Status Buzzard - Ex John Entwistle

[lou24d53]

For sale in The Bass Gallery...£7k...

https://thebassgallery.com/collections/all/products/status-buzzard-previously-owned-by-john-entwistle

You only need one kidney, don't you...?! 🤔🤔

[EBS_freak]

Barf.

[acidbass]

The way the string angles change past the nut really annoys me lol.  How many bass manufacturers get the basic engineering principles wrong?

[EBS_freak]

20 minutes ago, acidbass said:

The way the string angles change past the nut really annoys me lol.  How many bass manufacturers get the basic engineering principles wrong?

Don't get me started.

[acidbass]

1 hour ago, EBS_freak said:

Don't get me started.

Slightly OT but what also really annoys me is when the strings don't line up exactly over the pole pieces of the pickups - surely this affects the magnetic pull and therefore evenness of tone from string to string.

[Chris2112]

An interesting bass indeed. I'll admit that I have never been keen on either Buzzard shape but I always found this slightly blobby-looking thing a bit unusual, because the body and the headstock are so entirely different. 

With regard to the string angles leaving the nut, I agree that straight would naturally seem to be the best but I've played and owned plenty of basses over the years that have had the strings diverge from nut to tuner without any issues in setup or tuning. 

[EBS_freak]

2 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Did you put those strings on in a hurry? 😂

I do want to see the whole of this bass though. It looks like a cracker from the top end 👍

The strings were put on in a hurry because the neck was being taken on and off the body as I couldn't believe what I was seeing... There's no way I have strings wrapped around the posts in such a poor manner!

Edited April 30, 2019 by EBS_freak

[EBS_freak]

6 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Come in, give us a bit more of the body. I can’t quite make it out 🤪

[EBS_freak]

The colour of it was absolutely amazing. You can't really make it out - but the right is more of what the colour was really like - a metallic blue/purple. Absolutely amazing sounding J bass but ultimately I fell out of love with it because of all the issues I had getting the neck sorted. The back was wet and dried down to matte CF. Felt and looked like a million dollars.

[Wolverinebass]

That's not a buzzard. It's a B2. Here's my buzzard. The last one ever made thanks to a certain div in Germany who shall remain nameless. 

 

[NancyJohnson]

I've never quite understood why anyone would want to pay over the odds for an instrument with provenance attached; so what if JE owned it?  It's not like it's going to turn you into him once you play it.

 

[EBS_freak]

18 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

I've never quite understood why anyone would want to pay over the odds for an instrument with provenance attached; so what if JE owned it?  It's not like it's going to turn you into him once you play it.

 

So, no interest in Paul McCartney's left handed, 59 Les Paul?

I guess it all depends on notoriety of the player and the association with the instrument (at which point it becomes more a part of music history more than just an instrument). If you can add to it a certain amount of rarity... and you've get a very desirable object indeed.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

23 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

I've never quite understood why anyone would want to pay over the odds for an instrument with provenance attached; so what if JE owned it?  It's not like it's going to turn you into him once you play it.

 

Tom Petersson's Hamer Thunderbird?

[NancyJohnson]

2 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

Tom Petersson's Hamer Thunderbird?

Ooh, conjecture.

I'd been in love with that bass since the first time clapped eyes on it, but I'd have been just as happy owning that bass irrespective of the provenance.

[NancyJohnson]

2 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

So, no interest in Paul McCartney's left handed, 59 Les Paul?

Right handed, don't like Les Paul guitars.  Feel free to hit him up with an offer.

[EBS_freak]

Perhaps I should have said 'wider interest'.

 

[Chris2112]

12 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Quite. How to destroy a legacy in one easy lesson.

 

I was never really a fan of the Buzzard shape but I will admit that it is a stunning piece of construction in full-graphite Status form with Roman numeral inlays and gold strings. The story of it's extinction is one I have taken a great deal of interest in as a former Status Graphite owner and longtime enthusiast. I understand that, following legal threats from Warwick, Rob Green was forced to destroy the moulds and the tooling cost alone would mean they will never be made again (never mind the legal trouble that could cause). I have sought information over the years that would lend more clarity to this account, but it seems relatively thin on the ground. I understand the subject is no longer up for discussion from Rob Green (and I do not blame him at all for laying this matter to rest). 

What I still want to know is:

• Is it correct that the Buzzard shape and name is now property of Warwick and if so, how did that come to be?
• When did Warwick first challenge Status over the production of the Buzzard?
• What was the nature of their complaint and the threat over non-compliance? 
• What plans have Warwick, if any, for future production of Warwick Buzzards?
• Will Alembic still make a Buzzard shape if asked? 
• How many Status Buzzards were made and where did they all end up?

I would love answers to these questions. If anyone has any knowledge on this and would prefer not to post publicly then please PM me. 

[Dazed]

I couldn’t tell you specifics but there a quite a few Warwick buzzards around from different years of production, 4 and 5 string versions. The earlier ones I believe have the beaky headstock and later ones have the Warwick style. 

 

I think I've  got a bass mag somewhere from the 90’s with an article about the design of the buzzard with JE and Warwick. 

Edited May 3, 2019 by Dazed

[visog]

Hmm over-priced I think we'd all agree. I don't like the body shape. For me, JE was that Alembic Exploiter!

[Cosmo Valdemar]

7 hours ago, Dazed said:

I couldn’t tell you specifics but there a quite a few Warwick buzzards around from different years of production, 4 and 5 string versions. The earlier ones I believe have the beaky headstock and later ones have the Warwick style. 

 

I think I've  got a bass mag somewhere from the 90’s with an article about the design of the buzzard with JE and Warwick. 

Of the standard production models, the bolt-ons had the usual Warwick headstock. The through necks had a compact version of the beak headstock.

[Wolverinebass]

8 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

Of the standard production models, the bolt-ons had the usual Warwick headstock. The through necks had a compact version of the beak headstock.

This fact isn't taking into account the one thing all the Warwick buzzards had in common.

They're crap.

If you've played both, the status version is superior in every way.

[Kev]

On 04/05/2019 at 00:37, Cosmo Valdemar said:

Of the standard production models, the bolt-ons had the usual Warwick headstock. The through necks had a compact version of the beak headstock.

The ones built nineties and beyond yes.  Some of the eighties models had the full sized headstock.

[Kevin Dean]

Is it signed by JE ?

[Marillionred]

Looking at the Warwick current price list, looks like Warwick will still make you a Buzzard. Won't be cheap though. Prices in US $

Buzzard Bass Signature
1454070010GVZEBWWW Buzzard Signature 4 str., zebrano, oil finish Act / Act Wenge Neck 4 $11,999.99
1454070110GVZEBWWW Buzzard Signature 4 str., zebrano, transparent or solid satin Act / Act Wenge Neck 4 $12,899.99
1454071110GVZEBWWW Buzzard Signature 4 str., zebrano, transparent or solid high polish Act / Act Wenge Neck 4 $13,399.99
1454075110GVZEBWWW Buzzard Signature 4 str., zebrano, burst transparent high polish Act / Act Wenge Neck 4 $13,699.99

And that's before all the optional bells & whistles

[Wolverinebass]

5 hours ago, Marillionred said:

Looking at the Warwick current price list, looks like Warwick will still make you a Buzzard. Won't be cheap though. Prices in US $

Buzzard Bass Signature
1454070010GVZEBWWW Buzzard Signature 4 str., zebrano, oil finish Act / Act Wenge Neck 4 $11,999.99
1454070110GVZEBWWW Buzzard Signature 4 str., zebrano, transparent or solid satin Act / Act Wenge Neck 4 $12,899.99
1454071110GVZEBWWW Buzzard Signature 4 str., zebrano, transparent or solid high polish Act / Act Wenge Neck 4 $13,399.99
1454075110GVZEBWWW Buzzard Signature 4 str., zebrano, burst transparent high polish Act / Act Wenge Neck 4 $13,699.99

And that's before all the optional bells & whistles

Honestly, don't waste your money. The Warwick buzzard is garbage. Warwick's pricing is tonto as well.