A bass for a Who tribute?

[Ric5]

I made my own Fenderbirds ...

[Instagator]

Warmoth used to make a sweet set up.Bought mine right here on TB...Cheers.

[FrednBass]

Originally Posted by AuntieBeeb

Surely that's the neck that went on to be part of Frankenstein? He put it together from the parts of two or three smashed basses, so it's that maple neck and a pink ("salmon" body from an early '60s slab Precision. So she actually looked like this:


The full story's here: http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/gear/b...l#frankenstein

No. THAT'S really Frankenstein.
It was originally Sunburst and was refinished during the 70's.
Besides: The slab precisons were always white.

I think you didn't read the link you posted yourself:

"1965 sunburst (refinished in the mid-’70s to Fiesta Red/salmon pink) “Frankenstein” Fender Precision Bass with maple neck."

"JE: I put this together in San Francisco on a day off part way through a Who tour. It’s the remains of five smashed basses hence the name ‘Frankenstein’. In the mid 70’s it was retired from stage work so I had it refinished from sunburst into its present pink colour. I used this baby from 1967 onwards through ‘Tommy’ and all the tours up to ‘Quadrophenia’...The neck, pickups and circuitry are from a ‘dead’ slab bass, the tailpiece from a Jazz bass, the pickguard from a black P bass and the machine heads from 2 white P basses...Two hours with a Phillips screwdriver and a soldering iron and I was ranting around my hotel room screaming “It’s alive, it’s alive!”"

Here's John using Frankenstein on stage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhISpGDnJOg
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fjYa-qu3IQ

[TBird1958]

I posted a bit earlier in this thread about the Eastwood Stormbird and I'll have to apologize! I owned a Gould Stormbird, completely different bass - again my apologies, I shouldn't post before having at least two complete cups of coffee in me.

Here's a shot of an RS Guitarworks Expibird that I used to own - they only made two.
IIRC Carlo plans to issue this sometime soon, certainly worth an email.

[Dadagoboi]

There's this one:


I'm building two now




...and there's this one


I've been building it for a while

[bassgod76]

Originally Posted by Dadagoboi

There's this one:


I'm building two now




...and there's this one


I've been building it for a while

I think I just got wood! Wow!

[AuntieBeeb]

Originally Posted by FrednBass

No. THAT'S really Frankenstein.
It was originally Sunburst and was refinished during the 70's.
Besides: The slab precisons were always white.

I think you didn't read the link you posted yourself:

"1965 sunburst (refinished in the mid-’70s to Fiesta Red/salmon pink) “Frankenstein” Fender Precision Bass with maple neck."

"JE: I put this together in San Francisco on a day off part way through a Who tour. It’s the remains of five smashed basses hence the name ‘Frankenstein’. In the mid 70’s it was retired from stage work so I had it refinished from sunburst into its present pink colour. I used this baby from 1967 onwards through ‘Tommy’ and all the tours up to ‘Quadrophenia’...The neck, pickups and circuitry are from a ‘dead’ slab bass, the tailpiece from a Jazz bass, the pickguard from a black P bass and the machine heads from 2 white P basses...Two hours with a Phillips screwdriver and a soldering iron and I was ranting around my hotel room screaming “It’s alive, it’s alive!”"

Here's John using Frankenstein on stage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhISpGDnJOg
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fjYa-qu3IQ

Ah! Right you are - it's actually while since I read that link, clearly I'd forgotten a lot of the finer details!

PS: Great videos by the way - I've never seen the London Coliseum footage before, Frankenstein does sound glorious!

[Meddle]

Originally Posted by TBird1958

I posted a bit earlier in this thread about the Eastwood Stormbird and I'll have to apologize! I owned a Gould Stormbird, completely different bass - again my apologies, I shouldn't post before having at least two complete cups of coffee in me.

my girlfriend talked me out of buying a 2nd hand one from a pawnbrokers here. The neck pickup was AWOL, but the pickguard was replaced with a solid black one that blocked the route for the pickup....

A week later it was in another pawnbrokers over the other side of the city.

Did I dodge a bullet? What was wrong with yours?

[D.M.N.]

Personally, I'd look at the Fender Classic 50s Precision, probably in Fiesta Red, that will get you pretty close to Frankenstein. As much as people say T-Bird get his sound, for me, his best stuff was always with the Precision basses, late 60s-early 70s. Actually, my favorite Who performance is probably them at the Fillmore East, 1967, where both Pete and John are running through valve Sunn rigs. Very similar to the Live at Leeds tone, but at least on the recording it comes through a lot crisper and more defined in the upper mids and treble. The closest I get to his tone is running a precision bass (in my case, a 62 AVRI) wide open (vol & tone all up) setup with Rotosound Nickel Swing 66s, into my Sunn 2000s. And with a seriously heavy attack, and often a pick. It's a really raunchy tone.

[Zooberwerx]

Anything with a reverse body should do the trick. Add a leather jacket, shirt with wide-spread collar, and glue your uncle's toupee (thank you "Goonies"!) on your mug for the final touches.

Riis

[Down_Low]

[Meddle]

Originally Posted by D.M.N.

Actually, my favorite Who performance is probably them at the Fillmore East, 1967, where both Pete and John are running through valve Sunn rigs.

You sure it is 1967? I thought they used Vox amps back then, such as at Monterey.


Now if only Sansamp made a Sunn modelling pedal.

[Steve Dallman]

The Dean Spider seems perfect. Scroll down the link to the natural version. Low impedance EMG's, three band eq, Aphex Aural Exciter with Big Bottom...who could ask for more?

http://www.deanguitars.com/entwistle.php

In the early 80's, I built a headless Explorer bass. I still have it. It has had a few different necks on it. Headless or with a Fender neck, it was (and still is) unusually comfortable. It hangs great, balances great, and my arm rests comfortably on the top edge. I built a similar (but with a headstock) Thunderbird thinking the body shape was similar enough to afford similar comfort. It didn't and always felt awkward.

[bassgod76]

Originally Posted by Steve Dallman

The Dean Spider seems perfect. Scroll down the link to the natural version. Low impedance EMG's, three band eq, Aphex Aural Exciter with Big Bottom...who could ask for more?

http://www.deanguitars.com/entwistle.php

It's perfect if you can spend $6k for it. I think I'd rather search for an Alembic for that amount.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dean-USA-Joh...item589ab125f6

[electracoyote]

Originally Posted by thisSNsucks

P-bass with a Maple board or Thunderbird are good choices, but if I were going to form a Who tribute I'd opt for one of these:

http://cataldobasses.com/

Wow. Nice.

[Vince Klortho]

This page is very interesting. Personally, I always associate John with the Alembic as in the first post of this thread but with the budget given I would probably try to go for one of the Deans mentioned above although a Fenderbird clonse is also a really good choice.

Here's another shot of that bass .

[A-Step-Towards]

Get a Fender 50's classic P bass in Fiesta red and put a white gaurd on it and you will be close enough looking to that fraken P he built.

[Floyd Eye]

Vintage original Dano Longhorn. lol

[Basstreble]

A classic 62' Fender P Bass would do just fine with the treble rolled all of the way up.

[blindrabbit]

Thunderbird, Explorer, or IMO the best of all would be a Buzzard (although it certainly would exceed the budget).