Where do basses go to die?

[EJWW]

My uncle owns a 1962 Jazz bass. He is a total show-off and can barely play a note. I hope and pray that he will leave it to me in his will. In the meantime though what a waste.

This got me thinking- considering that, unlike cars, most bass guitars are unlikely to be totally worn out and scrapped/ crushed/ converted to other uses, since the 1950s when production started they're must now be literally millions and millions of instruments lying around somewhere. 

My question is where? They keep on manufacturing them but if they're not being scrapped there must be an enormous and growing stock of second hand instruments out there. Are they unplayed and gathering dust under millions of peoples' beds or in their lofts. There must be some real diamonds tucked away waiting to be played. 

Is this being reflected in the second hand market, is there just more and more gearout there nowadays?

Funny the things you end up thinking about on boxing day...😃

[AndyTravis]

Guitar shops selling new basses and guitars are going out of business every week.

There was always the moan in the trade that the internet trade was killing the shops.

Since I’ve stopped working in a guitar shop, I’ve not bought a factory fresh/shop fresh bass - that’s 6 years. And I’ve bought and sold about 20 basses.

Market saturation?

There are also folk who have ridiculous collections.

I’d suggest @cetera has about 40% of all basses ever made.

[Roger2611]

I guess some unfortunate guitars and basses fall into the hands of "improvers" or so called luthiers and are sadly butchered to the point of no return.....mentioning no names!

[Hellzero]

It works by cycle. Old instruments reappear every 20~25 years when the owners die and that the heirs move everything, unfortunately most of the time to the bin... So check out.

[yorks5stringer]

To East Sussex?

[GuyR]

4 hours ago, EJWW said:

My uncle owns a 1962 Jazz bass. He is a total show-off and can barely play a note. I hope and pray that he will leave it to me in his will. In the meantime though what a waste.

I wasn't aware I had a nephew in Birmingham

[4000]

I’ve often wondered this. When I started playing (1980), guitar shops were full of used equipment, which always had a steady turnover. Nowadays, eBay and vintage shops aside (and Basschat ads of course!), I hardly ever see used instruments. And yet I assume the turnover is similar, if not even greater, given the increasing amount of instruments. I dream of walking into a shop like Birmingham’s old Musical Exchanges, where you’d see all manner of oddities. Of course you do have places like The Bass Gallery, but they lean towards higher end. 

[TheGreek]

Pretty sure you can replace the word "basses" with "golf clubs"....everybody has a set somewhere...

[Newfoundfreedom]

They're all nailed to trendy city pub walls. 

[GuyR]

1 minute ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

They're all nailed to trendy city pub walls. 

I have a 62 jazz bass which has been drilled through just above the nut, probably for just this purpose.

[Dan Dare]

They disappear through a hole in the space-time continuum, to turn up in a parallel universe bearing outrageous price tags.

[Reggaebass]

14 minutes ago, GuyR said:

I have a 62 jazz bass which has been drilled through just above the nut, probably for just this purpose.

😲 who would do such a thing.

[Bassfinger]

Imagine what the motor trade would be like if cars lasted half a century or more.  In fact, it would surprise me not if cars were deliberately engineered with short lifespans.

For every new bass sold there are probably 50 in circulation, and barring accident or gross bodgery they'll last indefinitely.  The new instrument market is fighting against an ever present and ever expanding pool of used instruments. How long can they keep it up?

[CamdenRob]

Great thread, I’ve often thought this.

The number of basses must pale into comparison to the number of guitars out there...

[TheGreek]

Good point but why is it that only the rubbish resurfaces???

[DoubleOhStephan]

Now, I may well be making this up or recounting a made up tale, but I've heard that there are a large number of Asian collectors who buy anything old and American and keep them in temperature controlled vaults as investments. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[cetera]

6 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

I’d suggest @cetera has about 40% of all basses ever made.

Guilty as charged m'lud....

[Si600]

1 hour ago, Dan Dare said:

They disappear through a hole in the space-time continuum, to turn up in a parallel universe bearing outrageous price tags.

Along with the Biros?

[Burns-bass]

49 minutes ago, DoubleOhStephan said:

Now, I may well be making this up or recounting a made up tale, but I've heard that there are a large number of Asian collectors who buy anything old and American and keep them in temperature controlled vaults as investments. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Problem with that is that, unlike gold, there’s no real intrinsic value to a bass. My dad could never understand why my vintage Fender is worth thousands of pounds more with a battered finish and rusty screws. When confronted with this, it’s surprisingly difficult to argue.

The value of an old Fender will wane as future generations see them for what they are, working instruments rather than investment pieces.

There’s a small pool of people willing to pay £10k for a pre-CBS jazz, and that number will drop by at least a few every year until there’s nobody. These instruments aren’t particularly rare, but , they are scarce.

Middle aged (and older) men are hoarding instruments. In the past, you’d have a bass, maybe two. Today, as people on here can attest, a lot of people have many more. When we shift off this planet they’ll come up for sale more often, reducing their prices. Add on to that the high likelihood of inter-generational conflict, a deep and damaging recession that economists forecast will make 2008 look like a mere statistical blip and prices could come down sooner than we think.

[FDC484950]

2 hours ago, 4000 said:

I’ve often wondered this. When I started playing (1980), guitar shops were full of used equipment, which always had a steady turnover. Nowadays, eBay and vintage shops aside (and Basschat ads of course!), I hardly ever see used instruments. And yet I assume the turnover is similar, if not even greater, given the increasing amount of instruments. I dream of walking into a shop like Birmingham’s old Musical Exchanges, where you’d see all manner of oddities. Of course you do have places like The Bass Gallery, but they lean towards higher end. 

There were loads of shops in 1980 and there are comparatively few now, and even fewer with basses. It’s just moved online - how many basses are for sale on here at the moment? Hundreds or even thousands I would imagine. Far more than there ever were in local shops back in the day.

[Rich]

6 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

I’d suggest @cetera has about 40% of all basses ever made.

 

And Nick Smith aka @doctor_of_the_bass has another 30% or so.

[BlueMoon]

6 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

Middle aged (and older) men are hoarding instruments. In the past, you’d have a bass, maybe two. Today, as people on here can attest, a lot of people have many more. When we shift off this planet they’ll come up for sale more often, reducing their prices. Add on to that the high likelihood of inter-generational conflict, a deep and damaging recession that economists forecast will make 2008 look like a mere statistical blip and prices could come down sooner than we think.

Oh dear............that's me stuffed then!!

[Burns-bass]

33 minutes ago, BlueMoon said:

Oh dear............that's me stuffed then!!

If you buy them and love them, then where’s the harm?

If you’re speculating on collectibles (whether guitars, comics, records etc.) then there’s always a risk that fashions could change. 
 

Spare a thought for all those rich collectors who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for late 50s Les Pauls... They’ve not recovered in value and that’s over a decade now. 

[Burns-bass]

1 hour ago, DoubleOhStephan said:

Now, I may well be making this up or recounting a made up tale, but I've heard that there are a large number of Asian collectors who buy anything old and American and keep them in temperature controlled vaults as investments. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Interestingly, many high-value classical instruments are owned by investment houses, but they loan them out to players to keep them in circulation and allowing us all to enjoy them. 

[ambient]

2 hours ago, Bassfinger said:Imagine what the motor trade would be like if cars lasted half a century or more.  In fact, it would surprise me not if cars were deliberately engineered with short lifespans.

Most things nowadays are built to only last a few years. We’re a very wasteful society. It’s great that musical instruments at least are built with an expectancy that they’ll last a while.