Similar Tone To Kuston Semi-Acoustic

[faceman]

Hey everyone,

One that's be pickling at my mind for a while. Chris Baio of Vampire Weekend is one of my favourite bass players of current times - his lines are melodic, imaginative and damn right funky! He uses a Kustom bass, which seems to be a rare bass from the 60s in vein of short scale basses of that era. The pickup placement is neck (bang on) and bridge, pretty close. Check out these live and album video to get an idea of the tone I'm talking about...

Cousins (Live) - [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFfNffB4Vh8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFfNffB4Vh8[/url]
M79 (Studio) - [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTjwXwl_be8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTjwXwl_be8[/url]
A-Punk (Live) - [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ5TEg6vfLE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ5TEg6vfLE[/url]


It's got some Rickenbacker balls in there but the hollow body adds something extra. So I'm wondering what sort of things are more readily available that have a similar tone to this?

Hofner Club bass comes to mind but this seems to have more bass, the Eastwood Gretsch style is humbuckers so a much warmer tone. I'm stuck on ideas on this tone!

Thanks!

[Stu-khag]

Im a fan of the guys playing as well.
When I heard the album for the first time I thought maybe a ricky or fender mustang.
When I saw them on tv for the first time I thought he was playing an ibanez jet king- similar styling but alas I dont think its a hollow body. couldnt really comment on the sound of that bass though.