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Vintage Fenders


Reggaebass

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The 1973 Jazz I'm restoring had a horribly fitted Schaller bridge on it. The original bridge was present, but it was missing mounting screws and two intonation screws. So I bought new screws and springs and re-fitted the bridge. You can see two sets of three screw holes: my guess is the Schaller was fitted once, they found out it couldn't be properly intonated and then re-fitted it. I really like the discolouring undereatb.

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On 23/04/2024 at 19:39, BassAgent said:

Got this nice array of Jazzes at home currently.

7CNwpJW.jpeg

From left to right: 64 (reissue), 1966, 1970, 1973. The '73 isn't mine. Yet. Maybe.

Now thats just greedy :)

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3 minutes ago, kevin_lindsay said:

How old does an instrument have to be for it to be designated as "bintage"?

Good question that.

 

I suspect it's a flexible answer. Is my 97 MIJ Jazz "Vintage" or is a 79 but not an 80 vintage?

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59 minutes ago, kevin_lindsay said:

How old does an instrument have to be for it to be designated as "bintage"?

In the vintage guitar shop I used to work in, the general consensus among staff and customers seemed to be pre-1980, for some unknown random reason. I always thought pre-1970 or pre-1966 would have been nearer the mark. We did sell pre-WWI instruments sometimes, which often looked (and smelled like) closer to antiques. Depends on the viewpoint of the buyer or seller to some extent, maybe?


I’m sure George Gruhn would have a different take on it.

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28 minutes ago, meterman said:

the general consensus among staff and customers seemed to be pre-1980, for some unknown random reason. I always thought pre-1970

I’m kind of along those dates too , I don’t think of anything over 79 as being vintage, we’ve chatted about this before and I think people of different ages have different ideas 

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47 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

I’m kind of along those dates too , I don’t think of anything over 79 as being vintage, we’ve chatted about this before and I think people of different ages have different ideas 

Then are we ourselves classed as Vintage people 🙄

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12 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

I’m kind of along those dates too , I don’t think of anything over 79 as being vintage, we’ve chatted about this before and I think people of different ages have different ideas 

Somehow I still see the first Fullerton basses from the early 80s also as vintage, but nothing after 1985.

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@Reggaebass I don’t do it often but whenever I look on ebay and type ‘vintage’ into the musical instruments section, it’ll be awash with 2 year old Squier gear, or stuff that was bought as a kids Christmas present a few months ago. I think folks have forgotten that a lot of second hand stuff is mostly just second hand stuff, not vintage at all. Makes me want to smash the computer screen in 😡 
 

But then I’d have to sell the broken parts on ebay. As ‘vintage’ laptop parts probably. 😂 

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21 hours ago, Burns-bass said:


Is this the one from Vintage Rare and Retro? That was my old one and I wrote about it earlier in this thread.

It is indeed. I like it as a bass, so the defects don't really bother me. It currently plays really well, so I'm happy enough. 😁

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8 minutes ago, snorkie635 said:

It is indeed. I like it as a bass, so the defects don't really bother me. It currently plays really well, so I'm happy enough. 😁


Fair enough. It’s worth taking a note of my post if you ever come to sell it because it much more comprehensive and accurate than the listing provided by the shop.

 

Best of luck with the bass. The neck was lovely. It took me several years of saving to afford that at the time so I have very fond memories of it.

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1 minute ago, Burns-bass said:


Fair enough. It’s worth taking a note of my post if you ever come to sell it because it much more comprehensive and accurate than the listing provided by the shop.

 

Best of luck with the bass. The neck was lovely. It took me several years of saving to afford that at the time so I have very fond memories of it.

I agree about the neck. I'll take a screenshot of your comments in order that, as you say, should it ever be sold-on, any new owner will be aware of what they are buying. It was certainly interesting to read about the bass and pick up some of its 'history'. The dealer you mentioned had another two 70's up for sale at the time I bought this one. Were either of those yours - one was a '78 natural and the other, a '73 Sunburst if I recall?

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1 hour ago, snorkie635 said:

I agree about the neck. I'll take a screenshot of your comments in order that, as you say, should it ever be sold-on, any new owner will be aware of what they are buying. It was certainly interesting to read about the bass and pick up some of its 'history'. The dealer you mentioned had another two 70's up for sale at the time I bought this one. Were either of those yours - one was a '78 natural and the other, a '73 Sunburst if I recall?

 

No I'm out of the vintage game now. This one I sold to a bass player who used to work in PMT in Bristol. When I did it had a tort scratchplate. 

 

I still remember the day in 1999 (I spoke with my friend) I bought this. I was about 9 stone and a bit of a weakling who had to walk to Stapleton Road – not a great part of the city – with £900 in cash that I'd saved up over about a year of working while a student (I mostly ate Co-Op madras and not an avocado in sight!). 

 

At some point about a decade ago it seemed all the vintage pieces started disappearing from sale. In the same week I tried out a 1978 EB Stingray for £500. (Didn't buy it.)

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1 hour ago, Burns-bass said:

 

No I'm out of the vintage game now. This one I sold to a bass player who used to work in PMT in Bristol. When I did it had a tort scratchplate. 

 

I still remember the day in 1999 (I spoke with my friend) I bought this. I was about 9 stone and a bit of a weakling who had to walk to Stapleton Road – not a great part of the city – with £900 in cash that I'd saved up over about a year of working while a student (I mostly ate Co-Op madras and not an avocado in sight!). 

 

At some point about a decade ago it seemed all the vintage pieces started disappearing from sale. In the same week I tried out a 1978 EB Stingray for £500. (Didn't buy it.)

The things we did/do for whatever took/takes our fancy! £900 was a fair amount quarter of a century ago. I'd like to have seen it wearing its original (?) tort guard. My student days were spent surviving on Homepride cook-in sauce as I recall.

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On 05/04/2024 at 17:43, Reggaebass said:

Bassbros have got a nice 73 P in , if it had the original pickups I’d have been tempted 

https://bassbros.co.uk/product/1973-fender-precision-bass-6/

A lot of 70s P's and J's seem to have misaligned necks like this. Is that something that can be easily fixed, or is it not something to be concerned about?

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