tegs07

Yes the value but that doesn’t just mean financial value. I don’t personally like Alembic or Fedora or even Status basses for that matter. It doesn’t mean I can’t see the craftsmanship, top quality materials or pure skill and technique it takes to make them. No way would I experiment on them without the required skill set.

Keeping that on a need to know basis! It’s a 75 re-issue so did have to borrow a bench press and drill 2 holes... There were a couple of Geddy Lee necks available on Stratosphere a few weeks back...

I had a go at routing some instruments with some degree of success in lockdown.. tried it on sub £30 rubbish though and worked up to a used Squire as I got a bit better... anything more valuable or scarce would definitely be taken to a pro! Its not just the value it’s the sacrilege... like taking an angle grinder to an e-type jag because you fancy a convertible now the sun is out.

The mind boggles.. even if the seller didn’t realise or was wealthy enough not to care that this is a rare and expensive bass and wanted to mod it what would be wrong with a small and discreet battery compartment on the rear of the body?

US

That’s one of the few double P’s where I really like the aesthetics. Is it a Hondo decal on the headstock? I would definitely buy another MIJ Hondo Professional if I saw one. QC is definitely not of the Tokai or Aria Pro 2 standard.. a bit of DIY is required but it’s a half decent instrument for small change (or was the whole lawsuit cobblers /mythology may have changed that)?

I have one of said Hondo’s and would say it’s a very good bass. From what I have read online having sullied their reputation making some really shoddy instruments Hondo tried to revive their reputation by making instruments in Japan again in the same factory as Tokai. I have a MIJ Hondo Professional with the Dimarzios it is a lovely bass. I bought a Hondo 2 at a bargain price hoping it would be as good. It wasn’t

To be fair you can compromise on most things but not the neck and pickups...

The only jaw I saw was the one dropping when reading the price. £700 hahhaaahaaaha

Martin Harley & Daniel Kimbro

Karl Wallinger had a brain aneurysm just as World Party were starting to get some mainstream recognition... he is a really good song writer.

Haha every one has an opinion but it is a bit like going on a VW owners club forum and asking 1960’s Beatles are they worth it, or should I just buy a late 2000’s GTI?

Not really it’s questioning the value of the guitar that started it all. Of course it’s mythology, legend, blind faith.. it’s like buying an original Apple Mac! (Except it can still keep up with its modern counterparts). Any vintage original that is era defining and steeped in cultural importance is going to generate massive interest and become highly collectible. Add in the aesthetics appeal of older designs (wood gets a beautiful patina.. the more it is handled the nicer it gets if treated well) and the fact that the really early ones were not as mass produced as the slick operation that Fender is today and that allure is magnified even more. If that’s emperors new clothes than so be it.

I’ve In the short time I have been on this forum I have seen plenty of digs at Fender. Even this thread is a bit of a dig. Is a vintage Fender emperors new clothes? Is a DB5 emperors new clothes? You could buy a Honda Civic TypeR that would outperform it. There is no logic to buying one but it’s a DB5 FFS!!

I do find the Fender hate a bit bewildering to be honest... I am not surprised early Fender and Stingray guitars are highly collectible. The man created the designs that still dominate the market to this day. The Precision, Jazz, Stingray, Telecaster, Stratocaster, Jazzmaster for me these are really pleasing aesthetic objects the e type jag, gull wing Mercedes and DB5’s of the music world.

I was intrigued by @walshypost. One thing I have learned is when people do something for a living they tend to know what they are talking about so I started to do some research and stumbled on this: http://www.fao.org/3/XII/0674-B1.htm An extract: Over the past decades the world’s managed fast-growing forests have been increasing steadily. The managed resource is expected to dominate the world wood supply in the first half of this century. Worldwide, the transition from total dependence on depleting inherited stocks to reliance on a managed resource has been associated with a significant decline in wood quality (Zobel 1984; Kellogg 1989). For example, a wood quality index reported by Constantino and Haley (1988) for the British Columbia Coast showed that log quality had declined by almost 25% between r taper, larger knots, higher juvenile wood content and different wood characteristics and processing properties.

Gorgeous. I have have it’s matching older brother at home. I was looking for a black one but loved the translucent teal.

I was addressing the numerous “what logical reason” type questions really as I don’t think there is a logical reason other than maybe capital appreciation. Vintage items whether they are cars, guitars or watches may have mojo but they tend to be a little more quirky and high maintenance than the modern counterparts.. you have got to really love them to bother with the extra expense and possible maintenance. Edit: as an example I don’t have any really old basses but I do have a 30 year old Stingray. I don’t play it often and always used to use a Sterling Ray34 ( before selling it) if it was down to logic I would have sold the 30 year old Ray and kept the Indonesian one as it was a fabulous instrument but I would struggle to part with the Ray. Purely emotional rather than logical.

I would argue that there is no logic to vintage collectibles unless it’s as an investment. Largely it will be an emotional rather than a head decision.

I’m not knocking anyone’s choice. Personally I love vintage instruments and am not too bothered about original components, purists that pay top dollar for these instruments are though. I would rather they were used as intended and suffer a little wear but if someone else wants to hang them on a wall in all their original glory that’s their choice.