Bill Wyman's 1978 bass?
 

in 1978 what kind of bass is Bill Wyman playing?
It is on the 1978 some girls tour....it can be seen on the DVD

I have not seen the video, but it could be a Travis Bean.

I do remember him w/ a Travis Bean in the 70's, but it could have been the 'lude's.

Did BW ever play/record with a full-size bass?

No.

Moonshine :bassist:

Aren't the Steinbergers he uses since the early 80s basses in full scale?

Greetz

May also have been a Framus or Hofner...

Nope, Steinberger actually made completely custom molds to make 30" scale necks for Bill.

It is a Dan Armstrong London bass, short scale. Dan Armstrong moved to England in the '70s and came out with this wooden series of guitars and basses that were modeled after his Ampeg plexiglass creations. More info and pics here:

http://www.danarmstrong.org/londonbass.html

The Travis Bean didn't appear until the Tatoo You album/tour.

The Steinbergers come in after that, in '83 and then to this day. First and L2 then to the XM's when they came to be.

Travis Bean with Koa body. The bass actually belongs to Keith Richards

THANK YOU!!!!! THAT IS THE BASS ON THE "SOME GIRLS" 1978 DVD!!!!

HERE IS A PICTURE
 

THE DAN ARMSTRONG LONDON BASS!!

Incorrect: The Tattoo You album came out in 1981, but Wyman appeared on the cover of Guitar Player Magazine in December 1978 with his white Travis Bean bass.

Cool, so it wasn't just the 'lude's then :cool:

I stand corrected. However I did remember that he was using the Bean after the '78 Tour

Damn I'm getting old! I purchased that issue new when I was sixteen.

:cool:

Most of Bill early recordings 1964-1974 were done with a de-fretted fretless short scale Japan made 1950's bass.
Bill maybe the first rock player to record fretless.