Rick's Fine '52

On a personal level, I agree with you. As a collector, if I had this sort of money, I’d rather have two nice stack knobs. This is a bit niche, and as you say, will not be for everyone. To be fair, it belongs in the Fender archive museum. Investment wise, I also agree, a one-off could be hard to sell on, highly reduced market, whereas a ‘regular issue’ bass would always be a sound investment, and a desirable piece. An interesting view on ‘59 Les Pauls, is that experts suggest that over twice as many have been sold, as were actually made. Conclude what you will from that, but with that statistic, you wouldn’t see me parting with that sort of money for one!

Fortunately for us 4-stringers, basses have always been relatively 'cheap', compared to 6 string equivalents. The most sought after, and rarest versions are closing the gap, but 'general' examples are still far more reachable for some. A near mint '54 Strat would be £75k, a near mint '54 Precision would be around £17k An excellent '51 Broadcaster would be £60k, a comparable '51 Precision, around £20k. As suggested, a clean '59 Les Paul would now be around £500k, based on the last two that sold. This is a one-off, prototype of the most sought after Fender bass model. If you're Geddy Lee or Guy Pratt, or any other wealthy Fender collector with serious dollar, this is a comparative snip at £60k, for such an important part of bass history. Undoubtedly a lot of money, but then good value is a very different thing altogether. Lovely piece, and nice to see it available on the open market.

I’ll PM you with links to guards.

A sonic blue would have had a white guard, and in my opinion don’t look right with tort. Some spitfire guards look ok, others anything but, so be careful there. There are some nice aged nitrate mint green reproduction guards available. Gotoh reverse tuners are good reissue versions, nice period correct long stems. They aren’t the cheapest though. They do some res-o-lite versions too, which are excellent, I have them on a build i’ve recently finished which is for sale, there’s a link in my signature, so you can see what they look like, and of course they’re very light.

No, PM'd with details, and pics. We obviously share the same taste in basses!! 😉

These are small in comparison to many of the offerings here, but all valve nonetheless, full set of pre-CBS Fender Bassman's; 1952 TV Bassman (Only made for 4 months) 1953 WP Bassman (Only made for 7 months) 1959 4x10 Bassman 1962 Blonde Piggyback Bassman 1964 Black Piggyback Bassman

Very well documented prototype Jazz that one. It was listed at the end of last year. Fully legit, and in most Fender books. In my opinion its well priced considering its significance, and uniqueness.

This is a new feature, and agree its annoying, what I have noticed though, is when you go to the 'ended' item, at the top, in a blue heading bar, above the item title, it says; "The listing you’re looking for is no longer available. Check out this similar item we found for you" If you hover and click over the word 'listing', you will notice it is blue, and is actually a hyperlink to the original item, and not a similar one. Not sure how I discovered this, but it works.

Here's my pair, UK hand made from scratch, no Chinese crap, and not cheap either. I couldn't decide on WB or not, so decided to have both! 4005 Fireglo, chequerboard binding to rear, full width crushed pearl inlays, 60's spec throughout. 4005 WB, Mapleglo, plain white binding to front and back. Both full 60's spec in every way.

March '64 would be the spaghetti decal with 4 pat numbers. The transition was late summer '64. Here you will see an April '64 Precision (Refinished), with the Spaghetti decal, your March tribute bass would precede this; https://www.vintageandrare.com/product/Fender-Precision-Bass-1964-Blue-68661 Good luck with the Project, you'll enjoy it, I've done a few, and its good fun. As you've already found, the hardest part will be getting a veneer rosewood board. Others reference points for March '64 would be clay dots still used, they changed to pearloid in late '64, and the tuners still didn't sit flush, the divots weren't milled in the back of the headstock until late '64 also. White guards were also nitrate in March '64, and not the vinyl which came in later that year, some good aged repro's are available though. Look forward to seeing your progress.

I don't think early 80's Fenders do have a bad reputation. Some 70's instruments can be heavy and there are some with QC issues, but the 80's ones seem much better. Referred to as the 'Dan Smith' era, where he shook the place up a bit. I think the reason they haven't risen in value in the way that even some poor 70's ones have, is because they were remodelled, and no longer had the vintage vibe, something that traditional Fender players have always looked for. For example they introduced a one-piece white guard on Jazz basses, coupled with the black numbered knobs, the truss rod access was now at the headstock end, and the decal looked cheap and nasty. Maple necks with black dots on Jazzes didn't help either. I think many players didn't feel it was in keeping with Fender tradition, even though the quality probably improved from the late 70's. Add to this the fact that at the same time (Well, early '82 anyway), Fender introduced their Vintage Reissue range, which were excellent quality, and had the vintage vibe, and were probably the same price at the time. Fender Japan had also started their own range of Vintage Reissues, which were even better, and even cheaper. I don't think they are bad instruments, or have a bad reputation, I just think many of the models of that time have never been particularly fashionable.

If unsure, take someone with you who knows, simple as that. Don't pass up the chance of owning a dream bass for yourself because of a lack of knowledge. You can always agree to meet at a reputable dealer, by appointment, and have it checked out together. It will be worth a small appraisal fee for the peace of mind. Ensure truss rod has spare, and most importantly, it plays nice, and you like it!! Good luck! Very rough guide Refin veneer £3-4k Refin slab £3-5k Original veneer £7k+ Original slab £9k+ Custom Colours can be anything, dependent on the colour. Guides based on sunburst finish, and excellent condition. Refin based on excellent quality nitro burst with correct shading.

I have no connection with the trade at all, I'm a private player/fan/buyer/collector. I work in a totally different sector. With custom colours, its all about which one. For example LPB or black are a very different ball game to sonic blue, or burgundy mist. Personally, I don't like Custom Colours that much, I think Fenders look best in sunburst, or early ones in blonde.

Then we must agree to disagree. George has been around a while, and what he says may be true in his patch. I think Norman would have a different view though personally. Anyway, that is certainly not the case in the UK, with regards to Vintage Fender basses. I know, because I have been actively involved in this market for over 2 decades. "Prices peaked in 2008", simply nonsense, anyone in the market will tell you that, and evidence it. Highly discounted new instruments bringing prices down? - Since when did that affect the market for 1950's instruments? Sorry, don't agree at all, as the facts demonstrate that simply isn't true. This is typical dealer speak by someone who will benefit from lots of people going to his store wanting to offload instruments. In addition, there are probably 1000x more quality vintage instruments on the market at any one time in the US compared with the UK, so prices in the US will always be more affected by economic change etc, as there is always more supply than over here. Couldn't be more wrong. Ask any UK dealer if prices have slowed, or sales prices peaked in 2008! I've doubled and nearly trebled some instruments in that time, as has everyone else! Anyway, this is someone else's thread, maybe you could start one about the vintage market being dead, that would suit me, as people will hopefully be selling off in their droves.

My bad, I had to check then too, I saw an advert for a just released 25th anniversary, but the post was in 2012!! oops, don't mind me......

Lots of wrongness there, anyway, didn't the mexico plant start in 1993?

70's basses (And guitars of course), are rising in value simply because the 50's and 60's ones are doing the same, but at a sharper rate. There will always be a market for vintage instruments, and people will fall into their budget bracket. When 60's basses were more affordable, nobody really wanted the 70's basses, because the difference 15 years ago between a 66J and a 72J , was probably around 20%, so people paid more for a better playing bass that was lighter, more desirable, and would also be an investment on return (Certainly not losing). The difference now between a 66 and a 72 Jazz, could be as much as 70%, so it pushes even the 60's CBS stuff out of the reach of some, who still want a 'vintage' Fender, so they resort to early 70's basses. The pattern has been the same for a long while now, although pre-CBS original finish gear has certainly taken off over the past decade. Many people who always wanted a vintage Fender when younger, find themselves with maybe more disposable income as they are older, maybe kids left home etc, and are now in the market, this is certainly something I've seen. And of course, desirable basses are less than half the price of their 6 string equivalents! The market over the past 10 years continues to show great returns on purchase prices back in 2008, with many of the more desirable models from the late 50's and early 60's more than doubling in that time, some prices have trebled on certain examples I've seen. The answer is always to buy something that is a good player, and sounds as you want it to, after that, the most original you can afford, and finally, if you cant decide between 2 or 3, pick the one that would be the best investment. I haven't seen any 'vintage' instruments not increase in value, and some significantly. If you aren't interested in investment at all, then I'd recommend a pre-CBS refin, with otherwise original parts. It will give you the vibe you may be looking for, for less than half the cost. It wont give you the satisfaction or pleasure an original one has, every time you open the case, but its horses for courses. CITIES is also pushing up prices for rosewood board models, as they become more complicated to send internationally (Its actually not really that bad, you just need the paperwork which can be obtained for around £70), and therefore desirable ones already on these shores become more in demand. By the way, the one referred to in the opening thread, is a particularly rare custom colour, one of the rarest in fact, add to the fact it has a matching headstock, and its incredible condition, makes for a very rare piece indeed. With the rarest items, there is often no yard stick, or recent sale prices to gauge by, so any seller will naturally start high. I think its quite a high price, especially for what is technically a CBS bass (Albeit with some pre-CBS features), but if you're a Geddy Lee, or someone with some dough, and you want one of the rarest custom colour basses, you won't wait for another, because it probably wont ever turn up. One things for sure in vintage world (Not just guitars, any collectable), if you want something, don't hesitate, because the rare ones don't normally hang around. If you have around £1500 to spend, which I'm guessing from some of the remarks, I'd go for a first 6 months, 1982 American Vintage P or J (V00*** serial), or a first series export 1982 JV (Large Fender, small Squier decal (JV00***). Those basses are fantastic to play, sound very vintage, will hold their money, have the rarity factor, and are 36 years old themselves now,so tick lots of boxes,a nd you'll certainly get change too! Good luck with the hunt and trying different things out, that's the best bit!