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I'm wondering how a dud Fender bass from the 70's might not "survive"?

Can't imagine people tossing them in a dumpster or the fireplace.

Or that because the fit and finish on the duds might have been sub-par, they somehow disintegrated over time and no longer exist?

But then the "good" ones, despite having been played more, somehow avoided destruction?
 
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#50
Late seventies maybe. However the early to mid 70's provided some common specimens, like these, that will eat anything pre-CBS for lunch. Light. Resonant. Roaring. Let the tirades begin!
IMG_0064.JPG

IMG_0065.JPG


1971 & 1974 Bring it on baby!
Oh btw, I often swap necks on these two, and the result is pure synergy - unless I'm hallucinating.
Barely have to adjust the setup. Flats. Rounds. Whatever color you like. It's cosmic. BCNU
 
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#53
Old is desirable. Scarcity brings kudos. Sometimes old > good in the eyes of some people. I think those buying 70’s Fenders now miss the original experience. These days the instruments have usually been through several hands and much work has been done to complete the finishing work which didn’t take place in the factory. Sure, the weight remains and people are good at overlooking the shonky neck pockets and routes, but work has been done since they left the factory to turn them into players and enough time has passed for sloppiness to become a quirky feature.

60’s Fenders have become scarce so most people don’t have a reference to just how far Fender had slipped under CBS. In the late 80’s, when the experience of 70’s Fenders was still fresh, you could pick them up for £250 here, they were cheap and plentiful. I’d imagine they were cheaper and more plentiful in the US. Now, the same instruments are online for almost ten times the price. If you were there, you’d know they can’t all be zingers.

To balance it out, though, the bound and blocked J is a fantastic aesthetic. They never stopped looking great, despite what they felt and played like rolling out of the factory... at great speed.
 
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#54
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#55
The first Fender Precision I ever played was an brand-spanking-new 1975 sunburst, which as far as I can remember, was flawless in every way. I played the heck out of it every day for a year, then I had to give it back to the school that had graciously loaned it to me. Invalid Link Removed! :thumbsup:
 
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