If you want to invest in an older Fender and make money off of it (a while from no, granted), I'd sugest 80's Fenders. There was an era where Fender wasn't selling many basses - the "pointy" era of the 80's, so there are most likely less Fenders in the wild from that era, making them potentially more valuable once due to scarcity.
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So 70's Fender are desirable now?!
- Thread starter Vinnie Boombatz
- Start date
Every dog has his day. Prior to the 70's Fender basses were so popular that many charts were labeled "Fender bass" instead of "Electric bass". After CBS bought the company in 1965, the quality became very spotty. I had one of the p-bass fretless from that period and the neck pocket was so loose that I could store my picks in it. It sounded and played just fine but the neck pocket did not give me a feeling of quality. I think that American made products made during the 70's were mostly of questionable quality (jmho). I had a 75 mustang II and a 75 Chevy Vega that went from new to piles of rusty junk in 3 years.
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I got a fullerton reissue like that. Theres a lot of people that buy a bass or any instrument or recieve it as a gift when they are young but lose interest yet hang onto it as a collectible or thinking they may play it again on occasion or in the future and these instruments can be just a good of a player as one thats beat to poopie.
Me neither. The only old Fenders I would seek out (financial considerations aside) would be pre-CBS, single coil Tele basses, and 81-85 Fullerton made ones (not just the re-issues).
That said, after sliming down from 8 basses to 2 (Fullerton RI Jazz and a mid 80s Rick) over twenty years ago, I stumbled into guitar center a couple of years back and there was a fretless 78 P. I was drawn to it not because it was old, but because it was fretless. Played it for a bit and bought it as it sounded wonderful, felt great, and wasn't heavy. And they took $800 for it.
I am stunned at some of the prices I see here and elsewhere for these, and figure I scored well on mine.
Yeah, based on what see, under a grand is good. Funny, mine was modded with a brass nut, but also had the "period correct" badass II bridge. Thankfully no DiMarzios though.
Most of these from about 81 to 85 are far nicer than the bulk of 70s Fenders. Some questionable aesthetic choices (single ply white guards, and white pickups, yuk) that I would change if I nabbed one. But a Fullerton made (E series S/N) standard is as well made as the Fullerton RIs, for a fair bit less $$.
Ive played or owned several '70s P and J basses and most were fine if not exceptional basses. The best jazz bass i ever played was a '71. I do find the early to mid '70s ones to be generally lighter in weight but i have played some lighter late '70s basses. I currently own a parts bass with a '75 neck and late '70s body and it weighs under 8lbs. Another thing i like is the neck carves from '70s basses.
70s Fenders are just as good as anything else. No one is going to shell out 2 grand for a hunk of wood that looks pretty on a stand. If these basses didn't perform, people wouldn't be buying them. Simple as that.
I bought my '73 Jazz in 1985...
for the price of a Squier
Back then block inlays were considered fugly (the "pearl" ones "grandpa fugly"
)
I just loved that look! Well, I was always a weird guy
The bass sounds great and plays like butter. But I had to compare about 20 of these 70' s Fenders to find a good one!
All the storys you can hear about warped necks and "credit card holder neckpockets" are true!!!
When you finally find one that is okay, there is still the bad quality of the pickups...
(you won't find two that are identically bad though)
Since they are considered collectible and the prices have gone up to a stupid level, I will no longer look
...
...end of rant
may the bass be with you
Wise(b)ass
for the price of a Squier
Back then block inlays were considered fugly (the "pearl" ones "grandpa fugly"
)I just loved that look! Well, I was always a weird guy
The bass sounds great and plays like butter. But I had to compare about 20 of these 70' s Fenders to find a good one!
All the storys you can hear about warped necks and "credit card holder neckpockets" are true!!!
When you finally find one that is okay, there is still the bad quality of the pickups...
(you won't find two that are identically bad though
)Since they are considered collectible and the prices have gone up to a stupid level, I will no longer look
......end of rant
may the bass be with you
Wise(b)ass
On a long enough timeline, the 1980's Fenders will skyrocket in price, too. It's my prediction that Fender will even go so far as to include 1980's-inspired models to the American Vintage Reissue Series at some point. Who knows, maybe this concept will eventually spread to the 1990's models, as well.
Same with Gibson.....remember when you couldn’t give a G3 or Ripper away?
I've always wanted to get a '74 Jazz or Precision (it's a birth year thing)... but not at the current prices some people are asking. Greed is definitely representing strong these days. smh...
Greed has nothing to do with it, this is simply market forces at work. Nobody NEEDS a 70s Fender, there are lower priced options all over. This is not an exclusive, life saving medicine or something.
If there are people in the market willing to pay $2K for a mid-70s P Bass, why shouldn't a seller sell it for that?
If an employer is willing to pay you $38/hour for your labor, would you say "Nah, I don't want to be greedy, I'll take $25."
Of course not.
- Mar 8, 2011
- 12,232
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- Disclosures
- Authorized greenboy designs builder/Owner of BNA Audio
Most of the furnishings in my house are antiques from the atomic era. I just like it. Feels like they showed up with a deep, unspoken backstory. Some folks feel that way about instruments. Nothing wrong with that, as far as I’m concerned. Do what you love. After playing tons of basses over the years, I still don’t know why one bass will feel mythical and inspiring while another, nearly identical one is basically firewood to me. It’s really part of the fun.
The bass in my avatar... 77 Precision bought in 77 for $450. It's a boat anchor. It's been modified. It had a crack in the headstock which I superglued back together. It's flown overseas with me in first class, while I sat 16 hours in coach. It had a Baddass bridge and Seymour Duncan pup modifications that have both recently been restored to the original equipment, with the inclusion of an Aguilar OBP-3 Preamp. It's the best bass I ever played! Sounds incredible (check out my YouTube channel to verify).
About this time last year I acquired a 79 P bass, black with a white pickguard and cream colored pickups... all original and immaculate, light weight and everything; a players dream bass. The guy I got it from told me straight up he loved the bass but couldn't get a decent sound out of it, and that he'd rather trade it than mod it. He was right. After swapping various string sets on it I had to let it go. Thing is, I got a Fender American Stratocaster out of the deal and enough cash to purchase a Vox tube amp.
Sometimes a Beastly bass is more preferable than a virgin Beauty. And, 70's Precisions were not all created equal, which can be said for any decade.
About this time last year I acquired a 79 P bass, black with a white pickguard and cream colored pickups... all original and immaculate, light weight and everything; a players dream bass. The guy I got it from told me straight up he loved the bass but couldn't get a decent sound out of it, and that he'd rather trade it than mod it. He was right. After swapping various string sets on it I had to let it go. Thing is, I got a Fender American Stratocaster out of the deal and enough cash to purchase a Vox tube amp.
Sometimes a Beastly bass is more preferable than a virgin Beauty. And, 70's Precisions were not all created equal, which can be said for any decade.
I'm 28, and I just about remember '70s Fenders having a dreadful reputation when I was first pottering about on the Internet as an early teenager. The line in the sand was pretty clean cut; the day CBS took over Fender started producing badly finished, horribly heavy instruments with sloppy tolerances and inferior hardware.
Now it seems that early '70s Fenders are consistently good instruments, and only later-'70s instruments *might* have issues, but the majority of them are fine. I think this is simply because 1) few of us mere mortals can afford unmolested pre-CBS Fenders and 2) those '70s Fenders are now ~15 years older, and we're currently in the midst of a gross fetishisation of vintage gear. Old gear is cool! It doesn't matter if it is crap, it is cool! A lot of '70s gear is so arrogantly ugly it is cool! Those 'clownburst' sunbursts that Gibson sprayed in the '70s are so vividly horrible that they are cool! Which other era decided that poop brown, banana pudding yellow and pea-soup green were the 'on trend' colours?
I wonder when '80s Fenders will be considered desirable? P basses with white pickup covers and janky active electronics, and those Stratocasters with the two/tone finishes, rubber-band control knobs and push-button pickup switches... basically a desperate attempt to modernize a dwindling stock of '70s parts.
Now it seems that early '70s Fenders are consistently good instruments, and only later-'70s instruments *might* have issues, but the majority of them are fine. I think this is simply because 1) few of us mere mortals can afford unmolested pre-CBS Fenders and 2) those '70s Fenders are now ~15 years older, and we're currently in the midst of a gross fetishisation of vintage gear. Old gear is cool! It doesn't matter if it is crap, it is cool! A lot of '70s gear is so arrogantly ugly it is cool! Those 'clownburst' sunbursts that Gibson sprayed in the '70s are so vividly horrible that they are cool! Which other era decided that poop brown, banana pudding yellow and pea-soup green were the 'on trend' colours?
I wonder when '80s Fenders will be considered desirable? P basses with white pickup covers and janky active electronics, and those Stratocasters with the two/tone finishes, rubber-band control knobs and push-button pickup switches... basically a desperate attempt to modernize a dwindling stock of '70s parts.
Same, I think, as the front one in my avatar ... nice & cheap P bass
Writing as one who lived and played in the 70s and having first hand experience, I can assure you that the Fender (CBS) products of that era were among the most inconsistent WRT quality of any manufacturer of the time. Teisco was kind of the benchmark of "dime store" instruments and a lot of Fender's output ranked with Teisco. Just the same, I had a 70s Precision Bass that was as good as anything else available. I can't compare it to anything built today because it was stolen thirty five years ago and I'm not going to rely on memory. In 1984 I bought an Elite Stratocaster (nothing like the recent Elite series, look it up) with active electronics and a hard tail, i.e. no dreaded Freeflyte trem. It was an excellent instrument. CBS seemed to get it right just about the time they'd driven Fender into the ground and sold the corpse.
I opine that the only thing that would make a Fender of the seventies "collectible" would be provenance. Even then I'd suspect that the provenance would be that of a great player handing it to his tech and telling him to be sure it finds its way to the fireplace.
I opine that the only thing that would make a Fender of the seventies "collectible" would be provenance. Even then I'd suspect that the provenance would be that of a great player handing it to his tech and telling him to be sure it finds its way to the fireplace.
I've been playing and buying/selling/collecting/trying basses since the early 90s, and 70s Fender basses have been desirable that whole time. The new Fender instruments weren't especially good back then and 60s basses were already out of the reach of most people so the 70s basses were sought after. I think they may have briefly gone out of vogue in some circles when the new Fenders started getting so good.
I have a 76 precision and a 72 jazz and they are both killer. Definitely on the heavy side, but resonant, great playing instruments with a lot of vibe.
I have a 76 precision and a 72 jazz and they are both killer. Definitely on the heavy side, but resonant, great playing instruments with a lot of vibe.
This topic comes up regularly. The end of the discussion is always the same. Fender has gems and duds from every era just like any mass production instrument. The 70's produced more duds than other eras but has its gems too. If you find a gem, that's fun.
