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Early 90s bass ID, please
- Thread starter Ricky Rioli
- Start date
No idea what the bass is. But that song was a semi-hit here in the U.S. mainly due to the video's rotation on MTV. I still have the album on CD.
No idea but this video has a better view of it. I google imaged it and came up with a bunch of nothing.
Yeah, I feel like I remember seeing these basses, and thinking "why?"
There were a few "Space Bass" oddities around then, and I feel I have a vague memory of that guy using some Frankensteined DIY hackjob (like a Squier Jazz, that had the body chopped up, and bits of metal & plastic stuck on it - maybe it was just fuzzy video of this bass, or maybe I'm remembering an entirely different band).
But I do feel like I remember seeing adverts for that specific model, and wondering who it was aimed at, and then it actually making sense with Utah Saints, but I don't think anyone else could have got away with it.
For some reason, I've got "X-Bass" stuck in my head, and I feel like I remember several instruments with plasticy looking bodies, with a somewhat raised X shape forming the centre of the shape of the instrument, but with the actual outline only vaguely adhering to it.
If I could dig out all my old magazines from that era, I might find something.
I actually saw Utah Saints live in 1992, expecting it to be unintentionally laughable - I was absolutely shocked that they totally kicked ass as a live band (really was not expecting that they would have been sampling Slayer, and absolutely ripping it up).
I don't remember that guy playing a bass (maybe he did), he was mainly triggering samples on a Keytar.
Yeah, some of it was a bit cheesy, and campy, but it was one of the few times I've been truly floored by a live band.
If it helps at all, I can easily identify that he's wearing "Cure For Sanity" tour Pop Will Eat Itself shorts.
www.kexp.org (best radio station in the world) played them this week and - John (in the morning) - commented how Utah Saints did not have a song where they didn't shout their own name. I'm not sure if this is true, but I think it's a pretty awesome theory.
Thank you for doing a better quality screen grab than I was able to do on my phone.
I would love to see a regular photo of the body, its such a good shape. I like that the spiky design absorbs the long upper horn that brings the furthest frets within easy reach.
Seems like a totally custom build. All of the "hacked up Jazz" guessing falls flat with the tilt headstock.
The body looks like it's fiberglass or carbon construction... though entirely possible that it's not. Just saying that the era could have produced something like that pretty easily (Bogart, Schack, Status, etc all being pretty innovative at that time).
But as odd as this one seems, I'm guessing a one-off, prototype, or completely custom build from a lesser known maker.
If we could get a clear shot of the bridge, looks like there may be some writing on it. Almost looks like a headless tuner unit, sans tuners.
The body looks like it's fiberglass or carbon construction... though entirely possible that it's not. Just saying that the era could have produced something like that pretty easily (Bogart, Schack, Status, etc all being pretty innovative at that time).
But as odd as this one seems, I'm guessing a one-off, prototype, or completely custom build from a lesser known maker.
If we could get a clear shot of the bridge, looks like there may be some writing on it. Almost looks like a headless tuner unit, sans tuners.
Utah Saints still exist and have a website with a contact form, so I've tried asking them.
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Those photos show it much more clearly. Still don't know what it is... but now I want one! 
Actually, "Something Good" is the only song on their debut album where their name is shouted. "What Can You Do For Me" is another solid track from the album, BTW.
That looks like a variant of the Sirius "Alienslam" - made in Poland, AFAIK. Different pickups.
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Thank you so mucb — a bit of googling led me to this photo from a 2020 ebay listing here in the UK
Internet chat / Reverb ads also mentions it being German made — that late-80s aesthetic does seem more German than Polish. (It was hard to do searches for this because there's a modern Polish builder that makes a bass model called the Sirius.)
A Reverb ad said two were made with the single pickup and one with two pickups that Utah Saints owned, and that these were the blanks for the 4th and 5th basses left unmade
Bit disappointing to learn it's simply wood and not some modern material
