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Do you own a famous person's old bass?

#141
rickfan63 said:
That's a sweet looking bass Ronn! Did you ever find out what ever happened to Dee's white Fender Jazz he used so often? That was incredible sounding Jazz.
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Yes, the white Jazz, which Dee refered to as "The White Thang". When Dee was very ill he gave it to their long-time soundman whose name escapes me at this early hour.
 
#144
keb said:
No basses, but I have a couple vintage synths (Yamaha DX7II (dated January 1987) and a Moog Taurus (dated June 1976)) which I sometimes wonder who had owned them previously through the decades.
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I own an Oberheim Matrix 6R synth module that I purchased from Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa, Steve Vai). It still has some of Mike's Presets that can be heard on his early recordings...nice midi analog mojo...
 
#145
I've got Bill Laswell's old Acoustic 150 from his Material days. I traded an EA head for it from uber-engineer Martin Bisi, who was using it for a vocal p.a. for rehearsals, so I've got two famous people - at least cult famous - in one item.

I actually recorded through it at Bisi's before I acquired it, and fell in love with the sound first. Those old Acoustics have a richness and detail I've rarely heard elsewhere
 
#150
Just Thumpin' said:
Here it is. Since the video on youtube was taken, the original Hazlab electronics were replaced with the Mike Pope preamp. So, although the dials and switches are different, you can clearly see that they are in exactly the same locations as previously....

It's the second from the left...

MonarchSnapshot2.gif


Close up....

Rosewood.gif
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You put frets on it? Is that a bolt-on or a neck-through?
 
#154
Chris2112 said:
Your graphite necked Alembic belonged to someone else famous, didn't it?
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Yes, it belonged to Hugh MacMillan of Spirit of the West who has since become one of my closest friends. The bass was previously owned by a number of well known Canadian players including Bruce Dixon and Jake Jacobs.

I believe Jamie Gatti was the original owner although I haven't yet contacted him to confirm this.
 
#155
bobyoung53 said:
I saw a clip of him playing that song with a white Ric 4001, forgot where I saw it but have seen it several times.
He's got a mapleglo Ric 4001 in this clip of Imaginary Lover from You Tube. I think he played them during the late 70's early 80's when they were on top. I'm sure he owned your bass as I've seen many pictures of him with Fenders but the solo in Champagne Jam has the classic Rickenbacker sound. The second url is a picture from their website with pictures from the Champagne jam album.

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While Paul did use the Ric onstage in the mid-late '70's, the last time I spoke to him (in 2002) he told me that he used the Fender in the studio on the first seven albums, including Champagne Jam. Paul is also an excellent rock guitar player who also played bass with a pick and used a lot of treble on his SVT to get a very metallic sound, even from the P-bass. But regarding the Rickenbacker, you are correct...well before Champagne Jam was released, Paul had retired the Fender from stage duty. It still has its original frets and they are pretty worn.

Here's an onstage shot of Paul using the Fender onstage...unfortunately not a frontal view. There is a much better B&W pic of Paul and the P-Bass in a 1978 Guitar Player Magazine article on ARS. Wish I could scan it, but I don't have a scanner. :crying:

ARSRRAlternativecover.jpg
 
#156
I have a Kramer Ferrington acoustic bass that was supposedly built for Nikki Sixx. It has a headstock similar to that of a Fender, as opposed to the pointy ones that were standard on the Ferrington. He had given it to an engineer that had designed an old home studio of his, and that guy sold it to me. I see Nikki at the Starbucks in Malibu all the time, and I keep forgetting to ask him about it.

I also have a Carvin bass that I bought off of Clay Anthony, who was the bass player of the LA band JUNKYARD. He sold it to me dirt cheap for some heroin money just before he left/was kicked out of the band.
I stopped using that bass years ago, and it was just sitting in my garage in a case when I did a job with Harry Shearer. I took the bass down to the studio one day, and Harry signed it for me as Derek Smalls, from Spinal Tap. I still need to get a museum case for it to put up in my studio next to...

My Les Paul, autographed by Les Paul. (Okay, Les Paul never OWNED it, but it's still a cool story.)
On my way to a party that Les Paul was going to be at, I stopped at GC and told the sales guy that I needed a white Les Paul. He asked why it had to be white, and I said, "Because I have a black pen!"
The guitar has never been played, and is in my control room, in a museum case along with the black pen, and 2 pics of Les, the guitar, and me.
 
#158
jacofan12609 said:
You put frets on it? Is that a bolt-on or a neck-through?
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It is a set-neck (dovetail joint) which is neither a bolt-on nor a neck-through...the bass was originally built by Fodera as a fretless but had frets installed by Fodera at sometime later. I am not really sure whether or not it was done before or after Bona owned it, but was certainly done before I bought it....
 
#159
Just Thumpin' said:
It is a set-neck (dovetail joint) which is neither a bolt-on nor a neck-through...the bass was originally built by Fodera as a fretless but had frets installed by Fodera at sometime later. I am not really sure whether or not it was done before or after Bona owned it, but was certainly done before I bought it....
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Do you think it sounds as good now as it did as a fretless?
 

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