Why are older basses "coveted"???

[Gervais Cote]

I’m not a fan of vintage basses but………..

Two years ago, I tried a 1962 Fender p bass with La Bella flats and it sounded like a double bass.

I tried many other p basses in the same amp (including a few of mine) and never matched that double bass sound.

Was it due to the baseball bat type of neck, old body wood etc, etc……. I don’t know but it was flabbergasting.

Luckily for me, it’s not the type of sound I’m after so no need to sell my house to get one !

 

[iammr2]

To be honest, I've never held a 60's or 70's Fender bass in my hands, let alone play one. ...

You've got to play some before you make a judgement. I played a '60 Jazz once. Such resonance. It would just sing! So easy to play and so musical. I know they're not all like that. There are 'dogs' too.

 

[Doctor Morbius]

Nostalgia.

 

[bucephylus]

…..The original Fenders do look cool, especially the ones that have that "bullet" truss rod nut on the headstock.

So, tell me... other than an instrument owned by a famous person as a collector's item, what is the deal with vintage instruments? All sizzle and no steak, prices fueled by some sort of demand?

Pricing is due to Supply and Demand.

Why is the Demand high for vintage instruments? For the past 50 years or so “vintage” instruments have been sought by BOTH players and collectors. The collector part of that demand has been high going back to the mid-80’s.

This can certainly be frustrating for players. The good news for players is that the player makes the instrument, not the other way around. The key aspect for a player is NOT TO GET CONFUSED between player value and collector value.

For bass guitars, the collector influenced market has been almost solely focused on Fender basses. Put another way, if one decided to spend excess money on a bass guitar for collecting purposes, the most reliable bet would be a Fender.

But, Fender continues to produce eminently great bass guitars at current pricing levels; and the used market has real values. You just have to play a bunch of them, know what to look for in terms of issues, and be ok with making a mistake or two.

Blaming this on “Boomers” is putting the cart in front of the horse, and kind of pathetic. Many of these instruments go to international collectors. The collector demand will soften when we no longer perform live music, which may well happen as the result of trends ongoing.

My grandmother had a “listed” Heppelwhite dining Room table, which my parents inherited. Thanksgiving meals used to include conversations about the immense value of this object, and who would get it after my parents were gone. Sad, really. Later, as trustee for my father’s estate, none of my sibs had the slightest interest in the table, and the largest auction house in Detroit finally sold it at auction for $700. They explained to me that “brown furniture” was no longer in demand.

I do own a vintage Fender. It’s a ‘62 Jazz Bass that I found in the local newspaper for $275 in 1987. We didn’t have much money at the time, and even that was a stretch. Still it seemed to have just a bit more ….resonance(?), mojo(?); IDK. $450 to reinstall frets, paint the body, replace a stripped truss nut, and it’s a pretty serviceable gigger.

 

[toastw]

Trees don't grow on trees, you know.

 

[Pdaddy1978]

For the exact same reason old cars, old comic books, old baseball cards, etc, etc.
They're desirable because we assign that desirability to them.
Some people consider them superior in quality....maybe, maybe not.
Some people see old things as a window to their idealized past..The good old days .
Some use their rarity as an investment strategy.
I just think their cool...and interesting..and historical...and mostly, out of my price range.
All of my 3 old basses got that way the old fashioned way. I acquired them a long time ago, and hung on to them.

 

[MrAB4003]

This. Whine about younger generations and their avocado toast or Starbucks or whatever as they buy a $8,000 bass on Reverb. No reason to think into this at all.

This is hilarious as a younger millennial who enjoys a good iced Starbucks! But I don't have enough to buy an $8,000 bass (yet). If I did, I would probably get a custom bass from a modern manufacturer. Vintage instruments generally don't interest me unless it's something rare or really cool (e.g. a pre-1973 Rickenbacker bass).

 

[logdrum]

I've only played a couple true 'vintage' instruments; a '66 Jazz bass for about 20 minutes in a shop, and a late '70s Jazz that my buddy owns. The neck on the '66 did feel great, it was quite the player. The '70s jazz my buddy owns - not as much. You could feel the edge of the skunk stripe, it just didn't feel great, and, IMO, it doesn't sound as good as my 2020 G&L JB. I'd take my G&L over both of them all day, every day. The '66 was a fine bass, but I prefer flatter fretboards, and there is no way that it would be 4-5X more fun for me to play/own to justify it's 4-5X price tag over my G&L.

I personally don't see spending that kind of $$ on a bass, even if I could, but that's just me. Bottom line is, if the instrument brings you joy and makes you want to play it more, and you think it was worth the price of admission, it's good. Maybe a $7,000, 40-year-old bass does that for you, maybe a $1,000 new bass does, all good either way to me, we all get to choose how to spend our $$.

Same with the 1972 P I inherited from my friend who passed. Just an old bass that wasn't put together right and did not sound that great. I also do not believe in the very inexpensive clones. It;s just we have chosen to be hoodwinked and drink the Kool Aid. If I find one that's cheap enough and I could flip, I will do it but I have no illusions it is going to play or sound better.

I am in the assembling camp, MJT body and Warmoth or Musikraft neck. Then have a luthier make corrections maybe even work the neck if needed. My friend in Vermont had a 1966 jazz that was defretted -- it was fine but got better when he change the pickups to Barts. It sounded like any other vintage spec American fretless jazz bass unless you were informed that is a 1966. He had the frets put back on as well as the original PU and sold for a nice profit

Buy one if you got the cash. No one's stopping you and many will support and say it's special.

Now old double basses that had been maintained are a different story. but having said that , luthiers have improved their craft and there are new basses that sound good now. In general, people will always invent excuses and myths Even for old basses, some modern repair are necessary to make them perform their best. But again because humans are inherently greedy, the prices are inflated not to represent real value but maximize profits tot he ones collecting them

 

[Stewie]

The body of my Pbass is worth maybe a few hundred, but the 50 year old fretless rosewood (unlined, as it should be) neck is worth a lot more, edpecially to me, as I bought it new when I was in high school.

 

[Swerve]

The wear and patina looks cool, broken in feel, has a history.

 

[mikeswals]

Gen X doesn't seem to care as much about instruments.

Really???!!!

I am Gen X, and nearly all guitarist, bassist, drummers that I know in my Gen have spent a ridiculous amounts of money on rare instruments (and gear in general). I know many of us that have vintage 60s Fenders, as well as crazy boutique priced instruments from the 80s as well.