What is this?!?

[GretschWretch]

Last night on YouTube I went venturing where angels fear to tread and discovered the Spotniks, and was blown away by how fast the bassist can thumb-pluck. But the bass? I'm guessing Hagstrom, based on distant memory.

Perhaps @cdef or @Thornton Davis will chime in?

You will have to view on YouTube; the link won't migrate to TB. The song is Amapola.

 

[fretno]

first guess is a Teisco

 

[Turnaround]

He's using a pick.

 

[bholder]

the camera angle and dance moves seem designed to hide the front of the bass as much as possible hah

 

[DanDBassist]

Last night on YouTube I went venturing where angels fear to tread and discovered the Spotniks, and was blown away by how fast the bassist can thumb-pluck. But the bass? I'm guessing Hagstrom, based on distant memory.

Perhaps @cdef or @Thornton Davis will chime in?

You will have to view on YouTube; the link won't migrate to TB. The song is Amapola.

This may help.

 

[GretschWretch]

This may help.

View attachment 4585779 View attachment 4585780

Wow! It helps hugely. Thanks!

 

[abarson]

There are lots of pictures on the web of Björn Thelin playing that bass, but I still can't find a maker. It's certainly not Hagstrom. Pickup type and spacing is more like a Framus 12700 S-380, but the bridge and tailpiece are different.

TB thread about Spotnick's amplifiers:
The Spotnicks 1963 .. name those amps.

 

[Thornton Davis]

I'm not familiar with this bass whatever it is.

Sorry can't help but if I was to guess I would say it appears to be European.

TD

 

[ac100X]

There was a thread before about this bass...

The Spotnicks 1963 .. name those amps.

 

[ac100X]

This may help.

View attachment 4585779 View attachment 4585780

The bass player Björn Thelin (who became an international star) broke off part of the pick guard. Does he ever get it fixed?....hell no, just keep on playing.......it's this way on all their album covers & photos.

 

[cdef]

The bass player Björn Thelin (who became an international star) broke off part of the pick guard. Does he ever get it fixed?....hell no, just keep on playing.......it's this way on all their album covers & photos.

At some point he lost the bridge "ashtray" as well as a piece of the pg, but there are pics of it intact.

No production bass that I know of matches Thelin's exactly. But seeing the band hailed from Gothenburg, my speculation is that it could be a one-off made by someone at Levin's renowned factory.
Although Levin never officially made a bass guitar a prototype does exist, and The Spotnicks' rhythm guitarist Bob Lander played a rare Levin solidbody.

 

[AndyPanda]

 

[Pdaddy1978]

Just add red plastic flower pot hats, and those guys were a prehistoric version of DEVO.

 

[lark_z]

The lead guitarist is still kicking. Not sure if it's the same bassist, but he's playing fingerstyle here

 

[Killing Floor]

They had the coolest outfits.

 

[GretschWretch]

He's using a pick.

Yeah, on other videos he clearly is using a pick, but on Amapola the thumb movement is so much more frequent than the wrist movement that one has to wonder. It could of course, be a thumb pick. Whatever it is, it is way faster and more long-lasting than I could manage. I have neither the speed nor the stamina for that.

 

[Turnaround]

Yeah, on other videos he clearly is using a pick, but on Amapola the thumb movement is so much more frequent than the wrist movement that one has to wonder. It could of course, be a thumb pick. Whatever it is, it is way faster and more long-lasting than I could manage. I have neither the speed nor the stamina for that.

Maybe it's a function of .......ahem..... age?

 

[GretschWretch]

Maybe it's a function of .......ahem..... age?

More like a dysfunction of age.

 

[Turnaround]

More like a dysfunction of age.

For my part, I can play almost as fast as I used to, but now it hurts. It all hurts. Thinking about it hurts.