Vox Teardrop Bass Bill Wyman

[No. 8 Wire]

Never seen the bass version in the flesh.  

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193724052913

 

[songofthewind]

I remember seeing The Nice, with Lee Jackson playing one of the original versions of these. I was totally obsessed with it. I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. GLWTS.

[No. 8 Wire]

Seller seems to have removed it from sale plus an epihone rivoli he had up. 

[pete.young]

I had one of the originals. Horrible piece of stinky poo. Glad to get rid of it for £15 quid in about 1974.

[ash]

My mate’s Dad used to say the bass sound on the Nice was like something you got free in a Christmas cracker. Lee Jackson was a great player but imagine what he would’ve sounded like if he’d used a Fender bass? He was left handed and probably used the Vox because it looked okay upside down. A bit like why Macca chose his Hofner. He now uses a Ric. 

Edited October 26, 2020 by ash

[Shaggy]

Benjamin Orr of The Cars was also regularly seen with one (swapping between the Vox and a MM Stingray when playing live - you could hardly imagine two more dissimilar basses......)

I have a mid-‘60’s English made Vox Wyman bass  - VERY much nicer than the slightly later Italian made models.   Have to admit I rarely gig it due the short scale and incredibly skinny neck.   But they are amazingly cool basses, with a surprisingly “big” sound.

[Jo.gwillim]

On 25/10/2020 at 20:27, songofthewind said:

I remember seeing The Nice, with Lee Jackson playing one of the original versions of these. I was totally obsessed with it. I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. GLWTS.

First gig I went to was the nice at Bournemouth winter gardens. He had such a distinctive sound. They did about 6 encores whilst my dad waited in the car...

[Aalin]

There is an American luthier who remakes that type of bass and guitars, surely better than the originals one which were made by the Eko brand. These ‘Teardrop’ instruments are really nice.

http://www.phantomguitars.com/teardrop.html

[songofthewind]

On 26/10/2020 at 21:18, ash said:

My mate’s Dad used to say the bass sound on the Nice was like something you got free in a Christmas cracker. Lee Jackson was a great player but imagine what he would’ve sounded like if he’d used a Fender bass?

If I remember rightly, it did sound very plunka-plunka-plunka. Rubber band like. I forgot he was a lefty. Glad to hear he's still playing.