GuyR

A few years ago in the course of my work, I went into the loft of Ronnie Lane's former flat in Kentish Town. Amongst the clutter was an old nondescript semi acoustic type bass. I remember it had a dealers sticker from somewhere in east London and no bridge. There was also an old Zemaitis case which I asked the owner - who was his partner up to his death - if I could look inside. Sadly the bass was long gone, taken by a relative, if I remember correctly. An interesting afternoon at work.

Jvs are good, but not worth £900. They were a budget instrument - in the context of their time of manufacture, they were excellent, showing up the poor quality of some contemporary USA fender product. The Jazz basses were also the first reissues with a dot neck. I think a tokai from the same era is as good. I have 2 jv jazzes. One I bought at a year old in 1983 and another I bought new in 1984. I have a mid 80s tokai jazz also. At £5-600 a jv is a good buy imo.

7 hours ago, paul_5 said:

My first thought after reading the thread title was ‘defecate in the corner’. 

I think I need to speak my therapist 🤭

If you're going to do it, I think in the corner is the most considerate place. 

8 hours ago, josie said:

Why? A few peeps have such short arms that they really can't play long scale. For most, it just takes persistent practice stretching your left arm until your shoulder and arm loosen up. I still feel a bit of a stretch on the first one or two frets on my beloved 35" basses, but it's getting easier all the time. Same as stretching your fingers over more than a couple of frets rather than moving your hand, work on it and it will happen.

As for the Aerodyne - I'm slightly surprised that they're so much more expensive new than a standard Jazz, but they are a bit special! I don't know what the build and tone quality are like on the new ones. Mine is a 1992 and it's superb on both counts. (£550 a couple of years ago.) I tried a 2002 a while back and was not at all impressed. (Johnny Roadhouse tried it on at £850 and I believe after quite  a long time sold it for £600.) 

You'll prise mine out of my dead hands, unless you happen to be my 4yo grandson :-)

 

 

There is a young man who really might be better off with a short scale......

Deposit now paid to builder, so I can look at this again knowing my nuts will remain connected to me. Sewing them back on last time I looked at this type of listing was disagreeable.

Agreed, Rick, back to the top. Can someone buy this please and stop me cancelling my new kitchen. Please.

Why didn't Fender think of the RS-guitarworks 50s style jazz bass. It's fabulous. 

Bass Gallery. You can't go wrong.

Love this. Thanks for posting

You liked how it played as delivered and want to know whether to modify it. I think you may have answered your own question 🙂

Great looking bass. If it plays as well as it looks, you haven't wasted your money.

If the seller didn't disclose the neck refin, there might not be any harm in seeing if they might make a gesture to compensate. I always get Martin P to look over any vintage bass purchase. It's a good idea to buy subject to his inspection, with the option to return.

Re the screws, I'm no expert, but my 64 jazz has control panel screws matching those on the scratchplate. On my 65 they are slightly different - the control panel ones are a little smaller, but still they don't look like yours. Pm me an email address and I'll send a close up image from my phone if that is useful.

even with a few unexpected changes, so long as you have the original pickups £3500 is OK. Any 65 jazz bass purchase can't be a bad thing!!!

3 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

I smiled reading that...

I imagine you with a nice back garden where one night a new flowerbed appeared.

Don't tell me the truth. Let me believe.

I said she no longer lives there, not she no longer lives. Mind you, my geraniums were particularly good last year.

A jv squier bass was £220 in Denmark st in 1984. I've still got the receipt. And the bass. Starter gear is much better value now than ever before. Rightly or wrongly, I doubt many new players worry too much about the ethics of production

If the neighbour finds the bass intrusive, use headphones and a zoom bfx or similar. It's no big deal for you, but it might be a big deal for her.

I had a noisy neighbour, playing the ghastly "frozen" soundtrack repeatedly. It was torture. Her dog barked all night while she went clubbing. She ignored my repeated polite requests to moderate her behaviour. I did not retaliate with escalating noise wars, but let''s just say she no longer lives there....

your bass playing might sound fantastic to you, (or me!!) but it might be the equivalent of "frozen" to her.

in my opinion, continuing to play amplified when a neighbour has asked you not to is inconsiderate and provocative.

On ‎02‎/‎01‎/‎2018 at 13:27, bonzodog said:

Surely the worst sound is what they refer to as the 'orchestral hit' that keyboards were over using throughout the 80s

 

Absolutely this. Dates a recording in the most unfortunate way and renders it unlistenable for me.

Most people who have played a good number of vintage basses seem to have had the experience of playing good ones, fantastic ones, and "dogs". Is it coincidence that it is only the fantastic ones that ever come up for sale?

Similarly, considering how many vintage instruments have been modified/refinished/hacked about, it is quite surprising that most of the ones for sale are 100% original. 

Caveat emptor........

14 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

I've never understood the obsession with resale value.

Maybe because I've never bought any instrument with an eye to selling it on at some point. I've always bought because I have an actual need for the instrument at that particular moment in time. If I can afford it and it's something I'm going to use then I'll buy it. At the time I rarely think I'll be selling it later. If at some point I no longer need it I'll probably sell it or if I think I might use it again in the future it will go into storage. When I sell stuff sometimes I make money compared with what I originally paid for it, and sometimes I lose money. If I loose money, I look at the that amount as the rental value of the instrument for the time I was using it.

TBH the amount I've spent on guitars and basses in real terms is small beans compared with what I was spending on synthesisers in the 80s.

An excellent and pragmatic approach. 

I don't necessarily agree there is a widespread obsession with resale value. Certainly with regard to vintage purchases, I never buy with any anticipation or purpose of potential future profit. I just like playing and having permanent unrestricted access to fabulous vintage basses and guitars. The notion that you might not lose money in the unpalatable event that you might need to part with them is at best a fringe benefit. Others may feel differently, but it is none of my business if they do.

Not sure how to post the link to the  above mentioned in the for sale thread, but I would give it serious consideration if I were looking. Good luck with your search

oops P bass search. Sorry inappropriate content 😀

41 minutes ago, Frank Blank said:

You can do such a thing? Sorry, not 'you', 'one'.

I am fortunate enough that I have access to that expertise free of charge, but, bearing in mind a set up costs about £40, checking over a vintage bass might be expected to take a similar time. Even if it cost £100, a good investment. 

Just now, Bridgehouse said:

True. Which was what attracted me to a vintage bass in the first place, having owned a few vintage guitars..

My only controversial thought on vintage basses is thus: Whether it's the material, the ageing or whatever, once you find one that you really like, I think they do feel different to a more modern instrument. 

Nothing controversial,  in a blind test you almost couldn't miss the vintage bass. 

2 minutes ago, Frank Blank said:

This is true. I think I would seek advice on here if I were to make such a purchase.

It is worth paying a reputable expert for an in-person report. Photos are not enough, in my opinion. Mistakes are v expensive!!

29 minutes ago, Bridgehouse said:

My 64 and AVRI sound different.

I have 8 jazz basses - 4 1965 or before, 3 1980s one 2015 relic. In a blind test with someone else playing, I'm not confident I'd get it 100% right. 

48 minutes ago, Frank Blank said:

An excellent point. See, your last line is what niggles me, I don't think I have the knowledge or experience (and I am not, for a moment, suggesting you do not btw) to know if vintage instruments are worth the price or not. Common sense tells me not but am I missing out on something revelatory?

The correct price range is fairly straightforward to arrive at, assuming you have enough basic knowledge, or access to a 3rd party with appropriate experience to ensure the instrument is as advertised, prior to a binding deal (I always have a 48hour approval agreement on any vintage purchase, to obtain expert advice, other than for auction, where the lower price makes a "punt" more acceptable). 

Once you are confident of what the instrument is, in terms of originality and, therefore, ability to recoup the thick end of your financial outlay, it only remains; does the instrument inspire you to buy it?

13 hours ago, ambient said:

Which isn't actually live as such. It was recorded a couple of weeks ago.

I toyed with the quotation marks on live 😀  Must be a great night out in November, watching the same old faces again, pretending to count in the new year. All more talented than me, but it does seem tired.

The major manufacturers had what seems to be commonly acknowledged as a reduction in quality of their products in the late 60s/early 70s, bringing about a preference for the instruments from the previous era, which was perfectly sensible in the era of the 3 bolt boat-anchor Jazz bass, but less relevant now. 

It may well be that the availability of properly seasoned timber and exotic hardwoods might give older instruments a head-start, but I have to say, when I went to try, then buy, a 64 jazz bass, having a try on the owner's fodera 4 string was quite an eye-opener. It was much the more sophisticated, refined and versatile of the two instruments, but the vintage jazz felt more comfortable, worn-in and enabled me to make a sound that made me happy to part with a sizeable wad. warm and rounded, not harsh or aggressive, with great harmonics and very responsive. How much of that is my wanting to like it who knows, but perhaps no coincidence I spent an hour playing it unaccompanied earlier today.

I have played other pre cbs jazz basses that have been absolutely dead and have not "spoken to me"

How the median-quality pre cbs bass, when new, would compare with the median-quality custom shop current production, sadly is only the subject of conjecture. 

My guess is you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

excellent, good-natured thread btw.