Why are older basses "coveted"???

[MrAB4003]

I'm a Boomer or Gen X, depending on when you look. I wasn't a Boomer but got reclassified. So there's that. I play with quite a few Gen X guys and a bunch of Millennials as well. The Gen X guys, especially guitarists, spend a zillion dollars getting just the right sound. It could be vintage, it could be custom shop, it could be relic. Whatever it is, they spend lots of money. The Millennials are a lot more constrained, probably because they don't have the money just yet. The Boomers I play with generally have vintage instruments, not because they bought vintage instruments, but because they have had whatever they play for a very long time. A guitarist with a '62 Strat plays it because he's had it since about 1970, when he was in middle school. It isn't a vintage guitar, it's just his guitar. As a mostly bass player, I don't know what generations of bass players do.

As a younger millennial, I have 4 basses and 1 guitar. All of my instruments are of high quality and exactly what I'm looking for. One was a birthday gift from my parents when I was in college. The others I had to work for or shrewdly trade up to acquire.

I don't need anything more than what I have. I don't have the disposable income to buy a multi-thousand dollar (or older vintage) guitar whenever. I'd rather max out my Roth IRA every year now so that I can actually retire in 35-40 years. Compound interest works in the stock market, not usually with investing in basses.