- Aug 21, 2013
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- Disclosures
- I privately own and operate a local musical instument repair shop.
A recent ad on Reverb got me wondering about the various basses John McVie has played over his 50+ year career. Back in the John Mayall and Peter Green days, I've seen pictures of Mac with both Fender P's and J's... one of which was stolen and never recovered. (I'll look for that story...)
So this is the mysterious "Penguin & Porpoise" Alembic bass that got me wondering... it's only shown in partial, along with John's penguin tattoo, on the album cover of the Fleetwood-Mac 25 year anthology "The Chain".
Alembic Series Graphite John Mcvie actual bass
No question, it's the same bass, but interestingly, nobody seems to recall much about this one, and I can't find any pictures or video of him playing it on stage. I suspect it was built from parts of a partially destroyed bass for use as a studio instrument, though that is purely conjecture on my part. In the ad description, Rick Turner muses the electronics may be a variation on Alembic's superfilter circuit. I really can't see McVie twiddling with all that stuff on stage in a live concert situation. I also believe that 23-fret Fender-shaped graphite neck was retro-fit to an Alembic body. Both of those would almost support my guess, but I may be full of bull-squeeze too. Anybody got another idea?
Other than that one, he's known to have had Alembic #73-27, a very early Series I. This is probably the one he's been pictured with most often in the 70's.
Then there's this one:
The actual bass used on "The Chain", and several other tracks from the "Rumours" album forward, is an Alembic Series I with a fretless fingerboard of stainless steel.
Another of John's basses seldom seen or mentioned is this Small Standard Series I with a graphite neck. It is reportedly one of two prototypes Alembic made in cahoots with Geoff Gould in 1976. (Stanley Clarke got the other one) Note that it has his name in pearl at the last fret. This one was for sale a couple years ago, along with the P&P bass. No idea if he still has it.
These two basses of his are mentioned in the Alembic Company History page:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Moving on, through the later 80's... he's often seen playing a Hamer bass, and the occasional Fender Precision. There's also an acoustic bass guitar I can't identify.
By the mid-90's it was a Tobias Classic, that is still seen in use up into the 2003-04 tour footage. It was in his road rack for the 2013-15 tours, but not played. I've read somewhere he also had a Tobias Growler, but never seen proof.
Later 90's, he had a couple of Rick Turner's Electroline and Renaissance basses. (also seen these still in the road rack recently)
There was a pair of Lakland P-basses in 2013, black and natural.
Two Godin 'Shifter' basses on the 2015 tour... one of them was de-tuned, presumably for key changes.
I know I'm missing a bunch... I believe the Ol' Boy might be a bigger gear-hoarder than I am!
So have fun with the thread... fill in the blanks with pictures and video, firsthand accounts welcome.
So this is the mysterious "Penguin & Porpoise" Alembic bass that got me wondering... it's only shown in partial, along with John's penguin tattoo, on the album cover of the Fleetwood-Mac 25 year anthology "The Chain".
Alembic Series Graphite John Mcvie actual bass
No question, it's the same bass, but interestingly, nobody seems to recall much about this one, and I can't find any pictures or video of him playing it on stage. I suspect it was built from parts of a partially destroyed bass for use as a studio instrument, though that is purely conjecture on my part. In the ad description, Rick Turner muses the electronics may be a variation on Alembic's superfilter circuit. I really can't see McVie twiddling with all that stuff on stage in a live concert situation. I also believe that 23-fret Fender-shaped graphite neck was retro-fit to an Alembic body. Both of those would almost support my guess, but I may be full of bull-squeeze too. Anybody got another idea?
Other than that one, he's known to have had Alembic #73-27, a very early Series I. This is probably the one he's been pictured with most often in the 70's.
Then there's this one:
The actual bass used on "The Chain", and several other tracks from the "Rumours" album forward, is an Alembic Series I with a fretless fingerboard of stainless steel.
Another of John's basses seldom seen or mentioned is this Small Standard Series I with a graphite neck. It is reportedly one of two prototypes Alembic made in cahoots with Geoff Gould in 1976. (Stanley Clarke got the other one) Note that it has his name in pearl at the last fret. This one was for sale a couple years ago, along with the P&P bass. No idea if he still has it.
These two basses of his are mentioned in the Alembic Company History page:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Moving on, through the later 80's... he's often seen playing a Hamer bass, and the occasional Fender Precision. There's also an acoustic bass guitar I can't identify.
By the mid-90's it was a Tobias Classic, that is still seen in use up into the 2003-04 tour footage. It was in his road rack for the 2013-15 tours, but not played. I've read somewhere he also had a Tobias Growler, but never seen proof.
Later 90's, he had a couple of Rick Turner's Electroline and Renaissance basses. (also seen these still in the road rack recently)
There was a pair of Lakland P-basses in 2013, black and natural.
Two Godin 'Shifter' basses on the 2015 tour... one of them was de-tuned, presumably for key changes.
I know I'm missing a bunch... I believe the Ol' Boy might be a bigger gear-hoarder than I am!
So have fun with the thread... fill in the blanks with pictures and video, firsthand accounts welcome.
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