Seventies Bass Prices

[BOD2]

I was clearing out my dads house at the weekend and came across a pile of old "International Musician and Recording World" and "Beat" magazines from the mid to late seventies.

Reading through those brings back memories of gear no longer with us ("White" amps, "MM Electronics" mixers, "HH" amps)

And it's strange reading album reviews of classic albums (like "Hotel California" for example) when they first came out.

Anyway, of interest here I thought you might like to see what bass guitars cost back then and compare it with what they cost now. I've also used an online "inflation calculator" to convert the 70s prices into what they'd be worth now - that price is shown in the brackets.

The prices quoted were ex VAT so I've added VAT at the rate of 15%

So, from 1976....

Fender Jazz Bass .................................. £348 (£2011)
Fender Jazz Bass with maple neck ........... £374 (£2161)

Fender Precision Bass ........................... £289 (£1670)
Fender Precision Bass with maple neck .... £316 (£1826)

Rickenbacker 4001 ................................. £405 (£2340)

I can't comment on the accuracy of the "inflation calculator" but still..... you can almost buy new Mexican Fenders at those old prices, pound for pound ... and that was 33 years ago !!


Anyone got any questions about any gear from back then and I'll see if I can find it in the mags ?

[The Funk]

Interesting post! I'm glad instruments are cheaper now than they used to be. I picked up my first bass for $300.

[OldGit]

Aha!
Timing!

Neck thickness of the Ric 4001 and P bass? ie the "depth" between the fingerboard and back of the neck ?

I guess they don't have that

Cheers

Edited May 4, 2009 by OldGit

[whynot]

When I joined an originals touring band back in 80/81 I decided I needed a quality bass (even though I couldn't play that well), borrowed the full £595.00 from my parents and bought a new WAL Custom.

[beerdragon]

Gene Hunt in Ashes to Ashes just bought a double whisky for fifty pence.

[skankdelvar]

Nice bit of work - thank you for your effort!

[wateroftyne]

There you have it... proof that Fender have reduced their prices by 50% since the 70s.

[BOD2]

DiMarzio were the leading brand of replacement pickups (Seymour Duncan hand't been invented yet) and it was the "in" thing to replace all your metal bits with BRASS for that solid, ringing tone....

Japanese "copy" guitars were at their peak (no lawsuits in the UK at this time) but Yamaha and Ibanez had just bucked the trend by launching their own unique models (the SG series and Artiste series).

I can't tell you what a jap copy bass would have cost because I can't decode the names in the price list ! (they don't call them Jazz bass copies they have names like "Clipper" or just 3 letters to identify them).

An average Strat copy that I do recognise the name of cost £82 (£456) so a half decent Fender bass copy would probably be around £100 (£500).

I think we're a lot better of now !

[Musky]

I've still got a stack of mags from that era as well.

I've got to say that the prices you're quoting do seem quite hot though. I bought my Precision new in 1981 for £250 - that's about £737 now. Admittedly I was fortunate enough to live near one of the cheapest dealers in the country, but that holds up pretty well today's prices.

[Greene-Mann]

[quote name='whynot' post='479433' date='May 4 2009, 09:42 PM']When I joined an originals touring band back in 80/81 I decided I needed a quality bass (even though I couldn't play that well), borrowed the full £595.00 from my parents and bought a new WAL Custom.[/quote]



I'd more than willingly pay £595 for a Wal Custom...anything out of a custom shop now is double that at least (something like a status S-1 is about 800-900 if i remember right)


And it seems Rickenbackers have stayed the same price then plus inflation

[Protium]

[quote name='beerdragon' post='479436' date='May 4 2009, 09:46 PM']Gene Hunt in Ashes to Ashes just bought a double whisky for fifty pence. [/quote]

Finding a suspect because of it - and they say alcohol is bad for you

[BOD2]

[quote name='Musky' post='479495' date='May 4 2009, 10:36 PM']I've still got a stack of mags from that era as well.

I've got to say that the prices you're quoting do seem quite hot though. I bought my Precision new in 1981 for £250 - that's about £737 now. Admittedly I was fortunate enough to live near one of the cheapest dealers in the country, but that holds up pretty well today's prices.[/quote]

Those are the RRPs I've quoted from a big price list at the back of the magazines. You would probably be able to negotiate a discount in some of the bigger stores.

With USA gear a lot would depend on the strength of the pound against the dollar. I have no idea if that changed, or by how much, between 1977 and 1981 but it might have made a difference. Fender had also taken a severe bashing in that period for poor quality so that might also have affected their prices.

[Musky]

[quote name='BOD2' post='479507' date='May 4 2009, 10:44 PM']Those are the RRPs I've quoted from a big price list at the back of the magazines. You would probably be able to negotiate a discount in some of the bigger stores.

With USA gear a lot would depend on the strength of the pound against the dollar. I have no idea if that changed, or by how much, between 1977 and 1981 but it might have made a difference. Fender had also taken a severe bashing in that period for poor quality so that might also have affected their prices.[/quote]

Good point - the pound was seriously overvalued in the early eighties so that would have made any US made basses relatively cheap.

[12stringbassist]

[quote name='Musky' post='479530' date='May 4 2009, 10:09 PM']Good point - the pound was seriously overvalued in the early eighties so that would have made any US made basses relatively cheap.[/quote]

When I was starting playing in the mid 70's, my dream guitar was a white Fender Strat
with a maple neck and trem arm. A shop near me, which, to this day has a reputation
for being stupidly overpriced, was charging £425.00 for it. They justified the price by
saying white was a custom colour (+ 10%), a maple neck was custom (+ 10%) and a
trem was also an extra 10%.

When I signed on for just a few weeks at that time, after leaving school, my weekly payment
was £6.85. That gives you a clue of what that would have meant to buy that guitar at the time.

My first bass cost me £35.00. The fact that the shop put it up by £5 while I was saving up for it,
nearly made me give up the idea of buying one and learning to play.

I don't want to sound like an old misery, but kids are so lucky now not to have to pay stupid
money for decent quality instruments.

Edited May 6, 2009 by 12stringbassist