At that price, it had better be...

[alyctes]

Never seen one of these before.  I have to say, I'm not that sorry...

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256782077282?itmmeta=01JHJSPNXNFSVX2V66W7X4WEF5&hash=item3bc9678d62:g:mscAAOSw2VtnhT4E&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4CodCO1vSDjg2xNOt8By6oCYFSMWSBY4OSKR%2FCmJiMn7iQ67Xt%2FaB5%2FjjvFXYlYGfXL60oK427nNElFSGv5Ft%2BqlYdHRbBVSkj1mmlqce4USsH9Cr%2FPnBq3kYkmy2bQLPL6Vp7IhmwWRXcW0oH5QinJHjLQDcCwFBStNeAsX6NMnreBHIUjaeNH0aWu3%2Bveq3nmNuk5qpKUMNagzNXcrRAhlb9trGyoRmUrPKn%2BT9vuhZpfKrAnA9PWA9tuBFhPp8zTIeTxi7PqkT%2B6rse57mx7thgGDy7ihKX5w2l%2ByQ9Ic|tkp%3ABk9SR_re2tmMZQ

[BigRedX]

Tasty and rare. 

 

If I had that kind of money, and wanted a fretless 4-string bass I'd be seriously interested.

[tauzero]

You could get a new one for less than a tenth the price (OK, it's not exactly the same...) - https://zemaitisguitarcompany.com/products/a22mf-bass

[BigRedX]

8 hours ago, tauzero said:

You could get a new one for less than a tenth the price (OK, it's not exactly the same...) - https://zemaitisguitarcompany.com/products/a22mf-bass

 

Except that about the only thing it has in common with the bass in the OP is the name on the scratch plate. It's not been hand made by Tony Zemaitis and the metal work hasn't been engraved by Danny O'Brien - in fact the metalwork is all acid etched rather than hand-engraved. It's essentially a parts-bin bass with a Les Paul body shape and Jazz Bass pickups and electrics and a fancy bit of metal slapped on the front. I've played a modern MiJ "Zemaitis" guitar and while it's nice sounding and playing instrument, apart from the metal front there's nothing to set it aside from any other half-way decent Les Paul shaped guitar and certainly not worth the £2k+ price tag.

 

Of course that doesn't mean the bass in the OP is worth £14k unless it actually sells for that price, but anyone owning it will have a completely unique instrument unlike the modern copies.

[Bassassin]

On 14/01/2025 at 18:12, BigRedX said:

Tasty and rare. 

 

If I had that kind of money, and wanted a fretless 4-string bass I'd be seriously interested.

Arguably for that kind of money you could buy a time machine back to 1982 & get Tony Z to build you one for £500.

[Happy Jack]

I'm more interested in the heavy emphasis placed on provenance here ... "Melvyn Whittaker was a close confidant and friend of Tony Zemaitis and many of the instruments offered are some of his most prestigious and unique of all Zemaitis Models ever created by Tony."

 

OK, right, so this Melvyn Whittaker chap must have been a famous and successful bass player whose name attaches value to his old instruments? Erm ... no. Google has only three references to him, and 99% of those three references are the quote above, appearing in places where people are desperately trying to talk up the value of these instruments.

 

The other two are a single mention in a 2000 issue of Guitar Auctions (quelle surprise), in an article which is no longer available, and a not-very-good YouTube demo (presumaby for an auction) of a different Zemaitis bass which Melvyn allegedly once lent to Jaco Pastorius for possibly a single gig, possibly a UK tour, it's all very vague.

 

Quite frankly, on the strength of the above, attaching Melvyn's name to this bass wouldn't encourage me to spend a fortune on a grotesquely ugly instrument which (I suspect) weighs North of 12lbs.

 

What with Basschat being the biggest & best source of bass knowledge in Europe, presumably someone here must have known Melvyn Whittaker in his hey-day and can tell us why he has left so little trace.

[Clarky]

9 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

I'm more interested in the heavy emphasis placed on provenance here ... "Melvyn Whittaker was a close confidant and friend of Tony Zemaitis and many of the instruments offered are some of his most prestigious and unique of all Zemaitis Models ever created by Tony."

 

OK, right, so this Melvyn Whittaker chap must have been a famous and successful bass player whose name attaches value to his old instruments? Erm ... no. Google has only three references to him, and 99% of those three references are the quote above, appearing in places where people are desperately trying to talk up the value of these instruments.

 

The other two are a single mention in a 2000 issue of Guitar Auctions (quelle surprise), in an article which is no longer available, and a not-very-good YouTube demo (presumaby for an auction) of a different Zemaitis bass which Melvyn allegedly once lent to Jaco Pastorius for possibly a single gig, possibly a UK tour, it's all very vague.

 

Quite frankly, on the strength of the above, attaching Melvyn's name to this bass wouldn't encourage me to spend a fortune on a grotesquely ugly instrument which (I suspect) weighs North of 12lbs.

 

What with Basschat being the biggest & best source of bass knowledge in Europe, presumably someone here must have known Melvyn Whittaker in his hey-day and can tell us why he has left so little trace.

I AM Melvyn Whittaker

[rwillett]

No, I AM Melvyn Whittaker

[Bassassin]

We are ALL Melvyn Whittaker!!!

 

Anyway, I presume that Melvyn Whittaker was a customer with enough spare cash to commission a bunch of instruments from Zemaitis, and end up with a collection of 'unique' ones.

 

His name on the trc of this bass says he bought it for himself rather than 'collected' it..