So where were you slackers?

[Peter McFerrin]

Originally posted by Brad Johnson
Let's just say that for every $5k I put into my 401(k) back in 1995... I'm lucky if I have $3k now. Makes a passbook account look pretty sweet

How'd you pull that off, man? Stock prices are at '97 levels right now, so that $5000 should be $6000 or so right now. Were you way into telecoms at some point?

 

[BIg O]

Originally posted by bikeplate
Hi!

It's amazing how a hunk of steel(collector cars) can be valuable, too. Valuables(antiques) usually make no sense at all.

Rob

Agreed!
I wonder how much an old lithograph by Picasso would make? It's "mass-produced" as opposed to one-of-a kind and is just ink and paper - makes no sound, either. Who would buy that for even $.02, eh??

 

[Brad Johnson]

Originally posted by Peter McFerrin


How'd you pull that off, man? Stock prices are at '97 levels right now, so that $5000 should be $6000 or so right now. Were you way into telecoms at some point?

Short answer... aggressive stocks, including telecoms, Pet Rocks and all manner of nonsense. Should've pulled out sooner. Fortunately my wife's 401(k) has performed much better.

 

[SpankBass]

Ok, collectors, and investors, and economics aside, did anyone else notice that the bass was made in the 59th week of 1961?

Must've been a leep year.

 

[Zoot H Rollo]

i was lucky enough to bail out of MF's 3 years ago.

i'm a skittish gambler...stuck all my winnings in money markets, and never lost a dime.

i was also lucky to have an older brother who taught me to bag all my old comix and records in the 60's and 70's.

now THERE's retirement!

f

 

[Mike N]

Originally posted by bikeplate
Hi!

It's amazing how a hunk of steel(collector cars) can be valuable, too.

Rob

Right. Try and find a 71 Hemi Cuda convertible these days for less than $100,000

 

[GreyBeard]

Originally posted by Limo
I'll rephrase that, In your opinion is it worth $10.000?

Assigning a $ value to a mint 62 Jazz can't be an easy thing to do. I've seen guys pay more than that for old Rolex watches that don't even keep good time. This bass is a collectors dream. Most collectors feel that this is the "most collectable" of all bass guitar.

 

[BlacksHole]

I'd like to chime in here even if I am late. Despite the condition of the bass, I think $10K is still a bit much. I used to own a 1960 stack-knob jazz that unfortunately had been refinished. Once the neck lost stability, I sold it. I'm sure it would be worth a lot more today than what I sold it for, but I really do like my Pedulla MVP. I really can't see something like a '62 being worth much more than $10K in the near future either. There are just too many of them. The stack knobs are much rarer and I also prefered them. I never considered the change to vol-vol-tone an improvement, but I know a lot of people liked these later issued basses.

 

[GreyBeard]

I've always thought that if an instrument sounded good it usually finds its way into a players hands. And if it doesn't it sits around and looks pretty. That bass hasn't been played enough shake out all the bad sounds. I know that sounds dumb but the vibration of playing for years and years is what makes an instrument have that "VINTAGE" tone. I'll bet that bass has never seen the inside of a bar or church and has just sat around in its case doing nothing for the past 30 years. And, I'll bet nobody ever played it that much because it didn't sound that good in the first place. From a musicians point of view it was a waste of money. But it probably was a good investment.

 

[Zoot H Rollo]

good point.

i agree that playing a wood instrument changes its character over time.

mystical realignment of the cellulose structure!

f

 

[Turock]

It really doesn't matter how that bass sounds or how it plays. More than likely, it will hardly ever be played anyway. That is a bass to be looked at only. It would be a shame for it to become battlescarred by gigging with it (if it is genuine). It's also a shame for it to never be played.

 

[Zoot H Rollo]

yeah, that's the way it is with most collectible items.

with my book and LP collection, i would usually buy 2 of each item.

one to preview and one to store.

pretty damned nutty.

but, selling collectibles has financed some major purchases.

f

 

[BIg O]

There is one school of thought that certain era-based collectibles with a limited buying market (ie nice basses collected by aging boomers) artificially hike prices until the market dries up (i.e. when Fieldy fans are older, they will have little interest in these collected items, and the market will have dropped the prices to their innate value as instruments).

Those of us who grew up playing on pieces of crap that sounded bad, had mile-high action and faulty intonation, we appreciate and will pay for the quality and thus contribute to the current collectibility of instruments from our era. We are also most of those paying $$KK for Sadowskys, F Basses, Lull's et al.

These two factors are explored in current studies of the boomer generation in pop literature - collectibility as a public pastime is a very recent phenomena, and may only be a transient form of "investment".

Now, I'll give $500 to anyone looking to dump their quilt-top Sadowsky 5 or sunburst 52 Precision!

 

[Gabu]

Somebody want to buy a fair to good condition Jazz (1962 blonde) for $7000?

My local guitar center has one... They say it's all original. I thought those little paddy things were kind of weird... They sure did soften up the tone.

The strings on it were really old, and I would really like to hear it with some new ones. Also it needed a good setup, the action was a bit high, and the neck was slightly bowed... but not bad.

I would like to hear it after that, but as it was, I wasn't too happy with how it sounded. I played it through an Ampeg B100.

 

[P. Aaron]

I think the cut-off for Pre and CBS Fenders was '66-'67. Somewhere around those 2 years. Everything else after is supposed to be hapless and unspectacular.

That's according to the wine and brie cheese collectors crowd.