Rare Bass Guitars List: 10 Vintage Basses That Shaped Recorded Music
Updated: Sep 18
This rare bass guitars list covers ten vintage basses from the 1950s and 1960s that shaped recorded music and are now hard or expensive to find: the early Fender Precision, the stack-knob Fender Jazz, the Fender Bass VI, the Gibson EB-3, the Rickenbacker 4001, the Höfner 500/1 violin bass, the Ampeg AUB-1 fretless, the Danelectro six-string bass, the Vox Wyman teardrop bass and the Guild Starfire. For each one you get the year, who made it famous, how it sounds on a record and what to check before you buy.
We record a lot of bass at Tapetown, usually with the band playing together in one room. What we have learned is that the bass guitar matters less than the hands and the amp, but some old basses do push a player somewhere new. That is what this list is about.
Rare vintage bass guitars at a glance
Fender Precision Bass, early 1950s: the first mass-produced electric bass. James Jamerson's Motown instrument (in later versions).
Fender Jazz Bass, 1960 to 1962 stack-knob: slimmer neck, two pickups, growl. Jaco Pastorius's fretless was a 1962.
Fender Bass VI (1961): six strings an octave below a guitar. Jack Bruce on most of Fresh Cream.
Gibson EB-3 (1961): SG-shaped short-scale bass. Jack Bruce's Cream sound from 1967.
Rickenbacker 4001 (1961): bright, punchy, played by Paul McCartney, Chris Squire and Lemmy.
Höfner 500/1 violin bass: light hollow body, the "Beatle bass".
Ampeg AUB-1 (1966): the first production fretless bass, around 1,100 to 1,200 made. Rick Danko of The Band.
Danelectro six-string bass (1956): the "tic-tac" bass of Nashville sessions.
Vox Wyman teardrop bass (1965): Bill Wyman's Rolling Stones bass from 1966 to 1968.
Guild Starfire bass: semi-hollow, played by Jack Casady of Jefferson Airplane.
The 10 rare bass guitars, one by one
1. Fender Precision Bass (early 1950s)
Leo Fender's Precision Bass came out in 1951 and changed everything: a solid-body bass with frets, played like a guitar, loud enough to compete with drums. The first versions had a slab body and a single-coil pickup, and they look more like a Telecaster than the later P-Bass. Early slab-body Precisions are now serious collector items.
James Jamerson, the bassist on most of Motown's hits, played later Precisions: a 1957 he called "Black Beauty" and the bass known as the "Funk Machine", usually described as a 1962 (some photos suggest a slightly later one). The Funk Machine was stolen shortly before his death in 1983. The sound: round, thick and punchy, especially with old flatwound strings and the palm resting on the bridge.
2. Fender Jazz Bass (1960 to 1962 stack-knob)
The Jazz Bass followed in 1960 with an offset body, a slimmer neck and two pickups. The earliest models had stacked volume and tone knobs, and those stack-knob Jazz basses are among the most sought-after vintage basses. Jaco Pastorius played a 1962 Jazz with the frets pulled out and the fingerboard coated in epoxy.
The sound: more midrange growl and more bridge-pickup bite than a Precision, which is why it cuts through dense guitars. Check for refinishes and replaced pickups, which change the value a lot.
3. Fender Bass VI (1961)
The Bass VI is a six-string bass tuned an octave below a guitar, with a short 30-inch scale. Jack Bruce played one in the Graham Bond Organisation and recorded most of Cream's Fresh Cream with it. The Beatles used one in 1968 and 1969 when Paul McCartney moved to piano, and it has become a favourite of post-punk and goth bands since.
The sound: twangy, clanky and articulate, between bass and baritone guitar. Great for melodic lines that need to be heard, weak for a heavy bottom end.
4. Gibson EB-3 (1961)
Gibson's EB-3 has an SG-style body, a short 30.5-inch scale and two pickups, including a big humbucker near the neck. Jack Bruce switched from the Bass VI to an EB-3 during Cream, and it is the sound of Disraeli Gears and the live Cream records: woolly, distorted and played like a lead instrument. Vintage Guitar's EB-3 history covers the model's changes.
What to check: the neck joint and headstock (SG-style necks can be fragile) and whether the original pickups and varitone switch are still there.
5. Rickenbacker 4001 (1961)
The Rickenbacker 4001 has a neck-through-body design, a distinctive cresting-wave body and, on many models, stereo "Rick-O-Sound" output. Paul McCartney played one from 1965 onwards, and Chris Squire of Yes and Lemmy of Motörhead turned its bright, aggressive tone into a signature.
The sound: a lot of top end and clank, especially with roundwound strings and a pick. Early 1960s examples are rare. Check the truss rods and neck angle, which were known weak points.
6. Höfner 500/1 violin bass
The Höfner violin bass is a light, hollow German bass shaped like a violin. Paul McCartney bought one in Hamburg in 1961 because it was cheap and symmetrical, which suited a left-handed player, and it became the "Beatle bass". Early 1960s German-made examples are the collectible ones.
The sound: warm, woody and short on sustain, with a thump rather than a boom. Play it with a pick and flatwounds for the early Beatles sound.
7. Ampeg AUB-1 (1966)
The AUB-1 was the first production fretless electric bass, with f-holes that go all the way through the body and a pickup under the bridge. Production ran from late 1966 into the late 1960s, and only around 1,100 to 1,200 of these Ampeg horizontal basses were made. Rick Danko of The Band played one, sliding into notes the way a slide guitarist would.
The sound: a vocal, upright-like tone with a lot of midrange. Almost every surviving example has been worked on, so ask about the neck, the pickup and the bridge.
8. Danelectro six-string bass (1956)
Danelectro introduced the UB-2 six-string bass in 1956 for around $135. It never sold much to the public, but Nashville and Los Angeles session players adopted it for "tic-tac" bass: a palm-muted, picked line that doubled the upright bass and gave records a clicky, defined low end. The later Longhorn models (from 1958) kept the idea alive with a longer neck and a distinctive double-horned body. Reverb's history of the UB-2 tells the story.
The sound: thin and bright on its own, magic when layered with a round bass underneath.
9. Vox Wyman teardrop bass (1965)
Vox launched its teardrop-shaped "Wyman Bass" in 1965, named after the Rolling Stones' bassist. Bill Wyman used a Vox teardrop bass on Stones tours and recordings from 1966 to 1968. British-made examples are the ones collectors want.
The sound: light and bright, closer to a Höfner than a Fender. Worth knowing: Wyman's main bass through most of the Stones' classic period was one he converted himself into a fretless.
10. Guild Starfire bass
Guild's Starfire basses are semi-hollow, short-scale instruments from the 1960s. Jack Casady of Jefferson Airplane played one, later modified with Alembic electronics, and the Starfire is part of the sound of San Francisco psychedelic rock.
The sound: deep, resonant and a bit wild, with a lot of low-mid bloom. Semi-hollow basses feed back at volume, so they suit players who control their amp.
How vintage basses sound on a record
The difference between these basses is real but smaller than people think. Strings, amp, pick versus fingers, and where the bassist rests their hand change the sound more than the model. A Precision with flatwounds through a small valve amp sounds nothing like the same bass with new roundwounds through a DI.
Our opinion, which collectors might not like: the bass that makes you play differently is the one worth buying. A short-scale bass makes you play more like a guitarist, a fretless makes you listen harder, a Bass VI makes you write melodies. That change in playing ends up on the record. The serial number does not. We write more about the low end in the rhythm section war.
How to record a vintage bass
DI and amp together: take a DI before the amp and mic the cab. Check the phase between them. Why that matters.
Use a big dynamic on the cab: an AKG D20 or a Sennheiser MD 421 on the speaker. See the AKG D20 for recording and vintage Sennheiser microphones.
Record with the band: bass played against a real kick drum sits better than bass overdubbed to a click.
Leave the old strings on if they sound good. Dead flatwounds are half of the vintage sound.
Buying a rare vintage bass: what to check
Originality: refinishes, replaced pickups, pots and bridges all lower the value, sometimes by half.
Neck: straight, with a working truss rod and no crack at the headstock.
Frets: worn frets are normal, but a refret is a real cost.
Electronics: crackly pots are fine, dead pickups are not.
Price: varies a lot by year and condition. Check recent sold listings, not asking prices.
For hunting at the cheaper end, read vintage bass guitars at thrift stores.
What an earlier version of this list got wrong
The first version said Jamerson played a 1951 Precision (he played later models), and that Jack Bruce played a Gibson EB-2 in Cream (it was a Bass VI and then an EB-3). It also included entries we could not verify, like an Epiphone Rivoli credited to unnamed soul players and a Zemaitis bass, and described the Danelectro Longhorn as a surf bass. We replaced those with basses whose history is documented.
Rare bass guitar FAQ
What is the rarest vintage bass guitar?
Among production basses, early 1950s slab-body Fender Precisions and the Ampeg AUB-1, of which only around 1,100 to 1,200 were made, are some of the hardest to find. Instruments owned by famous players, like James Jamerson's stolen Funk Machine, are rarer still.
What bass did James Jamerson use?
Jamerson played Fender Precision Basses, first a 1957 he called Black Beauty and then the "Funk Machine", usually described as a 1962. The Funk Machine was stolen shortly before his death in 1983.
What was the first fretless bass guitar?
The Ampeg AUB-1, introduced in 1966, was the first production fretless electric bass. Bill Wyman had already made his own fretless by removing the frets from a homemade bass years earlier.
What bass did Jack Bruce play in Cream?
Jack Bruce recorded most of Fresh Cream on a Fender Bass VI and then switched to the Gibson EB-3, which is the sound of Disraeli Gears and Cream's live records.
Is a vintage bass worth the money?
For collectors, sometimes. For recording, rarely on sound alone. Buy an old bass if it makes you play differently, and check originality and the neck before paying vintage prices.
Keep reading
Recorded a band where the bass actually moves, and want a mix where you can hear it? We mix indie rock, post-punk and shoegaze for artists everywhere. Send us the rough mix.
