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Thunderbird Club

#299,981
Haji said:
Here in Nashville it seems almost every guitar store there is (except the Gibson Garage) has vintage Fenders. They're so common that I'd say they're easy to find here, and yet the prices stay astronomically high. These are just factory production basses that are old. Back in the 80s these same basses were a few hundred bucks. Times have changed I suppose.
Click to expand...

I don't know any sources for 7ender production totals from the '60s-'70s, for say, a Jazz bass. Were they just "mass production? The whole cachet of vintage 7enders is a bit lost on me honestly (that's on me btw, not a slight on the big F), so I don't understand why instruments with large production numbers demand such high prices. Gibson's totals are seemingly nothing in comparison. There were more '60s P basses at Emerald City Guitars than all of the '60s Birds on Reverb.


Irv in The Basement of Bad Ideas.

Ez3n1Oe.jpg
 
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#299,984
TBird1958 said:
I don't know any sources for 7ender production totals from the '60s-'70s, for say, a Jazz bass. Were they just "mass production? The whole cachet of vintage 7enders is a bit lost on me honestly (that's on me btw, not a slight on the big F), so I don't understand why instruments with large production numbers demand such high prices. Gibson's totals are seemingly nothing in comparison. There were more '60s P basses at Emerald City Guitars than all of the '60s Birds on Reverb.


Irv in The Basement of Bad Ideas.

Ez3n1Oe.jpg
Click to expand...
Always been my point with '55-57 Chevy's, Camaros, most any Chevy really, Mustangs.... They were the most common and plentiful cars around, yet are some of the most valuable. Certainly not because of rarity. In the case of cars, so many had them and want them again. Not to mention having so many was kind of like additional free advertising. Obviously all those cars did look good and gained a huge following. At some level everything is a bit of a "monkey see, monkey do thing" I suppose. One guy has an AMX, now every body wants an AMX! ;) Everybody should want an AMX by the way.

And, you rightly hit the 15 bazillion page mark for us!
 
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#299,985
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#299,987
dagrev said:
Always been my point with '55-57 Chevy's, Camaros, most any Chevy really, Mustangs.... They were the most common and plentiful cars around, yet are some of the most valuable. Certainly not because of rarity. In the case of cars, so many had them and want them again. Not to mention having so many was kind of like additional free advertising. Obviously all those cars did look good and gained a huge following. At some level everything is a bit of a "monkey see, monkey do thing" I suppose. One guy has an AMX, now every body wants an AMX! ;) Everybody should want an AMX by the way.

And, you rightly hit the 15 bazillion page mark for us!
Click to expand...
don’t let people in on the AMX secret!…..I sound like a Seattlelite now… 60’s American 2 seater with an OHV V8 for what they go for? ALL DAY LONG!…
1722878302279.jpeg
 
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#299,989
dagrev said:
Always been my point with '55-57 Chevy's, Camaros, most any Chevy really, Mustangs.... They were the most common and plentiful cars around, yet are some of the most valuable. Certainly not because of rarity. In the case of cars, so many had them and want them again. Not to mention having so many was kind of like additional free advertising. Obviously all those cars did look good and gained a huge following. At some level everything is a bit of a "monkey see, monkey do thing" I suppose. One guy has an AMX, now every body wants an AMX! ;) Everybody should want an AMX by the way.

And, you rightly hit the 15 bazillion page mark for us!
Click to expand...
All of the above and as everyone keeps forgetting, the lions share of hit songs in that golden era of music were recorded using a Fender guitar & bass. So much so that a bass-player credited playing an electric bass on an LP was listed as "Fender bass" (= electric bass)

These #'s are based on the serial numbers which aren't necessarily production #'s. So they're an upper limit for sure, but it gives a ballpark idea of the production numbers.

(from Invalid Link Removed)

SERIAL NUMBERS PRODUCTION DATES
Up to 6,000 1950 to 1954
Up to 10,000 1954 to 1956
10,000s 1955 to 1956
10,000s to 20,000s 1957
20,000s to 30,000s 1958
30,000s to 40,000s 1959
40,000s to 50,000s 1960
50,000s to 70,000s 1961
60,000s to 90,000s 1962
80,000s to 90,000s 1963
90,000s up to L10,000s 1963
L10,000s up to L20,000s 1963
L20,000s up to L50,000s 1964
L50,000s up to L90,000s 1965
100,000s 1965
100,000s to 200,000s 1966 to 1967
200,000s 1968
200,000s to 300,000s 1969 to 1970
300,000s 1971 to 1972
300,000s to 500,000s 1973
400,000s to 500,000s 1974 to 1975
500,000s to 700,000s 1976
 
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#299,990
Speaking of rare vs common vintage things. I was looking a bit closer at the Burg Mist refin 66 NR bird on Reverb…
https://reverb.com/item/82318671-gi...urgundy-mist-pro-refin-non-reverse-rare-video

A couple of things struck me as odd…
- the action on the E string side looks incredibly high (as in 1/2 inch off the frets, why?)
- the bridge is way way up on the E string side (neck issue or just a stupid pre set up photo?)
- the pics show it with a single Jazz pup route at one time, but the refin is routed for a bird pup (no mention of that?)
- the set neck pocket has a large gap between the heel and body (was it a total neck replacement, or is this normal?)
- one of the pics looks like it has a battery box - never mind, it’s the pup with a white foam pad on the bottom, my bad.
- says it has non original pots and wiring but doesn’t show them (would be nice to see the cavity shot)
- looks like the control cavity has been slightly modified (gaps showing around the cavity cover, why?)

Obviously at that price point I don’t expect it to be pristine, but it would have been nice for the seller to address some of the obvious potential issues, especially the string action on the neck and the neck heel gap. With a set or neck through bass a major unaddressed neck problem can be a non starter for a lot of potential buyers. Shame, because otherwise it’s a pretty nice looking bass for the money.
 
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#299,991
Hopefu
Haji said:
Here in Nashville it seems almost every guitar store there is (except the Gibson Garage) has vintage Fenders. They're so common that I'd say they're easy to find here, and yet the prices stay astronomically high. These are just factory production basses that are old. Back in the 80s these same basses were a few hundred bucks. Times have changed I suppose.
Click to expand...
Hopefully with stock prices dropping, those prices will, as well.
 
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#299,994
dagrev said:
Always been my point with '55-57 Chevy's, Camaros, most any Chevy really, Mustangs.... They were the most common and plentiful cars around, yet are some of the most valuable. Certainly not because of rarity. In the case of cars, so many had them and want them again. Not to mention having so many was kind of like additional free advertising. Obviously all those cars did look good and gained a huge following. At some level everything is a bit of a "monkey see, monkey do thing" I suppose. One guy has an AMX, now every body wants an AMX! ;) Everybody should want an AMX by the way.

And, you rightly hit the 15 bazillion page mark for us!
Click to expand...
I have never seen a 55-57 Mustang! But even the earliest 60s Mustangs are somewhat rare. They tended to get wrecked, and not to survive those too well.
 
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#299,995
JIO said:
All of the above and as everyone keeps forgetting, the lions share of hit songs in that golden era of music were recorded using a Fender guitar & bass. So much so that a bass-player credited playing an electric bass on an LP was listed as "Fender bass" (= electric bass)

These #'s are based on the serial numbers which aren't necessarily production #'s. So they're an upper limit for sure, but it gives a ballpark idea of the production numbers.

(from Invalid Link Removed)

SERIAL NUMBERS PRODUCTION DATES
Up to 6,000 1950 to 1954
Up to 10,000 1954 to 1956
10,000s 1955 to 1956
10,000s to 20,000s 1957
20,000s to 30,000s 1958
30,000s to 40,000s 1959
40,000s to 50,000s 1960
50,000s to 70,000s 1961
60,000s to 90,000s 1962
80,000s to 90,000s 1963
90,000s up to L10,000s 1963
L10,000s up to L20,000s 1963
L20,000s up to L50,000s 1964
L50,000s up to L90,000s 1965
100,000s 1965
100,000s to 200,000s 1966 to 1967
200,000s 1968
200,000s to 300,000s 1969 to 1970
300,000s 1971 to 1972
300,000s to 500,000s 1973
400,000s to 500,000s 1974 to 1975
500,000s to 700,000s 1976
Click to expand...
I don’t think we’ve forgotten that the bulk of hits back then were played on Fenders. Most of us just don’t care! 🤣😱🙃
 
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#299,996
GBassNorth said:
Speaking of rare vs common vintage things. I was looking a bit closer at the Burg Mist refin 66 NR bird on Reverb…
https://reverb.com/item/82318671-gi...urgundy-mist-pro-refin-non-reverse-rare-video

A couple of things struck me as odd…
- the action on the E string side looks incredibly high (as in 1/2 inch off the frets, why?)
- the bridge is way way up on the E string side (neck issue or just a stupid pre set up photo?)
- the pics show it with a single Jazz pup route at one time, but the refin is routed for a bird pup (no mention of that?)
- the set neck pocket has a large gap between the heel and body (was it a total neck replacement, or is this normal?)
- one of the pics looks like it has a battery box - never mind, it’s the pup with a white foam pad on the bottom, my bad.
- says it has non original pots and wiring but doesn’t show them (would be nice to see the cavity shot)
- looks like the control cavity has been slightly modified (gaps showing around the cavity cover, why?)

Obviously at that price point I don’t expect it to be pristine, but it would have been nice for the seller to address some of the obvious potential issues, especially the string action on the neck and the neck heel gap. With a set or neck through bass a major unaddressed neck problem can be a non starter for a lot of potential buyers. Shame, because otherwise it’s a pretty nice looking bass for the money.
Click to expand...
The nut looks hacked also...

1722881287614.jpeg
 
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#299,997
GBassNorth said:
Speaking of rare vs common vintage things. I was looking a bit closer at the Burg Mist refin 66 NR bird on Reverb…
https://reverb.com/item/82318671-gi...urgundy-mist-pro-refin-non-reverse-rare-video

A couple of things struck me as odd…
- the action on the E string side looks incredibly high (as in 1/2 inch off the frets, why?)
- the bridge is way way up on the E string side (neck issue or just a stupid pre set up photo?)
- the pics show it with a single Jazz pup route at one time, but the refin is routed for a bird pup (no mention of that?)
- the set neck pocket has a large gap between the heel and body (was it a total neck replacement, or is this normal?)
- one of the pics looks like it has a battery box - never mind, it’s the pup with a white foam pad on the bottom, my bad.
- says it has non original pots and wiring but doesn’t show them (would be nice to see the cavity shot)
- looks like the control cavity has been slightly modified (gaps showing around the cavity cover, why?)

Obviously at that price point I don’t expect it to be pristine, but it would have been nice for the seller to address some of the obvious potential issues, especially the string action on the neck and the neck heel gap. With a set or neck through bass a major unaddressed neck problem can be a non starter for a lot of potential buyers. Shame, because otherwise it’s a pretty nice looking bass for the money.
Click to expand...
There are several over-priced refins/mods out there right now. No, thanks.
 
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