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Two vintages basses....crying in pain

#82
viper4000 said:
I think it is summed like this:

"My little Johnny want to [insert some activity here]. So, to be sure Johnny knows I love him, I'm going to get [insert highest value option].

Options:
1) Play Bass - let him use my Ric
2) First Car - give them a BMW
3) New Jeans - get them a $150 piece of denim
4) Cell Phone - I-Phone


If you want to do this with your children, who are we to stop you? But if you do this, be ready for folks like me that had to break my back for everything I ever had (including my first car, guitar, bass, etc) to ridicule or pass judgment against you.
Click to expand...

There is a difference here....we assume (and may be wrong) that these are old instruments that the dad had already, not costing him what they would cost today.

For example I went thru a slew of Fender Pbasses in the 70's & 80's and NEVER paid more than $400 for any of them. In the 90's I had someone offer his Ric to me for $500, & I thought it was too much. They weren't that special.

Now suppose the dad bought his gear back then, and has thought about putting them on the bay, but hung on to them just in case for his kid.....or has James said, suppose they are his "cheap" basses and he doesn't like them. It is different than Jeeves picking up the rich kid to have his choice of whatever he wants at the car-lot either way.
 
#83
viper4000 said:
I think it is summed like this:

"My little Johnny want to [insert some activity here]. So, to be sure Johnny knows I love him, I'm going to get [insert highest value option].

Options:
1) Play Bass - let him use my Ric
Click to expand...
You are assuming the owner of the instrument is aware of current market value.

viper4000 said:
If you want to do this with your children, who are we to stop you? But if you do this, be ready for folks like me that had to break my back for everything I ever had (including my first car, guitar, bass, etc) to ridicule or pass judgment against you.
Click to expand...
Certainly parents can go overboard when giving things to their children, but who are we to pass judgment or ridicule when we don't know anything about these people. Maybe the kid is a 4.0 student, works summer jobs and is respectful to his parents (ok, that may be a stretch). :D
 
#84
When one of my sons was 16 (he's 32 now), we saw a newspaper ad for a '74 P-Bass for sale. Called the guy and went to look at it. Nice bass - great condition (3-tone burst/rosewood/black pickguard). I think this was in 1994. The guy selling it was real nice, and took a liking to us. He sold it to my son for $400.00 (which was all the money he had saved up).

So he had a real nice bass at age 16, and he got it without help from dear old dad. But I've always allowed both of my sons to use my basses if they wanted to. Of course I knew that they would take good care of them. And if one were to get dinged or something, I wouldn't have over-reacted. But that never happened.
 
#85
Jeff K said:
When one of my sons was 16 (he's 32 now), we saw a newspaper ad for a '74 P-Bass for sale. Called the guy and went to look at it. Nice bass - great condition (3-tone burst/rosewood/black pickguard). I think this was in 1994. The guy selling it was real nice, and took a liking to us. He sold it to my son for $400.00 (which was all the money he had saved up).

So he had a real nice bass at age 16, and he got it without help from dear old dad. But I've always allowed both of my sons to use my basses if they wanted to. Of course I knew that they would take good care of them. And if one were to get dinged or something, I wouldn't have over-reacted. But that never happened.
Click to expand...

Great post.
 
#86
Jeff K said:
When one of my sons was 16 (he's 32 now), we saw a newspaper ad for a '74 P-Bass for sale. Called the guy and went to look at it. Nice bass - great condition (3-tone burst/rosewood/black pickguard). I think this was in 1994. The guy selling it was real nice, and took a liking to us. He sold it to my son for $400.00 (which was all the money he had saved up).

So he had a real nice bass at age 16, and he got it without help from dear old dad. But I've always allowed both of my sons to use my basses if they wanted to. Of course I knew that they would take good care of them. And if one were to get dinged or something, I wouldn't have over-reacted. But that never happened.
Click to expand...


Nice. Pristine 35 year old basses protected by gig bags, I assume?
 
#87
bobunit said:
You are assuming the owner of the instrument is aware of current market value.
Click to expand...

They're in, quote, "pristine" shape. Someone was aware of their market value. I can see if they were beat up, but pristine? There were only three consequences to a bass being pristine:

A.) A collector, who is well-aware of the market value.
B.) An attic resident for 35 years because someone croaked without letting the world know (but that would beg a question how someone with no idea of market value would have acquired it).
C.) Someone who babied it to death.

No dad in any of these categories would have let it leave the house in a gig bag.
 
#88
michael_atw said:
They're in, quote, "pristine" shape. Someone was aware of their market value. I can see if they were beat up, but pristine? There were only three consequences to a bass being pristine:
Click to expand...
Really. So you believe the person that posted this thread was able to determine the market values of these instruments based on a quick visual assessment.

Ok.

michael_atw said:
A.) A collector, who is well-aware of the market value.
B.) An attic resident for 35 years because someone croaked without letting the world know (but that would beg a question how someone with no idea of market value would have acquired it).
C.) Someone who babied it to death.

No dad in any of these categories would have let it leave the house in a gig bag.
Click to expand...
Why? FWIW, I transport my basses in gig bags.
 
#95
michael_atw said:
Unless your '75 P is "pristine", they don't stack up.
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Huh? I own a pair of Benavente 51 series (5 string fretted & 6 string fretless), a 7 string fretted Worker Bee and a hotrodded early 80s Destroyer. I did own a 74 P that I got in a trade back in 1992 (I had about $350 in it)... it was the worst bass I've owned to date and I flipped it within a week. So, yeah, each one 'stacks up' and significantly exceeds a 75 P (okay, the ibanez is worthless as an 'investment'... but I'm talking value in usefulness here).
 
#96
James Hart said:
Huh? I own a pair of Benavente 51 series (5 string fretted & 6 string fretless), a 7 string fretted Worker Bee and a hotrodded early 80s Destroyer. I did own a 74 P that I got in a trade back in 1992 (I had about $350 in it)... it was the worst bass I've owned to date and I flipped it within a week. So, yeah, each one 'stacks up' and significantly exceeds a 75 P (okay, the ibanez is worthless as an 'investment'... but I'm talking value in usefulness here).
Click to expand...

Hmm, I just assumed you were the guy I asked the question to. Odd you would answer a question directed at another person. Threw me off.
 
#98
Good thing I don't have to meet someone's standard for level of playing for the bass I play. Because a well-set up SX bass plays better than I can play it.

Fortunately, some people have standards. Like the OP. Bee basses are awesome, top level boutique instruments. I'm sure that Beebassdude is a first call session guy in New York or LA to be playing one. He must be, to play an instrument of that caliber.

Or maybe they're just instruments to the dad - which is a really good thing, IMO.
We'd all be better off if more of us were less intense about "things".
When my "materialistic" dad died, and we went to divide up his "cherished possessions" we realized he had no cherished possessions. He cherished his family. He *enjoyed* nice things, but he cherished *people*.
 
#99
'Haven't read through the thread, but it brings to mind my dim, distant childhood. I must have been about 9 years old, and somehow got the notion to take violin lessons at grade school. Maybe because I knew Grammie had an old violin up in the attic. So, we dug it out, had it cleaned up, and that was my violin for the year or so that I took lessons. I was hopeless, absolutely hopeless, but the violin? A Vuillaume, from Paris ca. 1860. He is one of the most respected luthiers of his day. Probably [Edit: no probably about it!] puts those vintage basses to shame. I had NO idea.
 

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