Vintage Fenders

[Beedster]

5 minutes ago, BassAgent said:

That would mean that any bass from before 1995 is considered vintage and I don't think most Fender fans will agree with you on that  But it's weird. When I started playing in 1999, pre-1980-ish was already considered vintage. 26 years later, it's still pre-1980. For me and most people I know anyway.

 

I think that while generalisable quantitative parameters such as 30 years can be used to define 'vintage', among musicians it more often describes a golden age, perhaps more like a wine. For example, I might be wrong but I see the word used a lot to describe 1070's Fenders/MMs/Rics - at least one of which had a golden decade in the 70's (I'll leave that up to you reader) - but less to describe, for example Carlsbro' or H&H amps from the same period, neither of which IME had a golden 70's. Probably a very subjective view  

[BassAgent]

Oh yeah definitely. There is a difference between "old" and "vintage". I have a Rokkoman 12-string acoustic from the 70's in my classroom that is very cool and sounds great, but is mainly "old".

[wateroftyne]

I’d say ‘vintage’ is the point at which they start becoming more desirable and go up in value.

[Beedster]

36 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

I’d say ‘vintage’ is the point at which they start becoming more desirable and go up in value.

 

Ha ha, fair point, explaining why 70's Carlsbro' and H&H are rarely described as vintage, but 70's Fenders most certainly are perhaps  

[SurroundedByManatees]

With Fender I'd say up to the early 80s with the Elite models, Precision Special and Dan Smith ending an era of bad quality and trying to get back in the game. In the later 80s the American standards were introduced, which for me marks the "new" era. 

 

As often discussed, "vintage" is a heavily abused label that you even see in ads for MiM Fenders from the early zero's 

Edited yesterday at 09:26 by SurroundedByManatees

[briansbrew]

2 hours ago, Beedster said:

 

I think it looks fine, for me it's the edges as much as the flat surface that bring the sense of authenticity, and those edges look good to me Brian. Some pickguards really do look rubbish and are to be avoided by all conscientious bassists, but given the majority that aren't, it's best not to overthink them or we find ourselves in a situation in which no pickguard is ever good enough  

Thanks Chris for your vote of confidence, yes the edges really look aged...

[Sparky Mark]

10 hours ago, BassAgent said:

That would mean that any bass from before 1995 is considered vintage and I don't think most Fender fans will agree with you on that  But it's weird. When I started playing in 1999, pre-1980-ish was already considered vintage. 26 years later, it's still pre-1980. For me and most people I know anyway.

I kinda agree regarding Fbasses, but *you did ask about any musical instrument. 

*correction; it was jazzyvee that asked the question. 

Edited yesterday at 18:23 by Sparky Mark
Correction

[Burns-bass]

1 hour ago, Sparky Mark said:

I kinda agree regarding Fbasses, but you did ask about any musical instrument. 

 

I agree with you Mark. You can already see late 80s Musicmans and Gibsons being marketed as vintage. (To be fair, the late 80s Stingrays are great).

[Beedster]

1 minute ago, Burns-bass said:

 

I agree with you Mark. You can already see late 80s Musicmans and Gibsons being marketed as vintage. (To be fair, the late 80s Stingrays are great).

Late 80s ‘Rays are vintage in all meanings of the word 👍

[Beedster]

[Beedster]

Just now, Beedster said:

I suspect @wateroftyne hit the nail on the head 👍

[tauzero]

If you applied the same criteria as for cars, no bass would be vintage. In fact, as Ps and Js are still in production, they wouldn't even be classics.

 

https://www.differencebetween.info/difference-between-veteran-vintage-and-classic-cars