Vintage fender or fender masterbuilt

[JW56789]

IF you go with a vintage piece:

For goodness' sake, BE SURE you get it from a reputable vintage dealer (Norm's, Gruhn, Carter, etc.) as there are lots of purportedly 'vintage' pieces with nosebleed prices that may not be legitimately what the seller claims. Typically YOU are the one that finds the clues are missing and you've been taken to the cleaners. Guys rag on places like Gruhn's and others for the high prices, but dealers that can offer appraisals that are accepted by insurers is a sure sign you are buying the genuine article, and in the shady vintage world, a couple extra hundred bucks is cheap insurance.

I admire vintage pieces, but after it's all said and done, they're just old basses to me (I was already playing when a lot of them were new in the stores . . . .) and personally, in a lot of cases I could spec a FCS piece exactly how I wanted it, it would be built far better than the old ones, and the depreciation is not a problem for me. All one-offs depreciate, and I've seen enough sales of a 'vintage' piece go south just because someone had to replace one or two screws or a just single length of wire around the pots that had to be replaced to keep the bass playable.

Obviously, I'm no 'vintage guy', but believe me, it's very satisfying just once to have an axe built EXACTLY as you wanted.

 

[Dynacord]

The fact is that I'm a touring musician, and nowadays, I must say that I'm scared about cites , so as long as I'm touring in France that's alright,

I've found a 59 pbass (refin) that sounds amazing and has that good ole fender neck

The CITES concern is legit. That will only get worse. I also have a '59 (maple neck/ash body) and plan to hold on to it for that same reason.

 

[Dynacord]

IF you go with a vintage piece:

For goodness' sake, BE SURE you get it from a reputable vintage dealer (Norm's, Gruhn, Carter, etc.) as there are lots of purportedly 'vintage' pieces with nosebleed prices that may not be legitimately what the seller claims. Typically YOU are the one that finds the clues are missing and you've been taken to the cleaners. Guys rag on places like Gruhn's and others for the high prices, but dealers that can offer appraisals that are accepted by insurers is a sure sign you are buying the genuine article, and in the shady vintage world, a couple extra hundred bucks is cheap insurance.

I understand the logic of that and it's good to have a dealer to be able to go back to rather than an anonymous seller. Still, there is no substitute for educating oneself. The only time I've been burned (on way, way too many vintage basses) was from one of the dealers mentioned (in fairness, also bought another great one from the same source at a very good price).

 

[Mastermold]

that's a beauty!!!!!!!! exactly what I love!!!

Well then I guess there's just one thing left to do … add to cart.

 

[BAG]

The CITES concern is legit. That will only get worse

Actually I'm sure I read somewhere recently that the CITES ban on guitars and basses may be rescinded.

 

[Dynacord]

Actually I'm sure I read somewhere recently that the CITES ban on guitars and basses may be rescinded.

That would be nice, if so.

 

[Nunovsky]

Hi , I'm on the verge of getting a new bass for my 40th year on this earth.

Several options were possible but I decided to narrow it down to a choice that would make sense ( I am a pro bass player, meaning I earn my living playing music, mostly the bass).

my arsenal now is

a pbass custom shop pino palladino (with flats or course)
a Sadowsky NYC Will Lee
a Sadowsky MV5

with those 3 basses, I can do almost anything.
but 40 years old, damn, I want to treat myself

So I am thinking about getting either and old Jazz bass (65 or 66)
or a masterbuilt Jazz bass by the fender custom shop

the only other option would be getting a pbass with rounds (custom shop or vintage)

so the main question is between a custom shop masterbuilt or vintage.

the masterbuilt is supposed to the best you can get, and I like the fact that if any problem happens, I have a warranty
The vintage, my fear is if something goes wrong, but man, when you get a good sounding one, nothing compares

which way would you guys go?

I'd go with a vintage for 3 reasons:

1. You already have a Sadowsky which is basically a boutique Jazz Bass that levels with the Masterbuilt Fender.
2. It retains the price better and can even value a bit more.
3. Mojo, lots of mojo...

 

[Mark Ambler]

I bought a '69 P bass from a 'reputable' dealer. Lightweight, sounded great but there was a bit of fret buzz after the 12th fret. I didn't want to mess with the truss rod of a vintage bass, so I took it to my Luthier. The neck suffered from ski jump. The old fenders are great, providing there aren't issues with the necks.

I'd suggest a Sadowsky Verdine White PJ.

 

[Dynacord]

I bought a '69 P bass from a 'reputable' dealer. Lightweight, sounded great but there was a bit of fret buzz after the 12th fret. I didn't want to mess with the truss rod of a vintage bass, so I took it to my Luthier. The neck suffered from ski jump. The old fenders are great, providing there aren't issues with the necks.

The ski jump is very typical with older bolt on neck basses in general. Very common issue that's fortunately reparable. Just dealt with it on a 1965 Italian bass.

 

[chris_b]

Hi , I'm on the verge of getting a new bass for my 40th year on this earth.

A few years ago I took a punt on a Sadowsky RV5. Didn't know much about them, had never played one or even seen one in the flesh. I thought I could always sell it if I didn't like it. Maybe I was lucky or maybe they are all like this, anyway, it was good enough that within 3 months all my other basses had been sold, bar the P bass.

So that's what I'd suggest.

 

[Mark Ambler]

The ski jump is very typical with older bolt on neck basses in general. Very common issue that's fortunately reparable. Just dealt with it on a 1965 Italian bass.

Repairable? Maybe it depends how bad. The neck lso had a twist in it, and although the frets could've been levelled to address the ski jump, I didn't want to deal with problems with solutions that may or may not work. In hindsight, perhaps I should've bought a new neck and (obviously) stored the old one. Next time, maybe.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

The Masterbuilt Jazz will almost certainly be a better made instrument than any similar vintage Jazz.

You may not think this is an issue now, but be well aware than if you purchase a Masterbuilt Jazz from Fender for $7grand, the second you walk out the door of the shop, that bass will be worth $4,500. But if you purchase a '66 Jazz for $7grand, that bass will always be worth $7grand (or more).

^This!
Also, you seemed concerned about something going wrong with a vintage. It has been doing it's job for for well over 50 years. That means the wood is stable and the neck has no issues. The only things that could go wrong would be the electrical parts. Yeah, maybe tuners, but not likely. I wouldn't worry about it. I think anything bad that might happen would have happened a long time ago.

 

[Dynacord]

Repairable? Maybe it depends how bad. The neck lso had a twist in it, and although the frets could've been levelled to address the ski jump, I didn't want to deal with problems with solutions that may or may not work. In hindsight, perhaps I should've bought a new neck and (obviously) stored the old one. Next time, maybe.

Yes, repairable - even if not a DIY job. Depending on how bad sometimes it can be addressed with just a fret level though not unusual to remove the upper frets and level the upper end of the fingerboard and then install new frets (either just the upper ones or all of them). Not saying it's a small job but that it can be fixed when the instrument's value justifies the expense - as opposed to a twisted neck which is much more problematic. If yours had both I can see why you just cut your losses on it.

 

[Paulabass]

If you are touring, the Masterbuilt is easier to insure or replace.

 

[Mark Ambler]

Surely people don't tour with pre cbs Fenders? The occasional gig, fine, but touring, bad idea, imo. I would say they're mainly studio now.

 

[Dynacord]

Surely people don't tour with pre cbs Fenders? The occasional gig, fine, but touring, bad idea, imo. I would say they're mainly studio now.

I guess it depends on the definition of touring. I've done van tours using vintage basses - but they never leave my side and always go back to the hotel. I don't fly with them now. The value is not all that different than the Foderas, etc I see some others travel with. Last time I saw Pearl Jam in Europe, Jeff Ament still had my old '65 Fiesta Red Jazz Bass and they had a quite a few pre-CBS Fender and vintage Gibson guitars.

 

[Mastermold]

Surely people don't tour with pre cbs Fenders? The occasional gig, fine, but touring, bad idea, imo. I would say they're mainly studio now.

I don't tour, just local bars and music venues. My pre-CBS Fenders play out, and stay with me the whole time.

 

[BAG]

you seemed concerned about something going wrong with a vintage. It has been doing it's job for for well over 50 years. That means the wood is stable and the neck has no issues.

People are amazed at the prices being asked, and paid, for 70's Fenders now as they had a reputation for not being very good at the time. I'd guess that part of the reason is that the ones that have survived are usually the rare good ones, just like the pre-CBS ones that are still playable. Sure, there will be bad ones still out there, but generally the bad ones got neglected, had necks, pickups, bridges, pots changed etc.

 

[Mark Ambler]

I guess it depends on the definition of touring. I've done van tours using vintage basses - but they never leave my side and always go back to the hotel. I don't fly with them now. The value is not all that different than the Foderas, etc I see some others travel with. Last time I saw Pearl Jam in Europe, Jeff Ament still had my old '65 Fiesta Red Jazz Bass and they had a quite a few pre-CBS Fender and vintage Gibson guitars.

I personally wouldn’t want to take a vintage bass on the road mainly because it’s irreplaceable, whereas a newer instrument would be. A guitarist I worked with had his ‘59 Les Paul stolen, and that was a big emotional loss for him and would cost too much to replace.

 

[micguy]

Surely people don't tour with pre cbs Fenders? The occasional gig, fine, but touring, bad idea, imo. I would say they're mainly studio now.

Not a Pre-CBS Fender per se, but Joe Bonamassa has been known to tour with Late 50's Les Pauls that are worth a whole lot more than a Pre-CBS Fender bass - hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yoyo Ma tours with a cello worth a lot more than that (millions) - he left it in a cab once; he tours with it. Lots of classical musicians have instruments that make our old mass production hunk of wood Fenders (that we think are precious) look like bargains. I sometimes play a gig with a woman who brings a Harp (a really nice one), and there's Steinway on the other side of me - neither of those can be bought for the price of a vintage Fender bass - they're both worth considerably more. If it's a great musical instrument, I believe it should be used as such. Yes, maybe don't take it to the local biker bar, but if a musical instrument is "too valuable to use" for the purpose it was created for, I think something is wrong.