Do you have a birth year bass?

[edstraker123]

43 minutes ago, Doctor J said:

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 😉

It really puzzles me why people will pay a fortune for a gnarly old bass from the 70's when they could buy a pristine, better new one for a fraction of the cost.

 

[Shaggy]

10 hours 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.

 

Likewise; not a trend I’d seen before until BC 🤔

I suspect (but stand to be corrected) that’s it’s probably a male, slightly OCD  thing? Any of our female colleagues on here deliberately bought YOB basses?

 

8 hours ago, Doctor J said:

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 😉

 

Alembic, Travis Bean, boutique-era Kramer and BC Rich, many of the better Gibson designs, Hamer, Ovation, Wal, John Birch, Electra, golden-era Ibanez - to my mind a fabulous era for bass design and manufacture 🙂

Edited April 5, 2024 by Shaggy

[SamIAm]

21 minutes ago, Shaggy said:

Any of our female colleagues on here deliberately bought YOB basses?

 

I would ... if I could afford it!

A Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass 1962 - Mersey

Sam x

[fiatcoupe432]

42 minutes ago, edstraker123 said:

It really puzzles me why people will pay a fortune for a gnarly old bass from the 70's when they could buy a pristine, better new one for a fraction of the cost.

 

A bit like classic cars tho... Appreciation in value over the years. I had a 74 jazz bass and played and sounded as good as any modern jazz I have owned, plus all the mojo thing . Personally not a big fun but I do get why people like them 

[BreadBin]

I have an Ibanez P-bass which is pretty much the same age as me, that's good enough for me. It's a lovely thing and I enjoy playing it.

Knowing we have been around for the same amount of time is a feeling all of its own.

[Agent 00Soul]

Not a bass (obviously) but:

 

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.

 

I still have it.  I didn't know this was a thing until I read this thread!

 

Edited April 5, 2024 by Agent 00Soul

[BreadBin]

Found the original thread..

 

https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/329487-nbd-yob-ibanez-p/#comment-3582034

[Matt P]

Yes but I didn't go looking for it, I've got a 81 Aria Cardinal, it popped up locally for sale at a very low price as it had been defretted, used it fret less for a bit then had it refretted with stainless fret wire. It comes out occasionally, as a bonus it came with the original hard case and the guarantee papers. 

 

My first guitar and my first bass were both aria as well so I have a bit of a soft spot for Aria. 

 

Matt 

[Woodinblack]

There weren't any 5 strings back then so it would be a bit pointless.

[SimonK]

Not yet - @mowf let me play his 1978 Jazz bass a few times but then we lost touch and I only recently found out he sold it on this forum a few years back - otherwise I would have made an offer for it - but if anyone else has a '78 Jazz or P bass, or maybe a MM Stingray (4 or 5 strings) going please let me know!

[Sibob]

I had an 1983 USA Fender Jazz a few years ago......awful thing, just horrible. 

Sold it thank god.

 

Si

[Jono Bolton]

1 hour ago, Agent 00Soul said:

Not a bass (obviously) but:

 

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.

 

I still have it.  I didn't know this was a thing until I read this thread!

 

You've had an instrument for 40 years? I thought you were supposed to sell them on every two to three years. That's how it works, right?

[Agent 00Soul]

7 minutes ago, Jono Bolton said:

You've had an instrument for 40 years? I thought you were supposed to sell them on every two to three years. That's how it works, right?

 

Based on how often people claim they shift gear on all the boards and social media groups I subscribe to, you would think so.  I'm more of an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" person, although I certainly have accumulated a few more intsruments over the years.  A life of living in tiny apartments and being left-handed is great preventative medicine for GAS!

[itu]

3 hours ago, SamIAm said:

I would ... if I could afford it!

A Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass 1962 - Mersey

Sam x

But that's the bass of your parent, then?

[ezbass]

9 minutes ago, itu said:

But that's the bass of your parent, then?

Smooth.

[PainInTheBass]

3 hours ago, BreadBin said:

Knowing we have been around for the same amount of time is a feeling all of its own.

This...

[thebrig]

I would love a birth year bass but being Precision bass player, and being born in 1951, I don't think I will be able to afford a 51 P 😟

[ezbass]

1 minute ago, thebrig said:

I would love a birth year bass but being Precision bass player, and being born in 1951, I don't think I will be able to afford a 51 P 😟

Go Custom Shop ‘51 as suggested by @snorkie635.

[thebrig]

2 hours ago, ezbass said:

Go Custom Shop ‘51 as suggested by @snorkie635.

They are nice but they are not a true birth year bass

[snorkie635]

1 hour ago, thebrig said:

They are nice but they are not a true birth year bass

I can't argue with that. 🫤

[GuyR]

As well as aJazz bass from my birth year, I have one from the years before and after, just in case of typos on my birth certificate.

[BassAgent]

On 05/04/2024 at 13:52, tauzero said:

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.

Oh yeah definitely. However: most basses from that era are not really...ehm...my thing.

[MrFingers]

On 05/04/2024 at 14:49, Agent 00Soul said:

Not a bass (obviously) but:

 

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.

 

I still have it.  I didn't know this was a thing until I read this thread!

 

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.

 

 

OP: No, I haven't. From 1987, so that's deep into dark side of the 1980's... Maybe if I can find a Stingray I like.

[uncle psychosis]

No, and I've never seen the point. 

[LiamPodmore]

I don't currently, but i probably will at some point. It's '95 so i have an awful lot of options to choose from.