BASS GUITARS
I love basses and I have been playing them on recordings for donkey's years,
but really I love to play along with records from time to time.
FRETLESS BASS (Unknown brand mid 80s)
This Fender P bass copy was bought in 1986 by a friend of mine, it was black with a white plate. I bought it in 1988 and slowly started to alter it and this is pretty much what it has remained like for the last 20 years. The logo on the headstock is from an old band I was in back in the mid 90s. I still use this bass from time to time as it is one of the longest serving instruments I own. The brass control plate was custom made by a silversmith.
This bass is currently being repainted.
WASHBURN MERCURY MB-4 (1993)
This was bought in October 1994 for the band I was in at the time. It is an active bass with one of the best necks I have ever played. It's a great bass and I have used it on almost everything I recorded for the last 20 years.
FENDER P/J (MIJ 1996)
I found this on a advertising site and rang the owner and made an offer. It's a P with a J bridge pickup so you've the best of both worlds right here. Fiesta red is a killer colour in my book and not that common now. One other little note, it was said to be played by Shadows bassists Brian Locking and Jet Harris. There is in fact a video of Brian playing it at a Shadows Ireland gig in Dublin! Funny old Rock and Roll world innit!
SQUIER AFFINITY JAZZ BASS (Indonesia 2011)
This was a total impulse buy. The story goes like this. I gave a friend my Washburn Mercury during lockdown and it's still out and I had a serious bass pang having none in the house. So I bought a 1996 Fender P Bass MIJ but it's not with me yet so I was passing a pawn shop and booooom! These are very very good instruments. Really cheap used and very well made.
SQUIER AFFINITY JAZZ BASS (China 2013)
Another impulse buy! Crazy really, but even cheaper than the black one and possible going to be converted to a fretless bass. Once I cleaned it up and set it up right it sounds superb. Again the Squier basses are not just for kids, they're for middle aged nuts as well!
HOFNER (Unknown)
This bass has been around for a long time. A friend I was in a band with when I was in school back in '86 bought it in a pawn shop. I removed the frets for him and it's been like that ever since. We painted the neck brown and you can still see the pearloid slabs! He gave it to me recently to keep and I think I might refret it. It's a short scale too and from the late 60s I'd say. (Sold June 2018)
