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Famous Basses...I wonder where that went?


witterth
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Anybody know what has happened to the gear of any famous late lamented bass player,or any other player ,come to think of it,for real?

..you know...

who got any of the Ox's stuff? that P bass of Phil lynott? Jacos (booze pedald) jazz? Cliff Burtons stuff..or err.... well you get the picture......any good player

I know Jamersons funk machine has gone forever for example....

I know Its a bit on the morbid side but I bet I'm not the only one who wants to know!

not only bass stuff, either, any ex's "ex" gear stories? whatever they played?

Edited by witterth
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I vaguely remember reading an article that some band like 'scouting for girls 'or 'the feeling' (one of those record company created bands) met Phil Lynnot's mum and she let them play his bass. So, I'd say his mothers got it

Edited by Stu-khag
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I recall reading that a lot of Entwistles basses (I think he had 120-150 when he died) were auctioned off after his death. I think I'm right in saying that the salmon pink/fiesta red whatever you call it P-bass that was used on the quadraphenia (sp?) album sold for less than £5k, so quite a bargain for a die hard fan.

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There's a 6-string Gold Warwick Thumb sitting in Ziggy's restaurant in St Andrews, Fife. It's a Hard Rock-style restaurant with all sorts of memorabilia on the walls and if you ever get a chance you should visit. Only seats about 40 people but steaks taste amazing ! Anyway, when I asked the owner about the bass he said it was a John Entwistle one.

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The Ox's Status Buzzard 1's: he had 9 altogether. Steve Luongo has one at the JEF building; a collector in L.A has one; I have one and the rest belong to the HRC.

His B2's: one is in Nottingham, the other I don't know where it is.

His Alembic Exploiter's: One is in the HRC Berlin (may have been moved)- the one that misbehaved at Live Aid... John sold it as it's 'punishment'!; the 8 string V-head is the HRC vault in the U.S and I believe that Eddie Vedder owns the other.

Oliver Baauman owns an Acoustic bass of John's, the bass guitarist in (I think) 'Who Are You' owns the bass John played on the Beat Club clip of 'Tommy, Can You Hear Me?'.

His second Alembic ( a Series 1 I think) is owned by the collector in L.A (see [url="http://www.whocollection.com"]http://www.whocollection.com[/url] ) along with John's Skeleton and Buzzard strap's and his 'Little Manhattan' rig + speakers. He also owns the 'Flame' bass built by Peter Cook and a 1962 P bass which is featured in many early photo's of John. The same guy owns many of Pete's iconic guitars too - SG's and Les Paul's etc etc.

The rest of John's gear sold at Sotheby's went worldwide.... probably more than a few went to the HRC as well as the B1's. Get this.... HRC bought a flightcase of 5 Buzzard's (dubbed 'A Flock of Buzzard's) for around £20,000; the individual ones went for around £10,000. Bar one the HRC bought all the B1's.
'Frankenstein' went for £62,500!

Rock Stars Guitar's owned the 'Lightning' bass built by Peter Cook and they also had a few of the Warwick Buzzards. They sold a couple but they still have the white one featured on the front of 'Bass Culture', it is also signed by John. At last enquiry they wanted £20K for it!

For those that are interested this link [url="http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotResultsDetailList.jsp?event_id=26007&sale_number=W03875"]http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotRe...e_number=W03875[/url] takes you the results page of the Entwistle auction.....

That's all I know anyway!!!

Edited by garethox
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[quote name='karlthebassist' post='721539' date='Jan 22 2010, 08:07 PM']I recall reading that a lot of Entwistles basses (I think he had 120-150 when he died) were auctioned off after his death. I think I'm right in saying that the salmon pink/fiesta red whatever you call it P-bass that was used on the quadraphenia (sp?) album sold for less than £5k, so quite a bargain for a die hard fan.[/quote]

I've got the catalog from that auction. It was through Sothebys.

You're correct, the frankenstein Fender was sold in it. You're a bit off on the final sale price, though. It ended up pulling £52000. There were a number of his Alembics, including the first one he bought, and heaps of Warwicks and Status basses. It was an amazing collection, he had a good eye for interesting instruments. He also had both a 1958 Flying V and Explorer, which were worth a small fortune each.

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[quote name='bassaussie' post='721571' date='Jan 22 2010, 07:42 PM']I've got the catalog from that auction. It was through Sothebys.

You're correct, the frankenstein Fender was sold in it. You're a bit off on the final sale price, though. It ended up pulling £52000. There were a number of his Alembics, including the first one he bought, and heaps of Warwicks and Status basses. It was an amazing collection, he had a good eye for interesting instruments. He also had both a 1958 Flying V and Explorer, which were worth a small fortune each.[/quote]

Yeah, there were two salmon pink basses. 'Frankenstein' and a.n.other. The other one went for £5,200 and Frankie for over £60K.

The catalogue is amazing! His collection was incredible for sure.

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[quote name='garethox' post='721577' date='Jan 22 2010, 08:49 PM']Yeah, there were two salmon pink basses. 'Frankenstein' and a.n.other. The other one went for £5,200 and Frankie for over £60K.

The catalogue is amazing! His collection was incredible for sure.[/quote]

I stand corrected on the price. But the Frankenstein is the Quadrophenia bass, right? That was always my impression, but I'm curious now.

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[quote name='bassaussie' post='721617' date='Jan 22 2010, 08:36 PM']I stand corrected on the price. But the Frankenstein is the Quadrophenia bass, right? That was always my impression, but I'm curious now.[/quote]


No, he used a Gibson Thunderbird on 'Quadrophenia' and '...By Numbers'. I believe he changed to get a different experience than just playing Fenders.....

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[quote name='garethox' post='721623' date='Jan 22 2010, 09:43 PM']No, he used a Gibson Thunderbird on 'Quadrophenia' and '...By Numbers'. I believe he changed to get a different experience than just playing Fenders.....[/quote]

This is great, you're answering a few questions I've always had about the catalog.

OK, there's 3 Alembics in there, the 2 Explorers and the Flying V. Which Explorer did he use the most (I always thought it was the one with the triangular headstock, not the split headstock) and did he ever use the Flying V?

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[quote name='bassaussie' post='721628' date='Jan 22 2010, 08:49 PM']This is great, you're answering a few questions I've always had about the catalog.

OK, there's 3 Alembics in there, the 2 Explorers and the Flying V. Which Explorer did he use the most (I always thought it was the one with the triangular headstock, not the split headstock) and did he ever use the Flying V?[/quote]

As far as I know he didn't have a favourite between the two 'normal' headstock Explorer's/Exploiter's and I am only aware of him using the 'V' head in public once - on a TV show called 'Gastank'. Put that in YT and you should be able to locate the clip; it also features a great interview with John and Rick Wakeman.

Edited by garethox
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[quote name='garethox' post='721634' date='Jan 22 2010, 09:54 PM']As far as I know he didn't have a favourite between the two 'normal' headstock Explorer's/Exploiter's and I am only aware of him using the 'V' head in public once - on a TV show called 'Gastank'. Put that in YT and you should be able to locate the clip; it also features a great interview with John and Rick Wakeman.[/quote]


Cool, thanks. I'm just going through that link you gave about his gear, it's fascinating reading. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of his playing, but I have a huge amount of admiration for the way he pioneered the way a bass should sound.

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I was at that auction. I bought this...
[url="http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDetail.jsp?sale_number=W03875&live_lot_id=358"]http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDe...live_lot_id=358[/url]

My biggest regret is I didn't buy this as well...
[url="http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDetail.jsp?sale_number=W03875&live_lot_id=257"]http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDe...live_lot_id=257[/url]

Peter Hook was sitting in front of me and bought this...
[url="http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDetail.jsp?sale_number=W03875&live_lot_id=229"]http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDe...live_lot_id=229[/url]

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[quote name='bassaussie' post='721638' date='Jan 22 2010, 08:57 PM']Cool, thanks. I'm just going through that link you gave about his gear, it's fascinating reading. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of his playing, but I have a huge amount of admiration for the way he pioneered the way a bass should sound.[/quote]

Absolutely! He was a pioneer. He helped create Rotosound strings, I believe he was the first to utilise the stereo capabilities of the Alembic's to their fullest too..... then of course there were the Status Buzzard's!

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