Basses as an investment

Gear
41

You have mentioned this bass so often now that I’m curious about it. Please purchase it and post your experiences :slight_smile:

42

I’ve been tempted myself, since I already have the Glenn Hughes purple Orange amp. I love the color and the checkerboard binding, but other than that, it doesn’t check enough boxes for me.

As for a return on your investment, I have doubts on this one (the wife doesn’t have to know this… ). Years ago I purchased a mint Bill Wyman tribute bass built(commisioned) by the Bass Centre. The price was good and I figured that i could keep it a few years, then unload it. I was wrong. The biggest issue was the lower end build quality (like the Orange bass, no offense), it wasn’t a bad bass, just not what one would consider high quality.

As for using basses as an investment, I collected basses for 30+ years. I did a ton of research, plus I have been profressionally involved in the vintage instrument market since before even then.

I bought instruments underpriced and many needing repairs (I am a builder and a tech, I did vintage restorations at Gruhn Guitars for a few years). I bought vintage Fenders and Gibsons when I could afford it, but I also went for earlier Kay/Harmony/Danelectro ( I love vintage Danelectro’s) instruments as well as other basses that may be considered oddball (I love Washburn’s offerings from the 80’s!)

I am fortunate to have a wife that trusts when I find a bass to collect, I got it for a great price, and I will be able to make money on it.

For the longest time, I had a big problem with letting any of them go, even though I wasn’t playing them out. I would open up a case to sell it and ended up playing it, falling back in love, then putting it back in the rack. A couple of years ago, we started renovating our log cabin, suddenly, this became more important than having a bunch of basses that I don’t use. Plus, I’m getting older, and you have to ask yourself what’s going to happen to all of this if I die? I have children and I have instruments put away for each of them, but honestly, I’m doubt my wife or the kids want to deal with the hassle of selling all of them. Beside’s I’d prefer to benefit from them while I’m around.

I’ve been selling them from time to time. There are still quite a few, at one point I had somewhere around 150-200 basses.

I can say if you buy smart, collecting for investment can be a very wise choice. I think you have to be in it for the long game…

You go buy that bass! Enjoy (get the amp too, it’s Killer!).

2 Likes
43

I found one on Ebay from big music store down South for $200 less than the shop I was going to go to.
And no one has been playing it for the last 6 months on the shop floor.
Postage was free!
I had to pull the trigger.
I will keep this mostly hoping it will be worth something one day, but there is no way I am not going to play that sucker!

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44

No way the purple one?

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45

It didn’t cost $200, I saved $200 online and got one that hasn’t been molested by Hooples in the shop
And Yes, it is the purple one

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46

Oh I got too excited (for you) :joy: yeah that’s a great deal any day. I would have like the “fell off the truck” price better :rofl:

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47

Invest in financial instruments, not musical instruments.

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48

Out! Out! Damn spot!

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49

I would normally agree, but I put a lot of time into what I was buying. In my case, I am doing pretty well with my investments.

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50

If you factor in inflation and the devaluation of the dollar the larger amount you get 25 years later likely may not add up to a profit.
$500. 25 years ago had 3x the buying power.
So if a person paid $500. then and gets $1500. today where’s the profit?
It seems to me that relatively thinking it’s a break even deal at best, perhaps things will change in the future.
IMO Its way better to have the bass and break even than a number on a statement.
Here’s some numbers…

  1. Compound Interest: a 25-year period, using a compound interest calculator. Assuming an average annual interest rate of 4% (a reasonable estimate for a long-term savings account), and compounding annually, the calculation yields:
  • $500 (initial deposit) × (1 + 0.04)^25 ≈ $1,634.41
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51

And this is my thinking, I can’t enjoy a number on a statement

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52

Playing the bass for free for 25 years.

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53

That’s a fact David…
Playing it, looking at it, and just having it means more to me than the money.
However, I’m the guy who has amps for end tables and hanging bass’s instead of pictures, likely there are others here that share my sentiments.

4 Likes
54

Well I’m tipping given I paid $500 for it, if I realised the value now at between 4K to 5k , I have made a pretty good decision :+1:
And to add to that I have had the privilege of owning it and enjoyment of playing it , it has been both a privilege and a great bass over the years :+1: