- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,589
- 221,974
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Well, I did it. I went down to Emerald City Guitars to see the '64 they have. There are little things, like black knobs instead of gold ones. I assume gold was original. No mute or covers, so far as I know, but there it is, hanging on the wall. So, I took it down and looked all over it. It doesn't appear to have been repaired, although I didn't think to look to see if it has a serial number. The neck is just a bit bigger than a modern 'Bird, or so it felt to my hands. The checked finish felt great. It was a little too intimidating to play - $10K? Um, I'm not going to drop it... The cash OR the bass. Is it worth that much money? I don't know, but it's pretty clear why those are in demand and so expensive these days. It's not just because they are old.
Oh you should have played it through a nice tube amp - I was in The Chicago Music Exchange years ago and played a '61 J that had a $20k tag on it. I saw it, pointed it out to a employee and they casually got it down off the wall, plugged me in and left me alone in the room with it. Needless to say it felt/sounded wonderful, most especially the neck. Such a different scenario than stores from the past I've played basses in where they hoover over your head while you're playing like you're going to steal the knobs off of it.. My age and the high-profile of their establishment was the key. I bet they get unassuming-looking people handing them a cc all the time saying, "yah, I'll take it" regardless of price. I played a few that visit, one being a 60's Embassy which was nice also. I thanked them and they didn't attempt to put the hard sell on me because I played it - highly recommended visit if you are in Chicago.
