Do you have a birth year bass?

[badger]

I have several, from someone's YoB, just not from mine.

[Jackroadkill]

I was born in 1979, so no.

[Agent 00Soul]

On 06/04/2024 at 17:38, MrFingers said:

Do you have any pictures from the eighties, when it was stock? It's intriguing because it's a CBS-era Jazzmaster with a small headstock, which is the first one I ever saw.

 

The picture is slightly distorted.  The headstock is standard CBS-era as far as I know. Jazzmasters didn't get the larger headstock that Strats did, right? 

 

The finish was never stock - it came in that sparkle green that a previous owner added.  I added the targets a few years after I got it.  From a chip on the lower bout after I dropped it on a concrete floor, I could see that it was originally sunburst.

 

Edited April 9 by Agent 00Soul

[Woodinblack]

On 05/04/2024 at 13:49, Agent 00Soul said:

My first electric instrument was a Jazzmaster that I got in 1984.  Nobody was buying them then so it was dirt cheap.  A few years later, I unscrewed the neck and found out it was dated 15 June 68, three weeks from my date of birth.

 

You know that the fender neck codes don't contain the day don't you? it would just say June 68, the 15 is the jaguar model neck code from 66 on - (would be 1 before that), like 5 would be P bass and 7 would be jazz bass. So it could be 2 weeks closer to your DOB (or further away!)

[Agent 00Soul]

21 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

You know that the fender neck codes don't contain the day don't you? it would just say June 68, the 15 is the jaguar model neck code from 66 on - (would be 1 before that), like 5 would be P bass and 7 would be jazz bass. So it could be 2 weeks closer to your DOB (or further away!)

 

I most definitely did NOT know that - thanks for filling me in!  All these years I thought it was the day (but I'm also a gear ignoramous).  Being a Jazzmaster, not a Jaguar, I looked up the number guide from another board.  Apparently 1968 Jazzmasters are 19 and Jags are 15 as you said.  So either the instrument was misnumbered, unlikely as one is long-scale and one is short, or far more likely, I misremembered.  Either way - 15 or 19 - is still about 3 weeks after I was born, so that didn't change.

[Bassfinger]

Yes and no.

 

I bought a '68 precision, my birth year. At the time the late 60's models were a fair bit less expensive, so that seemed a good era to aim for and my birth year a happy coincidence.

 

And having bought it I took it apart to clean and set up and it appears to be a '69 model, so close but no banana.

[Lfalex v1.1]

Almost anything from a "major" manufacturer would be overpriced rubbish for my YOB ('73)

 

I don't really care for Precisions or Gibsons, so that'd leave Jazzes, customs, and maybe some of the earliest Japanese efforts.

Maybe Burns or Shergold, also?

 

Edit- A quick search reveals a plethora of Ps, a smattering of Js and a Gibson Grabber.

All at prices that elicited both laughter and tears at the same time. 

I could buy a new [better] MIA Fender AND something else half-decent for that. Better still, a nice condition S/H Roscoe Beck...

Edited April 9 by Lfalex v1.1

[tauzero]

As I self-identify as 37 years old, I have a YOB Warwick Thumb. I'm just waiting for the age reassignment surgery at the moment.

[jimmyb625]

I have a Y.O.B. Precision, which is nice, but I never play it. I also have a Hiwatt DR103 from the same year (which wasn't a deliberate factor in the purchase) and I rarely use that either nowadays.

 

It'll give the children something to sell when I die.

[Steve Browning]

Luckily for my wallet, I would only want a Precision, but I don't do maple necks. 

 

Product of 1958. Rosewood wasn't available until 1959.

Edited April 11 by Steve Browning

[TrevorR]

I love the idea of having a YOB bass for no reason other than “just because”. However, my personal vintage is Pre-CBS so that means the chance of having a bass to match is slim to none!!!

 

Maybe a nice Hofner Club, though. That would be nice!

[MrFingers]

On 09/04/2024 at 07:28, Lfalex v1.1 said:

that'd leave Jazzes, customs, and maybe some of the earliest Japanese efforts.

Maybe Burns or Shergold, also?

Rickenbacker, Guild, Mosrite, Höfner 500/1 with the blade pickups,…

Edited April 13 by MrFingers

[MrFingers]

9 hours ago, TrevorR said:

However, my personal vintage is Pre-CBS so that means the chance of having a bass to match is slim to none!!!

Danelectro/Silvertone/Harmony,…

[crazycloud]

There is nothing produced in my YOB that I would ever be interested in, except if I were given one and could sell it and buy several other basses with the funds gained.

 

A YOB instrument is a strange conceit and I see no point in it. 

[uk_lefty]

I don't have one... Yet. 1984 for me so it's Fender P bass special (would LOVE one), Aria SB series, Ibanez Musician, MM Stingray... Probably a handful more. Any good quality examples of these will be pricey, any that are affordable are likely knackered. I'm not going to go hunting for one.

[itu]

12 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

I don't have one... Yet. 1984 for me...

...so it could a very simple and battered, two strings missing... A bit like it could be found from George O's book. You could name it as Truth, maybe?

[uk_lefty]

8 minutes ago, itu said:

...so it could a very simple and battered, two strings missing... A bit like it could be found from George O's book. You could name it as Truth, maybe?

I also have a big brother. 

 

 

I have two older brothers but only one of them is bigger than me.

[meterman]

I never really ‘got’ the idea of having a birth year instrument, it seems weirdly sentimental to me, but I did have a few 1968 Fenders and Gibson guitars over the years, but that was just because I liked those particular instruments and I’d got good deals on them. I almost got a ‘68 Mustang bass that had faded from Daphne Blue to a sort of pale green and it was fabulous (if you like Mustangs), but the seller backed out on the day of the sale otherwise I might still have owned it now. £500 for an all-original ‘68 Mustang 15 years ago would have been a decent score.

[Rib13Bass]

I only have a few stone tools and a Mammoth tusk from about that time

[neepheid]

5 minutes ago, Rib13Bass said:

I only have a few stone tools and a Mammoth tusk from about that time

 

So, a P bass then?

 

[Webby308]

I managed to get a YoB guitar a few years ago.  I was after something from 1967 (yes that old), and wanted to gig with it, so it needed to be better than firewood.  After many years searching, I bought a 67 Jazz bass from Andy Baxter, and after a decent setup it's a nice thing indeed.  It's not my first choice to gig with, but as 99.9% of the public can't tell a 67 from a £200 catalogue jazz bass, then interestingly I've not ever had someone point out that it's the oldest thing at the gig (apart from me and our drummer).

[Reggaebass]

2 minutes ago, Webby308 said:

I bought a 67 Jazz bass from Andy Baxter

Sounds great, would love to see a pic if you have one webby 

[tobiewharton]

I'm ambivalent about it, but understand the appeal. I'm 1983 and I think the Precision Specials were cool. If I had a need of something in that ballpark and found a good one for a good price, the year matching would be a bonus.

[tubbybloke68]

I’m from 1968, and I’m definitely not a fender man and nothing from that era particularly appeals so I doubt it’ll ever happen for me 🤣x 

[tauzero]

On 09/04/2024 at 06:28, Lfalex v1.1 said:

Almost anything from a "major" manufacturer would be overpriced rubbish for my YOB ('73)

 

I don't really care for Precisions or Gibsons, so that'd leave Jazzes, customs, and maybe some of the earliest Japanese efforts.

Maybe Burns or Shergold, also?

 

Edit- A quick search reveals a plethora of Ps, a smattering of Js and a Gibson Grabber.

All at prices that elicited both laughter and tears at the same time. 

I could buy a new [better] MIA Fender AND something else half-decent for that. Better still, a nice condition S/H Roscoe Beck...

 

Hayman 4040. Rickenbacker (assorted). Hofner 500/1. One of these is a decent bass. The other two are more famous.