Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Ha! Vincent, are you not a fan of the Rabin years?

I will admit to being totally shocked when 90125 hit the streets in '83, as we all discussed on another thread. It didn't take long for me to get onboard with it and I like all three Yes records from the Rabin era, however, I cannot tolerate listening to him playing Steve Howe's tracks. It's something I just can't get past. Squire & Howe, with Jon Anderson, have produced the music that I prefer over all else, with the possible exceptions of Mahler's 5th Symphony, Beethoven's Emperor Piano Concerto or Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony (Pathetique). Yes are my modern classical heros

would love to see/hear squire and howe et alisi do brandenburg 3 adagio - allegro as a yes tune... yummmmy

Here's a closer view of Squire's FOOW ric. Is this recently been made for him? I have never seen him pictured with it before.

Wasn't that bass auctioned off for some charity? I don't know if it ever belonged to CS.

There is a thread here on that bass, but I have not found it yet.

This must be the 8 string ric that chris used on going for the one.

here's a nice close.

squire with the fender jazz

Am I just star-struck or does Chris always get the best out of his basses and always has great sounding basses??!! I want a Mouradian......

[listening to Magnification]

johnallg wrote:Am I just star-struck or does Chris always get the best out of his basses and always has great sounding basses??!! I want a Mouradian......

[listening to Magnification]

I heard somewhere recently that Jim Mouradian is going to start building instruments again - something about him moving into a new location with more space or sumptin'....

Start saving yer pennies!!!

I hope that is true, Ross. I spoke to Jim about a year ago and he told me that he had no intentions of ever building guitars again. He was very content as a repair technician and that building guitars was no longer as gratifying. I was after information on the Reality bass that Chris plays on "MInd Drive". JM mentioned that he had a few necks and bodies lying around and would contact me if he ever put more together, but I'm not holding my breath. I think his designs are good enough to be mass produced by one of the big guys and hold out hope that the Reality Bass will reappear in the future, even as an Ibanez or some other model. This is what he told me about those basses:

1. The silver color is exactly the same as his favorite car, a 1960's Pontiac;
2. He only made fifteen Reality Basses, one owned by Chris, others are owned by Tom Hamilton and Michael Anthony;
3. They are essentially a Jazz Bass with active EMG pickups, the bridge pickup having the "smily face" EG, with all mid frequencies rolled out.

Jim's a nice guy and I hope he finds a way to put these basses out into production again. May he get rich doing so! I invited him to our forum, but he's not a real computer fan. Still, he may be lurking, so if you have something to say to him (like, PLEASE build more Reality Basses) by all means say it!

Oh, and John, I think if Squire played a squier he would still sound like Squire! (Did that make sense?)

I believe there are several FOOW basses and Chris has at least one.

sloop_john_b wrote:I believe there are several FOOW basses and Chris has at least one.

reeeally......very interesting. Were RIC involved in this or was this more of a job lot of V63's, if you will, that someone else acquired over time and were custom refinished?

I really fancy one but doubt I'd ever get the cash together - too busy saving up for an American Vintage '75 Jazz for that Relayer vibe.

The only light I can shed on the FOOW bass is that Chris is currently touring with his and, since he has only ever shown an interest in 1960's 4001's, I don't think that one is a V63. Just my opinion. I spoke briefly to Chris in 2007 while he was still living in London and he mentioned that "My FOOW bass is currently out for show and I don't know where it is". (words to that effect). Perhaps it is a V63, how many RM 1999's can one guy be allowed to refinish!

I found his comment to be odd, because when the bass first surfaced, it was listed somewhere as being auctioned off for charity. Whether that actually took place, or if there are multiple versions of this bass is probably another question that only Chris can answer. Unfortunately, due to his current family situation, bass guitars are probably the last thing on his mind. However, anyone catching a west coast show next month can feel free to ask him if they can catch up to him backstage.

just_bassics wrote:Oh, and John, I think if Squire played a Squier he would still sound like Squire! (Did that make sense?)

Very nice informative post, Jim, and Yes, it made perfect sense.

Just found this pic - what a looker!!!!


Also this from TalkBass: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/archive/i ... 18865.html

emjazz
11-17-2008, 09:54 PM
I stopped by Jim's new shop today.....he mentioned that he may be building some more of these basses in 2009 now that they have the new shop.....very cool.