Will my bass be collectible?

[txhawaii]

Now before many of you get all hot and bothered over this question...hear me out.

I'm doing some modification to a 1999 Fender PJ but nothing that couldn't be set back to factory settings. But within my google search about my bass's value, Google suggested the following:


"People also ask

How much is a bass worth?
What is the rarest bass?


AI Overview

The rarest electric bass guitars are generally considered to be early Fender Precision Basses (P-Basses), especially pre-CBS models from the 1950s, and Alembic basses from the early 1970s. These basses are sought after by collectors due to their historical significance and craftsmanship. "


Over the years, many here have lamented routing, stripping, cutting, what have you of some early Fender body that would be worth many zeros had they not been sonically or visually creative and ruined the value of their bass. Who would have thought a pristine 58 precision would pay off car or mortgage payments back then today. They are just tools making music, after all.

As far as Fender goes, imho, 1950s was the beginning, 1960s was the golden age, 1970s were heavy and poorly built (by some accounts,) 1980s was a transitional time between poor US quality and Japanese high quality, but then the 1990s and beyond are mostly well-made and mass produced.

My overall question is, will anything we have today whether its 90s, 2000s on...be as valuable as what we perceive 50s and 60s models values today? Will I be kicking myself in 2050 over the mods I did on my 1999?

 

[BGroovy]

I doubt it, more made, way more variety. A garden variety P or J from Fender will likely be close to where it is plus inflation.

Mod away

 

[txhawaii]

I doubt it, more made, way more variety. A garden variety P or J from Fender will likely be close to where it is plus inflation.

Mod away

I'm not sure if my sarcasm is apparent, but I have no belief my personal instruments will be gold minds in the future.

I guess from the 90s on, maybe even starting in the late 80s, nothing from that point will likely "be close to where it is plus inflation," as you put it.

 

[BGroovy]

I'm not sure if my sarcasm is apparent, but I have no belief my personal instruments will be gold minds in the future.

I guess from the 90s on, maybe even starting in the late 80s, nothing from that point will likely "be close to where it is plus inflation," as you put it.

There are plenty of unique/rare models that might be desirable, but those are even hard to predict. There are some 80s basses that are highly desirable from Fender (1983 reissue models for instance).

Mod em and play em. Tools not Jewels as they say.

 

[Podgorny]

I have an old Hofner that is "collectible", but will be much less so once the older Beatles fans have died out. But its value to ME is as an instrument with a unique tone and playing experience. Ultimately, you'll be happier if you buy/mod instruments to suit your needs and just play them.

 

[ardgedee]

If you want an investment, put more money in your retirement savings. Even if your bass becomes collectible it will not appreciate in value at the same rate a conservative index fund would.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Now before many of you get all hot and bothered over this question...hear me out.

I'm doing some modification to a 1999 Fender PJ but nothing that couldn't be set back to factory settings. But within my google search about my bass's value, Google suggested the following:


"People also ask

How much is a bass worth?
What is the rarest bass?


AI Overview

The rarest electric bass guitars are generally considered to be early Fender Precision Basses (P-Basses), especially pre-CBS models from the 1950s, and Alembic basses from the early 1970s. These basses are sought after by collectors due to their historical significance and craftsmanship. "


Over the years, many here have lamented routing, stripping, cutting, what have you of some early Fender body that would be worth many zeros had they not been sonically or visually creative and ruined the value of their bass. Who would have thought a pristine 58 precision would pay off car or mortgage payments back then today. They are just tools making music, after all.

As far as Fender goes, imho, 1950s was the beginning, 1960s was the golden age, 1970s were heavy and poorly built (by some accounts,) 1980s was a transitional time between poor US quality and Japanese high quality, but then the 1990s and beyond are mostly well-made and mass produced.

My overall question is, will anything we have today whether its 90s, 2000s on...be as valuable as what we perceive 50s and 60s models values today? Will I be kicking myself in 2050 over the mods I did on my 1999?

No. By that time, the idea of music made by humans will be as passé as Pogs, rotary dial POTS phones: a mere curiosity, not a valuable one at that.

Gasoline powered cars are heading in that same direction, prices are dropping.

 

[Stevorebob]

Some perspective: There was a time when 1970’s Fenders were considered junk and never imagined to be sought after as quality vintage instruments.

 

[txhawaii]

No. By that time, the idea of music made by humans will be as passé as Pogs, rotary dial POTS phones: a mere curiosity, not a valuable one at that.

Gasoline powered cars are heading in that same direction, prices are dropping.

Very clever.

But are you saying by 2050, the price of a ‘58 p will be within my reach?

 

[txhawaii]

There are plenty of unique/rare models that might be desirable, but those are even hard to predict. There are some 80s basses that are highly desirable from Fender (1983 reissue models for instance).

Mod em and play em. Tools not Jewels as they say.

So can we agree that by the late 80s much of nothing will really have any collectors value other than the unpredictable and something of some cultural milestone?

 

[Sharko]

No

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Very clever.

But are you saying by 2050, the price of a ‘58 p will be within my reach?

Depends, a Tiffany lamp still commands high $$? But the arc is inevitable:

The volume of people that see guitars as collectibles, when the boomers empty their huge coffers of all those? when there is a glut on the market? When Ric Neilson clears out his inventory, like Steve Miller has been, IF and when Keef dumps his larder on evilbay, when Neil Young’s collection goes up for sale.
When Metallica clears the vault?


What do YOU think is going to happen to the prices when there are literally 1000’s and 1000’s of “collectible” instruments available to a FAR SMALLER buyer pool (boomers will be aged out or gone) Genx #s are smaller and less interested….

 

[FenderP]

If you have it as an investment, wait it out 30 years and see what it's worth. Stop playing it. There's NO guarantee it wiil be worth anything. And remember - people can put a price tag on anything. Doesn't mean it will sell for that. And even if it is $X, it doesn't mean it's good, either.

Already mentioned, but it may be inflation that drives the price up. For example, if you paid $1500 for that bass in 1999, I looked at one of the calculators and that would be about $1750 in today's money. What it's worth and how much people would pay is based on a LOT of factors. It's never linear.

If you want to play it and mod it to your liking to make it more playable for you, go for it. It's not some rare, unobtainum object.

Some perspective: There was a time when 1970’s Fenders were considered junk and never imagined to be sought after as quality vintage instruments.

Sure, but that market is also fluctuating now. I love 70s P basses, but there were a lot of dogs. I've played bad 60s ones, too. The 70s market has somewhat stabilized IMO. I've seen some stupid prices on early 70s Ps and they usually don't sell.

 

[Lava]

No

 

[DJ Bebop]

Now before many of you get all hot and bothered over this question...hear me out.

I'm doing some modification to a 1999 Fender PJ but nothing that couldn't be set back to factory settings. But within my google search about my bass's value, Google suggested the following:


"People also ask

How much is a bass worth?
What is the rarest bass?


AI Overview

The rarest electric bass guitars are generally considered to be early Fender Precision Basses (P-Basses), especially pre-CBS models from the 1950s, and Alembic basses from the early 1970s. These basses are sought after by collectors due to their historical significance and craftsmanship. "


Over the years, many here have lamented routing, stripping, cutting, what have you of some early Fender body that would be worth many zeros had they not been sonically or visually creative and ruined the value of their bass. Who would have thought a pristine 58 precision would pay off car or mortgage payments back then today. They are just tools making music, after all.

As far as Fender goes, imho, 1950s was the beginning, 1960s was the golden age, 1970s were heavy and poorly built (by some accounts,) 1980s was a transitional time between poor US quality and Japanese high quality, but then the 1990s and beyond are mostly well-made and mass produced.

My overall question is, will anything we have today whether its 90s, 2000s on...be as valuable as what we perceive 50s and 60s models values today? Will I be kicking myself in 2050 over the mods I did on my 1999?

1999 PJ?

All I have to say is…

 

[MrAB4003]

If you want an investment, put more money in your retirement savings. Even if your bass becomes collectible it will not appreciate in value at the same rate a conservative index fund would.

You win this thread! More people need to be doing this in general!

 

[txhawaii]

Depends, a Tiffany lamp still commands high $$? But the arc is inevitable:

The volume of people that see guitars as collectibles, when the boomers empty their huge coffers of all those? when there is a glut on the market? When Ric Neilson clears out his inventory, like Steve Miller has been, IF and when Keef dumps his larder on evilbay, when Neil Young’s collection goes up for sale.
When Metallica clears the vault?


What do YOU think is going to happen to the prices when there are literally 1000’s and 1000’s of “collectible” instruments available to a FAR SMALLER buyer pool (boomers will be aged out or gone) Genx #s are smaller and less interested….

That’s true! The boomers are the problem.

Not long ago someone was selling off their warehouse of desired amps. What’s a millennial to do when they don’t own a home to store these old treasures?

 

[JEDI BASS]

My '89 Pedulla MVP is highly sought after. I can't post pics without someone asking to be notified if I should ever want to sell. I've had it about 4 years and I could easily get twice what I paid for it.

 

[J Wilson]

When it comes to Fender and Gibson, I look at it the same way I look at Ford and Chevrolet in terms of collect ability:

The two guitar makers have made thousands of guitars and basses, those auto companies millions of cars.

Out of these huge numbers produced, a handful of products as a tiny percent of those numbers are true collectibles: 57 Bel Air, 63 split window Vette, mid 50's porthole TBirds, LP's, Explorers, V's, single coil PBasses, etc By far the rest are vintage survivors, just old tired guitars or junkyard hulks.

They didn't know any more than you do what the market would be in the future. But if I had to guess, it's hard for anything made in huge numbers to become a must-have many years later.

 

[Clark W]

Now before many of you get all hot and bothered over this question...hear me out.

I'm doing some modification to a 1999 Fender PJ but nothing that couldn't be set back to factory settings. But within my google search about my bass's value, Google suggested the following:


"People also ask

How much is a bass worth?
What is the rarest bass?


AI Overview

The rarest electric bass guitars are generally considered to be early Fender Precision Basses (P-Basses), especially pre-CBS models from the 1950s, and Alembic basses from the early 1970s. These basses are sought after by collectors due to their historical significance and craftsmanship. "


Over the years, many here have lamented routing, stripping, cutting, what have you of some early Fender body that would be worth many zeros had they not been sonically or visually creative and ruined the value of their bass. Who would have thought a pristine 58 precision would pay off car or mortgage payments back then today. They are just tools making music, after all.

As far as Fender goes, imho, 1950s was the beginning, 1960s was the golden age, 1970s were heavy and poorly built (by some accounts,) 1980s was a transitional time between poor US quality and Japanese high quality, but then the 1990s and beyond are mostly well-made and mass produced.

My overall question is, will anything we have today whether its 90s, 2000s on...be as valuable as what we perceive 50s and 60s models values today? Will I be kicking myself in 2050 over the mods I did on my 1999?

The mods you're doing are reversible back to stock if need be down the road sometime?

Then I would do them.