It's cheap because it's a refin

Dave W · December 26, 2018, 09:04:42 AM

'66 slab P once owned by JAE

It's not too late to buy me this for Christmas!

gearHed289 · December 27, 2018, 08:25:17 AM

That's a pretty special bass. I'm sure there's a collector out there interested.

Highlander · December 27, 2018, 02:25:08 PM

Already got one of his...

godofthunder · January 01, 2019, 09:08:47 AM

There is a Epiphone Embassy of John's up for sale as well, only 13k If I had it I pop for it right now!

Dave W · January 01, 2019, 08:55:21 PM

Quote from: godofthunder on January 01, 2019, 09:08:47 AM
There is a Epiphone Embassy of John's up for sale as well, only 13k If I had it I pop for it right now!

If you'll buy this one for me, I'll think about buying that Embassy for you. Fair enough?

Chris P. · January 02, 2019, 02:50:31 AM

I'm glad you're considering a Warwick, Dave!

ilan · January 02, 2019, 05:12:55 AM

How many '66 slabs did he own? The one he's pictured with had a 3rd knob.

Alanko · January 02, 2019, 01:26:43 PM

Quote from: ilan on January 02, 2019, 05:12:55 AM
How many '66 slabs did he own? The one he's pictured with had a 3rd knob.

Three, I think.

One was converted to the three-knob setup. From memory this was either rewired as a crude stereo setup with each P pickup half routed to a different output (or TRS stereo jack), or some sort of crude booster was installed. Apparently John didn't like it after the mods.

John smashed another one that had a split in the body starting down at the strap button. Either this bass or the three-knob special donated their neck to 'Frankenstein'.

The third one was babied, refinished (as was his original sunburst P bass and Frankenstein), and is the Gruhn bass presumably.

Dave W · January 02, 2019, 05:50:07 PM

Quote from: Alanko on January 02, 2019, 01:26:43 PM
Three, I think.

One was converted to the three-knob setup. From memory this was either rewired as a crude stereo setup with each P pickup half routed to a different output (or TRS stereo jack), or some sort of crude booster was installed. Apparently John didn't like it after the mods.

John smashed another one that had a split in the body starting down at the strap button. Either this bass or the three-knob special donated their neck to 'Frankenstein'.

The third one was babied, refinished (as was his original sunburst P bass and Frankenstein), and is the Gruhn bass presumably.

I think you've got it right.

Quote from: Chris P. on January 02, 2019, 02:50:31 AM
I'm glad you're considering a Warwick, Dave!

A Thumb would be the only Warwick I'd consider, just because of Jack. Unfortunately the one at Gruhn's is probably extra-heavy so I'll have to pass. Plus I'm slightly short of the necessary $55K.

D.M.N. · January 02, 2019, 09:06:10 PM

I think he might have had four, actually. I believe he owned 3 in the 60s, which went on to form the groundwork for Frankenstein. This is one he got later that had already been refinished prior to his purchase, if I'm remembering his commentary from his Bass Culture book correctly.

Alanko · January 09, 2019, 03:21:38 PM

There is another Slab of Johns in England (unless it is this one?) as I know the owner. That would make it four.

The funny thing about Frankenstein is that John reckoned the pickup and circuitry gave it the raunchy tone, whereas I think it was the maple-capped neck if anything. The Slabs had a bone-stock P bass wiring harness and pickup. No subtle overwinding on the pickups or 500 K potentiometers or anything like that. John K on Talkbass studied the circuitry on one and it was identical to any other '60s P bass. I saw gut shots of another and one pickup bobbin had grey flatwork and the other black. These were pulled out the bins like any other P bass.

Quite interesting that John was driven to build Frankenstein per one set of beliefs, got the right results, but might have been totally wrong about the reasons behind these results.

I'm guessing the sunburst body and white pickguard came from two different instruments. The chrome pickup cover came from a Jazz bass and the neck, pickup and wiring harness came out of a Slab bass. John even stuck a tug bar on there, even though he never used them. John had the bass refinished in the '70s, so maybe the Slab got done at the same time? It makes sense that if he really loved these instruments you wanted to keep them looking fresh, rather than let the paint wear away. John was a sharp dresser and I imagine he wanted his gear to look the same.

And... Calling it 'Frankenstein' was wrong. In the original book Frankenstein is the doctor, so 'Frankenstein's Monster' or simply 'Monster' might have been better.

4stringer77 · January 09, 2019, 08:12:11 PM

I give John a pass on Frankenstein. I also don't second guess General Mills for calling their cereal Frankenberry instead of Monsterberry.
Interesting theory on the Maple neck, although I wouldn't discount the effect of the body's wood composition either.

slinkp · January 09, 2019, 10:09:51 PM

What does "maple capped" mean? Maple fretboard glued on top of maple neck?
Would that sound any different than a typical one-piece maple?

Dave W · January 09, 2019, 10:11:02 PM

Quote from: slinkp on January 09, 2019, 10:09:51 PM
What does "maple capped" mean? Maple fretboard glued on top of maple neck?
Would that sound any different than a typical one-piece maple?

That's what it means. I'd have to hear a large sample before I would believe it sounds different.

Quote from: 4stringer77 on January 09, 2019, 08:12:11 PM
I give John a pass on Frankenstein. I also don't second guess General Mills for calling their cereal Frankenberry instead of Monsterberry.
....

Count Chocula probably doesn't have any noble blood. Also, Cap'n Crunch isn't really in the Navy.

Alanko · January 10, 2019, 05:14:40 AM

Quote from: Dave W on January 09, 2019, 10:11:02 PM
That's what it means. I'd have to hear a large sample before I would believe it sounds different.

I'm not convinced it made a difference. I think the timings of everything lined up. When John started using the Slab basses he moved away from shortscale basses with neck pickups. He also started using 412 cabs, crude bi-amped rigs, and was an early adopter of roundwound strings. I think all of these things converged on the same point in time.