Collectors of vintage basses

[Happy Jack]

Since buying my first Hofner early last year, I have been well and truly bitten by the bug. I'm not sure at what point having "a bunch of Hofners" becomes having "a collection of Hofners", but I suspect I'm about there.

Anyone else out there been sucked into the whole vintage thing? And what are you collecting?

[paul, the]

I've been thinking about vintage instruments recently. I used to own a 20 year old bass and I loved the fact that I could see the end of the truss-rod and that I couldn't see my reflection in the machine heads.

Now I have a 1997 Precision special. And although it's nicer to play and probably sounds better, it doesn't have the things above that I liked about the old bass.

Sadly, I can't really afford vintage basses [u]and[/u] a giggable amp that will do them justice.

But I certainly miss their character, personality and charm collated from brand and the bass as an individual.

To be honest, I think I passionately dislike modern basses. But hopefully I'll make some money when I'm older and join you as a collector, and a player.

[wateroftyne]

Any excuse....



I love 'em!

[bassaussie]

Bitten!!

Unfortunetaly, my tastes steer towards Fenders, which means big prices. I've often thought about brands like Hofner, who, while being collectable, are certainly far more accessible to the average punter. For the money of one pre-CBS Jazz, you could easily buy 5 or 6 nice examples of Hofner, and probably have a lot of change left over.

Edited May 25, 2007 by bassaussie

[BigRedX]

So at what point does an instrument become vintage?

My early 60s Burns Sonic Bass was simply an strange old cheap second-hand bass when I bought it in 1980. And what about my Overwater Original 2? I guess it's over 20 years old now, but seems strange to consider instruments that I could have bought from new as having "vintage" status.

I have a guitarist friend who never buys anything without an eye on it's resell price, and consequently he has a "collection" of nice playable, but ultimately rather obvious and mainstream instruments.

On the other hand I just buy guitars and basses that I like the look, sound and feel of (they also tend to be non-mainstream and unusual looking). Right now the resale value of them is probably a lot less than what I paid. However looking at the kinds of prices some of my older instruments are starting to command, it could well be that in another 20 years time the average price of an instrument in my collection will have outstripped his simply because of their rarity/oddity value.

However for me at the moment, the point of having the instruments is to play them.

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='6750' date='May 25 2007, 07:26 PM']However for me at the moment, the point of having the instruments is to play them.[/quote]

I play all mine on rotation two or three nights a week. It's nice to know they they will never lose value, but that's a bonus.

[mhuk]

[quote]a 20 year old bass[/quote]

Hell's teeth! Is that considered vintage? Surely not?

[paul, the]

[quote name='mhuk' post='6771' date='May 25 2007, 07:51 PM']Hell's teeth! Is that considered vintage? Surely not?[/quote]

No, I don't personally consider that vintage - but it had the visual and feel of a vintage bass.


In my opinion 1980-present day is non-vintage.


But I don't know if vintage refers to a specific period in time or anything about 30 years old or more.

[BigRedX]

Well that's what I has asking. How old does an instrument have to be to be considered vintage?

Back when I bought my first bass in 1980 any pre-CBS Fender bass would have been considered vintage. That would have included instruments under 20 years old.

See what I mean?

[mhuk]

Vintage to me means before I was born

[paul, the]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='6785' date='May 25 2007, 08:14 PM']Well that's what I has asking. How old does an instrument have to be to be considered vintage?

Back when I bought my first bass in 1980 any pre-CBS Fender bass would have been considered vintage. That would have included instruments under 20 years old.

See what I mean?[/quote]

I would have thought it would be subjective for an emotionally charged period of items.

Here's what Dictionary.com has to say about it (outside of wine making):


vin·tage /ˈvɪntɪdʒ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[vin-tij] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation noun, adjective, verb, -taged, -tag·ing.
9. representing the high quality of a past time: vintage cars; vintage movies.
11. being the best of its kind: They praised the play as vintage O'Neill.

adj.

1. Of or relating to a vintage.
2. Characterized by excellence, maturity, and enduring appeal; classic.
3. Old or outmoded.
4.
1. Of the best: played songs that were vintage Cole Porter.
2. Of the most distinctive: "Fatalism has coexisted with vintage American overconfidence" (Thomas Oliphant).

[paul, the]

According to those definitions, most of the pre-'80s instruments on Ebay are described wrong.


-- An interesting thread: according to these definitions

9. representing the high quality of a past time: vintage cars; vintage movies.
11. being the best of its kind: They praised the play as vintage O'Neill.

2. Characterized by excellence, maturity, and enduring appeal; classic.


What of today's mass produced basses (if any) would be considered the vintage basses of the future?


---

paul.

Edited May 25, 2007 by paul, the

[Happy Jack]

Vintage = made before I was born?

Bloody Hell, I hope not. The bass guitar was only invented a few years before I came along so, by that definition, there's precious few of them about.

I think "vintage" is a deeply subjective concept, but there are a few features that we can all agree on. Ideally, a vintage bass is one that is:[list]old
rare
well-made
a thing of beauty
perhaps valuable
perhaps improved (tonally?) simply through being old
[/list]
I'm only interested in Hofners from their glory days, roughly speaking that's mid-50's to late-60's. Although I have some solid-body Hofner basses (3 in fact), that's mainly because I wanted one of each model; my real interest is in the semi-acoustic and hollow-body basses, instruments built the traditional way by genuine craftsmen. Every one of them (and I have 6) ticks every box on the list above.

They're also great fun to play, and I play ALL of them regularly, but they are limited instruments and it's nice to be able switch to a full-scale bass with roundwounds.

[silverfoxnik]

From a tax point of view, there is an offical definition of a 'vintage car' which I think is either 25 or 30 years old. And there's also a definition of a 'classic' car which is approx 20 years old I think, so maybe that gives us a guide for using with basses?

When I imported a 25 year old Wal from the States in 2004, I convinced the VAT people that the bass was 'vintage' and they reduced the VAT I had to pay on it from 17.5% to 5%!! ^_^

[Bassassin]

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='7066' date='May 26 2007, 11:46 AM']From a tax point of view, there is an offical definition of a 'vintage car' which I think is either 25 or 30 years old. And there's also a definition of a 'classic' car which is approx 20 years old I think, so maybe that gives us a guide for using with basses?

When I imported a 25 year old Wal from the States in 2004, I convinced the VAT people that the bass was 'vintage' and they reduced the VAT I had to pay on it from 17.5% to 5%!! ^_^[/quote]

Blair & co did away with the whole "vintage" road tax thing - Your vehicle now has to have been registered before (I think) 1975 to qualify as "historic" and get free tax. To car enthusiasts, "vintage" means before 1930 - which is a bit tricky to apply to many basses!

Anyway, I think "classic" is a more apt desription of what we're trying to define here - ie iconic & representative of its era.

None of which applies to any of my ratty old Japcrap!

Anwyay - that point about customs is well worth knowing!

Jon.

Edited May 26, 2007 by Bassassin

[BigRedX]

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='7066' date='May 26 2007, 11:46 AM']When I imported a 25 year old Wal from the States in 2004, I convinced the VAT people that the bass was 'vintage' and they reduced the VAT I had to pay on it from 17.5% to 5%!! ^_^[/quote]

That's interesting to know - so how exactly did you manage this. Did you have to pay 17.5% and then claim back. I guess all of us who are considering buying from outside the EU would like to know.

[99ster]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='7135' date='May 26 2007, 02:35 PM']That's interesting to know - so how exactly did you manage this. Did you have to pay 17.5% and then claim back. I guess all of us who are considering buying from outside the EU would like to know.[/quote]

+1 on that!
I recently imported a 1965 Ampeg B-15N from the US - & paid the 17.5% VAT on top of the duty.
I would LOVE to know how you claimed back some of the tax!!

[Lfalex v1.1]

Unbitten!

Start playing young (Younger than I did!)
Buy good instruments that you like.
Keep on GASsing and buying.
Play for 20+ years.

BINGO!

(Not exactly instant) High quality vintage bass collection. One that you enjoyed making along the way.

I say "unbitten", but the collection of ageing basses is past double figures!

[overwater#1]

[quote name='mhuk' post='6787' date='May 25 2007, 08:20 PM']Vintage to me means before I was born [/quote]

I consider my teachers Ken Smith BT6 to be vintage. 1989..... I was born in 1990!! I looks vintage, but feels awesome You can still buy Smiths with that shape, and it is called the 'vintage' body!!

Edited May 27, 2007 by overwater#1