Definition of vintage

[SteveXFR]

What would define a bass as vintage? Is it purely age or is there more to it than that?

[Cato]

I'd go with age.

 

Although it kind of gets stretched out over time.

 

In the 1980s Pre CBS Strats could be less than 20 years old. We're now well past the point where post CBS 1970s Fenders are described as Vintage and we can't be far off the point where the 80s stuff gets described the same.

Edited February 8 by Cato

[Doctor J]

It used to be age, over 25 years. Then, as more basses reached that age, the people who owned the older basses took umbrage at basses not as old as theirs being called vintage as they felt it diluted the term. Now it means Fenders made up to about 1975 but, really, it's anything over 25 years.

[Cato]

I was shocked to realise my Washburn Status will be 34 years old this year.

[SteveXFR]

It's worth bugger all, maybe even less but my daughter has an early 90's Peavey international. I was just curious as to whether that would be considered vintage. It's around 30 years old now. It's actually quite nice to play but pretty much worthless to anyone but my daughter.

[OliverBlackman]

My interpretation is pre 1980

[Shaggy]

Been here before:

In the “preloved” world, vintage means 50 years and over but less than 100 years old (so 1974 and older, as far as we’re concerned)

“Antique” applies to 100 years old and over

 

Used to be a fairly strict definition, but on the usual sale sites any old tat older than a year or so seems to be described as vintage / classic /  rare.......🤔

[LeftyJ]

People frown when the word "vintage" gets used to describe older budget gear that was built in massive numbers, like my 1998 Chinese-made Squier Affinity Strat which, by the above standard of "25 and older", would count. And I have to admit, it sounds funny to me too since it is by no means a coveted guitar and it sounds and plays so-so at best. 

 

Being born in 1983 though, I'm not quite ready yet to be called vintage myself. I think I can live with "50 and upwards" 

[Geek99]

I think vintage is about years but there’s also an unspoken expectation of “quality item” back then also. Kay’s are as old as a same year fender but I’m not sure that people would look at them the same way 

[Doctor J]

I started playing in 89 and, back then, 25 years was widely accepted as "vintage" and this made anything pre-64 vintage, which made sense given the availability and popularity of electric instruments really only started taking off from about 1950. "Vintage" was roughly 14 years worth of instruments, so not that many, and neatly correllated with the pre-CBS era when referring to Fenders. There wasn't anywhere near as much money tied up in the "vintage" moniker as there is now, however, and it has been marketed differently and aggressively since by those with financial interests in doing so, as more and more instruments - including the now-prized 70's Fenders which were derided as junk up until the mid-90's - started flooding in and more and more stuff of varying quality could be termed "vintage".

 

Either way, Geek99 is right, now it means nothing other than the instrument is old and old does not necessarily mean good. Me starting playing is almost as close to the first P bass being made as now is to when I started playing, so the lovely pointy BC Richs of my era are legitimately vintage if a slab 50 P was vintage when I started 😂

 

I appreciate how much this concept could trouble the young people, however 😉

[neepheid]

It's whatever the person composing the eBay listing says it is.  Which is why it doesn't mean anything any more.

[Mykesbass]

In the world of auctions, antiques etc, 20 years. 

I'm looking forward to someone listing a Danelectro as Mid-Century Modern 😎

[Len_derby]

Clothing fashion seems to have hijacked the word.

My daughters talk about their ‘vintage’ outfits. When I was their age I called them Jumble Sale. 

[Mykesbass]

Just now, Len_derby said:

Clothing fashion seems to have hijacked the word.

My daughters talk about their ‘vintage’ outfits. When I was their age I called them Jumble Sale. 

Whatever happened to the jumble sale? They don't seem to exist anymore. Then again, there wasn't the proliferation of charity shops and car boot sales when the jumble sale ruled the second hand world.

[tegs07]

9 minutes ago, Mykesbass said:

Whatever happened to the jumble sale? They don't seem to exist anymore. Then again, there wasn't the proliferation of charity shops and car boot sales when the jumble sale ruled the second hand world.

vinted and depop happened 

[Geek99]

1 hour ago, Doctor J said:

I 

 

Either way, Geek99 is right, now it means nothing other than the instrument is old and old does not necessarily mean good.

That’s only part of what I was saying, I was noting that a Kay might not be referred to as “vintage” by some people due to a kind of snobbery about perceived quality, whereas most people would not question calling a 30 year old Fender or Gibson “vintage”. Example “japcr ap” is often bandied around as a term that is claimed to be affectionate 

[asingardenof]

4 hours ago, LeftyJ said:

People frown when the word "vintage" gets used to describe older budget gear that was built in massive numbers, like my 1998 Chinese-made Squier Affinity Strat which, by the above standard of "25 and older", would count. And I have to admit, it sounds funny to me too since it is by no means a coveted guitar and it sounds and plays so-so at best. 

 

Being born in 1983 though, I'm not quite ready yet to be called vintage myself. I think I can live with "50 and upwards" 

I'm calling my '96 Korean Precision "vintage", but only because a friend of me and @Merton who is sadly no longer with us used to get very snippy with me when I'd describe it as having "vintage-esque" tones and I like to imagine his ghost looking at me askance every time I do  

Edited February 9 by asingardenof

[JoeEvans]

The original use of the word 'vintage' was in wine-making - a vintage wine is made from grapes all grown in one year; also for port and maybe some other wines, sometimes a year is a particularly good one and is formally recognised as a 'vintage' year. So I feel like the word doesn't just mean 'old', it also carries a sense of authenticity and of quality.

[Elfrasho]

My feeling is that it is age. However I don't think the cut off has changed. When I was 14 in 1996 I would've said anything pre 80s would be vintage.. nearly 30 years later I still think that!

[tauzero]

[BigRedX]

15 hours ago, Elfrasho said:

My feeling is that it is age. However I don't think the cut off has changed. When I was 14 in 1996 I would've said anything pre 80s would be vintage.. nearly 30 years later I still think that!

 

But there's musicians in their 20s who probably think that anything made in the 20th century counts as vintage.

[ezbass]

A quick Google search brought up a definition in the first result. It was an extract from an antiques website. It said that, amongst the antique industry, vintage is 40+ years, with antique being 100+. However, if anything, antique dealers' definitions are often what will net them the best price (although antique has always been viewed as 100 years IIRC). Vintage just means of an age, that said, I reckon 40 years is a reasonable definition.

[Stub Mandrel]

As above the antiques trade seem to use 40 years, so my Fender Performer is 'on the cusp'.

 

'Mid century' seems to be a popular term for furniture etc. from the 40s-60s which would cover older basses.

[Len_derby]

5 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

As above the antiques trade seem to use 40 years, so my Fender Performer is 'on the cusp'.

 

'Mid century' seems to be a popular term for furniture etc. from the 40s-60s which would cover older basses.

 

Yes, I’ve noticed the “mid-century” thing in the last year or so. I recently saw it applied to houses for sale.  I think a lot of us on this forum fall into the category too. 😎

[neepheid]

I think what it means, if anything, is related to the person's reason for buying. What are you looking for? Provenance? Resale value? Some ethereal "mojo"? You do you, but you know my opinion is coming...

 

In my simple, knuckle dragging world there are two types of basses; ones I want and ones I don't. I don't care where they're made or when they were made - unless the date is important because of a certain characteristic was only available then - like if I wanted an alder bodied Gibson Ripper/Grabber/G-3 then it needs to be 1975-76). But I'd be buying that age because of the characteristic, not the date.