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Why is it that older basses are much more desirable?

#81
On the other end of it, I wish I would have had foresight. When I started playing bass in the 80's, some of the players who were a little older told me, whatever you do man, do not get a 70's Fender - they're horrible! And of course, being young and not knowing anything, I dutifully skipped over them. D'oh. Oh, but the main topic, yes I love my jv p bass, not because of the age but because it is a well built machine.
 
#83
rtav said:
My 67 P bass (with pickups dated 11/24/66 and 11/27/66) has been played almost daily for 34 years, and saw a lot of studio and stage work before it came into my possession in 1978 (a Christmas present purchased from Leon Rhodes, a Nashville session player).
The neck feels incredible - butter smooth, fast, and thin from tens of thousands of hours of use. The action is near perfect as well, and since the neck hasn't been removed from the body in more than 30 years, it feels like one piece from the bridge to the tuners and oozes mojo from every fret.
Our drummer plays bass in a few tribute bands and has a 90 P bass and a 96 P bass (both American made), and there's no comparison with the very early 67 P bass just because of the way it fits my hand like a tailored glove.
I've played new Alembics, older Ricks, L2 Steinies, recent Jazz basses and other P basses - there really is no comparison.
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That must have cost a fortune!
 
#84
On that note, I saw fender factory footage from probably the late 50s showing the saw guys cutting bodies just as fast as humanly possible. I think there is so much fantasy, myth, lore, and runaway imaginations surrounding what the old basses are and how they were made. But I'm just speculating because I wasn't there. :p

For me, newer stuff is more desirable because it is on average better than anything from the past.

Anyone can have mojo you just need to harness it from the ether. :D
 
#87
rtav said:
Actually, my mother bought it for me for my 14th birthday - for $700 she got the bass, case and a Fender Musicmaster amp with one volume knob, one tone control and one 12" (I think) speaker).
I've still got the case, but I can't find the amp after so many years and so many bands!
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Nice. That's a tried and true instrument right there.
 
#89
darkstorm said:
No everyone would not. Theres plenty who find the newer basses every bit as good or even better then most of the similiar priced ones of the 80's. The 80's brought the introduction of affordable qaulity active preamp equipted basses. But the 2000's brought new better pups and even better preamps. Id say that on average the preferrers of older basses is gonna mostly be those more into passive basses and "traditional" tone. The main possible exception would be in my best geauss, those more into the BC Rich's and Jackson's of the 80's, and those sort of basses.

As an example, Ibanez soundgears had their start in the early 80's after copying the basics of Washburns abt force series. To include the deaper neck joint and so on. But not doing as good a job. But then Washburn went downhill for a time and Ibanez continued soundgears and started improving them. The stock pups in these while great for stock basses back then, arent as good as then newer versions of those pups wether your talking the various generations of emg hz or mfg house brand, etc. Ibanez further pushed the envelope with enhanced eq's, better soapbar pups, and modified bart electronics and pups. Thus taking what Washburn could have maintained and gotten, had they not gotten dumb about their bass building. Imo.

In the 80's snagging a used rickenbbacker for $400-$500 wasnt hard to do for rick fans. Part of the appeal of the 80's was prices for nice used gear that today costs twice as much or more. The freaky outragious prices for "vintage" hadnt been popularized back then like it is today. The economy was also better back then. So fondness for that aspect of gear purchasing imo helps perpetuate the 80's is better myth about the gear itself.
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I happened to be around in the 80's and the economy was pretty bad for quite a while before it got better. Just an FYI there.
 
#90
Older basses aren't necessarily better. Neither are new ones. There are a whole lot of variables that come into play.

My 2004 Precision is twice the bass my 1978 ever was. The build quality, sound, and playability are all sooooo much better in the 2004. That said, there does seem to be a point to be made for a bass that is well "played in" and I like the 78 still because I have it so "played in". Original build quality - age and what the instrument has been put through - both good and bad - all factor in.

The Violin family certainly has something to say about age. The nature of the construction and the way the instrument plays will improve as they age, only to a certain point and the nature of the build and the wood is that these instruments will eventually lose their sound. Today's Stradivarius Violin will not sound nearly as good in a few hundred years. the sound will peak, and then decline. Classical guitars I am told by a respected maker only have 25 or so really good years in them due to the bracing and nature of the construction, then they begin to lose the quality of tone.

Lutes were still around and being made during the time the Stradivarius violins were made. They are all gone due to the fact that the bracing and construction made them useless and usually broken after a few decades. the few surviving examples aren't great instruments. So every design is going to have characteristics that are particular to it based on what you use to make it, and how well it is made.

What does this have to do with electric bass? Just that there is a likely window where a well built bass will improve in sound and eventually decline, though with electronics and the lack (in most cases) of a resonating cavity I am not sure what that window might look like. Perhaps some knowledgeable Luthier might have some insight here.

You have to balance all of this with the fact that a crap bass made in 1964 will be an "vintage" crap bass in 2011. Quality of build will set limits on how good things can get. Many 70's Fenders suffer from this problem and yet there are some really nice Fenders form that era too. It has to do with the many factors that the bass is exposed to along with the original quality of the build.
 
#91
I must be in the minority because I prefer newer basses. With some, the technology has really become quite apparent in not only finishes, but how the wood is prepared but also in the electronic advancements too.
 
#93
My '84 P Elite II is easily the best sounding bass I have ever played. Physically heavy as hell. Sounds deep, full, and rich. She's the one. Had an '80 P Special, predecessor to the Elite. Very, very similar, but not quite the same. I kick myself every time I think about the fact that I let that one go.
 
#96
i guess it also depends on what bass. my favorite bass is my 76 Gibson Ripper (w/ 71 Guild pups) they don't make those anymore.so it has to be vintage. i love Rics and wouldn't care what year it's from. Fender has good and bad from any era. i do prefer USA made basses.
 
#97
chuck3 said:
my two Fenders are a fretless P from 1978 and a '62 Jazz reissue from 2008. Thirty years apart, both great basses. They are very different to play, though.

To come back to your question, I often wonder about this too. As someone else said, I don't think you can generalize. I tried a '70s P at Sam Ash in NYC recently, and it sucked - mainly because it wasn't set up well etc, but still - it needed a lot of work and I still don't know if it would have been good. But if I buy a new Sadowsky (which I haven't yet), I know it will be excellent. So there's no one size fits all, and price is always a consideration too.
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you saved me a lot of typing!
10 years ago 70s Fenders were considered boat anchors and you couldn't give them away. Now that 60's Fenders are worth a ton... the market for 70's are up. 80's are now 21 years old...so they are next. it has nothing to do w/playability and tone.
 
#99
Nostalgic people like to buy stuff that they either couldn't afford or weren't around to buy back in the day. A 2011 Jazz bass wasn't around in 1968. Even if it's better than a 1968 model, the 2011 isn't a piece of the past. It won't command as high of a premium on the market as a bass that was around years ago. This fuels the demand, lowers the supply of available 1968 models, and drives up the prices for everybody.
 

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