Vintage Fenders

[OliverBlackman]

18 hours ago, ossyrocks said:

Ok, New Bass Day!

 

That last pic I posted was of this bass. I picked it up yesterday for evaluation, and I've done the deal today. I'm pretty excited about this one, it's quite special.

 

1973 Fender Jazz Bass in original factory black with white guard. Neck, pickup and pots all date to '73. The wiring appears untouched, as do the pickups. I've spent the last hour restringing it, and giving it a setup and intonation. It plays like a dream and sounds fabulous. It is entirely original, but missing the covers and case, hey ho.

 

Needless to say, one went out of the door too today, and I'm quite a bit lighter in cash than I was yesterday, but I think it was worth it.

 

Thanks,

Rob

Stunning! My old tutor Stefan Redtenbacher had one and the same spec. Anyone who likes instrumental funk should check out his funkestra.

[briansbrew]

1978 Antigua Precision in mint condition with case. Not mine but it will be up for sale soon by a guy in London, belonged to his dad 

[Piers_Williamson]

21 minutes ago, briansbrew said:

1978 Antigua Precision in mint condition with case. Not mine but it will be up for sale soon by a guy in London, belonged to his dad 

Beautiful, but I can feel the weight of it from here!

[briansbrew]

10 minutes ago, Piers_Williamson said:

Beautiful, but I can feel the weight of it from here!

Have a guess at his asking price...

[Piers_Williamson]

£2,500

[Reggaebass]

I’d guess around 3k

[briansbrew]

he said that he was advised to take £4000 minimum as its rare and very collectable...

[Piers_Williamson]

10 minutes ago, briansbrew said:

he said that he was advised to take £4000 minimum as its rare and very collectable...

Just remember to get some reinforced wall brackets

[Reggaebass]

It’s never been a colour that’s appealed to me personally , good luck to him if he gets what he’s looking for, seems high to me 

[Burns-bass]

I was offered on for £1500. They’re not particularly desirable. 

[peteb]

22 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

It’s never been a colour that’s appealed to me personally , good luck to him if he gets what he’s looking for, seems high to me 

 

I remember when I first started playing, when I got my first Fender and that finish became a thing. We all hated it! 

 

3 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

I was offered on for £1500. They’re not particularly desirable. 

 

That seems to have changed in the past few years from what I can make out! Rarity seems to trump aesthetics... 

 

[Burns-bass]

32 minutes ago, peteb said:

 

I remember when I first started playing, when I got my first Fender and that finish became a thing. We all hated it! 

 

 

That seems to have changed in the past few years from what I can make out! Rarity seems to trump aesthetics... 

 

This was 18 months ago. To be fair, the market does seem to have gone bonkers recently but these were always poorly made and heavy.

 

Plus they’re not really played by anyone famous which limits value to some degree.

[briansbrew]

38 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

This was 18 months ago. To be fair, the market does seem to have gone bonkers recently but these were always poorly made and heavy.

 

Plus they’re not really played by anyone famous which limits value to some degree.

Too true Lawrie, you could count on one finger how many people you have seen play one LOL

[simonlittle]

7 minutes ago, briansbrew said:

Too true Lawrie, you could count on one finger how many people you have seen play one LOL

I reckon it’s the fact that Ian Martin Allison from SBL has a beloved Antigua Jazz bass that’s pushed the prices up on these. Anything that gets featured on their videos instantly gets an instant price bump on the used market. 

[peteb]

1 hour ago, Burns-bass said:

This was 18 months ago. To be fair, the market does seem to have gone bonkers recently but these were always poorly made and heavy.

 

Plus they’re not really played by anyone famous which limits value to some degree.

 

Dunno, its like any 70s Fender. I've got a got a couple of P basses from from that period that are great. I've also owned one that was f***in awful. 

 

While there is no one who is genuinely famous who is associated with playing an Antigua Fender, Ian from SBL and a couple of other guys who are playing as sidemen for reasonably well known guys who are using them. I'm no expert, so it will be interesting to see if @briansbrew's friend gets what he has been advised they are going for. My only comment is that me and my mates all hated that finish when it came out, but there does seem to be some sort of interest in those basses forty five or so years later! 

 

[briansbrew]

The sellers dad passed away and he is selling off what was collected over the years. I am thinking of buying the 76 P he has in mint condition with original case but I’m not too sure if these are heavy, anyone here got any experience with that year

 

[Steve Browning]

I am inclined to think 78 is the beginning of the boat anchor era. My first Precision was a 77 and it was a great bass. I don't recall it being at all heavy. 

[ossyrocks]

4 minutes ago, briansbrew said:

The sellers dad passed away and he is selling off what was collected over the years. I am thinking of buying the 76 P he has in mint condition with original case but I’m not too sure if these are heavy, anyone here got any experience with that year

 

I played a very nice '76 this week which was a quite reasonable weight, around the 9lb mark, no more. But that's just one bass, out of many. 

"Mint" means different things to different people. To me, mint means "as new", which is super rare, otherwise it's just excellent condition.

The '76 I played this week could be bought for around the £2.6k mark I think. It was in "very good" condition.

[ossyrocks]

2 minutes ago, Steve Browning said:

I am inclined to think 78 is the beginning of the boat anchor era. My first Precision was a 77 and it was a great bass. I don't recall it being at all heavy. 

I just sold a '78 which was 8lbs 9oz, super lightweight P bass.

[Lozz196]

I had two 78 Precisions, one was 9lb something (prob near 10lbs) the other was about 7lb10. 70s boat anchors are out there but so are others - maybe we don’t see those much because people keep hold of them?

[peteb]

23 minutes ago, Steve Browning said:

I am inclined to think 78 is the beginning of the boat anchor era. My first Precision was a 77 and it was a great bass. I don't recall it being at all heavy. 

 

My 78 is bang on 10lbs, which is OK for me. The 79 I got recently is a little bit lighter, as was the 77 I owned years ago (but a pretty cr*p example of a 70s Fender). The worst, weight wise at least, was a 90s Jazz I owned that was over 12lbs. 

 

Edited December 14 by peteb

[Piers_Williamson]

25 minutes ago, ossyrocks said:

I just sold a '78 which was 8lbs 9oz, super lightweight P bass.

My '77 is 10.2lb with the ash can on.  I reckon 3lb of that is varnish.

[Piers_Williamson]

Isn't the weight thing about Fender running out of (or more likely not being willing to pay for) US Swamp Ash?

[Bagman]

2 hours ago, briansbrew said:

The sellers dad passed away and he is selling off what was collected over the years. I am thinking of buying the 76 P he has in mint condition with original case but I’m not too sure if these are heavy, anyone here got any experience with that year

 

I’ve got a 76 -feather weight at 4kgs 

[briansbrew]

2 hours ago, ossyrocks said:

I played a very nice '76 this week which was a quite reasonable weight, around the 9lb mark, no more. But that's just one bass, out of many. 

"Mint" means different things to different people. To me, mint means "as new", which is super rare, otherwise it's just excellent condition.

The '76 I played this week could be bought for around the £2.6k mark I think. It was in "very good" condition.

That was the sellers remark about mint, sometimes overuse of the word to describe in good or excellent condition, by looking at the pics I would say very good condition..