ossyrocks

Cards on the table, I own three vintage Fender basses from the 70’s. There’s another factor in the equation, and that’s as an investment. I really enjoy owning and playing my basses, they’re all in regular use, and go out to gigs in pubs and clubs with me. I also have a Made In Japan PB62 reissue, which is every bit as nice to play, and sounds great, but it doesn’t feel or sound quite like the old ones. Anyway, I have paid a pretty penny for my three vintage basses, all purchased within the last two years, BUT, if I hadn’t thought they would increase in value, I wouldn’t have bought them. I’m not one to drop £3k+ on an instrument only to lose money when I come to sell it. I have very seldom bought anything brand new for similar reasons. I know the market can go down as well as up, and I saw that happen in the late 2000’s, but right now the market is on the up, so I’m in it. Money in the bank is a waste of time and has been for a long time. Assets performing well is where I’ve put a bit of my spare cash, and enjoying them is a bonus. Rob

I actually have a bit of experience in the vintage guitar market, I used to stand shows in the 90's and 2000's. Once a guitar is "outed", it stays outed, and this seller will have a lot to regret regarding his current stance/position with the guitar and his future reputation. He may actually be causing himself more trouble than he anticipates right now. It's a very small world, and this will not go unnoticed. Rob

I had a Two10S too until recently. But this was a walk across town gig, so it had to be a small cab in hand. For anything bigger, and when I’m driving, I generally use a Mark Bass LM3 and a Mark Bass 2x10. One thing I haven’t tried is the Elf through the Mark Bass 2x10 cab. So I might see how that sounds. I really do see a BF Super Compact in my future though. Rob

Another update. The pickup arrived in time for me to fit it before my gigs this weekend. In the 70’s, Fender treated pickups in various different ways after winding, and in my case, this pickup was lacquered after winding in 1973. Ash has rewound it with the correct vintage wire, replicating the original wind, and has re-lacquered it as it was originally. I’ll be honest, I asked if he would wind it slightly hotter than it’s original 7.0k, so he has rewound it to 7.6k for me. The pickup now balances better with the neck pickup, and has ever so slightly more mid and authority than it did before. I think the bass overall is better for it. Yes, the pickup failing and having to be rewound has knocked a bit of value off it, but as an instrument, it’s still fabulous. I would recommend Ash at Oil City Pickups to anyone, great service, and unbelievably great value for money. Cheers, Rob

I finally ran the Elf at it's limit last night. Lancaster Music Festival, I'm on foot, Bass in gig bag, amp and leads in pocket of gig bag, Barefaced One10 in hand, easy commute and walk in. The pub wasn't big, but it was rammed and noisy with punters. The band is drums, bass, guitar, sax and trumpet. No vocals, just jazz instrumentals, some standards and some more modern groovy stuff. PA is small and just for horns. I had the master on full, and pre-amp at noon, but it performed admirably and it was enough, but I have found it's limit I think, through this cab anyway. If I'd had a second One10 it would have been a different matter I think. I'm seriously considering getting a BF Super Compact for extra oomph. Rob

@Sean bought my Barefaced cab. Great chap to deal with all round. Parcelfarce did screw up and delivered a day late when it was supposed to be a 24 hour service, but he was very understanding. I’ll do my best to get some compo off them and send it back to him. Cheers, Rob

Thank you for the kind words sir.

Brief update. I sent it Special Delivery on Monday morning, he received it Tuesday morning, he’s rewound it with correct vintage wire, and lacquered it as it was originally, and posted it back. I’ll have it before lunch tomorrow! That is great service!

Cheers for that. I watched it whilst making some biscuits. I am sorely tempted to invest in one of the cabs for a valve head I’m currently having built, and then possibly a head. It was interesting that you thought the V3 would handle smaller gigs even with just one 8 ohm cab, I found that reassuring. I run a LM3 through an 8ohm 2x10 at the moment, and it’s always been enough. Thanks, Rob

I’ve also done this all my life. There was a rumour circulated years ago that it could put 9v through your brain and kill you, but it was debunked pretty quickly. So, what’s the issue do you think?

There's a few of us. There's the OP here @Gary Bloomfield in Heysham, I'm in Morecambe, @lee650 is in Morecambe and we've met each other now, and I must go and see one of his bands soon! And there's @Dannygno123 who's in either Heysham or Morecambe and is in a well known a local band too. The most well known bass player round these parts is obviously Gary at Promenade, but I don't think he does forums much, he's too busy playing! Rob

Hi @Gary Bloomfield there’s a few of us on here from Morecambe/Heysham. We’re a friendly sort, if you need any help or advice give me a shout. Rob

Thanks chaps. I've spoken to someone today about getting it rewound, Ash from Oil City Pickups in London. He's got lots of experience with vintage pickups, and has the correct vintage wire to wind it. It will be a very sympathetic rewind, and will look and sound very much like it did before. He's promised to turn it round in less than a week too. In 40 years of playing, this is the first pickup that has ever failed on me. But apparently it's quite common for 70's Fender pickups to spontaneously expire. Thanks, Rob

Picked it up off the stand tonight, plugged in, bridge pickup is dead. It was fine last night. I've had the bass on the bench, pickup out, and it's open circuit on my multimeter. I could just drop in another pickup, but I would like to keep it as original as possible, so I would prefer to get it rewound. Who is the best for this? Any input would the gratefully received. @Reggaebass Tony, have you had any done? Cheers, Rob

I don't pretend to be an expert, it's just that I own three 70's Fender basses. I think before around 1965 the cap was 0.1uf, which probably meant it rolled off more treble than the .047uf used later. I'm sure there are others with more expertise than I. Rob

Yes to the pots - 250k No to the cap, the standard in the 70's was 0.047uf.

I've had two of those cases, they were often sold from new with the guitar, so it could be that it is in fact the "original case" that came with the bass, in fact I'd put money on it. Many Fenders in the early 60's were shipped over to the UK without Fender cases and then sold with Selmer cases. As for it's value, do a comparison with similar items, there are a few around at the moment. If it can be had for significantly less than those currently advertised, then it might be worth a gamble. There are a number of concerns for me, the neck (what's it actually like now?), the truss rod and the pickup, do they work? Tony, is there any opportunity to go and have a look?

The 2x10 is a couple of inches smaller and 1.3kg lighter than the Barefaced TWO10 (which I have). The best price I can see is at Thomann for £922, which is £223 more than a new Barefaced TWO10. It's going to have to be good, if not better than a Barefaced cab to entice anyone in this market. However, it seems the opposite way round for the 2x12 which is slightly bigger than the Barefaced equivalent, and bang on the same weight. It's also £274 cheaper than the Bareface Super Twin 2x12. This might be very tempting to a lot of people, including me.

I played one of these this morning in Promenade Music in Morecambe. Gary (the bass guru who works there) was rather excited about it and said he'd put it up against mostly everything in the shop and it was his favourite bass of the moment. In fact he keeps it in the demo room so he can go and play it often. I must say, it was light, felt good, looked good and sounded rather splendid. I currently have three P's and a J, but this has me thinking I might need a 5th bass. It was the vintage white one and the colour really did look like an old '74 Olympic white strat I had years ago. I really don't need this kind of dilemma at the moment! Rob