The Last Bass Outpost

I interviewed quite some Music Man players over the years, also for a guitar mag, like Gail Ann Dorsey, St. Vincent, Louis Johnson, etc. I also wrote a big StingRay special for the mag, but strange enough I only reviewed a SUB by Sterling by MM and a Sterling by MM. Mind you: we have other reviewers, so USA MM basses came by in the mag. But I never really played Music Mans, just on trade shows, like the NAMM.

When I started bass 25 years ago, I had no idea about basses, so I listened to my 'expert' friends, but of course I loved the looks of some of 'm. My local shop had a powder blue Squier Musicmaster with matching headstock and I loved it. But it was short scale and my expert friends told me short scales are for children, women and guitar players. The horror. My second choice was the Danelectro Longhorn reissue. Too ugly, according to my friends, and there would be no place in the band-to-be if I bought that. The third bass I loved - again purely for the looks - had a symmetrical oval pickguard, a smiling quarter moon control plate and a different 3+1 headstock. It was not only too expensive, but my expert friends told me active basses were for funk. Period.

So I bought a black Squier P. My next bass was adviced by a guy who's still a friend, who really was an expert, and nowadays he's the Dutch Gretsch salesman. He worked at Gibson and he sold me a Epi JCS.

Later, when I quit that band, I bought a copperburst Dano Longhorn reissue and much later I found the powder blue short scale Squier, which was my first love. As you know I play short scales a lot nowadays: Höfner, Fender, Gibson, and Danelectro. Many basses came and I even bought a double MM Warwick Streamer but never a StingRay. Why? I don't know.

After writing that StingRay Special some years ago I got interested in StingRays more and more, and I start looking, reading, gathering info. I'm a big Queen fan and after watching some footage of Deacon again, I decided I needed one. First I bought a cheap Sub by Sterling by MM. The EQ is limited but it's a great little bass, which stands up to some of my more expensive basses. I got used to the pickup position and I liked it. So last week a real US StingRay followed me home. A Honey Burst, with rosewood board – suits my fingerstyle pop/rock playing better – and a 3band EQ: I like to push some mids. This bass is a 2011 model, but it was still new in the shop, with even the protective plastic on the pickguard. 9 years of drying wood is no problem to me. And I got a very good deal.
I installed a new Duracell battery, new Ernie Ball Slinky strings - I never use Ernie Ball strings , but I thought it would suit the bass - and I love it.
I play it at home for some weeks now and like it! Great neck, great looks, great sound! Glad I did it.

This week I did a trade with a friend. He got my reissue short scale Vox (the coffin model) and I got his '79 Shergold Marathon. I paid a little on top of it.

Here it is! In fact it's P-ish. P-style fat neck, P-style pick up and sound. Rather light, and even the bridge cover looks P, but it's plastic and broken as you can see.

It's an Mk 1a, btw. With stereo-output. Or EA and DG or - like Rickenbacker - one output for both.

Simon Postuma died. With Marijke Koger he formed The Fool, famous for painting the Beatles Apple Building, making ckothes for the Beatles and of course the The Fool SG and Bass VI for Cream.

Just got some e-mails of Gibson and Epiphone at the NAMM show and no news at all yet....

I think it was around 12 years ago when I found a non working Coral in a shop. I bought it very cheap and it was in a closet for all those years. A year ago a colleague told me he likes to repair Danelectro basses, so I gave him this one. He lives quite far, it was ready last summer, but I picked it up at Christmas. It's a great bass. Think Danelectro with more low end. And with a very small and thin solid body.

I just posted this at the Rickenbacker Resource Forum, but I thought it would be cool to do it here too!

Today I was a guest at the national radio to talk about bass. Long story short: we have our 50th issue and we published a reader chosen bass song top 50. As a Dutch magazine it's no surprise Golden Earrings Radar Love won. Rick link: In the official video you see Rinus Gerritsen play his '60s 4001S ('68?), while it's recorded with a Gibson EB-3 through a Fender Twin Reverb amp.

In the show I was accompanied by Rinus Gerritsen. I Know about his EB0, EB3, his see through Dan Armstrong, his Danelectro's, his Ovation Magnum, his very old Höfner and his 4001, but he told me earlier he had an old short scale Rick. As a former 3000 owner, I asked him before if it was a 3000 but he told me it was the 'normal' Rickenbacker type bass. I thought he was just wrong, but today he brought a picture and he told me the story:

He is not a big Rickenbacker fan and he never played his 4001 much. On tour in the US with the Golden Earring a Rickenbacker sales rep came up to him and he asked him why he didn't play a Ricky. Rinus, too polite to tell him he disliked the 4001, said he only played short scale.
The next dat the rep was back at the hotel with - according to Rinus - one of two short scale Rickenbackers, built for a bass player of a country band/star. He bought it for 300 US Dollars.

So it seems I was wrong and RInus right. Of course I want to visit him once to see it and judge it for myself. And I will ask John Hall at the NAMM about it.

What do you guys know/think/...?

BTW: I have Rinus' permission to post this.

Years ago I bought one of the first SG Basses. Gloss cherry red with a black case with white lining. I loved that bass and I recorded almost the whole The La La Lies album with it and I gigged it a lot. After a while I loaned it to a friend, she wanted to buy it, but I wasn't eager to sell. Then an old Rickenbacker was offered to me, so I sold the SG thinking: I can buy one back once.

Fast forward to 2014. I went to Gibson The Netherlands and I saw this SG Bass in matte sunburst, but with case. Brown with pink lining. Normally the matte versions had a bag, But I think this had a case cos it was a 120th Ann model with the special inlay at the 12th fret? It was a model artists could borrow and not for sale. I enquired almost every year if it was for sale and this year it was! Because it was used by Dutch artists and international artists touring in Europe, it has some pick scratches and a little wear pattern on the upper back, but that adds mojo, imho. I got it for a real good price. I xan't say it here, bt let's say cheaper than an Epi EB3.

I used to dislike burst SGs. Just not right. After seeing a lot of footage of Wolfmother, with a burst SG guitar, I got used to it, started to like it, and liking turned into loving....

So I picked her up yesterday. Here she is with a Souldier strap. A brand from Chicago I endorse.