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Flea's Shell Pink Jazz Bass

#43
irishpride28 said:
Wouldnt be too sure... :rollno:
http://www.airsoftgi.com/product_info.php?cPath=139_24_134&products_id=2113
Distasteful. How does being rich give him the excuse to destroy stuff? And its not like "he paid for it he can do whatever he wants" because he certainly got that bass for free.
Click to expand...

Are you talking about the Modulus smash he did? It's a rock star move. Google "London Calling" sometime. The fact that he did it with one of his actual basses instead of bringing out a Squire to smash like Kiss or Motley Crue do shows that it was a pure heat of the moment reaction and not some choreographed stage show.

And to be fair, those Modulus basses aren't free. While he may not have payed for them out of his pocket (I honestly don't know if he did or not), he did endorse their product and allowed them to use his name in it's advertisements. They sold a larger quantity of product to a larger market because of Flea.
 
#44
I agree with what people say that it's his instrument and his to do what he likes with.

Maybe we could look at it like this, hang onto your Fender's today, and in 48 years, you can put stickers on your '08 basses! Well, maybe that logic isn't 100%, but hey, maybe you guys get my idea.

And I thought it was Olympic White for so long, it blows me away that the bass is pink! :eek:
 
#48
The 60-63 Jazz spring mutes looked like this....

DSC00430.jpg
 
#50
What gives him the right to deface his bass??? It's his!!! Last I remember, owning a bass gives you the right to deface it, whether you're rich or not.

Besides, what's worth more...a 61 Jazz Bass in shell pink, or a 61 Jazz Bass in shell pink that belongs to Flea and has the stickers to prove it? Sheesh, get over it already! It's just a bass. Boy oh boy, this place...first you all complain about the price...then you complain about the stickers. And none of you have any right to complain about either. Don't like it? Don't buy it if it comes up for sale.
 
#51
Screw it. I think its kind of dumb too, but are you telling me that you would reject this bass over a sticker? So he makes some boneheaded rockstar manuever. Nothing new. All those guitars that have been smashed and screwed up over the years are worth more now than they would have been unblemished. What do you think a Jimi Hendrix scorched strat would be worth to some uber rich collector?
 
#53
Never before this morning have I read ANYWHERE that this was a shell pink bass that faded. Even the BP article states that it's Oly White. And I challenge anyone to find a pic of said bass with a hint of pink on it anywhere.

So if it's rare, but not-so-rare-now-that-it's-white-instead-of-pink, do we only hang him from the SECOND highest yardarm for putting stickers on it?

Basses are only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. There's no DESTRUCTION of an instrument by putting a sticker on it. A reduction of its resale value, maybe, but it's not as if he went Pete Townshend on it and turned it into kindling after the show. So I'm with lousybassplayer here. And he's right - now that that bass is Flea's, don't you think someone would pay MORE than 35k for it, given the chance? Destruction indeed...
 
#55
fretlessman71 said:
Never before this morning have I read ANYWHERE that this was a shell pink bass that faded. Even the BP article states that it's Oly White. And I challenge anyone to find a pic of said bass with a hint of pink on it anywhere.

So if it's rare, but not-so-rare-now-that-it's-white-instead-of-pink, do we only hang him from the SECOND highest yardarm for putting stickers on it?

Basses are only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. There's no DESTRUCTION of an instrument by putting a sticker on it. A reduction of its resale value, maybe, but it's not as if he went Pete Townshend on it and turned it into kindling after the show. So I'm with lousybassplayer here. And he's right - now that that bass is Flea's, don't you think someone would pay MORE than 35k for it, given the chance? Destruction indeed...
Click to expand...

http://www.bassplayer.com/article/total-commitment/jun-06/20654


"First it was Ernie Ball MusicMan StingRays, then a Spector NS, then the sticker-covered Wal Mach II he played on Blood Sugar Sex Magik, and then the sparkle-finished Modulus Flea Bass. Flea’s latest love predates all those modern axes. His main bass is a ’61 Fender Jazz Bass in Shell Pink, the rarest of Fender custom finishes. It may in fact be the only Shell Pink ’61 J in existence, and as such, this instrument would command well over $35,000 on the vintage instrument market.
The bass was a gift from Zach Stevens, who, after working on the AOL Time Warner merger during the late ’90s tech boom, had the freedom to embark on special projects. One was to present this prized instrument to Flea, who had asked his fans in his online tour journal if anyone knew where he could get a pre-CBS Fender, so he could be “as cool as John Paul Jones.” Before traveling to Australia to present Flea with the bass in 2000, Stevens stopped by Bass Player’s offices, where we examined this rare instrument and photographed it. (We even wrote down the pot codes—1376025 and 1376039—which translate to CTS pots made in the 25th and 39th weeks of 1960.) Flea has since removed the bridge and pickup covers, and marked the bass as his own with a well-placed sticker."
flea_bass_zukai.jpg


It looks pink to me!
 
#57
"..As cool as John Paul Jones", huh. First of all, never happen. There is something to be said for understated classy coolness that no over the top looney tune dancing around with a tube sock over his junk will ever understand. Flea is cool in his way, but come on, JPJ? Get serious.

Second of all, I wish I could buy a bass of that value for a reason that ridiculous. God it must be awesome to be stupid rich. For the record I thought the stickered up wal was ridiculous too, but whatever, referenece the stupid rich comment.
 
#60
Whatever value was lost in the sticker placement was regained in the fact that Flea put it there. No? If Jaco had put stickers all over his bass of doom, I suspect it wouldn't have lost an ounce of value. Now if I put that sticker there, it would be another story.

: )
 

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