SHOW YOUR DISTRESSED FINISHES!

[JIO]

I'm pretty sure this is Trever Dunns '70s P-bass The middle one of 3 is Bobby Vega's '61 "shark" stacked pot J.

 

[SJLee]

Overend Watt's T-bird.

 

[SJLee]

I found those and was just not sure as it looks like there might be traces of a burst under the tape (?) Or maybe it started as green then got stripped. Dunno. My recollection was a beat up dark metallic green with tortoise pickguard - I was close to the stage - and it looked like a then original finish - but this was a long time ago.

Got you. It had crossed my mind that you might of come across this if you had done a search, but I figured it was worth a shot to post it anyway.

 

[Dynacord]

This how I deal with my T-bird's inclination to incline -

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...and this is how I resolve all inclination to incline on my Deadlybirds - which is removable via Dunlop Strap-Lok buttons so the bass will fit in a fitted Epi HSC.
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Cool. I just use a 4" wide leather strap with suede backing and the extra strap button on the heel of the neck. Stays in place hands free.

 

[SJLee]

I'm pretty sure this is Trever Dunns '70s P-bass The middle one of 3 is Bobby Vega's '61 "shark" stacked pot J.
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That J in BMM with the paddle tuners is looking pretty sharp.

 

[Dynacord]

Got you. It had crossed my mind that you might of come across this if you had done a search, but I figured it was worth a shot to post it anyway.

Thanks! It could well be it - that bass has mileage on it for sure!

 

[Dynacord]

Overend Watt's T-bird.

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Wow. Super cool. I guess an old refin - the way the finish has flaked looks much more like poly and not nitro. Also don't see the serial number on the back of the headstock (but probably more of these have had broken and repaired headstocks than not).
EDIT: looking at it more, I wouldn't be surprised if it's had more serious neck work. The shape of the neck heel is different than on mine and the headstock itself looks reworked with the raised section being different than usual. Also the edges of the fingerboard are not finished in the color - on the colored t-birds and Firebirds I've seen, those were painted. Very cool and historic bass.

 

[SJLee]

Wow. Super cool. I guess an old refin - the way the finish has flaked looks much more like poly and not nitro. Also don't see the serial number on the back of the headstock (but probably more of these have had broken and repaired headstocks than not).
EDIT: looking at it more, I wouldn't be surprised if it's had more serious neck work. The shape of the neck heel is different than on mine and the headstock itself looks reworked with the raised section being different than usual. Also the edges of the fingerboard are not finished in the color - on the colored t-birds and Firebirds I've seen, those were painted. Very cool and historic bass.

Also, it looks like these are non-original tuners as the tip of the headstock looks to have been sanded to accommodate the shorter tuning peg.

 

[SJLee]

I would agree with you on a refin in poly. I have seen Polaris White on older Gibson's and it doesn't crack away from the body in huge chunks. For example, here's a 1965 SG in Polaris White and you can see how the paint has chipped away. Very different from Overend's bass.

 

[SJLee]

Here's another sample. Different SG, but you can see how small the chips can get.

 

[JIO]

Wow. Super cool. I guess an old refin - the way the finish has flaked looks much more like poly and not nitro. Also don't see the serial number on the back of the headstock (but probably more of these have had broken and repaired headstocks than not).
EDIT: looking at it more, I wouldn't be surprised if it's had more serious neck work. The shape of the neck heel is different than on mine and the headstock itself looks reworked with the raised section being different than usual. Also the edges of the fingerboard are not finished in the color - on the colored t-birds and Firebirds I've seen, those were painted. Very cool and historic bass.

I agree - I'll wager it was a standard brown-burst originally, had neck issues, hs was sanded/filed and a refi. I've seen it before and heard that a tb member owns it. Definitely an iconic bass for visual appreciation only at this point. I wish there were more pics of it though...

 

[SJLee]

I agree - I'll wager it was a standard brown-burst originally, had neck issues, hs was sanded/filed and a refi. I've seen it before and heard that a tb member owns it. Definitely an iconic bass for visual appreciation only at this point. I wish there were more pics of it though...

I don’t think they left any nook or cranny unphotographed, and this wasn’t all of the photos as for every shot without strings, there was one with.

 

[JIO]

I don’t think they left any nook or cranny unphotographed, and this wasn’t all of the photos as for every shot without strings, there was one with.

It leaves the door open for someone to do an exact replica of it...

 

[Longwheelbass]

Re the Midnight Oil Bass: Pete’s Bass was originally sunburst I think. The pics of Rob Hirst holding it were taken at the Midnight Oil exhibition which showed in Sydney and Melbourne a couple of years ago. For some reason someone in the band decided to do a Jackson Pollock splatter job on it for a film clip towards the end of Pete’s tenure in the band (he burned out and baled after the 10,9,8 album) - destroying any chance of salvaging the original tort guard. I was friends with Doc Nelson who crewed as backline tech when Pete was still in the band, and he said Pete sweated so much (dude was the hardest rocking bass player in Australia) that the pickups kept dying and the control bay kept shorting out, so one day before a show they decided they’d grab a tube of silicone from the nearest hardware store and seal up all around/over the pickups and around the Pickguard.
I too remember being close enough to the stage several times as a teen and being absolutely floored by the best bass sound ever. And it did look so much better in dark green with the tort guard.
The steel cable highlighted in the pics was there as security during the exhibition of all their stuff.
Midnight Oil definitely were never the same after Pete left, that’s for sure. The ferocity of the band was built by Pete, his sound and his absolute unstoppable energy onstage.

 

[JIO]

Re the Midnight Oil Bass: Pete’s Bass was originally sunburst I think. The pics of Rob Hirst holding it were taken at the Midnight Oil exhibition which showed in Sydney and Melbourne a couple of years ago. For some reason someone in the band decided to do a Jackson Pollock splatter job on it for a film clip towards the end of Pete’s tenure in the band (he burned out and baled after the 10,9,8 album) - destroying any chance of salvaging the original tort guard. I was friends with Doc Nelson who crewed as backline tech when Pete was still in the band, and he said Pete sweated so much (dude was the hardest rocking bass player in Australia) that the pickups kept dying and the control bay kept shorting out, so one day before a show they decided they’d grab a tube of silicone from the nearest hardware store and seal up all around/over the pickups and around the Pickguard.
I too remember being close enough to the stage several times as a teen and being absolutely floored by the best bass sound ever. And it did look so much better in dark green with the tort guard.
The steel cable highlighted in the pics was there as security during the exhibition of all their stuff.
Midnight Oil definitely were never the same after Pete left, that’s for sure. The ferocity of the band was built by Pete, his sound and his absolute unstoppable energy onstage.

Thanks for these insights!

 

[Dynacord]

Re the Midnight Oil Bass: Pete’s Bass was originally sunburst I think. The pics of Rob Hirst holding it were taken at the Midnight Oil exhibition which showed in Sydney and Melbourne a couple of years ago. For some reason someone in the band decided to do a Jackson Pollock splatter job on it for a film clip towards the end of Pete’s tenure in the band (he burned out and baled after the 10,9,8 album) - destroying any chance of salvaging the original tort guard. I was friends with Doc Nelson who crewed as backline tech when Pete was still in the band, and he said Pete sweated so much (dude was the hardest rocking bass player in Australia) that the pickups kept dying and the control bay kept shorting out, so one day before a show they decided they’d grab a tube of silicone from the nearest hardware store and seal up all around/over the pickups and around the Pickguard.
I too remember being close enough to the stage several times as a teen and being absolutely floored by the best bass sound ever. And it did look so much better in dark green with the tort guard.
The steel cable highlighted in the pics was there as security during the exhibition of all their stuff.
Midnight Oil definitely were never the same after Pete left, that’s for sure. The ferocity of the band was built by Pete, his sound and his absolute unstoppable energy onstage.

I love posts like this. Thanks so much for the straight dope. I did see the band a second time - maybe late 80's or early 90's with a different bass player and the show was a comparative letdown. They were good but it was not transcendental the way that first show was. I put a lot of that down to the fire and drive of Pete (a bit like how Rocco is so much a part of the character of Tower of Power). Part of that was also my own expectations as they were so high based on the previous show. When I saw them the first time there were no expectations at all - I was with a friend and it was like "well, if they're not good, we'll just cut out and go to club X instead..." Needless to say, we stayed. Really, one of the best shows I've seen. They played so full bore but I also think this show meant something to them being their first in the US and they had something to prove - it was a stadium show in a club. I also think the political dynamic added a lot to their passion - having something to really say. Similar when I also saw an earlier show where a pretty much unknown Gang of Four opened for the Buzzcocks at Masonic Auditorium on Geary in San Francisco (one of those shows where the opener usurped the headliner - and I liked the Buzzcocks but they felt like just pop compared to GoF's passion in message).
That Wolfgang's MO show was the first time I had seen/heard didgeridoo. Something which now usually makes me cringe but was very cool and fresh in that context. I particularly recall it on the song "Short Memory" and the contrast with the simple two note bass part that holds down much of the song - but with such muscular room filling tone.
So, you think that bass was sunburst then refinished green and then stripped and given the Jackson Pollock job? Did Pete give up playing altogether? Talented guy.

 

[Dynacord]

BTW tying two disparate threads together, talking about the I-Beam earlier, recalling seeing the Australian band Hunters and Collectors there. They were good though more of a pop band and pretty tame compared to Midnight Oil.

 

[SJLee]

Re the Midnight Oil Bass: Pete’s Bass was originally sunburst I think. The pics of Rob Hirst holding it were taken at the Midnight Oil exhibition which showed in Sydney and Melbourne a couple of years ago. For some reason someone in the band decided to do a Jackson Pollock splatter job on it for a film clip towards the end of Pete’s tenure in the band (he burned out and baled after the 10,9,8 album) - destroying any chance of salvaging the original tort guard. I was friends with Doc Nelson who crewed as backline tech when Pete was still in the band, and he said Pete sweated so much (dude was the hardest rocking bass player in Australia) that the pickups kept dying and the control bay kept shorting out, so one day before a show they decided they’d grab a tube of silicone from the nearest hardware store and seal up all around/over the pickups and around the Pickguard.
I too remember being close enough to the stage several times as a teen and being absolutely floored by the best bass sound ever. And it did look so much better in dark green with the tort guard.
The steel cable highlighted in the pics was there as security during the exhibition of all their stuff.
Midnight Oil definitely were never the same after Pete left, that’s for sure. The ferocity of the band was built by Pete, his sound and his absolute unstoppable energy onstage.

Great post and thanks for sharing! This is the type of thing that makes TB such a winner.

 

[Longwheelbass]

I love posts like this. Thanks so much for the straight dope. I did see the band a second time - maybe late 80's or early 90's with a different bass player and the show was a comparative letdown. They were good but it was not transcendental the way that first show was. I put a lot of that down to the fire and drive of Pete (a bit like how Rocco is so much a part of the character of Tower of Power). Part of that was also my own expectations as they were so high based on the previous show. When I saw them the first time there were no expectations at all - I was with a friend and it was like "well, if they're not good, we'll just cut out and go to club X instead..." Needless to say, we stayed. Really, one of the best shows I've seen. They played so full bore but I also think this show meant something to them being their first in the US and they had something to prove - it was a stadium show in a club. I also think the political dynamic added a lot to their passion - having something to really say. Similar when I also saw an earlier show where a pretty much unknown Gang of Four opened for the Buzzcocks at Masonic Auditorium on Geary in San Francisco (one of those shows where the opener usurped the headliner - and I liked the Buzzcocks but they felt like just pop compared to GoF's passion in message).
That Wolfgang's MO show was the first time I had seen/heard didgeridoo. Something which now usually makes me cringe but was very cool and fresh in that context. I particularly recall it on the song "Short Memory" and the contrast with the simple two note bass part that holds down much of the song - but with such muscular room filling tone.
So, you think that bass was sunburst then refinished green and then stripped and given the Jackson Pollock job? Did Pete give up playing altogether? Talented guy.

Dyna the bass I’m pretty sure was originally a burst. Maybe Pete painted it green himself I’m not sure. But you’re lucky you got to see him play. I saw the Ouls about half a dozen times and it totally cemented my desire to play the bass. The only other bass player who was as awesome was Klaus from the DK’s - saw them in 82 at a uni gig in Melbourne when I was 15. Holy crap what a night. That brutal Jazz Bass...
But Pete quit the Oils and moved back to Byron Bay and back to carpentry building houses. But a few years back (you are NOT going to believe this) he decided to move into the bikini manufacturing game and behold - Wicked Weasel was born! They’re on Instagram but don’t browse while your wife is in the room...

 

[Dynacord]

Dyna the bass I’m pretty sure was originally a burst. Maybe Pete painted it green himself I’m not sure. But you’re lucky you got to see him play. I saw the Ouls about half a dozen times and it totally cemented my desire to play the bass. The only other bass player who was as awesome was Klaus from the DK’s - saw them in 82 at a uni gig in Melbourne when I was 15. Holy crap what a night. That brutal Jazz Bass...
But Pete quit the Oils and moved back to Byron Bay and back to carpentry building houses. But a few years back (you are NOT going to believe this) he decided to move into the bikini manufacturing game and behold - Wicked Weasel was born! They’re on Instagram but don’t browse while your wife is in the room...

Will have to check out Wicked Weasel (warning noted). Not a career trajectory I would have guessed. Yes, I was lucky to have seen the band with him. Also saw Klaus many, many times (as mentioned earlier in this very long thread I was roommates with the manager of the DKs in the early 80's - the same time as that Midnight Oil show now that I think about it). And remember his '66 LPB Jazz well.