John Gustafson first English T-Bird Player?

[uwe]

John Gustafson is more known for his time with Episode 6, Quatermass and Hard Stuff, his singing on Jesus Christ Superstar, his Wal basses and the fact that he played the iconic bass line on Roxy Music's Love is the Drug (as well as is later work with the Ian Gillan Band, Gordon Giltrap,The Pirates and Rick Wakeman) than as a TBird player



but this 1964 TV show with the Mersey Beats also seems to make him an English TBird player prior to Glenn Cornick and Overend Watts. 1964 was real early for a band to be playing Fire- and T-Birds (they only came out in 63 in the US), especially for an English one (American products had severe import duties on them in England at the time).



I stumbled across this after having read from Martin Turner that he saw his first T-Bird not with Overend Watts (from which he got his first TBird, the one he still plays today), but with John Gustafson who was also a bass player role model for him.

You can see Gus sing a Twist and Shout rip off at 5.55.

More TBird action here, also from 1964:

[Dave W]

Great find!

The song at 5:55 sounds to me like a Long Tall Sally or Red Hot ripoff.

[uwe]

Yeah, you're right. I mistook Long Tall Sally with Twist and Shout  , the Lennon vocal on both confused me!!!

[nofi]

everyone should listen to quatermass even if they hate prog.

[Stjofön Big]

I was mighty impressed when I saw an advertisment from Gibson in NME - must have been in '64 - with the new formation of The Merseybeats, and if I remember right, they had two Firebirds and one T-bird. That was the first time I laid eyes on that instrument. Next year I got my hands on a catalogue from Hagstom music here in Sweden. They sold both Fender, Guild, Gretsch, and Gibson. There was that bass again! Looked just like some kind of bass version of a '59 Chevrolet Impala! But I never held one in my hands until 1974, one from the '60's. Ten years later I bought a '76, after years of longing. Took it out of the case. And felt a complete emptiness after all those years of longing, with no financial possibillities to buy one since my wife and me had three kids. Only used it on stage a couple of times, felt guilty for having two two basses - the other being my '65 Pre - and my kids not having any keyboard to learn to play on. So. I traded the bass for a Yamaha synth, and half a dozen of Roto sets. The synth was interesting to the kids for a few years, and then became a dust collector. Anyway, my son got interested in music, and now he's got two Gibson guitars. One Tom Delong, I think it's called. He just laughs and shakes his head when I tell him about my T-bird years.
Anyway, I belive that the main reason for me to get heavily into the Epiphone Embassies, is because of the mental pain of my whole T-bird experience! Really nice basses, but they don't have the look of being able to take off in 200 mph!
(Sorry if I wrote to long, but once I get started...)

[patman]

I played one in '76...new one at a music store...

The guitar player was the store manager, and we used to practice there.

Think it was $950 in '76...

I thought that was the best sounding bass...I played a '73 or '74 precision at the time, and I just loved how the T-bird had that huge girth, but also had a great treble "ping" or presence that really brought the note out with a flatpick.

Also liked the G-3

[Highlander]

Beautiful, Stjofön...

Mine came to me 3rd hand... When I went to buy my 1st bass, in '75, I looked in the window of the shop, and there hanging on the wall, in the reflection of the setting sun, was this beautiful cherry and gold T'bird... price tag was £200... I had £50... I bought an EB2 copy, bolt on neck, hideous action, but worked for me as I knew no better... a year later, almost to the day, I went back to the same shop, more cash in hand, £200... to buy a more decent bass... there was a white EB2... £250... I went home and begged a little more cash, which I was loaned... I got back to find Bruce Foxton had bought the EB2... oh well, but then I spotted the glint of cherry and gold, just back in, £20 cheaper than a year before... yes please, I said, and then I was "warned" about the case... 33 years on and not parted... giving the old girl a much needed refurb... give her back some of her old glory with a nice facelift...

Tried to buy a used sunburst Gibbie T' in '79, but couldn't (buying on HP - 2nd hand was the issue) and was sold an RD instead of a Precision as "comparing a Ford to a Rolls Royce" was the salesmans pitch... I have had a love/hate relationship for many years with her... 30 years on I would not be parted...

My SG is a similar beastie... beautiful for slide...

"The waiting is the hardest part..." to quote Mr Petty...

[TBird1958]

Cool!

It demonstrates the proper wearing height and right hand technique utilizing the pick up cover as a hand rest..........An early variant of the Opti - Grab!   

[uwe]

My road to the TBird was bumpy. Early on I identified probably Johnny Winter the most with that shape due to his Firebird-wielding. Then bassists caught my eye like UFO's Pete Way, Overend Watts and Martin Turner. But I never saw one in real life - local bands did not play TBirds or Firebirds. In the late nineties, Epi reissued the Rev TBird - at that point in time I didn't even know that Gibson had reissued it as early as 1987 - and I was immediately attracted when I saw a small pic of it in a gear mag. When my bass shop of the time had one on offer, I played it, liked how it felt and bought it. I only noticed later that the Epi lacked assertiveness in a rehearsal situation though it sounded nice in the living room. My quest for a case that would fit the Epi then led me to a shop that had an original Gibson TBird case (with contents!) in early 1999, but they would only sell both together. The price was good, it was slow-moving stock that had been gathering dust for two years (it was a 1997 model), so I bought it. And playing it next at a rehearsal, the assertiveness was there. I immediately liked its size and how it "hung" with me and people felt it was "the right bass with you, Uwe".

The rest is history! I now have 18 Rev Birds (12 Gibsons, 5 Epis and one Orville), four Non-Revs (2 Gibsons, 1 Epi and the B&chbird), one Epi Embassy and one boutique Hotwire Funderbird.

[exiledarchangel]

I used to (trying to be) a geetard player, but when I saw an Epi Tbird I knew that was the instrument for me. Love at first sight!
Long after that I discovered Wishbone Ash... 

[nofi]

i have never played a t bird plugged in. someday maybe.

[Hornisse]

I love the bass part to Love Is The Drug.  I first played a Thunderbird back in 1982.  I was at Michael Steven's shop on E. 12th Street and he had an original '64 IV that he was asking $800 for.  I was making around $700 a month after taxes so there was no way to afford the beautiful bass.  I sure played the heck out of it everytime I went there.  He probably got really tired of hearing all of my Who licks.  I bought a very nice '79 T Bird on Ebay several years back for $999 BIN.  The seller had mistook it for a '99 model!  How can you do that?!  So I flipped it for nearly $2400 and then it ended up on Kebo's website for double that price. 

[uwe]

Usually, at this stage, Dave makes some elucidating remark about Kebo's price policy.  

By public demand:



That's one of the rare occasions of Gustafson playing live with Roxy, while he was on all three post Eno seventies studio albums of Roxy (being Roxy Music's preferred studio bassist for good reason), he declined to tour with them most of the time (or join them - he had an offer to do so - permanently, silly boy!).  Rick Willis (later of reunion Small Faces and Foreigner) and John 'Heat of the Moment" Wetton performed touring duties except in a few cases while Gustafson wasted time in projects that went nowhere like his Hard Stuff trio. He should have shed his mane, gotten a cool Roxy'nesque haircut, put on a little make-up and done the sensible thing. I certainly would have. Roxy Music always left their bass players quite a bit of freedom.  

Here's an interview with him:

http://dmme.net/interviews/gus.html

[gweimer]

It was definitely Martin Turner that steered me to the Thunderbird.  I bought my first T-bird, a '66 Non-Rev model, because of his influence.  I sold that for a '73 Jazz bass (thank Dennis Dunaway for that decision...).   I bought a '76 T-bird, and sold it after it developed headstock syndrome less than a year later.  It was when I decided to look for a vintage model that Larry (RIP), the owner of Axe-in-Hand Guitars in DeKalb, IL, clued me in to the Epiphone Embassy.  He had 4 of them on the wall the day I went in looking for a Thunderbird.  Of the four, one of them simply called my name.  It took me almost 3 years to get that bass, but I finally got it, and kept it for over 20 years.  It was one of Tom Petersson's old basses.  To this day, I'm convinced that he had his pickups rewound.

I think my favorite Gufstafson bass line with Roxy was "The Thrill of it All".

[Dave W]

Usually, at this stage, Dave makes some elucidating remark about Kebo's price policy.  

You mean like the time his EB-650 auction ended at about $1600 with reserve not met, a bidder asked him if he'd sell at this price and he responded that "this is a $5000 bass any day of the week"? Even when none had ever sold on eBay for half that?

Just call him Mister Optimism.