The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Gibson Basses => Topic started by: Muzikman7 on January 23, 2009, 11:08:26 PM
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http://cgi.ebay.com/Lynyrd-Skynyrd-1964-THUNDERBIRD-recorded-FREEBIRD_W0QQitemZ320334554119QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item320334554119&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1307|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50 Here you go Uwe
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I love that custom 1964 Model One pickup!
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who spoiled this bass with that ugly refinish?
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If it is legit that is a real piece of history. Luv the added horn extension to cure neck dive.
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That's a big if. I don't see any legitimate evidence yet that this is what the seller claims.
Even if it is, it has no celebrity value to me. Just a badly modded and badly refinished 64.
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i'd pop for the opening bid of 2k just on the chance it is legit.
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after leon died his wife had a 'yard sale' of sorts. she was practically giving things away.
they used to play in this little dive on peachtree street (atlanta) with all the other local bands. who knew!
btw i used to have one of leon's cases. :bored:
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What I personally find interesting is that this Thunderbird apparently survived a plane crash without the headstock breaking off. Normally, if you LOOK at them the wrong way, the neck will snap.;D
I have seen that upper, ummm, appendage on a NR Firebird that some local guy had (had a Floyd Rose on it too, but that's a whole 'nuther kettle of stupid).
That Model One is definitely interesting...
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LOL I was trying to think of the chances of that bass surviving a plane crash unbroken. I think it is safe to presume that that bass has been broken at some point.
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they used to play in this little dive on peachtree street (atlanta) with all the other local bands.-fat macs rib shack?just curious because i went there to see some bands when i was recording a documentary on the paralympics.
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Leon quit the band shortly before they recorded the first album, and rejoined afterward. As far as I know Ed King played bass on Freebird on their first album.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Wilkeson
Wilkeson began to get cold feet just prior to recording sessions getting underway for their debut album, as he felt that he was still too young and not ready for a 'life on the road.' The bassist surprised his bandmates by bowing out, and taking a job stocking ice cream at 'Farm Best Dairy Products.' Former Strawberry Alarm Clock member Ed King subbed for Wilkeson during the recording of Skynyrd's 1973 debut, Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd, but just as sessions wrapped up, Wilkeson began having second thoughts about leaving the group. After discussing the matter with Van Zant, Wilkeson was welcomed back into Lynyrd Skynyrd.
That is the story they've always told (Ed King said the parts he played were written by Leon). Ed, of course, stayed on as guitar player.
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Luv the added horn extension to cure neck dive.
I noticed on a live video of the current version of the band their new bass player was playing a Thunderbird with the same kind of extension. It was chrome or at least silver colored, but if it had been black it would have blended right in with his black shirt and would have been unnoticeable. I actually didn't notice it at first like it was.
A pretty good idea.
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I think a lot of the confusion is that this is a rare Gibson "ARTIST" edition. Once I was in a shop and picked up a Fender Jazzmaster only to find out it was a Gibson Les Paul. But it was an ARTIST edition! Everyone knows the DiMarzio Model One was a direct copy of the ultra rare 1960's ARTIST edition of the mudbucker. Seldom seen. Only installed as the lead pup on Tbirds and maybe a Trini Lopez guitar. Very confusing, but we are all learning, I am sure.
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LOL!
I'd guess that this is not the bass that Leon Wilkeson didn't play when he didn't record Freebird. But it survived the plane crash by not being on board.
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the band played at a place called finocio's in the early seventies. fat matt's did not come around until sometime in the nineties. matt's is still here and one of the best blues joints in town.
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I agree with Scott. 2K is all over it IF it is legit. The picture of Leon with the bass is a II, not a IV, and is a totally different bass than is in the auction! With questionable provenance, this bass may not even be worth the opening bid. Don't let the 'Freebird' claims fool you. Without proper documentation, or certified pix of him playing it in it's current condition, this bass is what it is. A hacked up refin worth ???. Buyer beware!!!!!
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I agree...But the paint DOES looks Cool!!!! But that bridge pickup????????? Should have left it a single pickup. I too think that the headstock may be repaired.
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From the picture(even though it is of poor quality) of the RCB I can presume it is one of Leon's basses. I think the Freebird link is BS. For a 2k opening bid I don't think someone would mod and finish a bass like that and fake the road case, just not worth the effort. I do think it is one of Leon's basses and for that must be worth something.
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It looks like he was at least holding the same bass. Maybe he actually owned it and played it in the later band. Skynyrd connection? No evidence of that.
As for the stenciling on the case, maybe it's legit, maybe it was done after the fact. With the name and the band on it, it might as well have said "steal me."
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Found thid pic on a Skynyrd site. If you look at the very bottom of the photo, where the bass is cropped, you'll see a chrome piece that looks too far forward to be the bridge - could be the Muddle One. The extend-o bracket seems to be in place as well.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/lowend1/cap117.jpg)
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Need I say that I really, really like the refin? :-[
I have a hunch this is the real thing. Possibly it was even on the recording of Free Bird if Ed King played it and it was at this point not owned by Leon but by the band (or Leon lent it to them for the recording).
Nice piece of Rock'n'Roll history, but I'm not interested.
Uwe
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Leon is pictured on the inside of the gatefold sleeve playing a Ric 4000. So I guess it was a Ric that he didn't play on Freebird. ;D
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And there it goes climbing through the stratosphere. http://cgi.ebay.com/Lynyrd-Skynyrd-1964-THUNDERBIRD-recorded-FREEBIRD_W0QQitemZ320334554119QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item320334554119&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205
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I'm not surprised. While the initial description is full of inaccuracies and non-sensical stuff (the "Artist" legend), I think there is a subdued truth at the core, Herr Wilkeson played this at one time or another so it is forever anointed with the Skynyrd plane crash mythology. And it's a sixties TBird after all, modifications or not, though I'd be surprised if this specimen didn't have a repaired neck break somewhere given what it must have been through even without plane crash survival. Not that these hardy guys from the South were ever too tender with their instruments. Didn't one of the Skynyrd guitarists play a Les Paul whose neck break had been repaired with a - yes :o - screw? And didn't Gibson actually bring out a signature version of it some years ago that featured the screw (but hopefully not the prior neckbreak)?
Uwe
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Some guys at Talkbass, that did investigating, did not think it was authentic to the story, last I read.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=509658
Hello all (y'all ? ) from the land Skynyrd. Did some checking on this yesterday with some folks and these are two different basses. The one pictured in the studio photo suffered an irrepairable neck twist/bow and truss rod damage, was stripped of all it's hardware and ended up as a wall hanger in a local music store. It's current location is unknown but I suspect it's still in the hands of the former owner of the music store that Leon gave it to. Btw, the sticker says: Skynyrd Smokes- from the back of the first record.
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I don't know?
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$6250 and reserve not met for a bass with a dubious history? :rolleyes:
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I might be nutz on two occasions:
1) I never heard Freebird until this post. I listented to it a few times....the version on Youtube that comes up first....it seems towards the end there's some high stuff on the bass that I would figure wouldn't be so easy if it's past the 15th fret....for that Thunderbird........just kinda had me thinking it's another bass type altogether.
2) I like the finish.
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I never heard Freebird until this post
Don't feel bad about that! That's a good thing.
The guys an idiot for not taking the money. As more people look into this, I bet he will be lucky to get half of that amount now.
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Not heard Freebird?! :o I'm no Southern Rock diehard and Lynyrd Skynyrd old or new aren't the best representative of that type of music (they never climbed the heights of the Allmans, but never went as nether as Molly Hatchet or Blackfoot either, I'd rank them with the Outlaws or Marshall Tucker; Charlie Daniels was more country than them all put together), but they have their deserved place in American rock history though I still prefer "Mr. Young" to Sweet Home Alabama.
And since we're at it: RIP Billy Powell of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/News/billy-powell-of-lynyrd-skynyrd/
Darn good ivory tinkler he was. From "Working for MCA" to working for the Good Lord.
Are they now going to get Greg Allman?
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I never heard Freebird until this post
I salute you! :toast:
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Gabba gabba hey, then!
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I had both Ramones and LS in the record collection. The thing I didn't like about LS was the fact that the radio just killed Freebird, same way they did Zep's Stairway to Heaven. God I was so sick of both songs.
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I had both Ramones and LS in the record collection. The thing I didn't like about LS was the fact that the radio just killed Freebird, same way they did Zep's Stairway to Heaven. God I was so sick of both songs.
Familiarity breeds contempt.
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I love Leon Wilkesons playing. He had a great musical energy and cleverness to his playing.
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The thing I didn't like about LS was the fact that the radio just killed Freebird, same way they did Zep's Stairway to Heaven. God I was so sick of both songs.
Buddy Fletcher help as well.
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For historical accuracy: I bought Skynyrd's "One more
for from the road" live album (which they never bettered) at pretty much the same time as the Ramone's iconic debut (which they never bettered).
Speeded up, the D C and G major chords of "Sweet Home Alabama" would have made a fine Ramones song. Not sure whether the Skynyrds would have been as comfortable with covering the bruddah's "The K-K-K took my baby away" (though the term "KKK" was reportedly just Joey's nickname for Johnny due to the latter's conservative views and purloinment of a female Joey had laid his short-sighted eyes on).
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real or not the bass went to 6,250.00 but did not meet the reserve.
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Gabba gabba hey, then!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm-ODeyFHjY