LeftyBassist.com

To taunt us all a further time. Stunning new pix too:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ONLY-LEFTY-LEFT-HANDED-1960-FENDER-STACK-KNOB-CUSTOM-COLOR-JAZZ-BASS-ONEARTH-/360465089175?_trksid=m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D3%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D8981682859557687845&_qi=RTM1084479

not to mention a stunning new price. didn't it sell for something in the neighborhood of $23K when it first showed up?

Is this bass actually a baton in some relay race? How many people have owned it in the past couple of years??

This bass sold for $29,001 on Ebay a couple of years ago..maybe three...who knows..

I know people have a right to ask whatever they think is 'market value' for what they're selling, but I think that that price 2X+ reeks of unmitigated gall and over-the-top greed. As we used to say in Queens- "You gotta be fu*kin' kiddin' me!
Not to mention that there just isn't really anyone here, except for a collector that will pay that, history or not. We're in a depression...and there aren't many left handed bassists that can afford 29k, let alone 65k. Good luck selling it.

That's the seller I bought my '74 Jazz from a few years ago. He has a knack for overpricing things. He was cool to me, but can get ornery with other ebayers.

I dunno...I feel it's the seller's call. Nobody has to buy it if he overprices. Recession or not, looking is free. I sold some expensive camera equipment recently on Ebay and the only buyers I got were from Canada and China where the recession is much less bad. I was surprised how high the bids went but their economies are better than the US/Europe/Japan so they ended up paying more than I thought anyone could. It's all relative.

I bought a '72 p-bass body from him... same experience. I found a couple of complaints on him, and a lot of Fender purists hate him because he parts out instruments if they have a bad neck or whatever.

I addressed the complaints I found on him directly with him and he explained shit to me in a way that made sense... he was also very thorough, knowledgeable, and took some kickass pictures for me... so I gave him my business.

One thing he did tell me in so many words, and this may explain his pricing on the Joe Long bass... he HATES eBay and really only uses it to advertise what he's selling, with hopes people will contact him to deal for a better price outside of eBay.

That's what I did on the body I bought and only paid about 60% of what he was asking for it in his eBay sale.

I think he figures that if someone is willing to pay what he's asking through eBay, then he makes out like a bandit... the smarter ones get a better deal and he doesn't have to give eBay any money.

A friend of mine once bought a Bass from this guy and also was at his home to pick it up.....

After returning home he told us that he had seen collections of different watercolours etc. standing around....

What a shame that this guy get all this nice leftys to make them unpayable ! What a shame

The bass was out of my price range 3 years ago and it's still out now. This is your classic, "Hail Mary" move: Throw it up there for a ridiculous price and hope somebody happens to nibble at it (or is convinced that it's true market value is what he's asking). He's certainly allowed to ask whatever he wants, and consider if he actually sold it around that asking price he'd end up paying well over $3000 in ebay/Paypal fees.

Since that bass was built the year I was born it remains a dream for me. Even more so with that price. Didn't it originally sell for around $13,000? And then the second time around $28,000 or $29,000?

One has to wonder what a "realistic" price would be for that bass... I mean, aside from pure collector's value, which is up to the individual collector, what is the value of the bass from a sound and playability point of view? Let's go with Addison's experience and say you bought it from the seller for 60% of asking price... $42,550... Would this bass sound around $38,000 better than the Guitar Broker's custom shop '60 stack knob jazz with the copper finish?

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3652

I'm guessing no. I grant you that it has a certain coolness factor since Joe Long does occupy a place in pop music history. But to be honest, until this bass originally appeared on the market I had never heard of him. No disrespect to Joe but, as a bass player he doesn't occupy the rarified air of Jaco or other bass luminaries of which we all have our own list.

So what would be fair and realistic today? (yes, tough call) I know I'm not qualified to say for sure. Anybody here?

I'd guess that a LH 1960 Jazz bass with a tenuous connection to fame like this would fetch a top price of $6,500. And that's a generous estimate. Or a tenth of the current asking price. Sure, a seller can ask for whatever they want (how many schmucks sell 'air guitars' on eBay?), but if he'll take less than advertised, it still leaves open the question of how much less? If he paid just under $30K as would seem to be implied in other posts, who would be willing to pay $40K? Sure, it's a 'savings' of $25,000, but for 99% of us, that's a moot point.

I'll take the line that it's just not for sale, but available for viewing online. I can enjoy looking at it for free.

In 1976, I was working with The Late Roger Joyce, a songwriter who was a songwriting partner with
The late great Teddy Randazzo. I knew and worked a little with Teddy, a great guy who wrote some incredible music. Like "I Think I'm Goin' Out Of My Head" and "Hurts So Bad." among other standards. He knew Frankie Valli well. I sent a message through the 'grapevine,' that I was HIGHLY interested in buying Joe's bass. I was playing my own Olympic white 1971 Jazz bass at the time, in Roger's band. Well, I never did hear back. LOL! I thought you guys might find a little of this old timer's trivia a bit interesting- as it pertains to this bass.

Sorry, but that's an insanely low price to expect from a 1960 lefty Jazz, tenuous connection to fame or not. We're talking about the first official year of the introduction of the Jazz bass. Market value on a righty in excellent condition could easily fetch over $20,000. This lefty '60 J is one of the rarest basses in the world.

http://www.vintageguitar.com/special-fe ... le-basses/

Does this bass have significant sonic/ergonomic features, ie beyond its historical/collectors value?
Or has its stopped being a "players bass" altogether to become a piece to be kept behind glass?

No, $20,000 is an insane market price. Just because they can go for that doesn't mean they should, or they're actually worth it. This whole discussion is about the actual value of this bass. Most posters seem to agree that it's not worth $45K. So is that the 'true' market value? First year or not, nobody should pay 10K plus for any Jazz bass. There's nothing on this bass you can't get from the Custom shop or Japan. Anything else is just perceived value.

You're misconstruing whatever YOU think it's worth (or whatever you're willing to pay/not pay) vs. it's market book value. Do I think it's worth $65,000? Hell no, or at least I would never pay that much. Personally, I have a hard time justifying paying over $5000 for any bass, but that's striclty me and I can't dispute the book value of something valued as much. But it's value is whatever the market will bear combined with rarity, desire, etc. the bass has already proven it's worth more than $6500 by virtue of the fact that it's changed hands a few times for far more than that, each time costing more than previously. Whether or not a newer custom shop instrument or other bass made today is superior or not (And I may agree with you it might be true) is immaterial. The bass is what it is: an exceptionally rare Fender instrument.

I've been collecting vintage instruments for over 15 years. There's no way the Blue Book value on a lefty 1960 J is $6500. None.

This is a common topic of discussion whenever perceived value is seen to be worth more than actual value. And you're entitled to hold whatever opinion you want. Ultimately it's worth whatever you want to pay for it. Since there is no 'blue book' for instruments (that I'm aware of) like there is for cars, all values are subjective. No matter how wildly out of whack they are. But just because the last three owners of this bass had more money than sense doesn't mean I have to follow suit.

BTW, the historical value of this bass is zero as far as I'm concerned. As noted previously, nobody has ever heard of the bassist for Frankie Valli. I'm not aware of any classic basslines this instrument was involved in (unlike say, Duck Dunn's bass for Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay, for example). I'm also opposed to jacking up the value of an instrument because it's left-handed, even if there are fewer of them. It only justifies sellers thinking they can screw the price upwards (oops, I mean 'adjusting for market value'). It's another method of discrimination against left-handed players.

There is no aspect of this bass whatsoever that justifies even half the advertised asking price. None. Unless you think there is.

I always find these discussions surrounding "value" as it relates to the offer price, ie perceived vs real (whatever that means) must be viewed within the cultural context that the drives our understanding of how prices are set. In free markets a price is offered by the seller and another price is offered by the buyer. Rarely do these price expectations match. The market value is estabished when the buyer and seller agree on a price at that moment. The US stock markets work this way, "value" is strictly an outcome of supply and demand at any given moment. This is why the market capitalization of major public corporations (their "value") changes day to day. Is this real or perceived?

Other cultures agree to allow outside forces to determine real "value" and set the price for all transactions. For example, the last time I was in France, a price of a pair of jeans cost the same in every store in the country, no reason to drive past the closest store to buy a pair. Prices for jeans are/(were? - it has been a while since I shopped for jeans in France) controlled by forces other than the seller and buyer negotiating a common price while in the US the price of the same jeans can be different at every store in the same shopping mall. I expect that the price of Joey Long's bass will utlimately be negotiated between a motivated seller and a motivated buyer at which time the "value" at that moment will be established. I'm certainly not motivated to start a negotiation for Joey Long's bass at the current sales offer. Time will tell if a motivated buyer will emerge and set the new "value" of this bass. Whew - I feel better!!!!!!!

I would say a realistic price of a 60ies Two-Stack-knob JB in a Custom Colour is at least 15.000 Euros worth (that is the sad truth - even rightys would have to pay sth. in this range - even more) .... maybe more .... I have friends who do own Pre CBS Pbasses and their prices are from 6500-8500,- Euros (and they are far away from mint-condition) - the Two-Stack-knob versions have the better collector prices - if they are better - not for me - I would throw them out of this Bass first

also regarding it's "real" value - I mean the Bass would have had a price of maybe 400,- dollars in the 60ies ?! So I think it's not more worth than that ....

Also I find it funny in some ways (with all the respect for the original owner) that sellers of such "historical" basses have to write big novels to explain who the original owners had been - just to justify their insane price

I'm soooo happy that my Fender CS Jazz Bass has MY sound - the sound that I want to play/hear everyday ... so I just can laugh about that idiot tune-o-matic

When this bass eventually sells, I'm guessing it will sell for close to what it sold for the last time... $25-$30K. It might take a while... But it will sell eventually.

Would I pay that? Well... If I had Bill Gates money, I'd fly myself and my amp out to LA and play it for a couple of hours. If it blew me away, I'd buy it to play it and for an investment. If it sucked, I might consider trying to talk the seller down to an even lower price so it could be purchased and displayed somewhere people could look at it and enjoy it. I honestly hope this is what happens because it does have historical significance, with or without Joe Long's fingerprints on it.

I'm sure I'll catch he'll for saying this but I honestly believe that any Fender master built bass is going to be built better, play better, and probably even sound better than 99% of the pre-CBS vintage Fender basses out there.