Jim Rodford passes

[Dave W]

'He was a wonderful person, loved by everybody': The Kinks and Zombies bassist Jim Rodford passes away aged 76 after falling down stairs

I never knew he was Rod Argent's cousin.

[Highlander]

Last saw him with the Argent spin-off Phoenix years back... rip...
Vaguely remember a modular P/Strat he used...?

[Alanko]

Last saw him with the Argent spin-off Phoenix years back... rip...
Vaguely remember a modular P/Strat he used...?

Yes! As a Strat/P it looked like this:



And as a P bass:



Rod Argent's Strat was also much modified, with the top horn shrunk down and a lot of holes added:



I'm not sure if this was done by the band themselves or whether an early luthier like Dick Knight or Sam Lee did the work. It doesn't look like John Birch's handiwork.


It looks like Jim also had a Mustang (going back to the '80s or so?) with PJ pickups fitted. He brought this out recently, as well as Status headless basses. The Mustang is here:



And previously:






Anyway, RIP Jim. Falling down the stairs seems an unfortunate and tragic way to go, and one which could potentially claim any of us at any time. Very unlucky.

[Highlander]

The guitarist with the holey Strat was Russ Ballard, iirc...
I liked that Jim Rodford's guitar and bass could be put back together as individual instruments too... crazy concept but to each their own...

[Alanko]

Russ Ballard it is! He still has the Strat:

[Highlander]

It was Ballard's replacement John Verity I saw with Phoenix...

[uwe]

Have the Phoenix albums on CD, loved his stoic playing on Argent's Hold Your Head Up, he also played with later incarnations of The Kinks, safe passage ...