garethox

[quote name='bassaussie' post='721660' date='Jan 22 2010, 09:15 PM']Yeah, pioneer is definitely the word. Actually, when I say I'm not a huge fan of the playing, that's probably not quite correct. When I consider what else was happening when he first arrived on the scene, and then compare it to what he was attempting, he was totally stretching the boundaries of playing. It's easy for me to sit here now and say "oh, not so great", but when I consider the historical influence he had, I think it's fair to say that bass probably wouldn't be where it is today without his contribution. I often think much the same about Chris Squire. I find the playing a little dated, but then I step back and think "OK, but what else was happening back then", it's easy to see what a huge leap these guys took with their playing as well as their approach to bass sound.[/quote] Agreed. The early Who stuff John hated (the bass sound I mean), there was an attitude of 'it's only the bass' when recording. Live of course was a totally different matter - that's where he made the bass come alive. He often played the studio takes pretty straight and then went wild on stage. A good example is the studio version of 'Squeezebox' and the live version of the same song - world's apart and riffing galore! I often think that McCartney had the best bass sound in the 60's - it was good on almost every album they did. I think the best bass sound John got was on the really early stuff 'Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere'; 'My Generation' and 'Substitute' - the early stuff before Lambert took over....

[quote name='Sercet' post='721646' date='Jan 22 2010, 09:02 PM']I was at that auction. I bought this... [url="http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDetail.jsp?sale_number=W03875&live_lot_id=358"]http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDe...live_lot_id=358[/url] My biggest regret is I didn't buy this as well... [url="http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDetail.jsp?sale_number=W03875&live_lot_id=257"]http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDe...live_lot_id=257[/url] Peter Hook was sitting in front of me and bought this... [url="http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDetail.jsp?sale_number=W03875&live_lot_id=229"]http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDe...live_lot_id=229[/url][/quote] Nice acquisition mate! Hooky got a nice one didn't he? It must have been amazing to see all those instruments and belongings going under the hammer!

[quote name='bassaussie' post='721638' date='Jan 22 2010, 08:57 PM']Cool, thanks. I'm just going through that link you gave about his gear, it's fascinating reading. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of his playing, but I have a huge amount of admiration for the way he pioneered the way a bass should sound.[/quote] Absolutely! He was a pioneer. He helped create Rotosound strings, I believe he was the first to utilise the stereo capabilities of the Alembic's to their fullest too..... then of course there were the Status Buzzard's!

So I sit down and learn 'Money, Money, Money'; 'S.O.S'; 'Waterloo'; 'Mama Mia'; and 'Dancing Queen' - and I'm just amazed at the figure's this guy is playing. I don't know if it is because he has a Swedish folk background, but his lines are just pure genius. I've listened to the songs for 30 years but never really isolated the bass - wish I had. There is a great deal of humour and feel in what he plays and it is so much fun to play! Anyone else ever been pleasantly surprised by Rutger's work?

[quote name='bassaussie' post='721628' date='Jan 22 2010, 08:49 PM']This is great, you're answering a few questions I've always had about the catalog. OK, there's 3 Alembics in there, the 2 Explorers and the Flying V. Which Explorer did he use the most (I always thought it was the one with the triangular headstock, not the split headstock) and did he ever use the Flying V?[/quote] As far as I know he didn't have a favourite between the two 'normal' headstock Explorer's/Exploiter's and I am only aware of him using the 'V' head in public once - on a TV show called 'Gastank'. Put that in YT and you should be able to locate the clip; it also features a great interview with John and Rick Wakeman.

Don't know if you have seen this site: [url="http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/equipment/bass/equip-entwistlegear.html"]http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/equipment/ba...wistlegear.html[/url] ... it details all The Who's equipment through their career.

[quote name='bassaussie' post='721617' date='Jan 22 2010, 08:36 PM']I stand corrected on the price. But the Frankenstein is the Quadrophenia bass, right? That was always my impression, but I'm curious now.[/quote] No, he used a Gibson Thunderbird on 'Quadrophenia' and '...By Numbers'. I believe he changed to get a different experience than just playing Fenders.....

Terrible, terrible news. R.I.P

[quote name='bassaussie' post='721571' date='Jan 22 2010, 07:42 PM']I've got the catalog from that auction. It was through Sothebys. You're correct, the frankenstein Fender was sold in it. You're a bit off on the final sale price, though. It ended up pulling £52000. There were a number of his Alembics, including the first one he bought, and heaps of Warwicks and Status basses. It was an amazing collection, he had a good eye for interesting instruments. He also had both a 1958 Flying V and Explorer, which were worth a small fortune each.[/quote] Yeah, there were two salmon pink basses. 'Frankenstein' and a.n.other. The other one went for £5,200 and Frankie for over £60K. The catalogue is amazing! His collection was incredible for sure.

The Ox's Status Buzzard 1's: he had 9 altogether. Steve Luongo has one at the JEF building; a collector in L.A has one; I have one and the rest belong to the HRC. His B2's: one is in Nottingham, the other I don't know where it is. His Alembic Exploiter's: One is in the HRC Berlin (may have been moved)- the one that misbehaved at Live Aid... John sold it as it's 'punishment'!; the 8 string V-head is the HRC vault in the U.S and I believe that Eddie Vedder owns the other. Oliver Baauman owns an Acoustic bass of John's, the bass guitarist in (I think) 'Who Are You' owns the bass John played on the Beat Club clip of 'Tommy, Can You Hear Me?'. His second Alembic ( a Series 1 I think) is owned by the collector in L.A (see [url="http://www.whocollection.com"]http://www.whocollection.com[/url] ) along with John's Skeleton and Buzzard strap's and his 'Little Manhattan' rig + speakers. He also owns the 'Flame' bass built by Peter Cook and a 1962 P bass which is featured in many early photo's of John. The same guy owns many of Pete's iconic guitars too - SG's and Les Paul's etc etc. The rest of John's gear sold at Sotheby's went worldwide.... probably more than a few went to the HRC as well as the B1's. Get this.... HRC bought a flightcase of 5 Buzzard's (dubbed 'A Flock of Buzzard's) for around £20,000; the individual ones went for around £10,000. Bar one the HRC bought all the B1's. 'Frankenstein' went for £62,500! Rock Stars Guitar's owned the 'Lightning' bass built by Peter Cook and they also had a few of the Warwick Buzzards. They sold a couple but they still have the white one featured on the front of 'Bass Culture', it is also signed by John. At last enquiry they wanted £20K for it! For those that are interested this link [url="http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotResultsDetailList.jsp?event_id=26007&sale_number=W03875"]http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotRe...e_number=W03875[/url] takes you the results page of the Entwistle auction..... That's all I know anyway!!!

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='718944' date='Jan 20 2010, 01:14 PM']+1 to all this[/quote] +1. Jimi is a stand up guy. Sorry J, I wouldn't have created the link if I'd have known you were going to get all this! G.

[quote name='OldGit' post='717906' date='Jan 19 2010, 02:51 PM']Hi Tom Welcome Bit more info will help your cause: Pro or not Ages Objectives - one pub gig per month or European tours starting wednesday next ... That sort of thing .. Cheers.[/quote] +1. I have a feeling a few of us on here won't fit your demographic!

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1976-Gibson-Thunderbird-Bass-Guitar_W0QQitemZ280453261461QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item414c512895"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1976-Gibson-Thunderb...=item414c512895[/url]

Entwistle's 5.15 solo from the RAH.... Now who knew I was going to say that?

Yep, I use it as part of 'my sound'.... just sounds too 'dry' to me without it.

I'd have a couple more Status basses. There's a nice one on their site with a Kahler tremolo system and I'd have a Walnut B2 with L.E.D's and a built in digital display - don't know what it would show - probably tone and volume settings.... just think it'd be cool!

[quote name='Rayman' post='708514' date='Jan 11 2010, 08:41 AM']Just had a thought, am I going to get stung on import duty for a Sadowsky Vintage Tone Control unit I just bought directly from them? It's only tiny yes, but cost over $100.[/quote] Maybe... it is a relatively cheap item so it may not attract excise duty. If it does it will be around 20-22% of the total cost including shipping. Also the last few things I bought from the States, the Post Office added a handling charge as well - obviously not applicable if the item is sent Fedex, UPS etc.....

[quote name='Linus27' post='708079' date='Jan 10 2010, 08:04 PM']What girl? This girl?? Her name is Yvonne Strahovski and she is from the TV show, "Chuck". Rumour has it she fancies me but she's playing hard to get I think as she's not called me yet [/quote] BANG! Sorry, that was my jaw hitting the deck! Hang on in there.... sure she'll call.....

[quote name='Linus27' post='708055' date='Jan 10 2010, 07:41 PM']Damn, I've been rumbled. Ok, I'll send the boys round with a fiver and a signed copy of our first 7 albums. The ones after that are not worth having [/quote] Lol at that.... but on another subject - who the hell is that girl you have as your profile pic?

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='707974' date='Jan 10 2010, 06:28 PM']What band were you in back then? I got to back Tyla from Dogs D'Amour which I guess is the other side of the same coin[/quote] Not one of any note! We were called 'City Heat' and The 'Boys played a club called Monroes in Stockport just after they got signed - we were local so got the gig.... They were way grittier than us!

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='707895' date='Jan 10 2010, 05:27 PM']I could reference the cooler aspects of my parents record collection whilst growing up but it was the late 80s sleaze / glam scene (especially The Quireboys) that finally made me want to play. I always thought the bass players were the cool ones[/quote] A band I was in supported The Quireboys in the early 90's.... don't remember much apart from a very rock'n'roll attitude, Spike's voice and their drummer - he had a three piece kit and he was amazing! Jimijimmi on the forum was bassist for them until recently... we worked out that he wasn't even born when I played on the same bill as them - how to feel old very, very suddenly! Song's that got me into bass? 'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick' - totally amazing bassline. That (of course!) was followed by The Who and The Jam....

Hi Claude. As far as I know the best bet would be to stick with Alembic. They are very, very busy and you will get a reply eventually.... patience is a must when dealing with Mica and the gang! Good luck!