Vintage bass provenance

[arthurhenry]

Have any of you vintage bass owners managed to find out the provenance of your instrument and any interesting stories from its past? I often wonder about mine - did it spend a couple of decades in the US, or was it imported here in the 70's? Has it played Brown eyed girl 500 times even before I got it? Did it spend years locked away, unloved? etc.

[wateroftyne]

I do wonder.

I bought my '71 P in Indianapolis, and my fretless '71 came from Italy. I don't know anything about their histories.

However, by '71 J was bought new from Barratt's in Manchester for £247. It was then played by the original owner (I have a letter from him) up until a handful of years ago. It was owned by another chap for a short time, and then it ended up with me. It's completely stock apart from the pickups, which I swapped.

[gary mac]

I would love to know the history of my 75P bass and actually ponder that very point every time I pick it up for a play.

[Chris Horton]

I have a 1975 candy apple red precision and i do wonder how the bass got it's battle scars .............................................

[Cat Burrito]

my 78 P-bass had little damage, one owner from new which was a lady in Portsmouth. I reckon it saw home use only. Since sold it on and my 2 70s remaining basses are so heavily modded with parts I expect collectively they'd tell more stories than Jackanory!

[neepheid]

I don't know much of the back stories of any of my basses. The only thing I can do is create the next chapter in their existences, hopefully without causing too much further damage to any of them

[stef030]

bought my 69 jazz in74,I am the second owner,
the first was a local jazz muso,when I got it ,
it had the original case,strap and receipt from the music shop when new
I still have these today,


this is the one bass I will never sell,

cheers
stef

[Rick's Fine '52]

My blue flower and pink paisley basses were bought by the original owner on the same day in December 1968, as an early Christmas present for himself. He was a fairly well-off, working musician in Los Angeles. He originally went into the store to buy the Pink Paisley Telecaster Bass, but whilst in the store, he said the Blue Flower one was also there, and was catching his attention, after much playing, he couldn't decide which to buy. The store owner, who he casually knew, said he'd had it in the store a while, and wanted rid of it, so he made him a deal, which he said, was almost as good as '2 for 1'.

He said he played them alternately for a couple of months, but he then changed bands, and they stood out far too much from the other band members gear, and despite them seeming like a good idea at the time, as with all 'fashionable' things, they soon became unfashionable. He still had a soft spot for them, and didn't need to sell them, so they went back under the bed, where they stayed, except for the odd, rare outing, for almost 40 years.

I saw the pink paisley one advertised in the USA (I was actively looking to buy a paisley at the time), on consignment, it was almost mint, and i decided to take it, it was only during the negotiations, that i became aware of this story, and the guy said he was also selling the owners' blue flower. Despite the fact that i couldn't really afford it, i simply didn't have the heart to seperate these twins, after they'd been together forever. I'd always wanted a blue flower anyway, they're far rarer than the paisley versions, but didn't think i'd tick two boxes at the same time. Anyway, i made a couple of quick sales here in the UK to generate the extra cash, and after having them checked out in detail, secured them, and they were promptly shipped, and received.

Its not necessarily a great story, but its nice to know the full history of something that you own, especially as it applies to two, very rare birds. Anyway, thought I'd share.

The dilemma will occur when i need to sell, and whether i have the heart to seperate them, its unlikely i'll find someone who can buy both.

For those that know about these, they'll know that the wallpaper reacted to the lacquer, causing the finish to crack beyond repair, especially on the flowers, and most ended up with large sections of finish gone, or because of the damage, ended up being stripped to natural (Especially as the finish was not popular), so finding two examples in such condition, is pretty rare. They also come with original cases, tags, leads and straps, and one has the original cloth,all bought with the basses.

Here's a few pics.

[Mylkinut]

My '77 P was apparently originally used by John Glascock of Jethro Tull fame as a back-up... not sure if I believe that but judging by the marks on the bottom of it it's certainly spent an awful lot of time on a stand. I bought it in 2004 for the princely sum of 600 quids. It'd sat in the shop for a while and had been knocked down from 900 - the owner before me had been a Royal Marine playing in a pub band. I'm guessing it's spent most of its life in the UK. Will never sell it

I know less about my '83 Ric (does it count as vintage?) - only that the previous owner bought it in the States whilst on holiday, and then it sat unplayed in its case for ten years before I bought it last year. I'm struggling to love it, so it might be up for sale soon...

[brensabre79]

[quote name='Rick's Fine '52' timestamp='1333321414' post='1600149']

[/quote]
Awesome!

[Spike Vincent]

My 78 Precision was bought when 2 years old and had seen home use only.It's Welsh.I know my Peavey stack has travelled the world on cruise ships.The one I do wonder about is my 1962 L/H Burns Sonic,it's as old as me,but in far better condition..

[razze06]

Not a bass, but my Westone Concord I guitar shows signs of having been used with a 3rd bridge (likely a screwdriver wedged between fingerboard and strings) sometime in the early 80's. Given the amount of bashing, I can safely claim noise/experimental punk band of the era

Very curious about the CMI Ned Callan, as it's older than me (1971, according to those in the know), yet shows only moderate wear and tear. An unloved piece of attic furniture? A prop for a John Entwistle promo shoot? Who knows!

[clarkpegasus4001]

I havn't got a clue with mine. I have a 75 Rick and a 74 Jazz bass, The Rick was from North Carolina but I don't know the playing history of either.
Not basses but I did have an MXR distortion+ pedal that was owned by Robert Quine (of Lou Reed fame) I sold it to my mate who still has it. I also had a 67 Telecaster that was apparently owned by a guitarist from the Banshees, which had been messed about with which I sold ages ago, but it has been the best playing guitar i've ever had, superb neck.

Edited April 2, 2012 by clarkpegasus4001

[joeystrange]

Most of the basses I have now I bought from new however I had a flight case that my friend bought from a guitarist in Saxon. Apparently.
That same friend has Iron Maiden's custom built 1979 AMEK mixing desk in his studio that he bought from their FOH engineer about 6 or 7 years ago. THAT'S a piece of history. He found out recently that a couple of their live albums were recorded with it too!

[Jazzneck]

Not too sure of the provenance on most of my odds'n'sods other than a well battered Fender tweed bass case that is stencilled as "Bass6" "Killer"; believe it was Killer's bassman's case and my MM Stingray which was once owned by Mother Earth's Neil Corcoran for a while.
Like a lot of you I do wonder about what some of my gear has been through, particularly the 1931 National Triolian I am lucky enough to have.