The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Gibson Basses => Topic started by: uwe on March 04, 2009, 10:51:59 AM
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Rob posted this in another thread dealing with singing bassists and jokingly asked whether Herr Hill was playing a Thunderfalcon, i.e. a Gretsch Falcon with a TBird neck. But to me, this bass cries Gibson and especially Phil Jones' handwriting all over. The headstock is obviously a TBird replica and a close one at that. The body of the bass looks just like my acoustic Super 400 Custom Shop acoustic bass which Phil Jones built. The diamond holes are straight from the design of the EB-650, another Phil Jones creation. Even the period seems to fit, the vid is from the early nineties when Phil had his greatest influence on the bass design of Gibson: Les Paul Special, Standard, De Luxe, EB-650 and -750 were all masterminded by him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B0y64FONDo
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This a short post, cos I'm eating boerenkool with worst at the moment.
I have this book about Billy Bo's guitars and cars. Most guitars have a matching bass and most of them are custom made. I look this one up. This book is a must have though.
My favorite: In the eighties when the headless hype was going on Fender made a headless Strat and a headless P for a ZZ Top video. Those instruments had no tuners at al!!!:D
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I wonder if they ever regret pissing off Dean Zelinski.
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Those were Gibson custom jobs they had. The necks and diamond holes are straight from the Gibson Trini Lopez Standard and Custom, a non-Phil Jones creation. They were early in the ZZ Top custom matching instruments phase - mid 80s/early 90s. Pretty cool I think, although I could do without the albino look. A nice Gibson cherry would be more expected, but I guess that was what they were avoiding.
http://www.garysguitars.com/product_pics/332b.jpg
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This a short post, cos I'm eating boerenkool with worst at the moment.
I have this book about Billy Bo's guitars and cars. Most guitars have a matching bass and most of them are custom made. I look this one up. This book is a must have though.
My favorite: In the eighties when the headless hype was going on Fender made a headless Strat and a headless P for a ZZ Top video. Those instruments had no tuners at al!!!:D
You can see in one of their bad 80s videos that the strings are held on at the nut by capos!
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the guitar/bas featured here are made by bolin in '89. Bolin made lot's of special guitar voor zz-top. Indeed I looked it up at the rock 'n' roll gearhead book by billy f gibbons. A must have.
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Anyway, to give you the real answer here, that bass (and the matching guitar) were made by Luthier John Bolin.
http://www.bolinguitars.com/indextemp.html
And he also made a pair of them in "My-eyes-hurt" green.
(http://www.bolinguitars.com/deltaduo.jpg)
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Okay, I have the description out of the book 'Billy F. Gibbons - Rock 'n Roll Gearhead'
Quote:
This is the ZZ Top Crazy Cowboy, another Bolin, made in '89. A giant Switchmaster neck-thru body coupled to a Firebird reversed headstock. rear-mounted single knob, and pick up with Trini Lopez's diamond body cavities from the '60s. It's a big player.
On the all-white bass I see one control, one red open coil pick up and the diamond f-holes which seem to be filled with some silver foil or something.
This guitar has a brother: A same body-headstock combination, but this time no sound holes at all and the body is completely covered with a layer of 24 carat gold. This one has a closed, chrome covered humbucker and also one pick up, reversed Friebrid headstock, ....
Bolin Guitars also made the Jellybean. Like a white Explorer whish is very rounded and has a V headstock. Same white colour and red open coil pick up.
Another Bolin guitar is an ebony Explorer with V-headstock, with again a red pick up and covered with sparkling stones. Most guitars have a matching bass, which aren't in the book. Only some furry ones.
The last Bolin I found in the book is a Tele.
One of the nicest guitars in the book is an SG with one pick up, maestro vibrato and a V-headstock! Looks very good!
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While I was typing two of you guys said the same! That snake design first appeared on a Muddy Waters guitar Gibbons gave to a museum.
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I really like the bo diddley leopard skinguitar and ofcourse the olde fenders and mss pearly gates. On of the coolest things in the book is on page 102/103 men I shure like that one.
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While I was typing two of you guys said the same!
The difference being that you and Saf said it like gentlemen... Thanks to both of you for the info.
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Turn down that bright light... it's not m tahm ter go...
(http://i655.photobucket.com/albums/uu280/kjrstewart/muddywaterspopart.jpg)
something I tweaked from an 10x8 B&W shot by a nice lady called Pennie Smith - ex NME house photographer - unpublished...?
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The difference being that you and Saf said it like gentlemen... Thanks to both of you for the info.
I'm sorry I didn't know that my reply came across as rude, it wasn't my intention. What I meant with "To give you the real answer here" was that the first posts in this thread were of speculation of those instruments being made by the Gibson Custom shop which was not the case.
Also if you look closely at the time I posted my reply you'll find that Saf was just a little earlier, we almost posted our replies simultaneously.
Again, it was not my intention to come across as rude.
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These are called Johnny Firesmiths (guitar and bass)- according to Walter Carters book they were made of Balsa wood, by Mathew Klein at the Gibson custom shop, and were used on the Recycler tour
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These are called Johnny Firesmiths (guitar and bass)- according to Walter Carters book they were made of Balsa wood, by Mathew Klein at the Gibson custom shop, and were used on the Recycler tour
I think we have a winner here. Thanks, Jules.
Take a look at the fine print, upper right.
(http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d126/bigmikeinca/P1160015.jpg)
According to what little I could find (searching for Johhny Firesmith), these were solid balsa but painted to look like (hollow) Johnny Smith models.
That's the era when Gibson started putting "chromyte" blocks in some models. Chromyte = Gibson marketing department's name for balsa.
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Wow, I never thought of balsa as a particularly fine tonewood...
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Wait!
Billy F. Gibbons states it are Bolin guitars, but that other book or magazine say they're Gibsons? Could there be a pair of Bolin's and Gibsons? I'm sure BFG knows what he says and the ones in the book are certainly not Gibsons. No logo, strange red pick ups, ...
About them boing hollow or not: The pics in the BFG-book shows real diamond holes but with something silver behind it. Like it's stuffed with foil or something.
@ Saf: 102/3 is great but I like the Cadzzila even better. And I just love the Gretsch Billy Bo Jupiter Thunderbird Bass. The name's already perfecttly long:)
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Myabe BFG is talking about a different pair. I don't think an article about the Gibson Custom Shop would just make up specific information like that.
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Bill Gibbons likes to raise confusion. You never know what he makes up or when he's serious.
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Whew, that thread developed nicely, thanks for everyone's input! I just have two questions:
1. Why did no one of you guys dig this up before?
2. Anybody got Dusty Hill's home number? I wanna buy a bass off him.
And balsa ain't no bad tone wood at all: My Yamaha RBX4 A2 A.I.R. (Alternative Internal Resonance) is made of balsa laminated by some harder wood. The sound? Warm and blurry, yet retaining a certain airiness. Great sound for an unplugged session where most piezo equipped acoustic basses would sound harsher. What it doesn't have is ball-shaking sublows like you would have from a, say, maple solid body , I always notice that when playing the Yamaha in a rehearsal space with a loud drummer, it then doesn't have quite the authority of other basses. Yamaha should offer a fretless version of it, that would sound perfect.
Uwe
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Dusty Hill: 555 - 7492745
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BTW: We ALL knew about these basses, but we decided not tell you for several reasons.
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While I am typing, we have decided to retaliate in tried and trusted fashion. Paratroopers taking off. We'll abduct your Queen first (no getting away to England this time, her German husband can arrest her for us!), if I'm in a gentle mood she can be my Reinemachefrau and dust of ze kölleckshün with ostrich feathers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1oFnWHDPg0
Darn, Rachel Ward was hot.
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her German husband can arrest her for us!
he died in 2002... :o :mrgreen:
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN0t5Dx294c&feature=related
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Klink! Ve are zending you to ze Russian front!
General Burkhalter let me assure you.........................
Love that show :)
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he died in 2002... :o :mrgreen:
Small logistic issues like that have never held us back.
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Small logistic issues like that have never held us back.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vW6sl2CNCo
Nope, that was never the problem here... ;D
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Strange... I got a facebook message from Mat Klein the other day (oddly shows up on my phone, but not online) about these instruments. Pretty much confirms what's already been said - He made the white ones. The green ones were copied and made by Bolin. Klein has worked at Gibson since '86 and apparently still does.
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Strange... I got a facebook message from Mat Klein the other day (oddly shows up on my phone, but not online) about these instruments. Pretty much confirms what's already been said - He made the white ones. The green ones were copied and made by Bolin. Klein has worked at Gibson since '86 and apparently still does.
If he's still there, then Uwe ought to be able to get one made. At least it doesn't have an Indian rosewood board.
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Why not they made all these other bases for him!
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New member.
Matthew Klein here,
The Johnny FireSmiths were Billys idea.
Afterburner explorers were built entirely by hand in George Gruhns repair shop in late '85. Worked for him for 7 years. One year for Bill Lawrence.
The two explorer guitars and two explorer basses had pink Duncans (Billy) and Pink Demarzios(Dusty). Explorers were mahogany from tip of headstock to bridge, with balsa wings and remaining center section, front and back skinned with spruce 1/8". All load points blocked in with mahogany. Metal inserted to tip of explorer body near the strap button for balance. Epoxy primed surface to give surface tension to the finished instrument when lacquered. Finished and assembled they wieghed 6.5 lbs (guitar)7.5lbs(bass)
All balsa was hand picked for density and resonance. Mahogany was pattern grade and responsive to the touch.
Matthew Klein
Nashville TN
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I got (probably) that same email from Mathew too. Will contact him to see whether having one of those made is still an option. I have a balsa wood Yamaha bass, nice warm fuzzy sound, but lacking the really deep sublows. But then who wants these on stage with ZZ Top and what comes out of the PA is another matter altogether.
I read a very enlightening/sobering interview of the bass playing Kroeger brother in everybody's favorite band Nickelbag in a German guit and bass mag. The guy has humor so it's actually a good read. Asked why he gave up using amps and all effects on stage altogether and now plugs his Spectors and what have you directly in he reveals: "After the last tour I had dinner with my favorite (and also our best) soundman and he lauds me for my "best ever bass sound on stage". So I ask him: "but how much of it do you actually use for what's coming out of the PA?" And he says cheekily: "Oh, about 10%, the core sound coming out of the PA is your direct signal."
Rather than this putting Herr Kroeger into therapy, he decisded to "stop cluttering things up with my own rig and stage sound, but rather play with the sound in my ear the people hear out there in front of the stage ...".
I've never been an "only my rig and nothing else will do for my sound"-cultist, but this has even me wondering ...
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I haven't used an amp for a couple of years now...we use a second monitor mix for roland drums, and bass guitar with softer vocals for me and the drummer. I get enough guitar and keyboard from the stage monitor mix number one. The bass I hear is exactly what goes out front, except for the subs. Keeps the stage a lot less loud. I like it a lot, though i would like to try IEM's sometime.
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New member.
Matthew Klein here,
The Johnny FireSmiths were Billys idea.
Afterburner explorers were built entirely by hand in George Gruhns repair shop in late '85. Worked for him for 7 years. One year for Bill Lawrence.
The two explorer guitars and two explorer basses had pink Duncans (Billy) and Pink Demarzios(Dusty). Explorers were mahogany from tip of headstock to bridge, with balsa wings and remaining center section, front and back skinned with spruce 1/8". All load points blocked in with mahogany. Metal inserted to tip of explorer body near the strap button for balance. Epoxy primed surface to give surface tension to the finished instrument when lacquered. Finished and assembled they wieghed 6.5 lbs (guitar)7.5lbs(bass)
All balsa was hand picked for density and resonance. Mahogany was pattern grade and responsive to the touch.
Matthew Klein
Nashville TN
Matthew,
Thanks for the story on these, and welcome.
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A nice reply!
The amp-story is another discussion. I guess most of us play in small bands and needing an amp... When I'm as big as U2 or The Stones, I will think different about amps...
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I've never been an "only my rig and nothing else will do for my sound"-cultist, but this has even me wondering ...
Rock tips from a poser: if his sound mattered to him that much, he wouldn't be asking such stupid questions. How many 'guitar gods' take rig tips from their FOH guys? Soundguys are supposed to work for the band, not the other way around.
I agree he does have a good sense of humor though- his interviews are always funny.
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Geddy Lee hasn't used amps for years, aside from a couple of 410s mounted under the stage to rattle things a bit. I've thought about going ampless too, but again, we all want a little rumble up there. I was a "you gotta mic my SVT!" purist forever until I started using IEMs. I was shocked at how good my direct tone actually is with my Sadowsky preamp pedal. ;D
Also - welcome Mat, and thanks for the info!