Whitesnake bas query

[dmccombe7]

Can anyone tell me what bass Neil is using on this. Been curious since buying the album when it came out but can't seem to find anything on the bass.

 

[franzbassist]

Why not ask the man himself?  Paging @neilmurraybass.

[visog]

Slightly OT I know but here's Neil in an unusual setting of the mighty Bill Bruford and Allan Holdsworth...

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by visog

[visog]

Oh sorry! Back to the OP... looks like the same bass? Fender (Maple) Precision?

[dmccombe7]

Different bass. The original was like twin humbuckers towards the bridge end and no scratchplate.

I heard a rumour it was an Alembic of some sort but i can't say i've ever seen one like that.

Dave

[peteb]

I always thought that it was a modded Fender P??

[dmccombe7]

He used to borrow an Alembic bass especially in early Whitesnake from what i've read but not sure if that was for studio work.

Dave

[dmccombe7]

Watched it again and managed to freeze it on the bass and it does have a scratchplate like a P bass but doesn't look like a normal P pick up.

Dave

[peteb]

Just now, dmccombe7 said:

Watched it again and managed to freeze it on the bass and it does have a scratchplate like a P bass but doesn't look like a normal P pick up.

Dave

I wouldn't have thought that Alembic would have done a bass that looked so much like a P bass. Back in the day when there wasn't so much choice in the marketplace, guys would just get a 70s Fender and keep modding it to try until it met their demands / was unique. Of course, this was when no one realised how much unmodded ones would be worth 30 years later and how much they were reducing the resale value...! 

[franzbassist]

[peteb]

5 minutes ago, franzbassist said:

That's definitely a Fender, a couple of unidentified pickups and a mate who's got both a soldering iron and a router...! 

[4000]

Its a Fender. Neil used to mod a lot of his basses and always played in stereo as he said he didn’t like a clanky sound and he reasoned that being in stereo helped avoid this. I’ve got an interview with him somewhere from way back. There used to be one of his Arias (along with Cozy’s drums) at John Sykes’ studio near me, which is where one of my old bands used to rehearse and record. Played nicely, lower action than I expected. 

[dmccombe7]

47 minutes ago, franzbassist said:

Yep that's it. Nice one. Thanks for that.

Wonder what the pick-ups are ?

Dave

[4000]

I think he’s playing that bass in my Whitesnake programme from 1980, although whether he used it live at the gigs I saw I really can’t quite remember; I think he may have. I ever find the interview amongst my hundreds of guitar mags I’ll let you know, assuming I didn’t bin it in my last cull. I think it might have been in International Musician and Recording World. I really should get rid of some!

[dmccombe7]

Here's his early collection

 

[pineweasel]

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

Yep that's it. Nice one. Thanks for that.

Wonder what the pick-ups are ?

Dave

It’s probably the same bass, but in the video it has a Precision pickup:

Edited May 1, 2020 by pineweasel

[Baceface]

1 hour ago, 4000 said:

I think he’s playing that bass in my Whitesnake programme from 1980, although whether he used it live at the gigs I saw I really can’t quite remember; I think he may have. I ever find the interview amongst my hundreds of guitar mags I’ll let you know, assuming I didn’t bin it in my last cull. I think it might have been in International Musician and Recording World. I really should get rid of some!

I saw them on that tour. Have the programme here but it's a typically low grade item. Have taken a quick snap of the pics of Neil but they don't add much. The b&w shot is really that horribly underexposed in the program. The yellow border picture is his Kramer. The last one is the modded P bass with the 51-57 Telecaster-shaped headstock.
 

Edited May 1, 2020 by Baceface

[pineweasel]

Aha, some good info on TB:

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/neil-murray-appreciation-thread.737371/#post-13678940

[EMG456]

10 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Here's his early collection

 

Ah - a big Strat bass with whammy - excellent!

[MoonBassAlpha]

The Kramer is not a bass I'd recommend if you don't like clanky! 

[el borracho]

1 hour ago, EMG456 said:

Ah - a big Strat bass with whammy - excellent!

He actually sold that on here a few years ago. I was going to put a link on but the pictures have gone - blame Photobucket.

I first saw it in a magazine article in the early 90s and at one time looked at building a similar one but I couldn't get the proportions right with a long scale P body . Pre internet I didn't have much to refer to. 

[pete.young]

The bridge pickup looks very similar to the dual coil that Fender used to put into the Jazz deluxe (I think that's what it was called). I made something similar a couple of weeks ago to replace the one in my Hondo Alien, using a pair of jazz single coils, a dremel and some araldite.

[dmccombe7]

22 minutes ago, MoonBassAlpha said:

The Kramer is not a bass I'd recommend if you don't like clanky! 

I really like the sound of the Kramer 4000 & 4001 series basses.

[Mickeyboro]

9 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

I really like the sound of the Kramer 4000 & 4001 series basses.

Heavy though!

[EMG456]

1 hour ago, el borracho said:

He actually sold that on here a few years ago. I was going to put a link on but the pictures have gone - blame Photobucket.

I first saw it in a magazine article in the early 90s and at one time looked at building a similar one but I couldn't get the proportions right with a long scale P body . Pre internet I didn't have much to refer to. 

Thanks - I had a hankering for doing that to a Rick 4001 many years ago- unlike some other Frankenstien ideas I had, this one never came to fruition. Nice to learn I was not alone in my madness.😀