The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Other Bass Brands => Topic started by: Pekka on March 11, 2017, 01:24:40 PM
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This 4-string simple looking bass has bugged me for years. It seems he used it circa 1979:
(http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/tom-petersson-and-rick-nielsen-performing-with-cheap-trick-at-the-in-picture-id522489660)
(https://www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/pict/182440586067_/Cheap-Trick-Robin-Zander-and-Tom-Petersson-8x10.jpg)
(http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/rick-nielsen-and-tom-petersson-perform-live-with-cheap-trick-in-new-picture-id90722513?s=594x594)
It also looks a bit wrong being a sort of modern looking bass with a pointy headstock and neck-through construction, at least when compared to other more vintage and "cool" looking 4-string basses he used on stage at the time (T-Birds, '55 P-Bass, Fender Bass V).
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I would guess it's something he picked up in Japan. Aria? The bridge looks familiar.
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It could be a version of something like this Aria:
https://reverb-res.cloudinary.com/image/upload/a_exif,c_limit,fl_progressive,h_620,q_85,w_620/v1421965615/t0xjhfrwlhjeey8mongn.jpg
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Looks like a vintage Westone Thunder bass.
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Thanks for the answers, Aria or Westone or something out of Matsumoko could be the right answer. He also occasionally used a Greco EB-8 eight string bass at that time.
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Thanks for the answers, Aria or Westone or something out of Matsumoko could be the right answer. He also occasionally used a Greco EB-8 eight string bass at that time.
Everything I have seen agrees with a Matsumoku origin. That one screams it. Nice look, too!
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Vantage VS Series bass? They seem to come with a mix of hardware, including some with 3-point Gibson-style bridges. Not seen any with a switch below the controls, but it could be series/parallel for the pickup? Probably OEM Dimarzios onboard.
(http://medias.audiofanzine.com/images/normal/vantage-vs695b-344922.jpg)
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My absolute wildcard guess is a non-production Hondo Professional II model. The second image appears to show a bass with this headstock:
(http://trichards.co.uk/images/gallery/Hondo%202%20bass/$_57.JPG)
I once owned one of these in black. It was killer heavy and a bit of a diver, but sounded pretty nice. Hondo seem to have done Professional II guitars with that thru-neck appearance, and basses with a broadly similar control layout when they built instruments under license from SD Curlee. If Hondo were like Memphis, another Matsumoku brand, then the instruments aren't necessarily thru-neck even if they look it. That hippy sandwich look was pervasive! There is a gap in the catalogs I can find for any bass as lavishly appointed as some of the Professional II guitars. My total guess is that it was a prototype bass that incorporated some of the SD Curlee elements.
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Thanks Alanko for your survey. Interesting points. BTW, do you happen to have any connection to Finland? "Alanko" is a finnish surname.
I also chanced upon this photo and Jimmy Bain's bass has some of those same features too. Phil Lynott is playing Jimmy's Yamaha BB1200 (?).
(http://www.thinlizzyguide.com/gallery/gigs/791201_howard_jones/791201_photos_wild_horses_6.jpg)
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Thanks Alanko for your survey. Interesting points. BTW, do you happen to have any connection to Finland? "Alanko" is a finnish surname.
No Finnish connection here. My name is Alan, and a Slovakian friend of mine called me 'Alanko' as a term of endearment. Adding 'ka' or 'ko' is apparently common, though Alan isn't a name over there. My girlfriend has kept this odd tradition alive.
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Adding 'ka' or 'ko' is apparently common, though Alan isn't a name over there. My girlfriend has kept this odd tradition alive.
My wife does the same with my name, it's Ilan (pronounced Elon, like Elon Musk).
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I'm a HUGE Matsumoku nerd. I probably could go on and on about these, but I'll try to keep it short: At some point in the late 70's Mats. started a Korean factory, and they made a bunch of their designs "over there" to kinda test out everything. That's where the "Hondo Professional" stuff came from. (I have a "Skylark" guitar, and a "HIIP" guitar, and they're 90% similar- the difference is kinda like a "Custom Shop" whatever vs. a Squier/Epi) Mats. was no different than other Japanese companies, they made stuff for whoever hired them, so one design could have 14 different brand names on it. Oh, and they made neck-thru, set-neck and bolt-on ("Bayonet mount") stuff all in the same design guitars, like the Skylark I have.
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I remember spending years trying to find out what brand my friend's matsumoku fender copy bass was. This was before internet.
I was so happy when I walked into a shop that sold one : it had a logo! It was an Aria Diamond 1820.
And then I got somewhat puzzled again when I saw the Epiphone T280. Ah, the mysteries in life...