Which basses can genuinely be called rare or vintage ?

[far0n]

Saw an ebay listing lately for an Ibanez Musician, ridiculous price, "rare" this, "vintage" that. Just kinda got me thinking, apart from the obivous ones, which basses are gonna be the next 'sought after' ones?

[Happy Jack]

I could tell you ... but then I'd have to kill you.

[bubinga5]

This is one of the rarest i have come across, not many were made. Probably worth thousands, probably not a vintage but rare..Saw one about 15 years ago and loved it..

Hamer Impact custom...

[Kiwi]

I guess its whatever retailers feel they can get away with passing off as rare/vintage. Some of them do take the piss though.

[LukeFRC]

at some point we will all forget about nu-metal and nice old warwicks will be sought after again.

for some wierd reason it wouldn't surprise me if Trace/Status T basses would be. No idea why possibly as if i saw a cheapish one ild buy it cos of the look of them!


edit: oh dear i've just seen there are at least two of them for sale on this ere site... keep reminding yourslef you're on the minimum wage....

Edited August 20, 2008 by LukeFRC

[neepheid]

I'm too cynical for eBay. I'm also clearly too honest.

[Jase]

[quote name='far0n' post='266618' date='Aug 20 2008, 08:00 PM']Saw an ebay listing lately for an Ibanez Musician, ridiculous price, "rare" this, "vintage" that. Just kinda got me thinking, apart from the obivous ones, which basses are gonna be the next 'sought after' ones?[/quote]

Maybe.. early Overwaters????

[warwickhunt]

There's vintage and there's Vintage!

There are a whole load of basses out there that are the same age as your Vintage Jazzes etc but they aren't worth a fraction of the price. What's an old Gibson Ripper worth compared to a similar aged Fender J or P... 1/2 the price? A 1/10th of the price more like, yet they are both vintage instruments and there'll be a whole lot more Fenders out there than Gibsons (I'm using Gibbo as a point of reference as it's as highly regarded and well known).

Ultimately it will come down to Desirability x Availability.

Didn't someone on a thread a while back come up with an equation for identifying the parameters for what will constitute expensive 'Vintage' basses of the future?

[coasterbass]

IMO

Early models of a brand that became famous/amazing... like Overwater / GB

Limited editions by established manufacturers (that aren't novelty items)... like the T-Bass

At the end of the day a 'collectors item' is for collectors and will rarely see the light of day. If you really want to make money out of your instrument then learn to play it well, do some good tunes, and go play it in front of people. Then it will truly be 'appreciated' and 'valuable'.

[Bassassin]

Using Far0n's original example - I'd say a bass like an Ibanez Musician [i]is[/i] a vintage & rare instrument. Vintage is hard to define in this context, but the Musician is a bass which is very much of a particular era, the model's long-since discontinued, and is becoming collectable & sought-after enough to command increasingly high prices. This is true of other Japanese-made instruments from the 70s & 80s.

This doesn't exactly put them in the same ballpark as pre-CBS Fenders, for example - and I doubt they ever will be - but I don't think the words "vintage" & "rare" necessarily imply enormous value, just scarcity & a degree of collectability.

For the record, the vintagest & rarest bass I own is one of these:



A Ned Callan from about 1972. I have no idea what it's worth - this one being cradled by The Ox is the only other one I've ever seen & I don't even know a model name/number for it. Mine's branded as CMI - Cleartone Musical Instruments, who sourced from Ned Callan (really luthier Peter Cook) before they started importing JapCrap.

I really like old basses.

Jon.

[coasterbass]

i apologise for the extemely patronising tone of my last post having read it back

[foal30]

I quite liked it
should I apologize too?

STEINBERGER

Those L2 will be top $, MARK MY WORDS!
the real point is in the value it gives me from playing it.


regardless of others I hear you say....

[Bassassin]

[quote name='coasterbass' post='267495' date='Aug 22 2008, 12:26 AM']i apologise for the extemely patronising tone of my last post having read it back[/quote]
Nothing to apologise for - I do agree that we should be out playing the things, not hoarding 'em!

The sad fact of my "career" is that I've probably made more money selling "rare & vintage" (cough) basses & g*it*rs than I have playing, writing or recording with the bloody things! :ph34r:

Jon.

[alexclaber]

Both mine are rare (RIM Custom 5 is unique and '87 Warwick Streamers are few and far between) but definitely not vintage!

Alex

[Stag]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='267235' date='Aug 21 2008, 05:52 PM']I really like old basses.

Jon.[/quote]

Me too

I love mojo-factor, total sucker for it. Doesnt stop me wants a nice shiny Warwick at some time tho, for my funkier moments.

[wizbat]

I also share jons love of nip firewood and other oddities, I,ve just picked up a Hohner 'Arbor series' str*t copy, three color sunburst, rosewood board, looks and plays like a tokai goldstar but with a body made from one o, them plywood trees!

[funkypenguin]

Any instruments made by the ex-tobias luthier nicholas tung in the early 90s are very very rare and very very pricey. he only made around 100 (disputed figure) basses (mostly 5 or 6 string wingbasses) before he finished his little project. Myung was his principle endorsee, as can be seen on the video link below.

I'd love one of these basses personally. one of the most elegant body designs ive ever seen

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7BKCaQIA4A"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7BKCaQIA4A[/url]

[doctor_of_the_bass]

Here's my list of vintage/rare stuff:

Pangborn
JayDee
Vigier
Wal
Manson
Overwater (earlier stuff)
Status (earlier stuff)
Ibanez (pre '87 ish)
Aria (pre '87 ish - don't ask me why! twas a good year!)
Carvin (pre '85)
Alembic Series basses (not so much the sigs etc)
Washburn (pre '90)
Tokai (pre '88)
Schecter (pre '85)

..theres probably a few more etc

[Buzz]

What will become valuable in this context will the items that have a visual presence.

Hence the reason why old Fenders are considered valuable, partly because the reputation in the early years of them being very good quality wise anyway, and also the fact that lots and lots of people know what they are.

Older Rick's are worth something, as are older MusicMan's, and I expect the original (and now reissue) Ampeg Dan Armstrong Plexi' basses to go up in value, 50's Gibson T-Birds are worth something as well, yet rare basses like the more "stock" items from most custom luthiers will just vanish into obscurity with only a handful knowing their original value (well, barring Shukers if certain members on BC has their way).

It's a combination of presence in the consumer market at the time of production and a good reputation that seem to set the value in 20/30 years time.

[skankdelvar]

Bass / GTR market doesn't seem to follow the same rules as others - e.g. art, books, vintage cars.

'Rarity' doesn't seem to enter the equation - after all, there must be thousands of pre-65 p-basses out there. And they're worth £3,000 - 50,000! Whereas a numerically rarer yet comparably 'good' EB0 would go for £1,000 - 3,000. 'Older' seems to be the driving force, not 'fewer'

If these rules applied in the art world, a Constable would go for lots, but a Damien Hirst for pennies. While we might relish such an outcome, it clearly does not pertain to commercial reality.

For the record, I reckon cheap 50's and early 60's basses - Danelectro, Valco, Sears, Harmony, National etc - are the ones to watch. After the classics, but before Jap-Crap. But YMMV.

Edited August 25, 2008 by skankdelvar