It's about the broken in feel, and the people who where making them. People like Tadeo.
1950s Fender Vintage Guitar Craftsmen Tadeo Gomez
1950s Fender Vintage Guitar Craftsmen Tadeo Gomez
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
- Mar 19, 2013
- 1,612
- 2,694
- Disclosures
- If only I were that good....
What if we were to ask the question this way.....?
Take whichever old Fender you are thinking of, and place a price on it.
Now take a brand new Fender Custom Shop that is built exactly to your specs. Now let's pretend it's the exact same price.
Which do you choose? Why?
Take whichever old Fender you are thinking of, and place a price on it.
Now take a brand new Fender Custom Shop that is built exactly to your specs. Now let's pretend it's the exact same price.
Which do you choose? Why?
I still choose the old one because when it was built/new, it probably did not cost thousands of dollars to make ,and it was not "special" or rare to have an instrument made with the highest quality workmanship and craft. Not saying that every pre-CBS bass was perfect, but I feel like the process back then was more organic and "human" involved. The common mindset at the time was not "crap out shyte to sell to the masses, and overcharge for quality workmanship"...
plus, the old ones do have the history...they have seen things and been part of things the new ones never will. They also have just...survived. Maybee in 40 years people will say the same thing about the CS basses, but I still think it sucks that I have to pay double the price for workmanship and atentione to detail that should go into the everyday product
I'm sure this was discussed here before but I was wondering what attracts you all to buy the older Fender Basses 50s- 70s ...is it the look, the feel or the sound? for me it is all of the above and i love the thick necks esp on the older precisions...
I've tried over the past 40 + years to "try" to find a bass that I liked better than the old jazz I've been dragging around.
Just NOTHING comes even close to the feel and sound to my hands and ears.....
I love old fender basses & I have a special love for the 70's ones
Ultimately I play an instrument based on how it feels to me, but I also like the concept of vintage/older things merely because I find the history behind the instrument beautiful, such as who played it before me, what they played, where it's been, etc... I just find that kind of stuff interesting, but I won't go out of my way to pay extra just because it's "vintage"
Last edited:
Depends what you mean by old. I don’t get people mooning over 70’s era CBS basses, they were considered crap in the Day, now they can command top dollar, Age having imparted value somehow. The best made basses I’ve ever seen are being made right now, and at a fraction of the price of a 60’s era pre CBS Fender. “Mojo” is another word for rust, dead skin, and tobacco smoke, it has no tonal benefit. Fenders became the gold standard because that’s what came first, and for a while that’s all there was that was decent quality.
It's a combination of wear, mojo and aged wood.
Maybe part of it is like having a really old pair of shoes,
you know, the ones that are way past ever having any chance of
being shiny again or maybe even have a hole in the sole,
but MAN do they ever conform to your feet.
Maybe part of it is like having a really old pair of shoes,
you know, the ones that are way past ever having any chance of
being shiny again or maybe even have a hole in the sole,
but MAN do they ever conform to your feet.
Pete Farndon! The Pretenders debut album blew me away when I was a Freshman in college in 1980. I knew that I had to get a Precision Bass with the TV logo.
What is your experience with vintage Fenders? How old are you?I'm sure this was discussed here before but I was wondering what attracts you all to buy the older Fender Basses 50s- 70s ...is it the look, the feel or the sound? for me it is all of the above and i love the thick necks esp on the older precisions...
What attracted me to an "older Fender Bass"? Well...I'm sure this was discussed here before but I was wondering what attracts you all to buy the older Fender Basses 50s- 70s ...is it the look, the feel or the sound? for me it is all of the above and i love the thick necks esp on the older precisions...
I bought my left handed "78 Fender P-Bass from a friend and fellow lefty that I was stationed with, in 1988. Why? Long story, but... basically? He wanted the money, and I wanted that particular P-Bass. Mainly because it had the optional-at-the-time, "A-spec" neck (basically a Jazz Bass neck, with dot fretboard inlays and a "Precision Bass" headstock decal). I've never wanted a Jazz Bass (can't stand the offset body and the wonky electronics); and, most of Fender's other basses don't come as a lefty, anyway. I still have the '78; I've noodled around on a plethora of other P-Basses over the years, and... even if they were available as a lefty? My reaction has always been... "Meh... I'll keep what I have"... I do have a lot of basses (32 at last count), but except for a pair of '98 Dano DC 59 Pro basses? No duplicates... I have really, honestly, never seen the need for another P-Bass. My A-necked '78, with the foam mute in the bridge cover, over a set of 45-95 GHS Precision Flats, does EXACTLY what I want a P-Bass to do, and sounds EXACTLY like I want a P-Bass to sound. If I want a different sound? Well, that's what the 31 other basses are for...
'
Absolutely nothing. I would have one or more if I was given them, so I could sell them and buy gear I want. And this isn't just for Fenders, but Gibsons, Rickenbackers and a lot of other brands. They're just not that good. The post quoted below sums it up very well.
PRS don't make basses, but if this was about guitars, I'd buy a PRS, even an SE, blind off the rack before I would from one of the major US manufacturers because the QC and construction is consistent and especially the SE value is exceptional. Mojo is fairy tales you're telling yourself about paying for something really old, that can easily be bettered today and paying huge money for it. If you want to and can afford it, more power to you, but I can live without the fables for more money in the wallet.
The exception would be my 70s T40s because I got them when they were still very cheap - at todays prices, they're still decent, but not great value.
Edit: and yeah, I've played a whole bunch of them as well as modern CS's and they're meh.
It's a combination of wear, mojo and aged wood.
Maybe part of it is like having a really old pair of shoes,
you know, the ones that are way past ever having any chance of
being shiny again or maybe even have a hole in the sole,
but MAN do they ever conform to your feet.
I know what you mean. I thought an old pair jeans or a nice jacket as a comparison.
