Vintage Fenders

[tegs07]

The price of vintage instruments has diverged hugely from the earning power of your average person. Logically it should correct but the economic system appears to have also diverted from all logic over the last few decades. Instead of big recessions we have seen epic borrowing at unprecedented levels in peacetime. Whilst most of us are getting poorer for every £1 we owe someone else has that £1 plus interest. There is a lot of money sloshing around still looking for assets and investments.

 

Central banks and governments are just itching to rinse and repeat so I would not bet on prices going down. They might if a recession is allowed to let rip, but until then I will look at a vintage Fender bass priced at £10K plus and think that’s crazy in the same way I look at a 500K+ average home in a leafy suburb and think that’s crazy but they still appear to attract buyers.

[OliverBlackman]

8 hours ago, GuyR said:

Sold for £2300 plus 26% 

 

Looking elsewhere at the numbers of very desirable prime pre CBS Fender basses that have become available with reputable dealers such as Andy Baxter and ATB, I wonder whether the sharp price increases of the last few years have taken what is a niche market to a point where supply outstrips demand, at current pricing levels at least.

In particular, the  more common sunbursts seem expensive at £14-15000 for decent, complete examples. I’m always a buyer for a well playing original finish Jazz Bass from 1965 and before, perhaps 1966 if custom colour, but over £10k for me is the level where excitement over a vintage bass (or guitar-sorry) can be rationalised away. And I wouldn’t pay £10k for a ‘65.

 

In my opinion, the market for rare vintage Fender basses, particularly pre-1966, will always have a level of price justification/correllation, in its link to the more popular and numerous vintage Strat/Telecaster equivalents, which still seem to find buyers swiftly.

 

In the UK over a 12-month period, I would be fascinated to know how many prime vintage bass transactions take place. Is it more than a handful? If not, Messrs Baxter and ATB suddenly having 8 unsold prime examples between them, where previously it might have been 2 or 3, might not be great for confidence in a market where the cutting edge is very small. Asking prices seem to be up around 30% over the last 2-3 years. Pretty much in line with a lot of other costs, but these are discretionary purchases with perfectly acceptable alternatives at 20% of the price.

 

I’m Interested to see where the market goes from here.

Mr Baxter and ATB are wisely awaiting my jackpot lottery win and clearing them out.

[Pow_22]

Not a bad priced late 70's P on Bass Bros.  How hard it would be to find original tuners and bridge im not sure?

 

https://bassbros.co.uk/product/1977-fender-precision-bass-6/

Edited March 13 by Pow_22

[ossyrocks]

35 minutes ago, Pow_22 said:

Not a bad priced late 70's P on Bass Bros.  How hard it would be to find original tuners and bridge im not sure?

 

https://bassbros.co.uk/product/1977-fender-precision-bass-6/

 

Indeed a good price. It's cheaper than the '78 I bought last year which looks almost identical to it.

 

@walshy would probably help you with the non original parts.

 

It's not too heavy either, although mine is a really lightweight one, which is one of the main reasons I bought it.

 

Rob

[wateroftyne]

I like BassBros. They seem to be on a mission to keep vintage prices reasonable.

[Burns-bass]

There was a 77 Precision in Bristol for £1500 this weekend with a Marshall amp. I think you can still get reasonably priced stuff if you’re patient. 

[soulstar89]

12 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

There was a 77 Precision in Bristol for £1500 this weekend with a Marshall amp. I think you can still get reasonably priced stuff if you’re patient. 

what! what store?
 

I have a folder bookmarked with sites but it’s always Bassbros with the lowest price. 
 

the fender pb-70 mij in 90’s goes for around that price. Even these are so hard to find. 

[Burns-bass]

7 minutes ago, soulstar89 said:

what! what store?
 

I have a folder bookmarked with sites but it’s always Bassbros with the lowest price. 
 

the fender pb-70 mij in 90’s goes for around that price. Even these are so hard to find. 

 

It was on Gumtree. It's not a bad price. 

 

If you factor in the cost of a setup, new strings and postage Bass Bros would do then £1500 not a bad price. 

 

Possibly bought by a flipper (there's a notorious one in Bristol who spends his life on Gumtree). If it were my money, I'd buy a recent US Precision. These are infinitely better instruments (but I appreciate that's not the context here).

[soulstar89]

1 minute ago, Burns-bass said:

 

It was on Gumtree. It's not a bad price. 

 

If you factor in the cost of a setup, new strings and postage Bass Bros would do then £1500 not a bad price. 

 

Possibly bought by a flipper (there's a notorious one in Bristol who spends his life on Gumtree). If it were my money, I'd buy a recent US Precision. These are infinitely better instruments (but I appreciate that's not the context here).

fair. I broke my wrist at 16 and the only necks which are the most comfortable are the late 70’s fender profiles. I think they are B. Lawsuit Japanese p basses are ok also. 

[ossyrocks]

1 minute ago, soulstar89 said:

fair. I broke my wrist at 16 and the only necks which are the most comfortable are the late 70’s fender profiles. I think they are B. Lawsuit Japanese p basses are ok also. 

 

I have a 1987 MIJ Fender PB-62 RI which I bought from Bass Bros. It was immaculate and only £850 I think. The neck is almost identical to my '73 P bass B neck, lovely neck.

[peteb]

6 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

I'd buy a recent US Precision. These are infinitely better instruments (but I appreciate that's not the context here).

 

I wouldn't go that far. But, what they are, is vastly more consistent. I've owned a great 70s Precision and played several really nice ones, but I've also owned and played really bad 70s Fenders. 

 

[Burns-bass]

1 minute ago, ossyrocks said:

 

I have a 1987 MIJ Fender PB-62 RI which I bought from Bass Bros. It was immaculate and only £850 I think. The neck is almost identical to my '73 P bass B neck, lovely neck.

 

That is an excellent price. 

 

I am a fan of BassBros.

[Burns-bass]

Just now, peteb said:

 

I wouldn't go that far. But, what they are, is vastly more consistent. I've owned a great 70s Precision and played several really nice ones, but I've also owned and played really bad 70s Fenders. 

 

 

It's not a discussion we need to have here and I shouldn't have raised it. Opinions vary, what I like others may not, etc.

 

My original point was that there are reasonably priced older Fenders out there if you're happy to wait and search. I just hope this one goes to someone who wants it not an online dealer. 

[peteb]

1 hour ago, Pow_22 said:

Not a bad priced late 70's P on Bass Bros.  How hard it would be to find original tuners and bridge im not sure?

 

https://bassbros.co.uk/product/1977-fender-precision-bass-6/

 

Or you could look at it as a player rather than an investment, and accept the d-tuner and hi-mass bridge as genuine upgrades. 

 

I've already got a late 70s P bass, but if I was in the market (and I'm not ruling it out in the future), I would be popping down to Bass Bros to have a serious look at that one. 

 

[soulstar89]

3 minutes ago, ossyrocks said:

 

I have a 1987 MIJ Fender PB-62 RI which I bought from Bass Bros. It was immaculate and only £850 I think. The neck is almost identical to my '73 P bass B neck, lovely neck.

Will is great. I bought my Yamaha pulser 400 which it’s a lawsuit late 70’s pbass. I was going to swap it for a 600 (the higher model) but will wasn’t happy with how the neck settled. This showed me a lot of honesty as he could have sold me the bass and be done with it. I’ll buy more from him for sure. 
 

 

 

[peteb]

2 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

 

It's not a discussion we need to have here and I shouldn't have raised it. Opinions vary, what I like others may not, etc.

 

My original point was that there are reasonably priced older Fenders out there if you're happy to wait and search. I just hope this one goes to someone who wants it not an online dealer. 

 

It's a perfectly valid point and there's no reason why you shouldn't put it forward for discussion. I agree that if you wait and look around there are some reasonable deals out there. 

 

[Reggaebass]

1 hour ago, Pow_22 said:

Not a bad priced late 70's P on Bass Bros.  How hard it would be to find original tuners and bridge im not sure?

 

https://bassbros.co.uk/product/1977-fender-precision-bass-6/

Not a bad price, I think if it was me I’d change the tuners for period correct and fit a bbot bridge and your good to go 

[soulstar89]

This is interesting. Never knew this was a factory option. Beautiful colour 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/315217445474?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=elhse3o4su6&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=Rn8UiLvPR9K&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[OliverBlackman]

10 hours ago, soulstar89 said:

fair. I broke my wrist at 16 and the only necks which are the most comfortable are the late 70’s fender profiles. I think they are B. Lawsuit Japanese p basses are ok also. 

The late 70s I’ve played had baseball bats for necks. I think someone said before what period of 70s had the B width 

[Skin Lewis]

19 minutes ago, OliverBlackman said:

The late 70s I’ve played had baseball bats for necks.

 

The '78 P I had back in the 90's had a baseball bat neck, and weighed over 11 lbs. My current '73 has a lovely B width neck, and weighs a perfectly balanced 8lb 3oz. A very different beast.

[soulstar89]

31 minutes ago, OliverBlackman said:

The late 70s I’ve played had baseball bats for necks. I think someone said before what period of 70s had the B width 

Yep that the one my wrist agrees with. Deep neck with around 40-42mm but width. 

[soulstar89]

5 minutes ago, Skin Lewis said:

 

The '78 P I had back in the 90's had a baseball bat neck, and weighed over 11 lbs. My current '73 has a lovely B width neck, and weighs a perfectly balanced 8lb 3oz. A very different beast.

When you find “ the one” you have zero resistance when playing. 

[Burns-bass]

On 12/03/2024 at 07:56, tegs07 said:

The price of vintage instruments has diverged hugely from the earning power of your average person. Logically it should correct but the economic system appears to have also diverted from all logic over the last few decades. Instead of big recessions we have seen epic borrowing at unprecedented levels in peacetime. Whilst most of us are getting poorer for every £1 we owe someone else has that £1 plus interest. There is a lot of money sloshing around still looking for assets and investments.

 

Central banks and governments are just itching to rinse and repeat so I would not bet on prices going down. They might if a recession is allowed to let rip, but until then I will look at a vintage Fender bass priced at £10K plus and think that’s crazy in the same way I look at a 500K+ average home in a leafy suburb and think that’s crazy but they still appear to attract buyers.

I can understand banks wanting to prop up the housing market, but I can’t imagine the price of Fenders is on their list. (I see air fryers are no longer considered an essential commodity either.)

 

My view is that we’re at dangerous bubble territory and you can see the demand is dropping. I’ve never seen so many up for sale in the last 20 years which suggests either they’ve discovered a rare cache of them, if collectors are divesting themselves if these assets when the going is good.

 

The old 59 burst is a fair bellweather as arguably the most desirable guitar in the world. You’d almost never see one for sale but in the last year there have been about 7 in the UK alone. That’s a warning sign.

 

Basses are less desirable than guitars so the money is less - and so is the risk - but at the top end you could see quite significant drops to levels of a few years ago.

 

[tegs07]

26 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

I can understand banks wanting to prop up the housing market, but I can’t imagine the price of Fenders is on their list. (I see air fryers are no longer considered an essential commodity either.)

I don’t think for a minute that they will prop up the price of vintage Fenders

 

 

Every asset is in a bubble. It’s either all going to burst (starting with things like vintage instruments) or there’s going to be a tsunami of liquidity to keep it all afloat that will devalue the value of currency and pump the price of all assets. Anyhow wrong thread for this. Personally if I had the spare cash I would like a vintage Fender Precision. I would put it in my Man Cave garage next to my vintage car collection.

Edited March 14 by tegs07

[ezbass]

Just my own point of view, with nothing other than instinct to support it:

 

More vintage instruments appearing on the market could just be down to the grim reaper coming to claim the ageing owners and their estate divesting the asset. All the time notable players are picking them up and telling the community how great they are (the basses, not the artist), the market will continue.