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Mud on TOTP 2 P Bass Puzzlement...


notable9
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Just saw Mud doing their christmas number back in I think 1974. Minty fresh looking P bass but it doesnt look right.

Body and neck look brand new but of 60's origin. It's got 60's tuners but the logo is the big 70's TV version....odd.

No big deal but there were few options back then and I'm just surprised anyone would have bothered with what could either be a factory change or a component swap.

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[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1419706994' post='2642125']
BTW did you know that Muds bassist Ray Stiles wrote Kylie Minoges number 1 hit "Cant Get You Out Of My Head??
[/quote]

I met Ray Stiles a few time back in the day. Lovely guy. I bought an Ibanez bass from him too.

P

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[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1419706994' post='2642125']
Maybe it was a bitsa put together for a television appearance that meant being covered in fake snow?
[/quote]

Taking a look at the collection of Mud videos on this page, it looks is like he was using the same bass in most of them

https://justwilliam1959.wordpress.com/tag/ray-stiles/

Stills shot for a Swedish TV show on Wikipedia appears to be the same

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Mud_-_TopPop_February_1974_04.png

Edited by cybertect
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For the fun of it, I found this curiosity, a rather mucked about with '1973 Fender Precision' that was up for trade in Ireland last April, which bears a passing resemblance to the bass in question...

http://www.adverts.ie/electric-basses/1973-fender-precision/5270229

[quote]The bass plays and feels amazing but could still do with a little bit of a set up , it gets gigged every week by me and has been my main bass for all the years i have had it . The previous owner told me it once belonged to Ray Stiles .. the Bass player from MUD .. i cant confirm or deny this and i have no letter of authenticity , previous owner also not in the country anymore, however just thought i would mention it.[/quote]

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[quote name='cybertect' timestamp='1420148793' post='2646195']
... Stills shot for a Swedish TV show on Wikipedia appears to be the same

[url="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Mud_-_TopPop_February_1974_04.png"]http://upload.wikime...ary_1974_04.png[/url]
[/quote]
That one looks like a different bass - as said above, it has a pre-1969 headstock logo.

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Your eyes are a lot better than mine, though I confess to not being much of a Fender aficionado :)

[quote name='Bassman Steve' timestamp='1419786555' post='2642696']
I'm sure I read an interview where he said he used a 1959 all the time. Not this bass it seems (not seen the vid) but recall that much.[/quote]

Could well be. From his profile page on The Hollies web site (for whom he's playing bass these days)

[url="http://www.hollies.co.uk/bandprofileraystiles.html"]http://www.hollies.c...eraystiles.html[/url]

[quote=Ray Stiles]I started playing bass back in 1960. At school during woodwork lessons, a number of the boys were making, as a project, solid electric guitars. I wanted to be part of the 'beat group' scene so my dad made me a bass guitar (just to be different) - and from that moment I was completely hooked.[/quote]

Didn't take him long to upgrade, though...

[quote=Ray Stiles]I also have a Fender Precision bass which I bought in 1961. it's pink in colour, totally original, and is now quite rare. I recorded all my Mud stuff on it and is irreplaceable.[/quote]

A 1959 would fit that.

Mud are rather local heroes for me, as I grew up in Wallington, Surrey during the height of their fame and still live in the area. Most of the band were local boys.

[quote=Ray Stiles]My local dance hall was Wallington Public Hall, Wallington, Surrey. Every Tuesday night was 'star' group night and played host to all the top groups of the time - I saw there, The Stones, The Searchers, The Big Three, Freddie and The Dreamers, there were so many including, of course, The Hollies.[/quote]

I did a fair few of my early gigs on the same stage at Wallington Public Hall in the 1980s, which was just round the corner from my house, though it was certainly past its heyday by then. Because of budget cuts, the local council recently announced that it will be closing at the end of March and may well be redeveloped, probably into flats. :(

Edited by cybertect
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  • 4 years later...
On 28/12/2014 at 16:43, philw said:
Quote


I met Ray Stiles a few time back in the day. Lovely guy. I bought an Ibanez bass from him too.


I had a relationship with him in the 1970s and I can safely say that he wasn't then. Though I am sure he will have mellowed with age. 

 

Edited by Annabelle
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