John Entwistle!

[moogboy]

Have you seen the alembic dragon bass?[Invalid or Expired Link Removed][Invalid or Expired Link Removed]


The write up from Bass Central

"Deluxe Dragon Wing 4 Birds Eye maple Top and back, Walnut core, 20th Anniversary Electronics, Dummy Humcanceller pick up, 3 Purple Heart Neck Hearts Neck Laminates, Head stock Veneer in Vermillion, Light Amber Finish, Aft Strap Pin in Center Behind Bridge, Side LED's, Master Volume Teardrop Knob Lower front horn With Plates, Hat Knobs As On Spyder Basses Abalone Inlay, Red Side LED's, Dragon Claw Headstock, Custom Case. This Is Fashioned After The Bass That John Entwistle Had Custom Ordered From Alembic Before His Tragic Death. Retail $10,750. Call Or Email For Price.
*Sold to well-know Alembic Owner/Lover, Oliver Baumann of Germany! "

must.....reist.....ordering......one......because........its.....TOO FREAKING COOL!!!!!

 

[moogboy]

i have a feeing you can cut 2000 dollar of it if you remove the leds it is a very nice bass, but for that price you are closing in on what the Status Buzzard 1's go for used.

moogboy: The Stryker is a very expensive bass, is twice the price of my custom. they better be making theses basses for hand by wilfer himself. (same goes for the J.E buzzard)

I taught you the armrest (and i again learned from John) ah, anything that man cant teach you?

yeah LEDs are pretty expensive. how much did you pay for your custom?
i know you taught me the armrest thing, and now i am going to start telling people that.

 

[moogboy]

During a six month period in (I think 1964) we played as a warm-up band with the High Numbers, later called the Who every two or three weeks. Originally I'd known John Entwhistle's mum, Queenie Watts, as she was my mentor when I'd worked in the same office as her in Acton (West London). It was through John I'd got the gig as a guitarist in a band that later on backed them at quite a few venues. John was always such a nice guy, quiet and considerate; he was the only one in the Who with a regular girlfriend, Alison.

The big changes to John's sound in these early days of The Who (a change in name we all thought was pretty naff BTW) was a move from the Epi Rivioli Bass with it's one HB PU to a Rickenbacker. And also the change from ordinary tape wounds to round wounds from Rotosound. The Rotosounds and the Rickenbacker was a huge contributor to the live sound of The Who at that time. (Experiments with guitar amps came to nothing - the basic rig was always 2 x 4 x12's Marshall closed back cabs and 45 watt amps). The early recordings however had a Precision on them because the recording engineers didn't want to take a Rickenbacker onto the master. So that was John's first outing with the Precision - which he quite liked - but it wasn't the right look for the band. We were round John's house once when he had the demo of what was later called "I can't Explain". On this first version it was "I Think it's Spring" (not very Rock and Roll in retrospect - good change.) Another bit of trivia - if you listen to the High Numbers recording "I'm the Face" (I think it's this one anyway) you'll hear Daltry start the harmonica solo with it upside down - an easy mistake to make(!). John was always the sensible one - Pete Townshend however introduced us to the game of "See how far along the road you can drive with your eyes closed" Our driver was doing quite well till Pete wrenched the wheel round.

I was so shocked to hear about John passing away in the USA - being so calm, nice, considerate and focused, I always expected him to reach 100.

Cool story! it is always nice to hear from people who were there and hung out with the Who and its members. John at 100, now THAT would be pretty cool. and i think that if he got to be that old, he would probably become an exibit at the Hard Rock after he died. i think that was what he wanted. i know that John really liked the Rickenbacker and would have kept playing it, but the neck warped on his and he began using other basses. Pete is quite mean sometimes, eh?

 

[moogboy]

Wow, great stories. thanks!

wasnt it? i just read it and i loved the whole thing.

 

[moogboy]

wow, very cool. I could only imagine what those times must have been like.

Did you have the sense (then) of the enormity of what The Who would become or JE's influence (on the development of electric bass role in popular music and on bassists)?

i dont know anyone who could have known about how big The Who was, but even at that point, John was so far ahead of all bassists that it was super obvious.

 

[Thunder_Fingers]

yeah LEDs are pretty expensive. how much did you pay for your custom?
i know you taught me the armrest thing, and now i am going to start telling people that.

Around 2700 dollar, due to the currency exchange rate norway/USA, it realy will equal about 1700 dollar in value (i paid the same as i would have paid for a Stingray in norway.)

i have some minor complaints about it, but im pretty sure it can be fixed when it gets used to be a bass.

 

[moogboy]

Around 2700 dollar, due to the currency exchange rate norway/USA, it realy will equal about 1700 dollar in value (i paid the same as i would have paid for a Stingray in norway.)

i have some minor complaints about it, but im pretty sure it can be fixed when it gets used to be a bass.

geeze, the closest to that i ever spent was $3000 for a Moog Minimoog Voyager. i spent even more on my modular synth and my Rickenbacker was $2500. all instruments need to learn that they are not trees anymore, and the ones that arent basses or Moog products need to learn that they should have been basses or Moog products.

 

[Thunder_Fingers]

You are 12! where do you get the money?!

im wanting a rick sometime in the future, but i think ill stick to the "Cheaper" 4003 model

Did i mention i love shopping from the us with the current exchange rate?

 

[moogboy]

You are 12! where do you get the money?!

im wanting a rick sometime in the future, but i think ill stick to the "Cheaper" 4003 model

Did i mention i love shopping from the us with the current exchange rate?

my family pays for it all. but lets leave age and how we pay for our gear out of the picture. i have the 4001C64S Rickenbacker. i love it. no bass can give you more tones than this bass. what is the current exchange rate?

 

[Thunder_Fingers]

1 dollar = 7 nkr or something, i paid 17000 nkr for the bass, wich equals about 2700 dollar.

 

[moogboy]

1 dollar = 7 nkr or something, i paid 17000 nkr for the bass, wich equals about 2700 dollar.

cool. i always worry about price. if my math is right, you only paid 1700 american dollars for the bass. but, that doesnt mean anything because there have been times when my math is so far off its not even funny.

 

[Tactician]

"Driver"

– in answer to you question about - 'Did it look like these guys would be huge in 1964?' Well not really. Our outlook at that time was that we all had perhaps 4 years at most to make it big, perhaps keep some money, and then we’d go back to office/factory life. After all that was what had happened to all the other people we knew who’d been there a few years earlier. So nobody expected their music gig to last for long – as rock had only been around a few years there was no one to look at as a role model and see this thing could go on for life. Our local little shop for all things musical was Jim Marshall, and Jim would be there every day running this growing business. Just by chance he’d produced this amp which we saw the Who turn up with which looked truly huge compared to what else was available. It was a 45 watt (!!) amp, whereas the biggest amp around were usually 30, and sat on a 4x12’s cab, whereas most cabs were combos with 2x12s. We all had to go an order one as well – I must have had about number 10 of the production run that was done out of a local garage somewhere in the Hanwell area of W London. Later of course everyone started to move to 2x4x12’s – which in a small club such as the Wealdstone Pub (about big enough for 200) was fairly loud (English understatement!) All the guys started buying these and of course you all met each other in the Hanwell shop of Jim Marshall. Ronnie Wood who much later joined a local band that still make records I understand and Mitch Mitchell who later joined Hendrix for an few years and loads of other guys all circulated around this little shop. No one expected to get big – but just hoped they’d get the breaks. No one would have expected to get dead like poor Keith Moon or John Entwhistle. Both of these guys were truly unique in how they played compared to every other bassist or drummer. And the way all the elements of the Who came together were like no one else. I didn’t hear another band that came close until one day I happened to go into the Marquee club in Wardour Street in late 1968 and with 150 other people got to hear a band that had just returned from a week in Sweden where they were developing a set list. They were introduced that night as the New Yardbirds. There weren’t the old Yardbirds as I’d seen them a couple of times in Richmond Rugby club - I hadn’t seen any of these guys before, but guessed who the guitarist was once he started using a bow on the guitar. These guys were very good and a year later I heard one of the numbers they played; I bought the album and on it was the complete set list from that night. Zeppelin Album 1.

Listen to CSI and you can hear the Who at there compositional and performance best – this stuff is just timeless.

 

[moogboy]

"Driver"

– in answer to you question about - 'Did it look like these guys would be huge in 1964?' Well not really. Our outlook at that time was that we all had perhaps 4 years at most to make it big, perhaps keep some money, and then we’d go back to office/factory life. After all that was what had happened to all the other people we knew who’d been there a few years earlier. So nobody expected their music gig to last for long – as rock had only been around a few years there was no one to look at as a role model and see this thing could go on for life. Our local little shop for all things musical was Jim Marshall, and Jim would be there every day running this growing business. Just by chance he’d produced this amp which we saw the Who turn up with which looked truly huge compared to what else was available. It was a 45 watt (!!) amp, whereas the biggest amp around were usually 30, and sat on a 4x12’s cab, whereas most cabs were combos with 2x12s. We all had to go an order one as well – I must have had about number 10 of the production run that was done out of a local garage somewhere in the Hanwell area of W London. Later of course everyone started to move to 2x4x12’s – which in a small club such as the Wealdstone Pub (about big enough for 200) was fairly loud (English understatement!) All the guys started buying these and of course you all met each other in the Hanwell shop of Jim Marshall. Ronnie Wood who much later joined a local band that still make records I understand and Mitch Mitchell who later joined Hendrix for an few years and loads of other guys all circulated around this little shop. No one expected to get big – but just hoped they’d get the breaks. No one would have expected to get dead like poor Keith Moon or John Entwhistle. Both of these guys were truly unique in how they played compared to every other bassist or drummer. And the way all the elements of the Who came together were like no one else. I didn’t hear another band that came close until one day I happened to go into the Marquee club in Wardour Street in late 1968 and with 150 other people got to hear a band that had just returned from a week in Sweden where they were developing a set list. They were introduced that night as the New Yardbirds. There weren’t the old Yardbirds as I’d seen them a couple of times in Richmond Rugby club - I hadn’t seen any of these guys before, but guessed who the guitarist was once he started using a bow on the guitar. These guys were very good and a year later I heard one of the numbers they played; I bought the album and on it was the complete set list from that night. Zeppelin Album 1.

Listen to CSI and you can hear the Who at there compositional and performance best – this stuff is just timeless.

wow. that is almost exactly ehat i imagined the sixties as being like. the Marshall part was really cool. i dig all things that are related to the Who. Led Zeppelin had to be awesome. i love Zep almost as much as the Who.

 

[driver800]

"Driver"

– in answer to you question about - 'Did it look like these guys would be huge in 1964?' Well not really. Our outlook at that time was that we all had perhaps 4 years at most to make it big, perhaps keep some money, and then we’d go back to office/factory life. After all that was what had happened to all the other people we knew who’d been there a few years earlier. So nobody expected their music gig to last for long – as rock had only been around a few years there was no one to look at as a role model and see this thing could go on for life. Our local little shop for all things musical was Jim Marshall, and Jim would be there every day running this growing business. Just by chance he’d produced this amp which we saw the Who turn up with which looked truly huge compared to what else was available. It was a 45 watt (!!) amp, whereas the biggest amp around were usually 30, and sat on a 4x12’s cab, whereas most cabs were combos with 2x12s. We all had to go an order one as well – I must have had about number 10 of the production run that was done out of a local garage somewhere in the Hanwell area of W London. Later of course everyone started to move to 2x4x12’s – which in a small club such as the Wealdstone Pub (about big enough for 200) was fairly loud (English understatement!) All the guys started buying these and of course you all met each other in the Hanwell shop of Jim Marshall. Ronnie Wood who much later joined a local band that still make records I understand and Mitch Mitchell who later joined Hendrix for an few years and loads of other guys all circulated around this little shop. No one expected to get big – but just hoped they’d get the breaks. No one would have expected to get dead like poor Keith Moon or John Entwhistle. Both of these guys were truly unique in how they played compared to every other bassist or drummer. And the way all the elements of the Who came together were like no one else. I didn’t hear another band that came close until one day I happened to go into the Marquee club in Wardour Street in late 1968 and with 150 other people got to hear a band that had just returned from a week in Sweden where they were developing a set list. They were introduced that night as the New Yardbirds. There weren’t the old Yardbirds as I’d seen them a couple of times in Richmond Rugby club - I hadn’t seen any of these guys before, but guessed who the guitarist was once he started using a bow on the guitar. These guys were very good and a year later I heard one of the numbers they played; I bought the album and on it was the complete set list from that night. Zeppelin Album 1.

Listen to CSI and you can hear the Who at there compositional and performance best – this stuff is just timeless.

wow. so very cool. The richness in our lives is not always measured in money.

Thanks for sharing your experiences and I'd encourage you to share more if you'd like.

Regarding CSI... just a few weeks ago, my wife and I were watching TV and CSI came on. I commented to my wife how timeless some of those Who songs are. "Who Are You" and "Won't Get Fooled Again", in particular, are recordings that perfectly capture a style of music that should always be heard.

I was fortunate enough to see them 5 or 6 times (unfortunately, never w/ Moon). I was again fortunate to be able to take my kids to see them recently. Admittedly it wasn't quite the same without Entwistle, but my 15 yr old daughter (who hates EVERYTHING) said as we were walking out "Why can't other bands be that good?". I didn't have an answer except to say "That was a Who concert".

 

[moogboy]

wow. so very cool. The richness in our lives is not always measured in money.

Thanks for sharing your experiences and I'd encourage you to share more if you'd like.

Regarding CSI... just a few weeks ago, my wife and I were watching TV and CSI came on. I commented to my wife how timeless some of those Who songs are. "Who Are You" and "Won't Get Fooled Again", in particular, are recordings that perfectly capture a style of music that should always be heard.

I was fortunate enough to see them 5 or 6 times (unfortunately, never w/ Moon). I was again fortunate to be able to take my kids to see them recently. Admittedly it wasn't quite the same without Entwistle, but my 15 yr old daughter (who hates EVERYTHING) said as we were walking out "Why can't other bands be that good?". I didn't have an answer except to say "That was a Who concert".

i counted 4 times that i heard the Who in TV commercials last year. i wish that i saw the Who live with John, but, we cant have everything the way we want it. its nice to see someone else who is near my age who likes the Who. most people at my school hate me because im anti-rap and hip hop. why would i listen to that crappy music when i can listen to the Who?

 

[Thunder_Fingers]

To see the who would have been magical. i am so sad that i musicaly "werent around" when John was alive, when i was looking through the "Bass Culture" book, i got a little sad that i never got to see or meet this guy after what i have read about him.

The music Culture seems like it was so much better in the 60's, i am not sure, but i think those who where around then realy enjoyed what theey did, and did it becouse they deserved it. and back then you actually had the chance to do something new that dont sound like everyone else.

 

[moogboy]

To see the who would have been magical. i am so sad that i musicaly "werent around" when John was alive, when i was looking through the "Bass Culture" book, i got a little sad that i never got to see or meet this guy after what i have read about him.

The music Culture seems like it was so much better in the 60's, i am not sure, but i think those who where around then realy enjoyed what theey did, and did it becouse they deserved it. and back then you actually had the chance to do something new that dont sound like everyone else.

wow. i cannot comment on that. i cant add to that. that was an incredible post.

 

[Tactician]

As you mention Keith, I'm sorry you didn't get the chance to see him. He was one hell of a great drummer - so much great technique under all the showman stuff. I guess over that year we played alongside them as a warm up band about 15 times around London; Forest Gate, the Goldhawk, Watford, St Albans, Acton, Greenwich Town Hall, and many times at the Railway Tavern in Wealdstone - although on the infamous night of the neck breaking Rickenbacker and subsequent fight, I wasn't there. But Pete had been banging the headstock of his Ric on the ceiling for many gigs before that night - the stage was about 18 inches high and the ceiling was about 8 ft - so you can see how easy it was to collide with the ceiling. In Watford the guys introduced us to Chinese food - the only place to get food after midnight - a meal for 8 rock and roll players fresh from a 4 hour gig - who'd be a waiter that night! Anyway, Keith was a really nice guy and in my time not the wrecker the press made him out to be - isn't it strange that the press are always there with a photographer when something happens - of course it's planned that way because it keeps the band in the news - it's the same now. Keith came round my house a couple of times and I went to his as well - we both lived at home with our parents at that time and neither had cars (so much for Rock and Roll life style - see, you get the drift of how these stories get created by jounalists). He lived in a three bedroom semi-detatched in Sudbury and I lived in a three bedroom bungalow in Greenford about three miles away. We always seemed to get on pretty well - I think our backgrounds were quite similar so that helped. So don't believe everything you read about rock stars - there's a normal person and a professional in there. Listen to the end of 'Won't Get Fooled Again' and you'll see how focused and professional Keith really was - no drugged out nutter can play like that on a recording. That's just stories that make jounalists a living and keep the band in the media.

 

[moogboy]

As you mention Keith, I'm sorry you didn't get the chance to see him. He was one hell of a great drummer - so much great technique under all the showman stuff. I guess over that year we played alongside them as a warm up band about 15 times around London; Forest Gate, the Goldhawk, Watford, St Albans, Acton, Greenwich Town Hall, and many times at the Railway Tavern in Wealdstone - although on the infamous night of the neck breaking Rickenbacker and subsequent fight, I wasn't there. But Pete had been banging the headstock of his Ric on the ceiling for many gigs before that night - the stage was about 18 inches high and the ceiling was about 8 ft - so you can see how easy it was to collide with the ceiling. In Watford the guys introduced us to Chinese food - the only place to get food after midnight - a meal for 8 rock and roll players fresh from a 4 hour gig - who'd be a waiter that night! Anyway, Keith was a really nice guy and in my time not the wrecker the press made him out to be - isn't it strange that the press are always there with a photographer when something happens - of course it's planned that way because it keeps the band in the news - it's the same now. Keith came round my house a couple of times and I went to his as well - we both lived at home with our parents at that time and neither had cars (so much for Rock and Roll life style - see, you get the drift of how these stories get created by jounalists). He lived in a three bedroom semi-detatched in Sudbury and I lived in a three bedroom bungalow in Greenford about three miles away. We always seemed to get on pretty well - I think our backgrounds were quite similar so that helped. So don't believe everything you read about rock stars - there's a normal person and a professional in there. Listen to the end of 'Won't Get Fooled Again' and you'll see how focused and professional Keith really was - no drugged out nutter can play like that on a recording. That's just stories that make jounalists a living and keep the band in the media.

Keith is one of my bass influences and his style is the only way i play drums. i love the way Keith played on all of the Who's recordings. my favorites are on my website Link Removed but anyway, Keith was the best. he still is.

 

[Thunder_Fingers]

wow. i cannot comment on that. i cant add to that. that was an incredible post.

It is possible i have gotten the whole thing wrong, but after what i have read about early the who, and what tactician here is saying, it might seem as there was a much bigger musical community back then..

it feels kinda weird that many of my idols are dead many years before i even considered a music career (John Entwistle, Phil Lynott and Keith Moon) I dont have the time, but i realy want to learn to play drums like he do.. i heard something about him never using the symbals?