Do you have a birth year bass?

[BassAgent]

I see it now and then: people that own a birth year bass. It makes me a bit envious: being born in 1990 my options are not great, except for perhaps the Kubicki Jazz or a Ken Smith or something. 

 

Who owns a cool birth year bass and if you do, did you buy it because of the bass or because of the year?

[LeftyJ]

1983 Ibanez MC924. Not because it is from my year of birth, but because I've always been attracted to the Musician Series and just happened to settle on a 1983 model. I had been looking for a lefty for years, and when I finally found one (1981) a second one popped up just two months later. So naturally I did the sensible thing and bought both!  (and it got worse, I had three at one point)

 

I turned out to like the 1983 better than the 1981, as they're very different beasts: The Musician series was updated several times between 1978 and 1987. The 1983 model has different contouring, a slimmer neck and narrower nut width, a different pickup and electronics package (PJ pickups in soapbar casings) and it's MUCH lighter in weight because of the contoured light ash body wings rather than solid mahogany with ash facings. I much prefer the tone of the 1983 too. 

 

I sold one 1981 model and traded the other for a cool shortscale a few years ago, but the 1983 won't be going anywhere anytime soon. The YOB thing does add to the sentimental value, but most of all it's just a terrific bass! 

 

The one on the right is now gone, the one on the left is still here:

 

 

 

Edited April 5, 2024 by LeftyJ

[jazzyvee]

Actually, no i don't and to be honest i didn't even know it was a thing that bassists or guitarist did until i started to frequent guitar and bass forums on-line.  Now i know there is a healthy 🙂 desire for doing it, i still would not consciously seek one. However if a fantastic bass i was already considering buying just happened to be of that year, that might just tip the scales.

[velvetkevorkian]

The only one I've seen so far that I'd want is the 1986 5-string Wal in the classifieds here. But not £7k+ want.

[BigRedX]

While there are one or two YOB (1960) basses that would be interesting to own, nothing exists that I would actually want to use, so it's all a bit pointless for me.

[snorkie635]

Can't afford a '59 Fender, so have a CS '59 P-bass instead. 😉

[ezbass]

2 minutes ago, snorkie635 said:

Can't afford a '59 Fender, so have a CS '59 P-bass instead. 😉

Now, that’s eminently sensible.

[NancyJohnson]

I honestly don't see the point.  On the face of it, nobody was really making anything that has any personal appeal to me.

[Jono Bolton]

I only really play precisions, or precision-style basses, and they're all much of a muchness really. I don't think one made in 1987 (my YOB) would be much different to the ones I've currently got; 1982, 2011, 2023, and one put together from various parts.

[Reggaebass]

If a precision or jazz came up with the exact date  month and year on the neck stamp I’d be seriously tempted to buy it, but I haven’t seen one yet 

[asingardenof]

No, but one day I hope to have a 1978 Fender of some description even if it's likely to be pretty crap.

[chris_b]

DOB basses are God's way of telling you you have too much money.

 

Buy a bass because it does something better than your current bass, not because of a date in a calender!

[ped]

I had an '83 Stringray which was YOB. That's not why I bought it though, and honestly it didn't matter to me much - kind of a nice coincidence but it's hardly relevant that it happened to be screwed together on the other side of the world the same year I burst onto the scene.

[Owen]

By accident, I own one which is 5 days too young. 

[LukeFRC]

1 hour ago, jazzyvee said:

Actually, no i don't and to be honest i didn't even know it was a thing that bassists or guitarist did until i started to frequent guitar and bass forums on-line.  Now i know there is a healthy 🙂 desire for doing it, i still would not consciously seek one. However if a fantastic bass i was already considering buying just happened to be of that year, that might just tip the scales.

I think it's a way of people of a certain age justifying to their other halfs spending extra on a vintage instrument

[obbm]

If I had a DOB Fender Precision it would obviously be a fake as I was born 5 years before it was created.

[PainInTheBass]

No, but I'd like a '76 Stingray, or at least the chance to play one. Besides, I'm more than happy with my 2018 Stingray special.

[edstraker123]

Not yet but my aim is to have as many basses as my age ( I'm not there yet by a long way !) and this policy always gives you scope for a new one each year.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

It would not be possible for me to get my favourite bass as YoB as I predate the first mustang basses by a couple of years. A YoB Thunderbird would be possible but prohibitively expensive. Besides anything as old as me would probably be just as knackered.

[BigRedX]

1 hour ago, chris_b said:

DOB basses are God's way of telling you you have too much money.

 

Only for us old farts.

 

Anyone born after 1979 has the possibility of buying something both usable and interesting for not a lot of money. 

Edited April 5, 2024 by BigRedX

[ezbass]

7 minutes ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

It would not be possible for me to get my favourite bass as YoB as I predate the first mustang basses by a couple of years. A YoB Thunderbird would be possible but prohibitively expensive. Besides anything as old as me would probably be just as knackered.

This is a problem the many of us are subject too I feel.

[neepheid]

Had one, sold it.  It did not elicit this emotional attachment in me that it seems to in others.

 

It was a 1975 Gibson Ripper which I restored (apart from the refinishing) from a shell.  Nice bass - was one of the ones they did with an alder body rather than maple so didn't weigh as much as a house.  But I went through some tough times and suddenly it stopped being a bass and had to become an amount of money.  C'est la vie.  It's just stuff.

[Doctor J]

I believe our ability to make basses has improved quite substantially in my time and the 70's were a low ebb for manufacturing so no thanks 😉

[Reggaebass]

58 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

I think it's a way of people of a certain age justifying to their other halfs spending extra on a vintage instrument

Of course 😁

[tauzero]

Nobody was making 5-string headless basses in 1957. Can't see the point myself. I had a YOSPB bass - year of starting playing bass, which I know it was because I put it together (a Hayman 40/40) and then started playing bass on it. That's long gone.

 

@BassAgent has a vast selection available from 1990 - Warwick, Spector, Status, Dean, B C Rich, Ibanez, Yamaha, he could even scrape the bottom of the barrel and go Fender, Gibson, or Squier.